T-Man's Games

Retro Review: Final Fantasy X

2012-02-11T06:34:00.013-05:00

-------My Rating System-------

A(-)(+) A top notch experience all the way through. It may not necessarily be perfect, but whatever flaws it does have won’t take you out of it or make it any less worth your time. (Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2)

B(-)(+) A very fun experience bogged down by some significant problems, whether they’re related to the story, gameplay, or both. However, it’s still a good or even great game and worth the price of admission. (Kingdom Hearts: Recoded)

C(-)(+) A mixed bag. Generally fun to some extent and may shine in some areas, but is either too flawed to fully recommend or far too short for its price. Conisder it for a reduced price, at least if you’re a fan of its genre. (Rayman 3D)

D(-)(+) Subpar. It may not be terrible, but it is severely flawed and whatever it does well ultimately fails to save it. Even if you’re a fan of the genre, this is barely a bargain bin purchase. (Sonic Heroes)

F Insipid, disgusting, despicable, and insufferable. It is a scar on the face of human accomplishments that time shall never heal. The best thing we can do is avoid playing it at all costs. It is the only way to prevent its parasitic disease of awfulness from spreading. (Shadow the Hedgehog)

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Last fall, I reviewed Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 and PS3. It’s a very underrated game in my opinion and I think it deserves more credit than it gets. (The direct sequel actually came out just a few weeks ago, and I’ll probably be reviewing that at some point as well.) Playing through it actually rekindled my interest in the series and I've found myself playing the games more often, and one of the games that I was actually very interested in was the tenth installment on PlayStation 2. Though I never beat it, I liked it a lot as a kid and I have a lot of nostalgia for it. It also was the first Final Fantasy game to feature full voice acting and broke a lot of other series traditions as well, such as having more linear progression among other interesting things, which I will get to when the review officially starts. Oh, and apparently it’s getting an HD remake in honor of its tenth anniversary, so there’s that. I was going to wait to play it again until the port came out, but due to my impatience and reluctance to buy an upgraded version of a game I already own for full price, I found myself playing through the game on PS2. So, now that I’ve finished it, let’s see how it holds up.

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Visually, Final Fantasy X is a mixed bag. In some ways, it’s aged surprisingly well, while in others, it’s…kind of laughable. To start with, the environments actually look really great to this very day. There’s quite a bit to look at, and it’s all really beautiful, particularly in the lush forest environments. Cinematic sequences are simply amazing and show off some really impressive production values and art direction and all of the most memorable and spectacular moments of the game’s storyline will take place during these sequences, and the character models for the main cast and monsters, especially animation-wise, look pretty impressive given the time. Beyond that, though, things don’t fare so well. Character models for most side characters are really blocky and lazily put together and facial animations, even for the main cast, are ridiculously hit or miss – usually miss. Rarely, they’ll actually look really natural and expressive. Sometimes they’ll look really mediocre, sometimes they’ll look downright creepy, and almost half the time they’ll look laughably bad. This is easy to forgive since it is, of course, an old game, but at the same time hard to ignore. Musically, though, things fare a lot better, and why wouldn’t it? It’s Nobuo Uematsu, after all. Nothing else needs to be said.

Moving on to matters of importance, let’s discuss the gameplay. Gameplay-wise, Final Fantasy X is quite a big departure from previous games in the series in three main ways: its lack of an exploration-encouraging overworld map, having a different character growth system and having a brand-new battle system. The battle system is probably the most interesting of these differences. At first glance, it may not seem much different from the ATB system used from IV through IX. It’s still turn-based and plays similarly in that, upon a character’s turn, a command list is brought up that gives you a list of options that determines that character’s actions such as using a normal attack, using a special move, using a skill, using white or black magic, or using an item. However, the ATB gauge is gone for both you and your enemies; things keep moving and there’s no waiting involved, which makes battles much faster. When a character or enemy takes his or her turn is determined by a variety of factors and can be affected by using different commands or even attacks and spells. While such spells as Haste and Slow sped up and slowed down the ATB gauge (respectively) in games past, now they give characters and enemies extra turns or make them wait longer to take their turn, and such moves as Quick Hit and Delay Attack also affect who takes their turn and when. In the upper-right corner of the screen, there is actually a box that displays the turn order and actually allows you to plan your moves around it.

You can only take three characters into a battle at once, but they can be switched out at any time, a feature which you will be making use of a lot. This is because all of the characters have different uses in battle. There are seven characters that you will be controlling – Tidus, Auron, Rikku, Wakka, Lulu, Yuna, and Kimahri. Tidus, Auron, Wakka and Kimahri are all effective physical attackers, but have specific uses. Auron can effectively do damage to armored enemies with his giant sword and can learn attacks that weaken the enemy, Wakka can attack flying enemies since his weapon is a ball (no, I am not kidding) and learn attacks that cause status ailments, Tidus can learn helpful spells such as Haste and Slow, and Kimahri can learn enemy abilities with his “Lancet” move. Rikku can steal items from enemies and then use said items against them or to aid the party, Lulu is your black mage, and Yuna is your white mage and summoner. Speaking of which, unlike in previous games where summoned monsters used a single attack and then flew away, you can actually control them like normal characters this time around and they come complete with their own sets of skills and limit breaks (or overdrives, as it were). Overall, the battle system is really fun and strategic and one of the game’s highlights.

As for the character development system, it’s pretty interesting as well. As you fight battles, characters gain “sphere levels”, or points to use on the upgrade board known as the Sphere Grid. Each sphere level allows you to move one space on the grid. If any spaces nearby house upgrades to any of your stats or even an ability or magic spell, you can use a different sphere like a “Power Sphere” or an “Ability Sphere” to unlock it. Sphere levels are gained pretty quickly, which allows you to get upgrades more quickly. I liked this upgrade system quite a bit. However, I did find that Final Fantasy XIII’s Crystarium was a better handling of the “upgrade board” idea for a couple of reasons. Mostly, the Sphere Grid…really doesn’t do much to make grinding easier. XIII only gave you the essential stats to deal with: strength, HP, magic power and defense. You didn’t even need to upgrade your magic points since those were infinite in that game. In Final Fantasy X, you’re looking at a lot of different stats aside from those: speed, agility, evasion, magic defense, MP, and even luck. A lot of spaces on the grid are even completely blank and useless unless you have a type of sphere that will turn them into useful ones. When I’m grinding, speed, agility, evasion and luck, while nice stats to upgrade, just seem like roadblocks on the way to the stats I really need upgraded. The fact that it’s simpler and faster to use also made me prefer the Crystarium. But like I said, even if the series has handled the upgrade board idea better since X, the Sphere Grid is pretty nice.

Then there’s the lack of an overworld map, which is something I’m sure a lot of longtime fans didn’t really appreciate, especially given that it adds a more linear progression to it. Like XIII, I thought this worked for X from a storytelling perspective. However, it is worth noting that despite its general linearity, X does admittedly offer more to do than XIII. There are a few areas and towns that encourage a little bit of exploration for treasures and whatnot, and there are plenty of mini-games and optional side quests to distract you along the way. The most prominent mini-game in Final Fantasy X is blitzball, likely meant to be the game’s own “Triple Triad” or “Tetra Master” except for the fact that it doesn’t involve cards. However, I have to say, it didn’t appeal to me. I just found it to be pretty boring and didn’t spend much time with it. Thankfully, it’s completely optional aside from a single area in the game. It wasn’t for me, but if you enjoy it I’d say you would be able to spend hours with it. Lord knows how much time I’ve wasted playing Tetra Master in Final Fantasy IX... There are also several puzzle-solving areas in Final Fantasy X known as “Cloisters of Trials”, which are actually pretty fun and interesting if a bit tedious. They’re focused on moving around spheres, which have varying effects on the environment, so that you can open up paths to the end. Like I said, they can get tedious, but I did enjoy them quite a bit in spite of that.

Oh yeah, there’s one last thing that I need to mention here: Final Fantasy X, like all Final Fantasy games before it, uses random encounters and was actually the last one to do so. I mentioned in my review of XIII that the random encounters were my main problem with the series, but after playing a lot of the older games, I’ve gotten pretty desensitized to them. In fact, I’d say X’s linear progression lends itself to them better than any Final Fantasy before it. What annoyed me about them in the past was their apparent frequency combined with the fact that they felt disruptive to me, which made exploration less fun. X doesn’t feature as much exploration and, as such, the random encounters aren’t as troublesome. I’d say that if they really bother you, this could affect your decision to play the game, but I’d say I’m okay with ‘em here.

With all gameplay-related discussion out of the way, let’s talk story, one of the most important aspects of any JRPG. The main character of the game is Tidus, who is transported from his home in the futuristic city of Zanarkand to the future world of Spira when a monster named Sin attacks. After waking up in Spira, he finds himself constantly attacked by monsters known as “fiends”. He receives help from a young girl named Rikku who explains, after being told that he is from Zanarkand that said city was destroyed by Sin a thousand years ago. Sin attacks again and leaves Tidus on the shore of the island country of Besaid, where he meets Wakka, Lulu and Yuna, a summoner whose job it is to defeat Sin, and begins to learn the ropes and history of this new and unfamiliar world as he accompanies Yuna on her pilgrimage to each of Spira’s temples to receive the aeon, or summon monster, which she will use to defeat sin. Much of the story, in fact, focuses on Tidus’ relationship with and thoughts on the world and the people around him.

Actually, I think that this was a very interesting type of story for a Final Fantasy game or even a JRPG in general to tell. For Final Fantasy X, we are given a main protagonist that knows as little about the world as we do, and most of the story is even told in flashback. This makes the world more mysterious and a lot more interesting to learn about than it would be otherwise, and Tidus’ narration also adds to it by giving a lot more insight as to his thoughts and feelings about the various situations he and his group encounters along the way. The setting is also very unique and the various ways that the world of Spira works, its constant struggles with the seemingly unstoppable Sin – who, if defeated by a summoner, will still come back after a few years – and the general tone of the game all make Spira feel very tragic at the same time that it is beautiful and surreal. The progression of the plot also, intentionally or not, gave me a sort of “road movie” vibe a lot of times, because, essentially, you’re making a trip around the world to visit several places throughout Spira and dealing with the various hardships along the way, which was another thing I found really interesting. On the whole, the plot of Final Fantasy X is really good. Though I would expect no less from Final Fantasy, the unique setting and feel do give it something interesting over the other installments.

However, with all that said, there are some really significant things holding the story back, one of them being the characters. I don’t mean that the characters weren’t likable so much as that most of them felt really underdeveloped and like they were just along for the ride. Tidus, Yuna and Auron were the only characters that the story gave me any real reason to care about. The rest of the cast receives little development and if they do, it’s minor. While they have their back stories, they’re not really compelling or even touched on all that much. It felt to me like they were there for plot and gameplay necessity rather than actually adding something to the plot. Why is Rikku there? Because the main party needed a representative of the Al Bhed race. Why is Wakka there? Because Tidus needed someone to teach him about Spira. Why is Lulu there? Because the game needed a black mage. Why is Kimahri there? Because the main party needed a representative of the Ronso race. All of these characters could and should have been compelling, and it feels like lazy writing to me that more effort wasn’t taken to make them so.

And speaking of the writing, even aside from that it’s not very good. It’s inoffensive about half the time, but when it comes to the other half, lines can range from bad to outright cringeworthy. At its absolute worst, it makes Sonic Adventure look like Inception. That’s…kind of an accomplishment. Voice acting doesn’t fare much better.The only consistently good actors for the main characters are the ones for Rikku and Wakka. Lulu and Auron are alright, I suppose, though they definitely have their moments. Yuna’s speech is filled with awkward and seemingly random pauses and her delivery can be pretty wooden, and while Tidus’ actor is certainly talented – he is Ratchet, after all - his delivery almost never fit the context of the scene, which is probably the product of bad voice direction more than anything else. Kimahri’s voice is utterly wooden, and I doubt the broken English they wrote in the script and called his “lines” helped much. I mean, seriously, why do almost all of the Ronso in the game talk like that? Why didn’t they just give them their own language like they did with the Al Bhed? Well, anyway, side characters…actually fared a lot better than the main ones, with some ear-grating exceptions of course. If I hear the shoopuf driver one more time…

While not story related, I do have one more problem with this game, and it’s a pretty big one: you can never skip the cutscenes. This was a massive frustration. The bosses in this game can get pretty difficult, which is fine. However, many of them are preceded by lengthy cutscenes – all of which you will be forced to watch again should you fail. If you’re lucky enough, you can press “X” through some of the dialogue, but sometimes it wouldn’t even let you do that. Naturally, you aren’t allowed to skip any of the dialogue in the long cutscene before the final boss – and I mean ANY of it – and, of course, that is the hardest and most frustrating non-optional boss in the game. Actually, the part right before the final boss was plagued with enough bad design as it was. Right before the really long, unskippable cutscene, you had to, for no apparent reason other than to cause unnecessary annoyance, collect ten crystals in a room with a horrible and potentially nauseating rotating camera and, to add insult to injury, spiked icicles constantly blasting out of the floor under you and initiating an enemy encounter if it trips you up. And no, you can’t save directly afterwards, meaning that if you die at the final boss, you not only have to watch the entire pre-battle cutscene again, but you also have to collect ten crystals in a room with a horrible camera and battle-initiating icicles. I simply fail to understand the need for this. Was someone on the design team in a bad mood? Yes, it's one brief segment of a 50-hour long game, but it's one you're going to be repeating numerous times if you keep dying at the final boss.

The Good:

+ Great battle system
+ Very interesting, unique plot and setting
+ Nice character growth system
+ Very good soundtrack
+ Environment graphics and cinematics hold up well
+ Lots of mini-games and side quests
+ Puzzle-solving segments are interesting

The Bad:

- Facial animations are often pretty bad

- Most characters are underdeveloped
- Writing is inoffensive at best
- Voice acting is pretty bad
- You can never skip cutscenes
- Some bad design in the game’s final area

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For all of its flaws, I’m glad I played through Final Fantasy X and I’d say it’s worth a recommendation. Gameplay-wise, it has quite a bit to offer and while the writing, voice acting, and underdeveloped characters made it harder to be engaged, I did get into the story enough that the ending garnered a legitimate emotional reaction from me and I couldn’t help but appreciate how different the setting and plot were for a Final Fantasy game. I wouldn’t call it a great JRPG by today’s standards and if you’re planning on getting into the series, I’d say there are much better places to start. However, if you just want a decent JRPG with a good story and battle system, Final Fantasy X is probably worth the price of admission. That said, I’d say it would be a good idea to wait to play it until the HD remake comes out. Let’s hope that the changes are more than just aesthetic…Nintendo.

No, as a matter of fact, I will not let it go.

Grade: B-

Infamous 2 Review

2012-01-17T02:56:00.005-05:00

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And so once again, I am taking a look at a game made by Sucker Punch. For those not in the know, last summer I did a gigantic review of all three games in the Sly Cooper trilogy. It’s a very nostalgic franchise for me, and all three games still held up quite well by my standards today. After the Sly Cooper franchise, Sucker Punch would move on to make the game Infamous for the PS3 in 2009, and it was quite a big hit. Well, since I was such a fan of their earlier work, you would think I would be just as impressed by Infamous, right? Well…kind of. A lot of people love the original Infamous, and while I do like it, I have quite a few gripes with it. The whole good/evil thing was not executed very well at all; the choices were very one-sided and didn’t seem to have much effect on the story. The story itself wasn’t exactly paced very well either, with the giant plot twist at the end coming almost completely out of nowhere with little build-up. The main character was also subject to some questionable decisions, such as his design and raspy voice that sounded somewhere between Solid Snake and Christian Bale Batman. Side missions were also very repetitive, and the gameplay felt sort of unrefined and unpolished to me. Oh, and the character animations fell smack dab into the uncanny valley.

That said, the gameplay was quite fun even if it was unrefined. Blasting people in the face with lightning is really satisfying no matter how you look at it, and the climbing was very well done. The game’s huge world with lots of side missions to complete alongside the main missions – even if they did get repetitive – felt like a natural evolution of the open-world, objective-based style of gameplay used in the latter two Sly Cooper games, and the story was very interesting even if the pacing could have been much better. So, while I would say that calling it a great game would be a bit of a stretch, I would definitely say that the first Infamous is good. Now, what about Infamous 2? It came out a little over six months ago for the PS3, and now I’ve finally gotten to play it. Does it address any of my complaints or not? Time to find out.

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(The below paragraph contains spoilers for the first Infamous)

Infamous 2 takes place right where the first game left off. Cole meets with Dr. Lucy Kuo, who can take him to a man named Dr. Wolfe, who in turn will give him a way to increase his powers to better prepare for the battle with The Beast, the world destroyer whose coming was foretold in the ending of the first game. Dr. Wolfe resides in a town called New Marais (based on New Orleans), and just as he, Kuo and his friend Zeke are about to depart from Empire City, The Beast makes his appearance and starts tearing everything up. Cole tries to fight it but the effort proves fruitless. Fortunately, they are able to escape and head to New Marais. Unfortunately, more trouble awaits them there as a man named Joseph Bertrand is controlling the city with his redneck militia and they are executing random citizens for fear that they may be “deviants” – those who have powers. Needless to say, Cole is one of his main targets, and he even televises messages referring to him as “The Demon of Empire City” and urging citizens to turn him in. All the while, strange monsters are popping out of the local swamp and killing everything they see. Cole finds Dr. Wolfe, who explains that he needs to find five Blast Cores to increase his powers so that he may use the Ray Field Inhibitor – the only thing that can defeat The Beast, and the rest of the storyline involves Cole, Kuo, Zeke and a woman with fire powers named Nix attempting to collect these Blast Cores while enduring various hardships along the way.

The storyline was one of the original game’s strong points, and Infamous 2’s is even better. In addition to just being more complex and interesting, it is also told a lot better. In addition to the stylized comic book cutscenes from the first game, Infamous 2 has normal cutscenes where most of the important exchanges take place, which helps the pacing a lot. Characters are also handled far better – Cole, in addition to having his design and voice changed so that he looks and talks like a normal human being, has had a slight characterization overhaul that makes him a bit less “brooding and serious business”, and in my opinion, the change is for the better. Zeke is also a lot more likable this time around, and I also really liked all of the new characters as well as the villain. Oh, and the storyline is affected far more by good and evil choices. There are many points where you will have to choose between a good and evil mission, and the ending can be entirely different depending on which moral path you take. Not to mention that the choices aren’t nearly as one-sided; they’re not so much a choice between being a hero of men or a selfish psychopath as they are a choice between being a hero of men or a reckless butthole whose cause is still for the greater good. That is what the first Infamous should have been like.

Aesthetically, Infamous 2 is a significant improvement over the first. Animations are far better this time around and make the characters and civilians feel less like lifeless puppets and more like actual people. The comic book-esque visual style is pulled off even better than before, and it looks great. The music is pretty good too; for the most part, the BGM’s are blood-pumping battle themes, but they’re pretty nice.

So, having said all that needs to be said regarding story and aesthetics, how do the important things fare? Well, from the minute I started playing Infamous 2, I could tell that it was much more refined and polished than the first game. Everything from doing the parkour to just shooting people with lightning just feels so much better than it did before and there are far less glitches along the way. Like I said in the introduction, a lack of refinement and polish was one of my foremost complaints with the first game, and it was great to see that this was fixed. Honestly, for me, this alone elevates the experience from a “good” one to a “great” one, but we’ve still got quite a bit of ground to cover here.

So now, I will explain how the gameplay works. Infamous 2 is an open-world game where you have to complete various missions for the story to progress, and you have plenty of side missions to do as well. There are three things that set Infamous 1 and 2 apart from other open-world games, however: the fact that Cole has a variety of lightning powers at his disposal with which he can take down his foes, the Karma system that goes up or down depending on whether you make good and evil choices both in the gameplay and storyline – which, in turn, affects which powers you unlock, how the people of the city react to you, Cole’s appearance, and even the state of the city – and the fact that Cole is also well-trained in the sport of parkour. Most of your lightning powers are done by holding the L1 button down to aim and then pressing the R1 button or one of the face buttons, very much like third-person shooters. R1 is your standard lightning bolt attack, while X sends out a shockwave that blows enemies away and Square allows you to throw a lightning grenade. As the game progresses, you will learn abilities that allow you to pick up and throw objects, fire lightning rockets, create gigantic tornadoes, zoom in to get more precise shots, and even use lightning as a grappling hook. As you gain EXP and perform stunts (kill an enemy in a certain way), you will gain quite a vast amount of versions of these moves that vary in both strength, area, and effects, including – depending on your moral path – fire and ice variations. Blasting people in the face with lightning bolts was something that was already really fun in the first game, and the amount of variety in Cole’s powers makes taking enemies down that much more fun. It is worth noting here, though, that using the more fancy moves will cost you energy, which you will have to replenish by absorbing it from sources of electricity in the city. This can also be used to heal Cole when he’s injured. It’s a pretty interesting mechanic that’s handled quite well.

On the subject of combat, Infamous 2 has introduced a new melee system to the series. Cole now has an electrified weapon that he uses to bash enemies with. As you attack enemies, you build up a combo, at which point you can do a finishing move, or, if you get a certain upgrade, an Ultra Attack. It’s a lot more fun and involving than the original Infamous’ melee system, and you’ll probably find yourself using it a lot more as well.

In gameplay, there are a lot of factors that affect your Karma. Killing random civilians is, of course, going to give you more Evil Karma, whereas healing the injured or sick ones will give you more Good Karma. Karma is also affected by exactly how you take people down. You can use the Arc Restraint ability to merely hold a person down – which will gain you extra Good Karma if it’s an enemy – or you can use Bio Leech to steal energy from people, which will, of course, get you extra Evil Karma. Several other factors affect Karma. You gain more Good Karma when you stop muggers or defuse bombs, and you gain more Evil Karma if you kill street performers or kill civilians who are holding Blast Shards – fragments of the Ray Sphere that are scattered around the city and can increase the amount of energy you hold when you collect a certain amount – in order to steal them. There are several “levels” of Karma that, as mentioned before, affect Cole’s appearance, what powers you can buy, how people react to Cole and the state of the city. If you keep performing good actions, you will move through the Guardian rank to the Champion rank to the Hero rank, and if you keep performing evil actions, you will move through the Thug rank to the Outlaw rank to the Infamous rank. This is another thing that, gameplay-wise, was handled really well in the first game and Infamous 2 handles it similarly well. Not much else to say, really.

Finally, there’s the parkour. Things haven’t changed very much in this area, but they didn’t really need to. Parkour, above all else, was what the first game did best. The system is actually very simple – you only need the control stick and the “X” button for it - but that simplicity actually works for it given how much of it you’re going to be doing just to get around. All you do is find a ledge or something you can grab onto on a building, hold forward while pressing “X”, grab on, rinse and repeat. Further aiding this aspect of the game are Cole’s abilities to hover by pressing the “R1” button in mid-air and Cole’s ability to actually grind on power lines. Freaking. Awesome. In short, it looks great and it feels great. No more needs to be said.

For all the gushing I’ve done over the things this game does better than the first Infamous and the things it does just as well, Infamous 2 still has a couple of areas in which it screws up. Mostly, the side missions are still too repetitive. It’s better about it, I’ll admit, and in the first third of the game it actually gave me the feeling that it would be averting this flaw as well. Unfortunately, once I got past that part, they did start to repeat themselves a lot. Yes, I understand that it’s only side content, but in the Infamous games, a pretty great deal of the game’s longevity comes from those side missions, and quite frankly, I don’t see that as much of an excuse anyway. At least half of the content of the 3-D Mario games is optional, yet they tend to have an incredible amount of variety in spite of that. I’m not expecting the same amount of variety from every game I play, but I am expecting more than what I’m getting from the Infamous games. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is far from game breaking, but it did annoy me.

Another flaw is that the city in the first third of the game felt way too similar to Empire City for me, and I don’t really think I’m nitpicking here. New Marais is more or less Empire City surrounded by a swamp and with more palm trees, and it really wasn’t until I got to Flood Town – about ten to twelve hours in - that I felt like I had entered a place I hadn’t been to before. And New Marais is a city based on New Orleans whereas Empire City is a city based on New York. I’m sure they could have done more to make it feel different than they did. My last complaint is that they’ve put a needless limitation on searching for Dead Drops: you can longer find them with your Sense ability. Hunting down all of the Dead Drops and learning more about the continuity of the game was one of the big joys of the first Infamous, but thanks to this limitation I deemed it to time-consuming to find them all and I just can’t see why they put this limitation in place. Not a big problem, but it annoyed me.

There’s one last thing worth mentioning: you can create your own missions for the game and play those made by other players if you’re signed into PSN. Due to my lack of patience and creativity with such things, I didn’t mess around with the mission creator all that much, but it did seem pretty comprehensive. Now, I can’t say any of the user-made missions I played were anything really amazing, but some of them were pretty fun and I can see creating and playing these missions adding a lot of longevity to the game for many players. It’s not for me, but it’s a nice feature.

The Good:

+ Great storyline
+ Great aesthetics
+ Cole looks and sounds like a human being now
+ Good and evil choices are handled a lot better
+ Feels a lot more polished and refined than the first
+ Features many new powers and more upgrades to existing ones
+ New melee system works great
+ Karma system works really well
+ Parkour is just as good as it was before
+ Supports user-generated content

The Bad:

- Side missions are still too repetitive
- First area of the game feels too much like Empire City
- You can no longer sense Dead Drops

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Infamous 2 is a much more fun game than its predecessor, and the original was pretty darn fun to begin with. It improves a lot on almost every aspect of the first and gets rid of most of my problems with its predecessor. While the first Infamous was definitely good, Infamous 2 is great, and that's just what I want to see from Sucker Punch. I say give it a purchase. You won’t be disappointed.

Grade: B+

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Review

2012-01-08T05:46:00.009-05:00

-------My Rating System-------

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It’s been quite a while since the last traditional Kirby game that wasn’t a remake – nearly twelve years. We’ve seen plenty of Kirby games throughout the past decade, most of which have tried out new and creative ideas. 2010’s Kirby’s Epic Yarn, for instance, took place in a universe made completely of yarn and featured many gimmicks based around that, and last year’s Kirby Mass Attack features you controlling up to ten Kirbies with the touch screen. While most of these games are great, many missed the gameplay that made Kirby’s original adventures so much fun - or, at least, I did. Fortunately, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land brings that style of gameplay back. A throwback to the Kirby games from the NES, SNES and N64 eras, it features the same enemy-swallowing, ability-copying gameplay that made those games famous. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

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The story of Kirby's Return to Dream Land involves a tiny alien’s starship crashing on Pop Star, and its pieces are scattered around the planet. Fortunately for him, our resident pink…puffball thing, Kirby, along with former enemies Meta Knight, King Dedede and Bandana Dee are right nearby and decide to help the alien by getting these parts back…which apparently entails beating the crap out of everything they see. Real classy, Kirby.

Obviously the story is very simple and downplayed, but it’s a Kirby game, so that should go without saying. What really matters here is – of course – the gameplay, and that part’s pretty dang good. Return to Dream Land is the first all-new pure Kirby experience since 2000’s The Crystal Shards, and it does a pretty great job of following up on that style of gameplay. If you’ve never played a traditional Kirby game, how it works is that Kirby can use his apparently amazing lung capacity to inhale enemies and/or objects and then subsequently throw them at other enemies and/or objects, or swallow them. Some enemies actually have special abilities, and if you eat those enemies, you will gain that power and be able to spam it on anything you see until it gets knocked out of you or you just get tired of it. Classic powers like Beam, Sword, Fire, Ice, Cutter, Electricity, Needle, and Stone are still here, as well as some returning from Super Star like Wing, Hammer, Fighter and Ninja (the latter three being some of my personal favorites). However, Kirby also gets a few new ones this time around – namely, Leaf, Whip, Water and Spear. Powers in Kirby aren’t only used for fighting enemies and bosses, though; there will be times when you need to use a specific power to open up the way to a secret.

These powers pretty much work just as you would expect: you press the “1” button (as the Wii Remote is held sideways in this game) and you use the attack. However, Return to Dream Land handles the powers in a way that makes them even more fun to use than in most other Kirby games. It’s exactly like Kirby Super Star (Ultra), for those who have played it – the attack you use with a power varies depending on what direction you’re holding on the D-Pad, whether or not you’re running (some powers, such as Water, even change how you run), whether or not you’re in the air, how long you hold the “1” button, or even other factors. Take Ninja, for instance. Tapping the “1” button makes Kirby throw a knife and holding it makes Kirby do a slash with a katana. If you a hit an enemy with said slash and keep holding the “1” button, Kirby will do another slash that sends out a wave that kills all enemies in the immediate vicinity (or does extra damage if you’re fighting a boss). If you attack while holding down in the air, Kirby will do an eagle kick, and if you tap the button while running, Kirby will boost forward and all enemies he boosted past will receive a flurry of slashes. Essentially, each power is like playing as a different character with its own moveset, and that’s a big part of what makes this game so much fun.

Speaking of different characters, Return to Dream Land offers a co-op mode where other players can play as Meta Knight, King Dedede, Bandana Dee or another Kirby, and the movesets for the non-Kirby characters are amalgamations of powers available to Kirby. It’s pretty fun and the game lends itself quite well to a co-op experience. However, there is one small frustration I found with it. One character can give another character a piggyback ride or carry another character while flying. While this is fine, rather than having you press a button to do this, the game makes you do it automatically. It’s a small annoyance, but it is there.

There is one more thing that deserves mentioning when it comes to the subject of powers. In some levels, you will find an enemy carrying a superpowered version of a normal power. If you eat said enemy, you will get it and let’s just say that what comes next is pure satisfaction. These super powers are really fun to use, destroying everything in your path as well as activating gimmicks. You will also need these to access the secret areas, and if you go through those and defeat the optional bosses at the end, you will get Energy Spheres (more on those later). All in all, the super powers are pretty awesome.

So, the gameplay is great, but as I’ve said before, in a platformer, one of the most important aspects is the level design. It’s basically the butter to a platformer’s bread. As for how Kirby’s fares, well, I’d say it’s serviceable. Its level designs are far from the most challenging and innovative you’ll ever see, but there’s a lot of diversity and the designs can even get pretty creative at times. Particularly, the secret areas I found quite creatively designed, posing unique challenges you won’t see anywhere else in the game. The level designs aren’t exactly brilliant, but they’re fun.

But although Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is a very good game, there are a couple of pretty significant things that keep it from being a must-have. First of all, most hardcore gamers are going to find the main mode of the game very easy, at least up until the last couple of worlds. I understand that most Kirby games are easy to make them more accessible to younger and more casual gamers, so I won’t say that this is an inherent flaw, but I do think it limits the interest of the hardcore audience a bit. Secondly and most importantly, it’s...really short. Most people shouldn’t take longer than three days to beat it, and depending on how much time goes into each sitting, it may not even take that long.

However, while the short length is a flaw, there is plenty of extra content to keep you playing even after you beat the main game and it’s still worth a purchase because of it. For one thing, completing the main game opens up an extra mode, which cuts down your life bar by a significant chunk and puts you up against tougher enemies and bosses. If you found the game too easy the first time through, this mode is definitely worth playing. While the level design isn’t changed aside from the enemies you face, the bosses at least should give you quite a challenge. There are also 120 Energy Spheres to collect within the levels, which open up challenges for the game’s powers as well as two mini-games that you can play with your friends, which are pretty nice. There are also two boss rush modes a la Super Star. Overall, the extra content is pretty substantial and does a good job of keeping the game worth the price in spite of the short length and easy difficulty.

The Good:

+ First all-new traditional Kirby game in years
+ Powers come with full movesets like in Super Star
+ Super powers are awesome
+ Co-op mode is fun
+ Diverse, reasonably creative levels
+ Lots of extra content

The Bad:

- Main mode lacks challenge
- Pretty short

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As a Kirby fan since childhood, Return to Dream Land was a great experience for me. It brings back the same style of gameplay that I fell in love with so long ago, and it’s just as fun as ever. As for how it compares to the other Kirby game for Wii, Epic Yarn, well, I’d say which one you would like better depends on what you’re looking for. Kirby’s Epic Yarn deviates from traditional Kirby gameplay, but in return offers an incredibly unique and creative experience. Return to Dream Land, on the other hand, is a pure traditional Kirby experience. Personally, I had more fun playing Return to Dream Land, but Epic Yarn did take me much longer to complete. Whatever the case, I would definitely recommend both games. So with all that said, I’m off. See ya.

Grade: B

Rating System Announcement and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review

2012-01-02T22:25:00.009-05:00

Well, another New Year has started, and, just like last year, I’ve decided to change my rating system once again. Last year, I changed from a five-point scale to a ten-point scale, the reason being that I felt like the five-point rating system was too limiting, not allowing enough room to specify just how good (or bad) a game is. However, over time, I’ve grown to see my ten-point scale a bit…inflated. As an example, based on the old rating scale, a game that got a 7, while that should mean “good”, more or less meant “okay”. Meanwhile, a game that got a 6 wouldn’t be worth buying at all unless you were a fan of the genre. On the big gaming websites and magazines, such a system is generally used because publishers (who bring in tons of advertising revenue for them) would not be pleased if their game got a particularly low score. Being independent, I do not require money from advertisers, and, therefore, am in no need of such a scale. Also, while I did feel the five-point system too limiting, I do believe some generalization is called for when rating games: after all, mostly, you have the amazing games, the good-but-flawed games, the okay games, the bad-but-with-some-redeeming-qualities games, and the awful games. I don’t think I should need twenty (since I go by “.5”s) numerical ratings to describe just how well they fit into these categories.

Therefore, I have decided to switch to a grading system. It offers just the right amount of generalization while at the same time giving me leeway to describe exactly how good or bad a game is thanks to “plus” and “minus” distinctions. As is the usual way, short descriptions of each grade will be tagged onto every review, but I will explain it at the beginning of this review first. The Skyward Sword review will begin afterwards.

A(-)(+) A top notch experience all the way through. It may not necessarily be perfect, but whatever flaws it does have won’t take you out of it or make it any less worth your time. (Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2)

B(-)(+) A very fun experience bogged down by some significant problems, whether they’re related to the story, gameplay, or both. However, it’s still a good game and worth the price of admission. (Kingdom Hearts: Recoded)

C(-)(+) A mixed bag. Generally fun to some extent and may shine in some areas, but is either too flawed to fully recommend or far too short for its price. Conisder it for a reduced price, at least if you’re a fan of its genre. (Rayman 3D)

D(-)(+) Subpar. It may not be terrible, but it is severely flawed and whatever it does well ultimately fails to save it. Even if you’re a fan of the genre, this is barely a bargain bin purchase. (Sonic Heroes)

F Insipid, disgusting, despicable, and insufferable. It is a scar on the face of human accomplishments that time shall never heal. The best thing we can do is avoid playing it at all costs. It is the only way to prevent its parasitic disease of awfulness from spreading. (Shadow the Hedgehog)

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Does this game really even need an introduction? To some extent, we all know how beloved the Zelda franchise is, and, quite frankly, it deserves that love. The original Legend of Zelda was one of the first games of its kind, providing what were – at the time – a massive overworld and dungeons with tons of secrets to find, enemies to fight and puzzles to solve. Zelda II took the gameplay in a different direction, but A Link to the Past for the SNES would take everything the original game did and expand upon it and boy, did they do a great job of that! It set the standard by which all later action-adventure games would be judged…until 1998 when Ocarina of Time came out and applied the Zelda formula to a massive 3-D world, resulting in what is hailed by many, including myself, to be one of the greatest games of all time. The later 3-D games would be contested in some areas, but still received their own amounts of critical acclaim and legions of adoring fans. One of my personal favorites is 2000’s Majora’s Mask, which changed things up significantly from Ocarina with its unique three-day system, side characters that were actually fully fleshed out and had their own storylines, transformation masks, and insane amount of worthwhile side quests. But enough of my personal anecdotes; let’s get to the game at hand.

Anyway, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the latest game in the extremely popular franchise, and its primary selling point is accurate swordplay thanks to the magic of WiiMotion Plus. While that’s great and all, rest assured: this isn’t the only improvement Skyward Sword brings to the table. In fact, Skyward Sword represents such a massive evolution of the Zelda formula in just about every respect and does so little wrong alongside it that it has, in my opinion, surpassed Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask as the greatest game in the franchise thus far. Let’s take a look as to why.

(Note that this review will contain spoilers for some items and gameplay elements.)

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As I often do, before really getting into why this game is so amazing, I’m going to talk about the aesthetics. The most notable thing about Skyward Sword, graphically, is its art style. Essentially, it’s a cel-shaded version of Twilight Princess’ art style with much brighter colors. It looks absolutely beautiful and suits the general tone of the game well, adding a cartoonish goofiness to some characters and enemies while at the same time giving it some needed sophistication. The environments, in particular, are a graphical highlight. Some of the textures are a bit blurry, but eh, I can forgive it thanks to how great the rest of it looks. Then we have the score. This is the first time a score for a Zelda game has been fully orchestrated, and while its melodies aren’t quite as memorable as those of some of the other games in the series, MAN does it have its standouts. The Skyloft theme pretty much puts me in a good mood every time I hear it, and the Ballad of the Goddess, the game’s main theme, is, in my opinion, one of the best songs ever composed for a video game. I also loved the theme for the third dungeon due to the atmosphere it created and the music for the Sandsea, one of the areas you will be visiting in the game. Other than that, nothing else really stood out to me, but it works.

Moving onto the storyline, it is chronologically the first game in the series. It begins in Skyloft, a set of floating islands above the clouds. In the town on the main island, men train to become knights at the Knight Academy. Our Link this time around is enrolled in said Knight Academy, and said knights get to ride giant birds called Loftwings through the sky. Don’t you wish you were them? Regardless, Zelda, rather than being a princess this time around, instead is Link’s childhood friend. Unfortunately, she is sucked into a tornado created by Demon Lord Ghirahim, our villain of the week. Link is then called upon by Fi, a robot, to take the Goddess Sword from Skyloft and use it to save the world, as he is the Chosen One, and the rest of the game takes place from there on.

Skyward Sword’s story is one of the many reasons why it’s the best Zelda yet. By far, it tells the most engaging – and at times, even touching – storyline in the series. This is partially thanks to how well the characters are handled. Zelda is a character this time around rather than a plot device. You care about her and want to save her not just because you have to, but because you like her. Link is at his best here as well. The Wind Waker was, for a long time, the only Zelda game to give Link any sort of real personality, and it’s handled very similarly here. He’s still just as silent as ever, but his facial expressions and various grunts and cries give off a wide range of emotions and reactions. It also handles the whole “he’s your ‘link’ to the game world” thing a lot better, since you are able to choose between three options as to what Link can say at certain points. There are also plenty of great supporting characters, and Ghirahim’s dialogue and general hamminess make him a really entertaining villain. As for the partner character, Fi, while I didn’t find myself enjoying her quite as much as Midna from Twilight Princess or Tatl from Majora’s Mask, her odd obsession with statistics and seemingly random dancing fits in some cutscenes were kind of amusing. Heck, even if not for that, I’d still take her over the likes of Navi any day. But even aside from having great characters, the mythology of Skyward Sword is just incredibly well done and very interesting to learn.

When it comes to gameplay, there’s a lot of ground to cover, but I’ll start with the controls, as it is the main selling point of the game. Twilight Princess’ waggle controls may have been cool back in 2006 when motion controls were a new thing, but now that they’ve been around for a while, they come off as tiring and even a bit laggy and unresponsive. It was already hard enough to go back to, but after playing Skyward Sword, I think the Wii version of Twilight Princess would feel virtually unplayable by comparison. Skyward Sword’s controls are amazingly smooth and accurate, reading your movements incredibly well even when you’re not attacking. Not only does it feel great, but, as you would expect, it adds quite a bit to combat. Enemy encounters actually require you to find an opening and exploit it by slashing in a specific direction before you can do damage, which is easy or hard depending on what enemy you’re facing. The average Bokoblin will attempt to block your slashes with its own weapon, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to get a hit in. Lizalfos, on the other hand, are very agile and have giant gauntlets on their arms that effectively block attacks. Their cockiness will get the better of them, however, as eventually they will stop to taunt you, leaving them defenseless in at least one direction. Other enemies are different. The bloblike Chuchus will split when you cut them, but will only stay apart if you cut them vertically, and some Moblins will require you to destroy their wooden shields before you can do any frontal attacks. It’s worth noting that enemies are a lot stronger this time around as well, so you’ll have to be defensive a lot yourself. Aside from combat, the Wii Remote is used for a lot of actions, such as throwing and rolling bombs, swimming underwater, controlling your items and flying on your Loftwing, and it always works great.

While we’re on the subject of controls, the use of motion controls isn’t the only thing that’s been changed up. Even maneuvering Link around the world is much quicker and easier. For the first time ever in a Zelda game, Link is able to sprint and even do a little bit of parkour by holding the “A” button. This helps navigating the world more than you would expect. While performing these actions, as well as hanging off of ledges and vines and even doing the classic Spin Attack (done in this game by swinging the Wii Remote and nunchuk at the same time), you will have to be wary of the stamina gauge, which gradually depletes. If it drops completely, Link will be left completely defenseless until it refills. In some areas, this actually adds a new element of challenge, particularly areas that require you to run or hold onto vines for a long time.

So the controls are great, but how is everything else? Well, I’m happy to report that pretty much everything is at its prime here. First, let’s talk about the overworld. There are four main overworld areas in the game: Skyloft, Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano and Lanayru Desert. Skyloft is essentially the hub of the game. It’s where the lone town resides, although there are several satellite islands with side quests to do and treasure to find (more on that later), kind of like in Wind Waker. Going off of that idea, flying on the back of your Loftwing is your mode of “sailing” in this game. Now, I know a lot of people hated Wind Waker’s sailing, but don’t worry; flying is not a big part of the game at all. Getting from place to place in Skyward Sword is much easier and faster, and the world is smaller to boot.

Most of the action happens in the other three overworld areas, which you will be returning to exactly three times each throughout the main quest. Don’t worry, though; Skyward Sword is not intent on rehashing content. Rather, the progression is somewhat Metroidvania; the second time you return to an area, you will use the new equipment items and abilities you have gotten to access new areas. The third return trip, in two out of three cases, takes place in areas you’ve already been, but what they do with them is really clever. In any case, the overworld of Skyward Sword is actually one of the big reasons why the game represents such an incredible evolution to the series. While the overworld is smaller and a bit more linear in design than what you would expect from a modern Zelda game, there is a LOT more to it in exchange. Skyward Sword blurs the line between overworld and dungeon, packing its areas with lots of enemies to battle, puzzles to solve and even some quite creative gimmicks. My favorite area was Lanayru Desert, which required you to make the use of Timeshift Stones – stones that revert parts of the area to a past, far greener state – to power up technology and progress through the level, and there was even a rollercoaster-esque minecart sequence at one point.

While I did just say that Skyward Sword’s overworld is smaller and more linear than the norm, that’s not to say that it's tiny. Exploration is pretty rewarding, in fact. You can find various materials in the game that can be used to upgrade Link’s equipment at the smithy in Skyloft, as well as Goddess Cubes that, when hit by a Skyward Strike from your sword, open up a treasure chest in Skyloft. The first time you go into each area, you will actually be sent on a quest requiring you to explore, usually right before that area’s first dungeon. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but would you call me crazy if I told you that the fetch quests in this game are FUN? Yes, Nintendo has taken one of the most thoroughly loathed elements of the Zelda series and made it into something that feels less like brainless padding and more like legitimately fun and interesting gameplay. This is, of course, thanks to the new style of overworld design, which makes finding the things you need fun rather than a tedious chore, although having a dowsing ability that points you in the right direction certainly helps.

There is another type of “fetch quest” – if it can even be called such - which you will be doing the first time you revisit each area. These are the Trials of the Goddesses, and they are pretty much what happens when you take the tedious and boring Tears of Light fetch quests from Twilight Princess and turn them into something that’s less “tedious and boring” and more “fun and challenging.” Actually, they’re not so much “quests” as they are a sort of mini-game. For these trials, you are dropped in the “Silent Realm” version of an overworld area and stripped of your equipment, at which point you have to seek out several Goddess Tears. If you get a Light Fruit, there will be a beacon over them so you can find them more easily. Sounds boring and fetch quest-y enough so far, but you haven’t gotten to the best part. The Silent Realm is filled with guardians – some of which that can fly and go through walls – and the second you start searching, they will be right on you. If they hit you once, you’ll have to start over. Fortunately, collecting a Goddess Tear will get you 90 seconds of peace, which can be renewed with each tear you collect, but you still have to look out for the Watchers, which will alert your presence to the Guardians once more, as well as Waking Water, which will also alert them to your presence as soon as you step in it. The trials are actually quite challenging, and I had a lot of fun completing them.

So, now that we’re finally done talking about the overworlds, what about the dungeons? Since the overworld is so dungeon-like now, you would think that they would deliver some truly phenomenal dungeon designs, and, well…they succeeded. They really succeeded. Skyward Sword’s dungeon designs are quite possibly the most clever and creative in the series thus far. The first couple are sort of basic albeit still great, but starting with the third, each one becomes an absolute joy to play through. There is so much cleverness and creativity put into the dungeons’ puzzles and gimmicks that it’s almost unbelievable, and all of them put the items you get to fun and creative uses. Said items include mainstays such as the bow, slingshot, bombs, and hookshot (or clawshots, as it would be), and the whip returns from Spirit Tracks – which is a very good thing since it’s one of my all-time favorite Zelda items – as well as really cool new items such as the Gust Bellows, which blows out a large gust of wind that can be used to power some mechanisms and clear sand; the Beetle, an extremely versatile flying weapon that can be controlled with the Wii Remote and is used for anything from cutting ropes to dropping bombs on unsuspecting enemies; and an upgrade to the Digging Mitts (an item you get early on in the game) that allows you to burrow underground. And just as great as the dungeons in Skyward Sword are the bosses that you face in them. Just like everything else, the bosses are extremely creative and enjoyable to fight, usually forcing you to make use of the new items from the dungeon or even the WiiMotion Plus swordplay.

There are a few other changes that Skyward Sword makes that, while somewhat minor, are probably worth touching on. First of all, Skyward Sword makes use of preset save points rather than allowing you to save wherever you want like in most other Zelda games. At first, I thought I would hate this. I thought disallowing you to save wherever you want worked for Majora’s Mask given its three-day system, but Skyward Sword seemed like it was going to be a mostly normal Zelda game. However, the more I played, the more I started to dig it. In previous Zeldas, saving would send you back to the start of the area or dungeon you had saved in or make you start from a specific area of the game, forcing you to trudge right back to where you had been before. Having preset save points is more of a convenience here than anything, mainly since the game is very generous with them; just about anywhere you could have accomplished something worthwhile, you will find a save point, preventing you from losing much precious game time thanks to death. Save points are also located in dungeons now, meaning you don’t have to start from the first room every time you reload your save.

Items and equipment are handled a lot differently as well. If you’re not careful, your shield could break and you’ll have to buy a new one. Fortunately, you can have your shield repaired before it does so, and even upgraded to make it more durable. Personally, I don’t think this is such a bad idea. Rather than just being there to make things more tedious, I think it’s there to make you think more about just when you should use your shield as well as encourage you to get better at shield bashes, done by shaking the nunchuk right as a blow connects to the shield, which will protect you as well as prevent your shield from taking damage. As for items, while you’ll always have your auxiliary equipment such as the bow and bombs with you, you will be limited as to the number of extra items and shields you can carry in your Adventure Pouch (although you can get more slots for it). I think this was put in place for much the same reason as the shield breaking; it’s to make you think more about just what you’re going to need before you continue your adventure, and I think it works.

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was an absolutely phenomenal experience for me all around. I have my nitpicks (such as the nunchuk controls being a bit oversensitive, for example), but in comparison to the amount of fun I had playing it, these were absolutely inconsequential. The storyline is fantastic, the controls are near-perfect, the overworld and dungeon designs are amazing…this is one of those games that you absolutely must experience. It is not only the greatest Zelda game, finally surpassing Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but it is – dare I say it? – one of the greatest games ever made. It’s definitely one of my favorite games now! Bottom line, buy it. T-Man, out.

Grade: A+

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Review

2011-11-20T02:40:00.014-05:00

It's pretty interesting to see just how far Naughty Dog has come. They made their big break with Crash Bandicoot in 1996, which was the first of the PlayStation's signature platformers. It was a big hit and was followed up by two superior sequels that actually still hold up pretty well. Then the PS2 came along and with it came the Jak series. Though I don't have as much personal experience with that series as I do their other main franchises, I can tell you that it did show a really big progression from Crash; both of the ones I played were far bigger and more ambitious than any games in their former series.

And then we have Uncharted, Naughty Dog's big series for the PS3. Unlike its previous series it doesn't take on a cartoonish tone, focusing on a more realistic adventure movie feel and featuring gameplay that could be most accurately described as "Gears of Tomb Raider". The first one, subtitled "Drake's Fortune", was certainly a very good game, but it suffered from its share of problems - namely, a massive focus on constant shootouts that, while fun, would get repetitive when there wasn't any platforming or puzzles to break the pace as well as an unrefined melee system. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, however, got rid of these problems and became arguably the best game for PS3...that is, until now. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is out now, and good Lord, is it amazing! Let's take a look at what joys it has in store for us.

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I'll start with what makes Uncharted 3 so awesome with its visuals. Yes, I fully understand that visuals aren't what makes a game good or bad, but I believe special mention has to be given here: the graphics are amazing. The environments are all absolutely beautiful and detailed and the setpieces are fantastic, and credit needs to be given for the fact that Uncharted 3 is one of the few games that features very realistic-looking human characters without ever setting one foot into the uncanny valley. And you can't talk about the visuals without talking about the score, and Uncharted 3 does a fantastic job here as well. Everything fits and sounds awesome; not much else to say, really.

With that out of the way, let's move on to the story. Story was one of the main strengths of the first two games, and Uncharted 3 is by no means an exception. Just like in past games, all of the main characters are great, and you love to hate the villains. The story itself is really intriguing as well, and, much like games such as Alan Wake or the Metal Gear Solid series, Uncharted attempts to create the feeling of watching a movie in its cutscenes; in particular, a really fun adventure movie, and it does so really well. Of course, the movie feeling extends beyond the story. Uncharted captures the feeling of not only watching, but PLAYING a movie better than any other series I've ever played.

Which brings me to the gameplay, and if you've played an Uncharted game before, you should already know what to expect. In case you haven't, though, I'll explain it. There are four main elements to Uncharted's gameplay: third-person shooting, hand-to-hand combat, platforming and puzzle solving. Third-person shooting could best be compared to Gears of War...except without massive amounts of gory Locust chunks flying everywhere. You've got a variety of guns and weapons at your disposal, and you will always be carrying a side arm as well as a main gun. And if you want to avoid getting destroyed, you'll have to make heavy use of cover as well. It's everything you would expect from this type of gameplay and it's a lot of fun.

Then there's the hand-to-hand combat. Now, admittedly, I don't remember much about Uncharted 2's hand-to-hand combat system; it could have been exactly the same or it could have been a bit different. Regardless, the hand-to-hand system in Uncharted 3 works really well. It's almost baffling how the developers were able to make a combat system focused on mashing the square button with the occasional quick time event so much fun and often even exciting. Basically, your attacks are - as I just said - done with the square button, although you can push an enemy in any direction using the circle button. During battle, you will occasionally have to press the triangle button to counterattack or repeatedly press circle to break out of an opponent's grip. I suppose what makes it so great is how intense it is. You'll often be using melee to pick off a single opponent in the middle of a massive gunfight, and you can push them up against the wall or other objects to trap them or even use the environment and the objects around you to your advantage. It's also worth mentioning that you can pull off stealth kills when hiding in cover or by simply sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies. It's pretty dang satisfying.

Now, as for the platforming, maybe my memory of Uncharted 1 and 2 is a bit fuzzy, but I noticed that this element is given a lot more emphasis than in the other two games. Even in Uncharted 2, while it didn't suffer at all for it, combat was what mostly stole the show, and I appreciate the effort taken to balance things out more in 3. Basically, platforming in Uncharted has a similar focus to that of the Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider series: climbing and acrobatics, or parkour if you prefer. You'll be doing quite a bit of climbing to get around in this game as well as stuff like swinging off of poles. It's pretty simple; all you'll be using for it are the control stick and jump button. Of course, you will occasionally have to take timing and not falling to your death into account. It's simple, but it's fun and it works. And it looks really cool. Finally, we have the puzzle solving. Straight-up puzzle solving has always been the least-emphasized element of the series, but regardless, the puzzles in this game are probably the most intelligent and interesting in the series thus far. They're fun to solve and they further help to keep things from getting tiring.

The biggest thing that Uncharted 3 does better than 2 is the action. The other Uncharted games featured a lot of action, of course, but in Uncharted 3, there is a ridiculous amount of it all the time, especially in the second half of the game, and it's pretty over the top. It's a game that, in addition to its fantastic graphics, storyline and gameplay, always feels incredibly exciting. This brings me back to the whole "playing a movie" thing; honestly, I can't tell you if this really helps that feeling or if it's the other way around, but I can tell you it's freaking awesome.

There's one other aspect of Uncharted 3 that deserves to be covered: the multiplayer. Now, Uncharted 2 featured multiplayer, but I never actually played it, so I can't compare. Regardless, to access the multiplayer of Uncharted 3, you will have to use a pass code. If you buy it new, the code will come on the back of the manual, but unfortunately, if you bought it secondhand, you'll have to pay a little extra. Of course, since you're getting the game for a lower price anyway in that case, I suppose that it matters little. Naughty Dog said it was because they didn't have enough money to do otherwise, so eh, I can live with it.

And honestly, I'd say it's worth paying an extra ten bucks for anyway. Online multiplayer is pretty much what you'd expect from the game, and it's a lot more fun than you would think. In fact, the multiplayer of Uncharted 3 is pretty darn great and will probably keep you playing for quite a while after you beat the campaign. It's mostly based around gunning down other players' avatars, and the Uncharted gameplay translates very well to a multiplayer experience. You have your usual team deathmatches and battle royales, but if you ever get tired of that, you have games in which both teams compete to see which can collect the most idols (it's better than it sounds) as well as "Team Objective", where the objective constantly switches between rounds. One interesting thing about the multiplayer is that unlike games like Battlefield and CoD that give you preset loadouts to choose from, you get to customize your own loadouts. This includes buyable upgrades for your weapons as well as some extra abilities. Overall, Uncharted 3's multiplayer is tons of fun, addictive and will keep you coming back for more.

When it comes to flaws, well...Uncharted 3 is a game that I can seriously say doesn't have anything legitimately wrong with it. I don't believe that a game can be truly perfect, but I honestly can't think of anything I had a problem with in Uncharted 3. It's polished, the graphics are amazing, it runs smoothly, the gameplay is fantastic...I really just can't think of any flaws here!

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Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is a unequivicolly amazing game. It's easily the best game in the series and probably the best game you could be playing on PS3. Just about every aspect of it is borderline perfect, and no other games offer quite the same experience that Uncharted 3 does. If you're a PS3 owner or planning on getting a PS3, then this game is an absolute must-have.

Score: 10/10

My Scoring System:

10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Metroid: Other M)

7(.5) - Pretty good game that either has several problems or is just too short for its price. Enjoyable to play, but you may want to wait for the price to drop a bit before picking it up. (Rayman 3D)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Sonic Heroes)

3 or 4(.5) - Bad game. A mostly negative experience, and whatever it does right fails to save it overall. Even if you're a fan, you're probably better off not playing it. (Sonic and the Secret Rings)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

Sonic Generations Review

2011-11-13T21:15:00.006-05:00

Kind of hard to believe it's already been twenty years since the original Sonic the Hedgehog graced the SEGA Genesis. I won't trouble you with a history lesson since I'm sure we all have at least some sort of vague idea as to who he is. Sonic's his name, speed's his game. He's the fastest thing alive, the cool blue dude with attitude, and whatever other cheesy nickname you could come up with. Yep, we have a lot of memories, Sonic and I. Since I first came along for the ride, we've ran down a building at a 90 degree angle in Speed Highway, plowed through cars in City Escape, taken a joyride through Green Hill, admired the chemical waterfalls in Chemical Plant, narrowly avoided falling to our certain deaths in Sky Sanctuary, defeated Eggman numerous times as well as a few god monsters... (sigh) And who could forget the time that Sonic started sucking?

Yes, it's a tale told in the introduction of many a Sonic review and I'm sure it's one we'd all like to forget, but Sonic's dark ages have only ended recently and I believe that they may have influenced the development of the game that we're discussing today. In 2001 the Dreamcast died, and from there, Sonic devolved into either a depressing tragedy or a hilarious joke depending on who you ask. 2003's Sonic Heroes was the picture of mediocrity and 2005's Shadow the Hedgehog was an abomination to game design. And following that, we have 2006's "Sonic the Hedgehog", which had potential, but was rushed to the point that it was completely unfinished and Sonic and friends ran slow as molasses. It completely destroyed Sonic's reputation for good, and 2008's Sonic Unleashed, though a massive improvement, was still too flawed to do anything to restore it. Not all was awful during this time, however. It was around this time that DIMPS made the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush series for Nintendo's handhelds (and they would later go on to make Sonic 4: Episode I), but they were unfortunately forgotten under the torrent of crappy 3-D console titles.

But then one day at Sonic Team, someone had an epiphany: "Hey! Maybe people would like Sonic again if we made a game that was awesome!" And that's just what they did. 2008's Sonic Unleashed, while bogged down by a stretchy-armed abomination known as the Werehog, actually did reinvent the 3-D Sonic gameplay in its other half, and it was pretty well received. Taking that framework and making it so that it focused more on platforming and exploration, Sonic Team created 2010's Sonic Colors, a brilliant game that combined clever level design with a fun power-up gimmick, and with that, things started looking up.

The next year (which happens to be this year! Gasp!) would be Sonic's 20th anniversary, and with it came, as expected, a new Sonic game. This game is known as Sonic Generations, and it is themed on Sonic's twenty-year-long history. As such, you not only get to play as the taller, leaner, green-eyed Sonic we see today, but also the pudgier, cuter Sonic from the Genesis days and both of them have their own styles of play. Also, in keeping with the theme, you will be visiting locales based on those from Sonic's previous adventures with level designs made to fit both play styles. Well, I've finally gotten to play it, and while the title of "first good console Sonic game since the Dreamcast days" has already been taken, Sonic Generations is the first Sonic game since Sonic 3 & Knuckles that I can legitimately say is a masterpiece. Let's find out why.

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Well, where to begin? I suppose I'll start with aesthetics, since, you know, that's the first thing you're going to notice when you start up the game, and well...dang. The graphics of Sonic Generations look fantastic. The setpieces are amazing and the environments look absolutely fantastic. Sonic Generations does an amazing job of breathing new life into levels from games past. Of course, the visual highlight of the game is Planet Wisp, just as it was in the game it comes from. No exaggeration - it looks like it came straight out of James Cameron's Avatar. (And before you tell me that movie is incredibly overrated, well, I agree with you, but it certainly did look awesome.) The graphics aren't perfect, however. There are some noticeable framerate drops here and there, most unfortunately in the Goin' Down section of Speed Highway. I can't help but be just a bit disappointed that the game doesn't run smoothly during one of Sonic Adventure's most iconic moments.

Of course, that's not even getting into the soundtrack. In keeping with the theme, the music for all of the levels and bosses are remixes of their previous themes, and the styles are different for both Sonics. The music for Classic Sonic's levels are usually more techno inspired, while the music for Modern Sonic's levels is based moreso around rock. Regardless, I love all of the remixes present in the game. Some of my personal favorites are Modern Crisis City, Classic Speed Highway and Modern City Escape. One thing I also thought was really cool was that you can actually unlock tons of other music tracks from the series and play them over any level or boss you want. This is a series that's full of awesome music, so a feature like this is very nice to have.

The story of Sonic Generations is emphasized much less than most other modern Sonic games, but eh, I don't think it suffers because of it. While enjoying his birthday party, a giant vortex opens up in the sky and sucks in all of his friends and leaves Sonic in a white void with an entrance to a familiar location: Green Hill Zone. Sonic rescues Tails and discovers that a monster called the Time Eater is tearing holes in time and space, and must team up with his pudgy past self to restore the world and defeat the Time Eater. It's...quite a bit more enjoyable than it sounds. The writing style is different from how it was in Colors, focusing less on jokes, but the script is still good and has its funny moments. We also get to hear more of the new voice cast this time around since this game has more characters, and most of them are pretty great. In short, good stuff.

But with all that said, the most important aspect of any game is its gameplay, and boy, does Generations deliver here. As I mentioned before, in Sonic Generations you will be controlling the tall, green-eyed Modern Sonic and the pudgy, black-eyed Classic Sonic, and they both have different styles of play. However, rather than one of them being a crappy God of War ripoff, both are familiar styles of Sonic gameplay. But before we talk about the main gameplay, I think I should talk about the level list. As a celebration of twenty years of Sonic, the levels are all based off of the most iconic levels from Sonic games past and they are separated into three eras. From the classic era, we have Green Hill Zone (from Sonic 1), Chemical Plant Zone (from Sonic 2) and Sky Sanctuary Zone (from Sonic 3 & Knuckles). From the Adventure era, we have Speed Highway (from Sonic Adventure), City Escape (from Sonic Adventure 2), and Seaside Hill (from Sonic Heroes). Finally, from the modern era, we have Crisis City (from Sonic 06), Rooftop Run a.k.a. Spagonia (from Sonic Unleashed) and Planet Wisp (from Sonic Colors). It kind of amazes me how accurately they captured the feel of the original incarnations of these levels. Rather than being content just copying aesthetics, Sonic Team looked at everything: gimmicks, the enemies you faced in the level, and other elements that made these stages awesome.

Better yet is that, in regards to the level gimmicks, they've put a lot of creative and fun twists on them and even added new ones that make sense in the context of the levels. Modern Sonic's "road-boarding" section from the original City Escape returns, while the more early 90's-oriented Classic Sonic receives a skateboard that serves a similar purpose. Also, remember the giant truck at the end of the level that was just there for the Rule of Cool's sake in SA2? Well, now it's a legitimate hazard. In Modern Sonic's level, it pulls out sawblades that you will have to avoid, while in Classic Sonic's level, you will have to move fast as it tries to destroy paths you can take through the level. Crisis City is special if only for the fact that it's fun to play this time around, but now it makes use of Modern Sonic's stomp move by having you use it to push down rocks carried by lava geysers. It also recreates the infamous tornado sequence in both the Modern and Classic levels; in Modern Sonic's level, it's much the same except for the fact that you're running towards it rather than away from it as it throws things at you (and thus it's not as horrendously cheap), and in Classic Sonic's level it makes platforming more difficult by trying to pull you in. For Planet Wisp, they actually brought the color powers back from Sonic Colors; Modern Sonic gets the Orange Rocket power and Classic Sonic gets Pink Spikes, and they're both put to the same uses that they were before. The Spikes power is also used to operate and ride some of the machinery, and Modern Sonic can now hitch a ride on some of Planet Wisp's minecarts. It's things like this alongside the new level designs that help the levels feel new at the same time that they feel familiar, as well as adding more of a feeling of diversity to the levels.

With all that out of the way, I can talk about how both Sonics play, starting with Classic. Yes, Classic Sonic is back in Generations, and he plays much like you remember him. True to the color of his eyes, as Classic Sonic you will run through 2.5D environments propelled by momentum physics. Sonic Team got the classic physics down pretty well; movement feels great and Sonic's jumps carry momentum just as they did in the classics, and it's actually necessary to make use of this to reach some paths in the levels. Rebound height when jumping off of enemies is now fixed, but it's used as sort of a double jump to reach different areas, which actually works really well. In terms of physics, the only thing I think they could really have done a lot better is the rolling. Unfortunately, it hasn't improved much since the first demo. It still slows you down more than anything. This isn't a big flaw by any means; rolling really isn't necessary for anything, and it would be hard to care anyway considering how powerful the spin-dash is in this game. It's just something I think they could have worked on to make the game feel more...you know...classic.

While Classic Sonic is slower than his modern self, don't think that there won't be enough speed. However, just like in the classics, you will have to play skillfully to maintain this sense of speed. Of course, there were two more aspects to the Genesis games aside from momentum physics and speed as a reward for skill: platforming and multi-teired level design that encourages exploration, and Classic Sonic's gameplay excels here as well. There's a lot of platforming here, and the levels are multi-layered with tons of different paths to take. One interesting thing is that the game makes use of the 2.5D perspective by making it so that the levels are not only layered from top to bottom, but also from left to right. Depending on where you are, there will be paths in the foreground or background, and often you will have to find a spring to take you to them. The game also makes use of the 2.5D perspective to provide more dynamic camera angles at certain points. On the whole, Classic Sonic's levels are very well-designed and a ton of fun to play.

But while the Classic Sonic levels are fantastic, it's Modern Sonic who really steals the show here. For those of you unfamilar with this gameplay style, the fundamental elements are that Sonic is given a boost move to help him go faster and perspectives constantly switch between 2.5D and 3D. Modern Sonic's levels borrow elements from both Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. From Unleashed it borrows the amazing sense of speed and reflex-testing segments while from Colors it borrows the platforming and exploration. While Unleashed focused mostly on the speed and Colors focused mostly on the platforming and exploration, Modern Sonic's levels in Generations play pretty much like the perfect mix of all three elements. In addition to the awesome sense of speed, there's a lot of platforming to speak of and plenty of ways to get through each level. However, that's not the only thing that the Modern Sonic levels have improved on.

Easily the best thing about Modern Sonic's levels in Generations is how much Sonic Team has improved on the 3D gameplay since Unleashed and Colors. Some fans did actually complain that the 3D sections of Unleashed were confined and too focused around testing reflexes rather than platforming, whereas Colors severely downplayed 3D sections and what 3D there was was somewhat underwhelming and still lacked good platforming. Now, personally, I thought this worked for Unleashed, and while I didn't necessarily find anything wrong with the 3D in Sonic Colors, I will admit that it could have benefitted from better 3D sections and heavier use of them. Sonic Generations completely obliterates this flaw. Following Chemical Plant, most levels give much more emphasis to 3D gameplay. Sky Sanctuary, Seaside Hill and Crisis City are probably the best examples of how much the 3-D has improved since the last games. All three of these levels are completely filled with 3-D platforming, and Sky Sanctuary and Seaside Hill - Seaside Hill especially - have more paths to take and exploration than in any other 3-D Sonic level. Overall, Modern Sonic's gameplay is incredibly fun and the level design is amazing.

Of course, like Classic Sonic, Modern Sonic has only one thing that I think, while not a huge problem, is something that could have been worked on a bit more: 3-D controls. Don't get me wrong, play control in 3-D has improved a lot since the last games. I literally couldn't go back to Unleashed after playing Generations, and I'd probably screw up similarly if I were to go back and play Colors. However, it's still just a bit stiff and floaty, not to the point of causing any serious problems but just to the point that it's noticeable. The jump also sometimes feels like it carries a little bit more inertia than it should, and while it's just a nitpick, I think the game could have benefitted from always allowing you to turn all the way around while jumping. 3-D control is far from "bad"; it's just something they could have done a bit of a better job on in my opinion.

The next thing that I would like to talk about is bosses, and I don't know about anyone else, but I've always felt like boss design in 3-D Sonic games was somewhat lacking. I criticised the bosses in Sonic Adventure for being too easy, but that's not really the only flaw with bosses in 3-D Sonic games. For the most part, they're just sort of lackluster. Even the bosses of Sonic Colors, though an improvement, were for the most part just okay, and it didn't help that they were rehashed for the game's latter three worlds. In Sonic Generations, though...the bosses are actually pretty awesome! They're all based on bosses from previous games in the franchise, but they're all fought very differently. There are two kinds of boss battles in Sonic Generations: you have the rival battles in which you face off against one of Sonic's many rivals (such as Metal Sonic or Shadow) and you have the main bosses, which are, well...main bosses from the Sonic series. All of them are really fun to battle. The ways of defeating them are usually interesting, and while they're not quite "hard", I wouldn't describe them as "easy" either beyond the first two. (Of course, if you still think they're too easy, you can challenge them again in Hard Mode.) Easily my favorite boss in the game is the fight against Perfect Chaos, which takes place partially as its own mini-level and makes the fight from Sonic Adventure look completely obsolete.

On its own, Sonic Generations is not going to last you very long - about 5-6 hours at best. However, Sonic Team knew this wouldn't be enough, so they made sure that there was plenty of replay value. First of all, for each stage there are five Challenge Acts for both Sonics, sort of like the extra missions of Sonic Adventure 2 except, well, quite frankly better. While you will have to complete one of these from every level to beat the game, most of them are completely optional. It is also by beating the Challenge Acts that you will unlock a lot of the extra concept art and music. Some of these Challenge Acts will have you racing a doppelganger to the end of the level, some revolve around a specific mechanic or gimmick, some introduce a new upgrade (more on those later), and some actually have Sonic going up against or enlisting the aid of a member of the franchise's periphery cast, which is something I actually liked since I felt like it made them do more than just be in the game. While some of these Challenge Acts take place within areas of the main level, with the exception of the doppelganger races most feature completely different designs. There's a lot of variety as well, which keeps things from getting repetitive or boring. There were a few of these that I thought were tedious, but not enough to complain about and overall I had a lot of fun completing the Challenge Acts.

The other form of replay value in Generations is the Red Rings, which return from Sonic Colors. In Colors, these unlocked Sonic Simulator stages, and by beating those, you would get Chaos Emeralds. By getting all seven Chaos Emeralds, you would be able to go Super Sonic. In Generations, you actually unlock Super Sonic as an upgrade by simply defeating the final boss. So instead, collecting Red Rings in Generations gets you more concept art and music, and collecting all of them from a single Classic or Modern level will get you a secret upgrade. I suppose it's about time I started talking about those, isn't it?

Well, in Sonic Generations, there's a skill shop where you can buy and and equip skills using money you get from playing levels. Each upgrade has a different point cost to equip, and there are only five slots and 100 points you can use, preventing you from overpowering either Sonic. This is how you will use Super Sonic, as well as how you will be able to use the awesome elemental shields from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. If you're not interested in the skill shop, you don't have to use it, but it's a nice feature.

Back on the subject of replay value, like any good Sonic game, Sonic Generations is not an experience you'll get the most out of playing it just once. You'll likely find yourself playing playing at least the Modern Sonic stages over and over again, whether it's to take paths you haven't before, challenge your time or rank, or just enjoy yourself. Further encouraging this are leaderboards, which allow you to compare your time with other players. With this on top of Red Rings and Challenge Acts, Sonic Generations has plenty of replay value to keep its short length from dragging it down.

The Good:

+ Amazing environments and setpieces
+ Awesome soundtrack
+ Good story
+ New voice actors are great
+ Both Sonics are a crapload of fun to play as (but Modern Sonic moreso)
+ 3-D sections have improved immensely since Colors
+ Outstanding levels
+ Great boss fights
+ Great replay value

The Bad:

- Occasional framerate drops
- Classic Sonic's rolling is mostly useless
- 3-D controls could be a bit better, though are not at all bad

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Sonic Generations was an absolutely fantastic experience for me and it's easily one of the best Sonic games of all time. Fans will, of course, get the most out of seeing some of the series' most memorable levels reimagined, but you don't have to be a fan to appreciate a genuinely great game. If you're not a fan, I'd say this is a great place to start. The few faults it has are minor, and it does everything else amazingly well. I wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone. Happy 20th anniversary, Sonic. We love ya.

Score: 9.5/10

My Scoring System:
10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

7(.5) - Pretty good game that either has several problems or is just too short for its price. Enjoyable to play, but you may want to wait for the price to drop a bit before picking it up. (Rayman 3D)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Sonic Heroes)

3 or 4(.5) - Bad game. A mostly negative experience, and whatever it does right fails to save it overall. Even if you're a fan, you're probably better off not playing it. (Sonic and the Secret Rings)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

Sonic Adventure (Re)Review

2011-11-01T19:12:00.007-05:00

Surprise! Bet you didn't see this coming, did you? Sonic Generations was officially released PS3 and 360 today, so I'm sure you were expecting, if anything, a review of that. But alas, though Generations is out, I've preordered it off Amazon.com, meaning I will have to wait a few days before finally getting to immerse myself in its awesomeness. But I do have to celebrate the day somehow, so I'm giving you all something (not so) special: a redone review of Sonic Adventure! Why am I actually doing this? It's mainly because I feel like my old review of this game, written back in April of last year, is a bit...well, let's just say I feel like I've improved a lot since then and I'm a bit ashamed of some of my older work. I barely went in-depth on anything, and it just seems poorly written to me now. Besides that, there are a couple of things I didn't really bring up and my opinions on a few things have changed a bit since then. So now, INTRODUCTION!

Sonic Adventure was initially released in 1999 for SEGA's then new, now long dead Dreamcast console as a launch title. It was meant to be Sonic's big leap into the third dimension, which was a cool new thing to do way back when after Mario started the trend. It was a really ambitious, huge, even revolutionary game for its time, and as such it received widespread critical acclaim. Unfortunately, general opinion on the game has significantly cooled down as years have passed; while it's still generally considered one of the better 3-D entries in the series, opinions are split on many elements that it introduced to the series, and you will get varying answers as to how well it has aged. Bearing in mind that this is the first game I ever played - EVER - Sonic Adventure is a really important game for me, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't sugarcoated in nostalgia. I will be as unbiased as I can in writing this review, but keep in mind that I may not be able to help myself.

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The storyline of Sonic Adventure is emphasized a great deal more than it was in Sonic games before it. Dr. Eggman, or Dr. Robotnik if you prefer, has released an ancient water monster called Chaos from his prison in the Master Emerald, a powerful gem that Knuckles the Echidna has been given the duty of guarding in its home on the floating Angel Island. Releasing Chaos causes the Emerald to shatter into several pieces, which in turn causes Angel Island to crash into the ocean. This also releases Tikal, an echidna girl who knows about Chaos' past and shows bits and pieces of it to Sonic and friends in the form of cryptic flashbacks throughout the story. Sonic has his own run-in with Chaos one rainy night as he watches several cops unload on it but to no effect. Because homing attacks are more effective than bullets on a water monster, Sonic defeats it without a problem. However, he and his good friend Tails soon learn that Eggman is planning on using the seven Chaos Emeralds to make Chaos more powerful, at which point he will use Chaos to destroy Station Square (a local city) and build his own city, Robotnikland, on top of it. Being the only ones capable of stopping him, Sonic and Tails set out on a quest to get the Chaos Emeralds before Eggman does. Meanwhile, Knuckles searches for the pieces of the Master Emerald, Amy tries to help a lost bird find its family while on the run from one of Eggman's robots, new character Big the Cat - inventive name, I know - searches for his lost pet frog, and new character E-102 Gamma (a robot built by Eggman) decides he must destroy the rest of the E-Series robots to release the animals trapped inside their metal frames (for those unfamiliar with the series, Eggman powers his robots using animals).

What's most interesting about Sonic Adventure's storyline isn't as much the story itself as it is the way it's told. You will see Sonic Adventure's story through the perspectives of six different playable characters, each with their own experiences and takes on the storyline. What this pretty much means is, after you play through Sonic's storyline, you can play through Tails' storyline to see what happened during the points that the two got separated or you can play through Knuckles' storyline to see what he was doing the whole time. In addition, oftentimes characters' storylines will cross paths and some events in one storyline can connect to events in another. Also, it's worth mentioning here that you will actually have to play through all six characters' storylines to unlock the final story, where you will fight the true final boss and see the real ending to the game. There are a couple of plot holes here and there, but the story is pretty entertaining overall.

So, the story is pretty good, but how does the gameplay fare? Well, as I mentioned before, Sonic Adventure features six different characters that you will control - the titular Sonic the Hedgehog, his buddy Tails, former rival Knuckles the Echidna, fangirl Amy Rose, the moronic Big the Cat, and robot E-102 Gamma. In addition to having their own perspectives on the storyline, they all have different gameplay styles that vary in how far away they shy from the core gameplay of the series. This has garnered mixed reactions, to say the least. While from one perspective this offers some nice variety, at the same time there are definitely going to be some characters you will like more than others depending on your tastes, and some you might even outright hate. Besides that, the gameplay style of one character unarguably shouldn't be in a Sonic game at all, but we'll get to that when we get to it. Fortunately, Sonic Adventure averts the problem that Unleashed and, while I consider it a better game for a few reasons, Sonic Adventure 2 had by separating the characters' play styles into their own storylines rather than forcing you to switch between them as the plot demands. Though you do have to play all characters' storylines to completion in order to see the true ending, if that doesn't matter to you then you only have to play as the characters you like. Anyway, since all of the characters play so differently, I'm going to discuss each one separately.

We'll start with Sonic, the blue blur himself, and as anyone who's played this game will tell you, Sonic's storyline is the highlight of the game. While the other characters have three to five stages, Sonic has ten to his name and they're all a lot of fun to play. I suppose Sonic's gameplay can best be described as what happens when you take the classic Genesis games and put them into 3-D. Sonic gets a few new moves this time around such as the homing attack, which allows you to blast to an enemy and destroy it if you press the "A" button in mid-air, and the Light Dash, which allows Sonic to dash along a trail of Rings. Of course, Sonic is just as fast as he ever was and Sonic Adventure features many (unequivocally satisfying, I might add) sections where you just get to watch Sonic blast ahead at high speeds during chase sequences that pretty much abuse the Rule of Cool.

Later 3-D Sonic games would take the gameplay in different directions with varying degrees of success, but Sonic Adventure's physics and level design philosophy reflect the classics by a lot. Some longtime fans complain that recent 3-D Sonic games don't have enough straight-up platforming or exploration like in the classics. This is simply not a criticism that can be leveled against Sonic Adventure. There's a lot of platforming here and levels feature a fair amount of exploration as well; there are plenty of areas where paths branch out and some areas even have hidden extra lives or other such power-ups. It's impossible not to appreciate the diversity present in Sonic's stages either; one stage will feature Sonic riding on wind currents through the sky, another will partially take place as a pinball mini-game, and yet another will have you using Sonic as a sentient bowling ball right after a section in which you take a bumper car down a racetrack. On the whole, Sonic's levels are really fast and extremely well designed, and you'll probably find yourself playing them again and again.

The next character on our list is Tails. His gameplay style isn't really that different from Sonic's except for the fact that he actually has to race another character to the end of the stage. It's...actually not as hard as it sounds. In fact, it's really easy because Tails is able to fly, giving him access to many shortcuts that Sonic can't take. Most of Tails' levels can basically thought of as shorter, easier versions of Sonic's, the exception being Speed Highway in which Tails takes a completely different path. Tails also gets his own snowboarding (or sandboarding, as it would be) mini-game - more on those later - which is pretty nice, but though it's still fast and enjoyable, Tails' storyline feels mostly like an easier, shorter retread of Sonic's.

Instead, we can rely on Knuckles to deliver a different experience from Sonic's story. Knuckles' play style is very different from Sonic's or Tails'; rather than going from point A to point B, Knuckles' stages play out somewhat like a simpler, more Sonicy take on the gameplay of games like Banjo-Kazooie. In these stages, you are meant to find three pieces of the Master Emerald in an open environment using Knuckles' abilities to glide, climb and dig. As an aid, you are given a hot-cold radar that will start beeping whenever you get close to an Emerald shard. If you need more help or get lost, you can find one of Tikal's hint balls, which will fly in the direction of the nearest Emerald shard. Opinions seem to vary on this gameplay style quite a bit. Now, I actually really enjoyed these stages. I'm a fan of the "collect-the-items" style of gameplay and I liked that it gave you a good chance to really explore some of the game's more open levels. Besides, I think that giving Knuckles this gameplay style was at least somewhat justified by the fact that they were using the same eleven levels for all of the characters; Knuckles' moveset could have been a huge game breaker in point-A-to-point-B style stages. I do, however, wish that he had been given point-A-to-point-B stages in Sonic Adventure 2.

Next up is Amy Rose, Sonic's pink-haired fangirl, and this time she has a stalker of her own. Eggman's robot called ZERO is after the bird she's helping and Amy has to protect said bird. This is incorporated into the gameplay by having ZERO appear at some points during the levels and try to chase you down and attack. You'd literally have to stand still for him to be able to do anything, though; his lock-on punch attack won't follow you if he manages to get a lock, and you can attack him a few times to slow him down. Because of this, he's less of a threat and more of an almost irrelevant annoyance. Aside from that, though, Amy's gameplay is pretty interesting albeit flawed. Amy can't curl up into a ball like Sonic, Tails and Knuckles; instead, her preferred method of attack is a giant hammer. In addition to bashing enemies' skulls in, this hammer is also useful for making long jumps; pick up enough speed and Amy will hold her hammer out, at which point you can do something of a pole-vault move by pressing the "B" button. Of course, Amy is slower than most of the other cast, so her stages focus more on slower-paced platforming, finding switches or turning cranks to activate things, and some mild puzzle solving. Aside from two needlessly annoying color block "puzzles" in Hot Shelter (the word is in quotes because a two-year-old could solve them), her levels are for the most part well-designed. However, the slow pace of her gameplay may turn some off. For me, it's not so much that as it is her sluggish, floaty controls. I don't have a problem with her being slower than the other characters, but she should at least control well. However, Amy only has three levels, so you don't have to spend enough time with her to really complain about it.

And then we have Big the Cat, who...fishes for his pet frog named Froggy. No, I'm not even joking; there are fishing levels in this game. Well, okay, I'll admit in spite everything I've said about them in the past that Big's stages really aren't that bad for what they are. You just find Froggy, cast the rod, wiggle the lure around until he notices it, and then reel him in without letting the tension gauge get too high or else the rod will break and you'll lose a life. It's easy and takes no longer than two minutes if you know what you're doing, and Big only has four levels. Besides that, his storyline is entertaining because of how much of a stereotypical cartoon moron he is and because he can't seem to keep hold of Froggy until his storyline finally ends. (Also, fun fact: he's voiced by the same guy who does the voice of Duke Nukem.) The problem here is that this gameplay style does not by any stretch of the imagination belong in a Sonic game. I don't find this style of gameplay particularly enjoyable, and I shouldn't have to play it in a Sonic game. What's most baffling about this is that this is a character created specifically for the game so it could have fishing levels. I'm sorry, but who thought this was a good idea? Big's stages aren't that bad, but they really shouldn't be in this game.

Not only that, but his soulless stare kills you from the inside out as he eats your babies.

Fortunately, E-102 Gamma fares quite a bit better than Amy or Big. Being a robot with a gun arm, he gets faster-paced levels focused more on shooting. By holding "B", you will be able to lock on to enemies and objects and you'll fire lasers at them upon releasing "B". Gamma actually has a time limit to his levels and you will be able to get more time by killing enemies. The more enemies you lock onto at once, the more time you will get. It's also worth noting that Gamma's last three levels each end with bosses. These stages are actually pretty fun and due to their fast pace don't even feel as out of place in the game as Knuckles' or Amy's stages. Gamma also probably has the most interesting storyline out of all the characters. Gamma isn't as much fun to control as Sonic, Tails or Knuckles, but his gameplay style is still pretty good.

Of course, the action stages aren't the only side to Sonic Adventure's gameplay. Like many platformers of its time, Sonic Adventure features hub worlds, or "Adventure Fields" as they are known here. These hub worlds are where most cutscenes and boss fights take place, as well as where you'll find the entrances to the action stages, some of which are opened by solving minor puzzles, and upgrades for the six playable characters. You'll also find NPC's to talk to here. Nothing they say really has anything to do with anything, but some of their dialogue is pretty amusing and there are a couple of funny subplots involving some of them. If you're ever unsure of where to go, you can always go to Tikal's hint ball and she will tell you where you need to go. The best thing about these hub worlds is that they don't feel like they're just there as a bridge between stages; their presence, execution and use really do help to make the game feel more like a big adventure, which I appreciate.

One interesting thing about Sonic Adventure is that it features several mini-games that you will get to play throughout the story. These include Sky Chase, two rail shooting missions on a plane; Twinkle Circuit, a mini-game version of the bumper car racetrack from Twinkle Park; Sand Hill, a desert variation of Ice Cap's snowboarding sequence; and my personal favorite, Hedgehog Hammer, a whack-a-mole-esque game played with Amy. Sonic Adventure also features a Chao Garden, in which you can raise virtual pets called Chao. You can give these Chao animals that you find in the action stages to boost their stats and then enter them in races. Personally, I don't care for the Chao Garden in this game, preferring the one in Adventure 2, but if you like it, you can put hours into it. These are really nice features that do actually add more depth and replay value to the game if you care about them.

One last thing that I would like to give praise to is Sonic Adventure's soundtrack. Sonic games generally have awesome soundtracks, and Sonic Adventure is no exception. Pretty much every BGM in the game is fantastic. Unfortunately, I can't exactly say the same thing for most of the vocal tracks aside from Open Your Heart, which is the main theme, but I suppose that's mostly subject to personal taste.

Of course, many will argue that Sonic Adventure is showing its age, and, well, in the grand scheme of things it has aged...okay. Sonic's levels are still a crapload of fun to play, the level design is still great, the soundtrack is awesome, and - in personal opinion, of course - the other characters are fun to play as save for a certain purple cat. There's plenty of replay value here, and the story, while nothing to write home about, is pretty solid and interesting. I've played plenty of games from its era that have aged far worse.

I'm looking at you...

I will admit, though, that Sonic Adventure is starting to look pretty dated in a few areas. In particular, boss design really leaves a lot to be desired. Some of them are pretty fun, but they're all just way too easy. I understand that the Sonic series was never exactly known for its great boss fights, but in Sonic Adventure, it almost seems a little ridiculous at times. Special mention goes to four out of E-102 Gamma's six boss fights, which can literally be won by standing in one place and mashing the "B" button continually. The camera system of Sonic Adventure was considered flawed even at the time of its release, and while it's not game breaking, the problem is there. Finally, Sonic Adventure is a pretty unpolished game. Glitches aren't frequent if you don't seek them out, but the occasional clipping glitch or collision detection flaw will happen. Sonic Adventure is not a broken game by any means, and the frustrations caused by its camera and lack of polish are generally minor, but these flaws are worth mentioning.

There is one other thing that falls outside the realm of gameplay that is pretty dated as well: the writing and voice acting. The voice acting is...hit or miss. Some fans would say that Ryan Drummond is the best voice actor for Sonic, and while I prefer Roger Craig Smith, I have to give credit where credit is due: he's one of the better ones here. He's not great, but his tone fits Sonic well and there's some emotion behind his acting. Amy's voice is okay, too, and I suppose Big's and Gamma's voices work for the types of characters they are. Easily the best one is for Dr. Eggman, who does a great job both during his more menacing moments and when Eggman is being the slightly goofy, egotistical villain we all know him to be inside. Unfortunately, rest of the voice cast doesn't fare quite as well, to say the least. Knuckles' voice actor seems to waver constantly between "kind of okay" and "completely wooden", and the actors for Tails and the supporting cast are so fake it's almost laughable. Fortunately, this can be remedied by setting the voices to Japanese while keeping the subtitles in English. Unfortunately, that's only getting rid of half the problem. The writing of Sonic Adventure is pretty cheesy to say the least - and I mean that in the bad way. But hey, at least some lines are so bad that they're almost good.

Now, there is one last thing I feel like I should mention. Due to Sonic Adventure's popularity on the Dreamcast, SEGA rereleased it several times on different consoles following the DC's death. The most well known ports are Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut for the GameCube, released in 2003, and the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network port, which was released just last year. I've never played the GameCube version, but I have played the XBLA version, and it's...a pretty shoddy port to say the least. The fun gameplay and level design are still there, but the controls have somehow become ridiculously slippery, the camera has gotten far worse, and there are glitches everywhere. It's almost as broken as - dare I say it? - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006. The game also receives a graphical "upgrade", but in my opinion it does more harm than good; in the XBLA version, the character's look like they're made of metal and a lot of the textures they've changed or replaced just don't look as good to me, especially the rocky textures that literally look like vomit. About the only thing it has improved over the Dreamcast version is the Chao Garden, which features more of Sonic Adventure 2's innovations.

I've researched the GameCube version, and it does have a lot more extra content than either of the other ports. It includes a mission mode and, like the XBLA version, a Chao Garden more like Sonic Adventure 2's. It also includes each of Sonic's Game Gear titles as unlockables, which are completely amazing - well, not really "amazing" - okay, I guess most of them range from mediocre to utterly terrible, but Sonic 2, Chaos and Triple Trouble are fun. However, it supposedly has some of the same problems as the XBLA version albeit to a lesser extent. Most people don't own Dreamcasts these days, so I suppose that this is probably the best version you can get if you haven't played the game before. Of course, you probably shouldn't just take my word for it, since, as I mentioned before, I've never played this version.

The Good:

+ Fantastic Sonic levels
+ Six playable characters with their own perspectives on the story
+ Most of the said six characters are fun to play as
+ Great soundtrack
+ Mini-games and Chao Garden are nice
+ Solid storyline
+ Hub worlds are nice

The Bad:

- What are fishing levels doing in a Sonic game?
- Bosses are too easy
- Camera is flawed
- Occasional glitches
- English voice acting is hit or miss and the script is subpar
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In the end, Sonic Adventure is still a very good game. Like I said, I do have a lot of nostalgia for this game, but I fully admit that it has some flaws and a few aspects haven't exactly aged wonderfully. However, I feel like I really don't need nostalgia goggles to enjoy Sonic Adventure. I still have a lot of fun with it when I play it - well, when I'm not playing as Big, anyway - and if you haven't played it already, I suggest you do so. The Sonic levels alone make this game at least worth a look, and its strengths outweigh its weaknesses. It's not an amazing masterpiece anymore, but it's still a solid game. Just avoid the XBLA/PSN version. T-Man, out.

Score (DC): 8/10
Score (XBLA/PSN): 4.5/10

My Scoring System:
10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

7(.5) - Pretty good game that either has several problems or is just too short for its price. Enjoyable to play, but you may want to wait for the price to drop a bit before picking it up. (Rayman 3D)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Sonic Heroes)

3 or 4(.5) - Bad game. A mostly negative experience, and whatever it does right fails to save it overall. Even if you're a fan, you're probably better off not playing it. (Sonic and the Secret Rings)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

Donkey Kong Country Returns Review

2011-10-22T19:16:00.005-05:00

I was planning on making another Sonic-related list or review, but I quickly realized that I probably have far too many Sonic-related posts on my blog. Sonic Generations is also coming out, which I simply can't see not reviewing, so today let's talk about another game series that has recently found its way back into our hearts: Donkey Kong.

Back in the 80's, there were a few Donkey Kong arcade games - the first of which is most famous for introducing us to the most widely recognized video game character by far, Mario. However, the Donkey Kong franchise didn't see as much recognition by itself until the SNES era, when Rareware, a second-party company owned by Nintendo, created the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. Sporting then-revolutionary graphics, tons of secrets, fantastic level design, and an incredible difficulty level, these games would find their way into the hearts of many gamers. During the Nintendo 64 era, Rare would make one more Donkey Kong game called - wait for it - Donkey Kong 64, and it remains as the series' only foray into the third dimension, which is a bit unfortunate if I do say so myself.

In 2002, Nintendo would sell Rare to Microsoft, and, unfortunately, the Donkey Kong franchise would suffer a bit. While they were - from what I've heard, anyway, since I've played hardly any of them - pretty solid, most Donkey Kong games from that point onward were spinoffs. The only platformer to come out of the series during the GameCube era was Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, and even that was a spinoff that you played with the barrel bongos (bongo drum controller originally made for Donkey Konga, which was...a rhythm game. Yes. A Donkey Kong rhythm game.)

Fast forward to 2010. 2-D platformers are seeing somewhat of a resurgance in popularity, which has prompted several series to produce games that see them return to their roots. Mega Man 9 and 10, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I - probably the most recent game of its nature - and Nintendo's own New Super Mario Bros. series have all seen success, and the Rayman series will be receiving its own retro revival, Rayman Origins, later this year. Realizing that fans would probably like to have a proper Donkey Kong title, Nintendo got Retro Studios, famous for the amazing Metroid Prime trilogy, on the job to see if they could make an equally amazing Donkey Kong game in the style of the original DK trilogy, and that's just what they freaking did! What the Super Mario Galaxy series is to 3-D platforming, Donkey Kong Country Returns is to 2-D platforming. Yes, it is that good. Let's see why, shall we?

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The story of Donkey Kong Country Returns is simple. A volcanic eruption has released tiki guys that are hypnotizing the animals of DK Island and, like King K. Rool before them, stealing Donkey Kong's bananas. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong seem to be resistant to the tikis' hypnotism, so they set out on a quest to defeat the tikis and get their freaking bananas back.

I guess they're magically delicious. (But I had to make the reference...)

Pretty much everything you loved about the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy is here. You run through a level, going from point A to point B, clearing enemies and obstacles in your way and collecting bananas and coins to spend at the in-game shop, and often you will have to use barrel-shaped cannons to cross gaps and other areas. Of course, this game is for the Wii, and Retro Studios couldn't pass up the opportunity to make use of the motion controls. Actions like slamming the ground, used to destroy some objects and find secrets, and doing a roll to go faster are now handled by shaking the Wii Remote. A lot of people seem to have a problem with this, but personally I think it works pretty well. Also, Donkey Kong can actually take two hits in this game rather than just one. MUCH appreciated, Retro.

Of course, Donkey Kong won't be alone in his adventure. Also returning from the classic games is Diddy Kong, DK's sidekick, and I love what they've done with him in this game. In the classics, if you weren't playing in co-op mode, Diddy was pretty much just an extra hit point. He was faster and lighter than Donkey Kong, but he wasn't as strong. In Returns, you can't control him in single player mode, but I doubt you'll miss this ability much. In addition to giving you two extra hit points, Diddy actually rides on Donkey Kong's back. He uses his jetpack from Donkey Kong 64 to add a hover to the end of a jump if you keep the jump button held down, making platforming a bit easier. He also allows you to roll continuously if you keep shaking the Wii Remote. This makes it faster to get around, and let's face it: it's just plain satisfying to plow through enemies while rolling. Rambi the Rhino also returns, and he's just as awesome as he was way back when. There are two other small but nice touches that Retro saw fit to add. If you bounce on several enemies in a row, the chain will give you coins and eventually an extra life. Also, at the end of every level, there is a barrel with a bonus roulette on it. If you can touch it when it's on the "DK" symbol, you will be able to punch the barrel by shaking the Wii Remote repeatedly, and how much of an item you get will depend on how many times you shook the Wii Remote. You get to do something similar every time you beat a boss. These things may be small, but I couldn't help but find them relentlessly entertaining.

But we haven't even gone into the main reasons why Donkey Kong Country Returns is such an amazing game. Let's start with the level design. Remember when I said that this was the Super Mario Galaxy 2 of 2-D platformers? Yeah, this is why. Level design in Donkey Kong Country Returns is simply amazing. Retro Studios has shown a lot of creativity in designing these levels, and there's a lot of diversity to be found here. Each level poses its own challenges, and all of the levels are extremely enjoyable to play. We even get to see the return of the beloved minecart from the first game, as well as a new type of level in which you actually have to maneuver a flying rocket barrel around obstacles. Boss design is fantastic as well; the bosses are creative, challenging and fun to fight.

Speaking of challenge, this game has tons of it. Donkey Kong Country Returns is an immensely difficult game, and if it weren't for Super Meat Boy, this could even be called the platformer equivalent of From Software's Demon's Souls. I've seen a few people say that this game is cheap or unfair, but this simply can't be true. Every time I died in Donkey Kong Country Returns, I felt like I had genuinely screwed up - and I died a lot. The game is also pretty generous with extra lives, so you won't have to worry too much about getting game overs unless you really suck, and if you get too frustrated, you can always use the ever-insulting Super Guide. I'll get you one day, pig...

Wave that flag one more time. I DARE you.

In true Donkey Kong fashion, there are tons of secrets and extra items hidden in the levels of Donkey Kong Country Returns. Varying amounts of puzzle pieces are hidden in each level, which you may have to get creative to find and sometimes you will have to complete a bonus level to get them. Also, returning from the classics are the four KONG letters in each level. In the classics, getting all four of these in a single level would net you an extra life. Here, though, getting all four from each level in a world will unlock that world's secret level...which are some of the hardest in the game. Completing all of those unlocks a ninth world with a single level, and if you beat that, you get the Banana Mirror. This lets you replay the levels in Mirror Mode. Not only does this reverse everything, but it reduces you down to one hit point and forbids you from using inventory items or Diddy Kong. So basically, your reward for getting 100% is pretty much that you get to play through the levels again except they're even more difficult. To be honest, I was a bit too scared to try this beyond the first world.

As for flaws, well...I really can't think of anything to complain about! I wouldn't necessarily say that Donkey Kong Country Returns is perfect, because if I tried I could probably think of a nitpick or two, but DKCR really is a game that comes ridiculously close.

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I suppose it would be fitting to say that Retro Studios could very well shape up to be to Nintendo now what Rare was to them way back when. Donkey Kong Country Returns is a simply fantastic game and a joy to play throughout. The gameplay is as good as it ever was, the level design is fantastic, it's incredibly challenging...if you own a Wii, this game is an absolute must-have. Well, I'll see you all again soon. Farewell, friends.

Score: 10/10

4 Common Criticisms Toward Sonic And Why They're Stupid

2011-09-23T12:27:00.008-05:00

To see how Sonic Generations is turning out really makes me feel good to be a Sonic fan. It seems that almost every week something new is revealed that raises my anticipation levels. Almost nothing about it looks disappointing in the least.

But if there's anything that Sonic is known for other than his speed, it's disappointment. Following the Dreamcast era, the main console Sonic games featured quite possibly one of the most crippling crashes and burns ever seen in terms of quality. This culminated in 2006 when quite possibly one of the worst games ever made came out titled simply "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG". It was released for the hedgehog's 15th anniversary and it was an insult not only to the fanbase, but to the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Nay, it was an insult to video games in general. Nay! It was an insult to the human race as a whole.

Needless to say, people weren't so quick to forgive and forget. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was followed up two years later by Sonic Unleashed. Was it a great game? No, not at all. It featured Sonic turning into a Werehog at night to go through beat-em-up levels that were mediocre at best and absolutely insipid at worst. The good thing, though, is that that was only half of the game. You spent the other twelve hours of the day blasting through levels faster than ever before, dodging obstacles and taking down enemies and the way it felt can only be described as absolute bliss. With Unleashed, Sonic became more than just a fast-paced platformer; it became a series based around simulating the feeling of running at the speed of sound, watching everything fly by. Sure, it still had the Werehog, but if only because of how thoroughly SEGA nailed it with the daytime levels, I would say it is a genuinely good game.

But even the fact that Sonic turns into a Werehog doesn't excuse crap like this:

No matter what you think about Sonic Unleashed, the way the reviewer here presents his opinions is simply unprofessional. He begins the review by saying "There's one thing you should know about Sonic Unleashed before spending your hard-earned money on it: It's a big piece of garbage. BIG piece of garbage." As bad of a way this is to start a review of anything, I could at least see where he's coming from if he disliked the daytime gameplay. Much as I love it, I'm gonna be honest: there ARE legitimate reasons for disliking it. But no, he, too enjoys the daytime gameplay. But apparently the Werehog sucks so much that it kills the whole thing. Why? I dunno, it's just bad. Oh, and it makes Big the Cat look like an endearing character. Because I would totally rather go fishing - for frogs - in a Sonic game rather than play a beat-em-up. And the hub worlds are boring. Why? Because they're boring. What's this nonsense about "explaining his opinion" that you speak of?

It doesn't stop there. IGN wrote an article for Sonic's 20th birthday and made a point to mention Sonic Unleashed, calling it "one of the hedgehog's lowest points - ever" and saying "This is the game in which Sonic turns into a stretchy-armed werewolf thing. What else is there to say?" Uhh, how about the daytime levels where Sonic WASN'T a werewolf?

But for as stupid as all this is, you know what? I get it. Sonic 2006 is probably one of the worst games ever made. Not so easy to forgive that. That doesn't excuse such bias, but I can at least understand where such bias comes from. They were mad. We all were. But it's time to forgive and forget. Even IGN praised Sonic 4: Episode I and Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations is receiving massive amounts of hype for a reason. And yet no one outside of the fandom has forgiven Sonic. What's even dumber is what they blame the franchise's downfall on. These are the same gaming journalists we rely on all the time for news and reviews on the latest games. Such bias against Sonic has extended beyond gaming journalism: tell anyone on the Internet outside of the fandom that you like the series and you'll be accused of having no taste in video games or, at best, you'll have all the bullcrap criticisms of the gaming journalists regurgitated at you. These are people who have never played a Sonic game in their lives and they are repeating the exact same things the critics are saying. This is why I have compiled this list of four common criticisms toward the franchise from people who either don't know what they're talking about or who are blowing things out of proportion. Bear in mind this is only based on what journalists, crtics and non-fans say: you will see none of the memetic "herp derp GREEN EYES" or "RYAN DRUMMOND WAS THE BEST VOICE ACTOR FOR SONIC BRING HIM BACK" complaints from the...less evolved members of the fandom. So without further adieu...

4. The Sonic series sucks because they tried to put it in 3-D! SEGA should only make 2-D Sonic games, that will save the series!

We start with one of the complaints that is, in a way, the most grounded in reality, as it is true that Sonic's 3-D entries beyond the Dreamcast era are the most infamous games in the series. However, this complaint is still uninformed and quite frankly annoying to hear, and I don't only say that because I'm a fan of a few of Sonic's 3-D entries. Sonic Adventure came out in 1999 for the Dreamcast. It had flaws, but it received great reviews across the board by people who somehow enjoyed speeding through colorful, well-designed environments in the exciting new third dimension - in (at the time) stunning graphics. For whatever reason, this tends to baffle some of the game's detractors who either say that it's aged terribly or was never that good in the first place. I think I'll let GamesRadar talk for me here:

"But people still seem to think this is the blueprint for a good Sonic game. It is not an exceptional game. It was slightly above average and adored solely because it looked worlds better than its competition,"
- Top 7 Games That Don't Deserve Nostalgia

Oh, better!

"And then, because Mario did it in Mario 64 and everyone liked that, Sega made the worst decision in its history - creating a Sonic game in 3D. The screenshots showed glorious forest and temple levels we couldn't wait to run around - but the game's camera was awful and you spent more time battling the controls than Eggman/Robotnik.

Fast things and 3D just don't work. Mario is fine in 3D as he's a slow fat man. Sonic, with his bouncing around and breakneck pace, just ends up dying and getting stuck on lumps of scenery. Even now, we wish with all our hearts that Sega would see sense and make a proper, big-budget, all-new Sonic game in 2D. Imagine that. If we all wish for it really hard, perhaps it will happen."
- The Ups and (Many) Downs of Sonic

You know, I could talk all day about how biased even the titles of the articles are, but I think I'll just talk about the content of them, particularly the second one. Now, much as I love Sonic Adventure, there are legitimate reasons to dislike it - a lot of them. The camera can be quite the annoyance, you have to go through four levels of fishing - for frogs - with a purple cat who appropriately has the intelligence level of Barney the Dinosaur, the voice acting and dialogue suck, and, while it's aged considerably better than, say, Final Fantasy VII, it's not exactly aged gracefully either. So, they do mention the camera, but according to them you also "spent more time battling the controls than Eggman/Robotnik". I'm sorry, are we talking about the crappy port for XBLA and PSN? No, we can't be, the date this article was posted on is September 18th of 2007, three years before the port came out. In the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure, Sonic's controls are only jerky during its fastest moments, and those moments are usually either scripted or taking place in confined areas that don't allow death from poor control. If you're playing the game on XBLA or PSN, the controls are floaty to the point of being nigh-on unplayable. I can't speak for the GameCube version, but in the Dreamcast version, this is far from the case. (Also, if fast things in 3-D don't work, I guess that every 3-D racing game ever made has completely sucked, right? I love flawed logic.)

And then we have this sort-of preview of the 3DS version of Sonic Generations:

"On consoles, half of Sonic Generations is going to take place racing through 2D classic levels (which look fantastic), and half of the game will take place in 3D in behind-the-back chase sequences (which look on-par with the series’ typical behind-the-back chase sequences). We’re going to say what everyone is thinking: why don’t they just cut out those generally lackluster 3D levels entirely? Lucky for 3DS owners, the handheld version is going to do just that."

Yeah, all those 3-D Sonic games look really lackluster. Totally don't look fun at all.

Oh, and by the way, this is the 3DS version of Sonic Generations. Tell me if it looks as much fun as the HD version:

Nope, didn't think so.

3. There have been no good Sonic games since the Genesis/Dreamcast days!

...*ahem*

Remember this guy?

It was pretty much everything you loved about the Genesis games on Nintendo's handheld, and it's arguably more worthy of the title "Sonic the Hedgehog 4" than the game that officially received it. It also had two younger brothers, and while they weren't quite as good (Advance 2 especially), they were still pretty decent games. And now I raise you the Rush series on Nintendo's later handheld:

What Unleashed's daytime levels did for Sonic in 3-D, Rush had already done for Sonic in 2-D. It allowed you to tear up every stage at mach speed in rollercoaster-like levels, and both games were a crapload of fun if a bit easy, boss battles aside. Oh, and need I even mention that all of these games came out even before Sonic 4: Episode I and Colors? I understand that this is probably the most opinionated item on this list, but all five - five - of these games received very positive reviews from critics as well. Sure, they were all handheld titles, but does that somehow make it so that they don't matter?

Next!

2. The Sonic series sucked ever since the introduced characters other than Sonic and Eggman!

We're back to IGN again, here:

"When were Sonic games awesome? When it was just Sonic the Hedgehog on Genesis. As soon as Tails, Knuckles, and the slew of other weird, furry folks showed up, things started getting iffy with this franchise. SEGA needs to pull a Mega Man and get back to basics -- dump the dead weight, and give us a 16-bit sidescroller when we tear through a level on a quest to stop Robotnik and get wings. We don't want 3D, we don't want guns, and we don't want werehog. You can either put all the arbitrary characters into a bus and have Robotnik blow it up or just never mention them again. Either way, we'd be happy and the franchise would be saved."
- Videogame Characters That Should Die

I'm sorry, but weren't Tails and Knuckles introduced in Sonic 2 and 3 (respectively)? Which are universally considered by fans and critics alike to be some of the best games in the series?

Now, I'll admit that the series has gone quite a bit overboard with the characters. We have a purple ninja chameleon, a money-grubbing crocodile, a hyperactive bee, a moronic purple cat, a six-year-old rabbit whose voice sounds like a man imitating a six-year-old rabbit, a telekinetic silver hedgehog who comes from a post-apocalyptic future that was destroyed by some stupid-looking Final Fantasy reject so he has to travel back in time to destroy Sonic because he's apparently the "IBLIS TRIGERRRRRR", and...yeah, we don't really need those guys, and a lot of us don't even like them. I can understand how the overabundance of often annoying characters can get tiring to some people. But to actually blame the series' downfall on their presence is pure ignorance. It's not the characters that made the games bad, nor is it the fact that the series went into 3-D. It was poor gameplay and design decisions that ruined everything, and it's stupid that anyone would blame anything else.

1. No one likes the new Sonic games, so the series should just die!

Okay, there are two reasons why this is incredibly dumb.

For one thing, to companies such as SEGA, video games are a business. Even during his dark ages, Sonic games were selling like hotcakes, as they say. To pull the plug simply because of a decline in critical acclaim would be a ridiculous idea that would cost SEGA a lot of money, and your blind bitterness and hatred isn't going to make them do it any faster. Any thinking human being could tell you this.

For another, does anyone remember this game?

If you ever owned a Nintendo 64, you probably do. It was an amazing rail shooter with tons of replay value, graphics that were stunning (...at the time), and it came with a then-revolutionary rumble pak that actually allowed you to feel the action in your hands! It actually holds up well today...which is why they should have added a LOT more when remaking it for 3DS. But that's something I've already ranted about before. So what does this have to do with Sonic, you may be thinking. Well, I'm getting to that. Anyway, Star Fox 64 was followed up by this game here:

It was initially developed as an original IP by Rareware, famous for making the Donkey Kong Country series for SNES, the Banjo-Kazooie games and Conker's Bad Fur Day for N64, and numerous crappy shovelware games for the Kinect, and it would have been named Dinosaur Planet after the area where most of the game takes place. But Nintendo, realizing that people probably wanted a Star Fox game for the new GameCube console, looked at this game, said "Forget it," handed Rare a big wad of cash, and said "Put Star Fox in this game. Trust us, people will love it." Rare then said "Durr, okay!" and boom, Star Fox Adventures. Needless to say, there are mixed opinions on this game. Some hate it because it's not a real Star Fox game and some appreciate it for what it is, as it is a genuinely good adventure game if you can look past the moronic decisions surrounding it. I probably don't need to say that I'm part of the latter group, and I really think that Adventures wouldn't catch as much flack as it does if it were the only oddball in an otherwise consistent franchise. Unfortunately, it would exemplify the problem that would partially lead to the downfall of the series.

So, now I'm going to ask you if you remember either of these games:

Probably not.

Why?

Because they completely sucked.

To Assault's credit, it did feature rail shooting levels in the Arwing reminiscent of 64, and they were the best of what the game had to offer, but even they were slow-paced and dull compared to the levels of 64 and they took a back seat to ground combat levels that dropped you in an area, said "here's a gun, hunt down X amount of targets", were unrefined and controlled poorly, and just weren't much fun. And even the most diehard of Star Fox fans won't defend Command, which is pretty much what happens when you take the words "bland", "boring", and "frustrating" and give them physical form as a real-time-strategy game - yes, a real-time-strategy game - for DS. Star Fox didn't just go downhill; it losts its identity. Not even Sonic did that. And although Star Fox has fewer games, that just makes the fact that it has a smaller ratio of good games to bad ones that much more inexcusable. If you don't count Adventures, there are only two: 64 and the original Star Fox, and the original has aged so poorly it's almost laughable. I mean, look at this:

Does it look like anything you would see yourself playing now? Compare to Sonic's Genesis titles, which are absolutely fantastic even today.

So, if people are saying that Sonic should die...why does everyone want a new Star Fox game? Is it because we know Nintendo can do better? But if that's the case, then why can't SEGA do better as well? (Not that they haven't done better. I mean, really, Sonic Colors.) Is it because most of us only think of Star Fox 64 when we think of that series? Then why do we think of Sonic 06 when we think of Sonic rather than the Genesis and Dreamcast games? And Sonic Colors?

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a new Star Fox game. No, not at all. In fact, if it were good, I'd love it just as much as you would. But let's not be hypocrites here: if Sonic is to die because of a decline in quality, so should every other series that ever saw such a decline. Even if it's made by Nintendo.

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X Review

2011-09-14T01:12:00.008-05:00

It's a little sad to see how Nintendo treated Star Fox 64 when remaking it for 3DS. The game is fourteen years old, but they saw fit to add precious little new content. All that's been done is that the game has received a graphical upgrade, the 3D feature, some new multiplayer maps and redone voice acting. Unfortunately, regarding that last point, the original Star Fox 64's horrendous voice acting was so bad it was good and added to the game's campy charm. The new voice acting is just bad. Perhaps what's even sadder is that the features they needed to add shouldn't have been that difficult to implement. Heck, just give me online multiplayer and I would definitely put down $40 for it. And yet Nintendo didn't even add such an obvious feature as that, making the multiplayer feature pretty much useless if you don't have a friend with a 3DS and the game. That is, unless you really like fighting bots. The saddest part about it all, though, is that Nintendo has stated that the future of the Star Fox series is riding on this remake. And when the original version has, graphics aside, aged exceptionally well, simply dusting off the old N64 or buying it for 15 bucks off the Wii Virtual Console might otherwise be a better option than putting down a full 40 dollars for it.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum from Star Fox 64 3D, you have Mega Man Maverick Hunter X. A remake of the original Mega Man X for the Super Nintendo, this game was released in early 2006 (late 2005 in Japan) for Sony's then-new PlayStation Portable console along with a remake of the original classic NES game to reboot the series in an attempt to renew interest in it. The attempt ultimately failed, as neither game met sales expectations. Does that say anything about the game itself? Let's see, shall we.

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Taking place in a world dominated by robots called "Reploids" who can think and act for themselves, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X focuses on none other than Mega Man X (usually referred to simply as "X"), one of the Maverick Hunters who hunt down and kill Reploids who have been infected by a virus that causes them to "go Maverick", or turn against humans. Sigma originally led the Maverick Hunters, but he eventually went Maverick himself as well as many other Maverick Hunters. Making matters worse, an ex-Maverick Hunter who just happens to be an out-and-out butthole called Vile - okay, who even names a robot that? You're pretty much asking him to turn evil - is running amok, and he really hates X. Now it's up to X and his good buddy Zero to stop Sigma and the rest of the Mavericks.

For those unfamiliar with Mega Man and Mega Man X, it is a platformer-shooter series in which you are given eight bosses that you can battle in any order (Robot Masters in the classic series, Mavericks in X). Upon choosing a boss, you must go through that boss's level, making your way through numerous traps and enemies until you finally reach the boss you came to fight. If you defeat that boss, you get that boss's weapon, which, in turn is another boss's weakness. For instance, if you defeat Flame Mammoth, you get his weapon, the Flamethrower, which you can use on Chill Penguin. Defating Chill Penguin gets you Shotgun Ice, which is effective against Spark Mandrill. His weapon is effective against Armored Armadillo, and the cycle continues until all eight bosses are defeated, at which point you must battle your way through the final four stages and finally confront the final boss - which invariably has at least two forms. It should be noted that things can get really difficult in these games - which is always a good thing. However, if you have the weapon that a boss is weak to, it usually won't give you much trouble.

All of the crucial elements of classic Mega Man are present in the X series. However, X adds some much-appreciated Metroidvania elements into the mix. Each level features collectable upgrades. These include Heart Tanks that upgrade your health - which you will need - Sub-Tanks that store excess health-restoring pick-ups to use on your own time, and upgrades to X's armor that give him enhanced attributes or extra abilities. These include the Leg Parts, which allow you to dash by pressing the "O" button - very useful - the Body Parts, which increase your defense; the Arm Parts, which give X an enhanced charged shot as well as allow him to charge up bosses' weapons for extra effect; and finally, the Head Parts, which allow you to pretend to be Mario and bash blocks with your head, revealing paths to new items. Getting some items will require other upgrades or weapons that you may or may not have, as the order in which you go to each level is completely up to you. Thus, it should go without saying that some backtracking will be required. For me, part of the fun of the X series has always been seeing which level order results in the least backtracking, but I digress.

One of the first things those who are familiar with the original Mega Man X will notice is the enhanced graphics. Maverick Hunter X was a fairly early PSP game and doesn't impress as much as it did when it came out, especially when compared to games such as Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. That's not to say that Hunter is a bad-looking game at all. The graphics are bright and colorful, and the art style works well for the game. Moving on to the soundtrack, the Mega Man series has always been known for its fantastic music, and Maverick Hunter X is no exception. Everything's fast-paced, well-composed and downright awesome - there really isn't much more to say here.

Of course, the changes that Hunter makes to the original Mega Man X run a lot deeper than the aesthetics, which is more than I can say for Star Fox 64 3D. Beautifully animated cutscenes play at the beginning and end of the game, and the remake features full voice acting for all of the scenes that take place in the game. You also get to see a scene before each boss battle in which X and the boss interact. Somewhat surprisingly, Hunter X's voice acting is very well done. Mark Gatha, Lucas Gilbertson and Roger Rhodes all do an excellent job as X, Zero and Vile (respectively), especially Mark. The mavericks are also well-casted, with their voices striking the perfect balance between cheesy and natural. The scenes before each boss battle also add more than you would think. Each Maverick has his own personality, and it adds a bit of background as X already knew a lot of them before they went Maverick. Speaking of background, if you complete the game you actually unlock a thirty-minute prequel OVA called The Day of Sigma that explains how everything started. It's a really cool OVA and definitely worth watching.

And as if that wasn't already enough to make Star Fox 64 3D look like a straight port by comparison, completing the game also let's you play as Vile, X's rival. And don't even entertain the notion that he's just a different skin for X; Vile has his own storyline complete with his own animated cutscenes and conversations with bosses. Gameplay works differently when playing as Vile as well; while X can have each available weapon on him at once, Vile can only carry three into a single level due to the way his weapons work. Vile has a finger blaster, a shoulder-mounted gun, and a...knee cannon, and there are different weapons and weapon classes that go with each. There is also a lot of variety in Vile's weapons, and he has a lot more weapons available to him overall. Combined with the different level layouts and item placement, this makes for a very different experience than going through the game with X.

Vile's pretty awesome.

As for flaws, well, while it does still feature enough replay value to make it worth buying nonetheless (not to mention that it isn't very expensive), it's a pretty dang short game. New players will probably be able to beat it over the course of a weekend, and veterans such as myself won't even take that long. Also, while the voice acting is great, the dialogue at times makes the Kingdom Hearts series look like Mass Effect. Because of these flaws, I can't say that this game is a must-have. However, at the price it's being offered for ($20 at most), you really can't go wrong, especially considering that it's a remake of an older game.

The Good:

+ Gameplay is as great as ever
+ Features a graphical upgrade over the original
+ New animated cutscenes
+ Voice acting is great
+ Features a thirty-minute prequel OVA
+ You can go through the game as Vile
+ Interesting storyline
+ Great replay value

The Bad:

- Very short
- Writing can get really bad

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Looking at Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, it's really unfortunate that it didn't sell very well. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think that Nintendo should take pointers from Capcom here. It's clear that a lot of effort was put into making Hunter X worth buying even if you own or have played the original, which is a lot more than I can say for the likes of Star Fox 64 3D. It may be short, but even when it came out it was offered at a reduced price - like Star Fox 64 3D should have been. It's a great value overall and worth buying whether you're a fan of the series or not. If you like this game, you may also be interested in Mega Man X Collection for the GameCube and PS2, which features each of the first six games in the Mega Man X series mostly unaltered (X4 is my personal favorite), or maybe even Mega Man X8 for the PS2.

Just don't play X7.

Trust me.

Score: 8/10

My Scoring System:
10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Sonic Heroes)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

Final Fantasy XIII Review

2011-09-06T02:40:00.006-05:00

Though I like the Final Fantasy series, I'm not just a huge fan of it. Don't get me wrong, I think all of the ones I've played so far are great, but what isn't so great is making an attempt at exploring a dungeon whilst having to deal with the ever-disruptive random encounters that pervaded the series' first ten installments. XII got rid of them (thank God), but its battle system wasn't really my cup of tea and so I didn't play much of it. Then came XIII. It was released in March of last year as the first HD Final Fantasy and was meant to be spun off into its own sub-series of games set in the same universe, with Versus XIII, Final Fantasy Type-0 and now XIII-2, a direct sequel, promised to come. It received massive hype and mostly good critical reviews, but a polarized response from the fanbase. Now that I've played through it to the end myself, let's see what I think of it and if I can understand why the overall reception has been so mixed.

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Allow me to begin my review by saying...dang, this game is beautiful. I own the 360 version, which runs at a lower resolution than the PS3 version and features some occasional framerate drops due to the 360's technical limitations. While these graphical flaws are there, the game is still certain to wow any gamer, and really, when a game is actually pushing the Xbox 360 past its limits, that is just something that needs to be lauded. As usual, Square has made pre-rendered cutscenes for many of the game's bigger and more action-packed moments, but the in-game graphics are fantastic too. The game's environments are all beautifully detailed, as are the character models and facial animations. Lip-syncing is mostly spot-on as well with only a few slip-ups, and they actually took the time to sync the lip movements of the pre-rendered cutscenes with the English voice track. Definitely a pleasent surprise. The music of Final Fantasy XIII is great as well, often complimenting the atmosphere of the area that you're in. Oh, and the battle theme is simply awesome.

Pictured above: Lightning (left) and Snow (right)

Of course, graphics don't make a game, and to me, one of the most important aspects of a JRPG such as Final Fantasy is its storyline. Gameplay is important, too, but we'll get to that later. Anyway, I've heard that Final Fantasy XII caught flack from fans for having a weak storyline and characters. Like I said, I didn't play much of 12 and as such I can't make that judgment, but anyone looking for a character-driven storyline definitely won't be disappointed with what Final Fantasy XIII has to offer. The storyline places a large emphasis on the emotions of the main cast (Lightning, Sazh, Snow, Hope, Vanille and Fang) and the interactions between them. In fact, chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the game are focused almost solely on the characters and their exploits as they are on the run from the military. Some may find the story to drag on during these sections, especially considering the length of the cutscenes (many can run for up to ten to fifteen minutes, some even longer) but personally I really enjoyed watching the characters interact and it helped me to really like all of them. Yes, even Hope and Vanille grew on me. Granted, though, Hope was my least favorite out of the group. Most people tend to cite his "whininess" for around half the game as being on the grounds for disliking him, but for me it's kind of the opposite. When he develops, he feels like he mainly exists to give morale-boosting motivational speeches that remind me too much of Sonic Heroes' dialogue about the "real superpower of teamwork" for comfort.

Of course, don't think that FF13 gets lazy with the main plot either. The plot as a whole is very engaging, and combined with the presentation values and often lengthy (yet enjoyable) cutscenes, it really tends to capture the feeling of watching an anime movie. The storyline itself actually revolves a lot around an interesting and rich mythology...that is never fully explained in-game but rather in the information-storing "Datalog" in the menu. That's my sole problem with the storyline, as when you start the game you will have to visit the Datalog for clarity on many important elements. I feel like some of this information should have been explained in-game, especially considering that there are other games going to be set in XIII's world. That said, as a feature in and of itself, the Datalog is highly appreciated, as it stores a written recap of the events happening in the game. I very rarely play through 50-hour-long games without eventually getting into something else, so when I came back to the game, this was a lifesaver.

So now that we have established that the storyline is great, how does the gameplay fare? Well, before we get to the main point of contention here, let's talk about what it does right when compared to previous games in the series. XIII offers a LOT of conveniences that previous games did not. Like XII, it - thank God - doesn't have any random encounters at all. Many battles can theoretically be avoided, although due to my obsessive need to upgrade my characters (more on that later), I usually didn't. Should you die during a battle, you will be offered to retry, in which case you will be sent right outside of the battle with all items you used in the previous struggle returned to you. Cutscenes are always skippable, which will very much come in handy if you ever die before a boss. Perhaps best of all, though, is that every party member's hit points are fully healed after each battle, preventing you from starting any battle at a disadvantage or having to bother with healing outside of battle. The only other JRPG that I've ever seen do that is Enchanted Arms. However, in Enchanted Arms there was a catch: every time you entered a battle, you lost some "Vitality Points", which had to be restored at VP Stations. If you ran out, you would start the next battle with - get this - one hit point and no magic power. Not to mention that that game had fairly frequent - *shudder* - random encounters. Not so in Final Fantasy XIII! Of course, don't think that the game doesn't take advantage of these new conveniences. In the other Final Fantasy games I played, bar FF8 where the enemies actually leveled up with you, most battles wouldn't be that difficult if you were at the right level - which was good, cause, you know, random encounters. XIII, however, gets very difficult as you get farther into the game, especially the bosses. Trust me, you'll be really thankful for the ability to avoid battles once you get to Gran Pulse.

Speaking of battles, FF13 has seen fit to give us a brand new battle system, and it works great. Rather than previous battle systems the series has used, FF13's battle system opts to blend cinema and a fast pace with strategy, and the result is actually pretty fantastic. It almost feels like an odd mix of the ATB system that the games prior to FF10 used and the real-time battle systems found in such games as those in the Tales series of RPG's. You can bring up to three party members into a battle at once, but two of them are AI controlled. You are only responsible for the actions of the party leader. The ATB gauge is still there, but it is broken up into segments, which allows you to chain together multiple different commands as it fills up. However, bear in mind that some abilities will take up more than one ATB gauge segment. You start out with only two segments, but as the game moves on you will be able to gain up to five. Your commands during battle are "auto-battle," which chooses commands for you; "abilities", which lets you choose them yourself; techniques, which lets you use special abilities requiring technical points (not the same as magic points); and "items", which allows you to, well...use items.

Just as you would expect, the main goal is to deplete all of the enemies' hit points, but FF13 makes things more interesting by adding the stagger gauge. As you attack an enemy, the stagger gauge will fill up, and once it fills up completely, you'll really be able to do some big damage. Many battles will take forever if you don't try to make use of this, and it's worth noting that the stagger gauge does gradually go down, so you can't stop attacking for too long. The main controversy surrounding the battle system is the "auto-battle" feature, which some claim allows the game to pretty much play itself. Now, I rarely found myself using this feature anyway, as a lot of times it would choose one set of commands when I thought another would fit the situation better. At worst, it chooses obvious commands or commands you would have chosen yourself. The way I see it, it's just there if you're feeling lazy, and you can even go to the options menu and set the cursor to start off on the "abilities" command rather than "auto-battle" when you enter a fight.

Of course, even if the auto-battle worked in such a way, the game definitely wouldn't be playing itself for one reason: the paradigm system. The paradigm system is introduced early on in the game, and is a very interesting take on the job system seen in previous games that actually allows you to switch classes during battle. How it works is that there are certain "roles" that each character can acquire throughout the game. Commandos are your physical attackers, Ravagers cast damaging magic, Medics cast healing magic on the party, Saboteurs lower the enemy's defense and can inflict status ailments on enemies, Sentinels are meat shields that raise your party's collective defense - very useful - and Synergists cast magic that strengthens the party. In the menu, you can create "paradigms" in which each character takes on a certain role. You can switch between them on the fly during battle, and this is why FF13 really doesn't play itself. You have to know which paradigms to use and when, as they're all useful for different situations, and you will often be required to change your strategy depending on what type of enemy you're facing. It's also worth noting that you can only have six paradigms ready at once, so you need to think about which ones will be useful in the area that you're in. The battle system in general is very unique, fast-paced and enjoyable, and actually pretty addictive.

I have one more thing to discuss regarding the battle system. Summoning works quite a bit differently this time around. Summoning requires three technical points. At first when you summon, the monster you summoned will replace your two AI controlled party members and fight alongside you. The whole time, said summon monster's "Gestalt" (don't ask me what that word means) gauge is going down, but there is one under your life bar that fills as you attack the enemy. At any time, you can press "X" to enter Gestalt mode, at which point you can use the control stick and "A" button to unleash the summon's most powerful attacks. These attacks cost varying amounts of points to use, and how many points you will have is determined by how high the Gestalt gauge under your life bar was when you entered Gestalt mode. Needless to say, summons in this game are pretty awesome.

Moving on now, I'm pretty sure I should talk about the upgrade system. Final Fantasy XIII uses the "Crystarium" as an upgrade system. Basically, as you fight battles, you earn "Crystogen Points" that can be used to upgrade your characters in the Crystarium. The Crystarium is pretty much a road that leads to upgrades. It's through the Crystarium that the characters will learn many of the abilities available for their roles, as well as upgrade stats like HP, magic power and strength. It's pretty similar to Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid, though I much prefer it for a few reasons. For one thing, it's much simpler and doesn't take as long to use, and for another you don't have to wait to level up or to have the correct sphere to get upgrades. You just have to win battles, and there ya go, Crystogen Points ready to be spent. Oh, and may I mention yet another conveniece this game has when compared to previous FF's: every playable character gains CP whether you use that character or not! It's about time, Square.

With that all out of the way, let's discuss the main reason why XIII is one of the more polarizing games in the Final Fantasy series: the linearity. Throughout much of its duration, Final Fantasy XIII keeps you moving forward on a set path with little exploration, a deviation from series tradition. There are branching paths at points that will lead to hidden items and whatnot, but for the most part you are on a straight path. For many fans, this caused the game to get boring, and though I can understand why, I really didn't have a problem with it. Actually, I felt like it aided the story progression, and besides that, the beautiful visuals and setpieces, the fun battle system and the storyline kept the game from getting boring at all. Now, it is worth mentioning that in Chapter 11, you are introduced to the world of Gran Pulse, where the game finally becomes very open-ended. There are numerous hunting sidequests to complete here, and the lush beauty of the area is unmatched even by most of the game's other locales. You will have to leave eventually, but there will be a point where you can come back if you want. In short, it's pretty amazing.

As for the problems I did have with Final Fantasy XIII, I already voiced my complaint about some important storyline information explained only through the Datalog, but there was one more thing that I found annoying. Up until a certain point in chapter 9, you have no control over who is in your party or who the party leader is, no matter how many characters are with you. I just felt like I should have been able to choose which characters I was using. Not a big deal, but annoying nonetheless.

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XIII is definitely my favorite Final Fantasy of the ones I've played through so far. Sporting amazing visuals, a great battle system, and a highly engaging, character-driven storyline, I could recommend it to most RPG fans...that is, if you think you're down with the game's linearity. Though the PS3 version is the best of the two, if you don't own one, then the Xbox 360 version is still serviceable. If you're on the fence about buying it, you can always rent it first, or if you've got more money to spare, the PS3 greatest hits version and the Xbox 360 platinum hits version are only about twenty bucks on Amazon.com. It's a fantastic game, and here's to hoping that XIII-2 and Versus XIII are even better.

The Good:

+ Amazing graphics
+ Great, unique battle system
+ Very engaging storyline with an interesting mythology
+ At times feels like you're watching a movie...in a good way
+ Great soundtrack
+ The open-ended and beautiful world of Gran Pulse
+ Features conveniences that previous FF's lacked
+ Datalog stores plot information

The Bad:

- Can't switch out party members until chapter 9
- Some important mythology and plot information revealed only through Datalog
- Linearity featured in most of the game's environments will turn some off

Score: 9/10

My Scoring System:

10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Mega Man X7)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

0 - ...No. Just freaking no. (Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing)

Shadow the Hedgehog Review

2011-08-13T04:52:00.005-05:00

We've already established that Sonic Heroes wasn't too good, but following it things would only get worse. Even non-fans know how much of an unholy abomination SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2006 was, but the first game considered to have really sucked was Shadow the Hedgehog. It was made to sort out the loose plot threads surrounding Sonic's dark other, named - you guess it - Shadow the Hedgehog, and also because he was a popular character amongst fans at the time. Well, his game not only was one of the three that caused everyone to lose respect for the franchise, but also induced complete and total hatred and resentment toward the character. Time to find out why! LET'S CRACK THIS GAME WIDE OPEN! YEAH, LET'S PARTY!

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Shadow the Hedgehog features a storyline with a much darker tone than previous Sonic games. It begins with Shadow, suffering from amnesia after the events of Adventure 2, in a field by a city, angsting about his lost memories and what memories he has left of a little girl named Maria getting shot down by soldiers. Well, that's nice, ain't it? Then, right the heck out of no where, the sky opens up and black-and-red colored aliens literally rain down on the city and start destroying crap. Shadow walks away, as he doesn't "have time for these humans", when he is randomly approached by...a floating eye with tentacles. At this point, you're probably about as confused as I am, but regardless, the eye projects a hologram of an alien overlord who tells him to bring the Chaos Emeralds to him at the "promised time". "Who are you? And how do you know my name is Shadow? And what are you talking about?" Shadow asks, saying what we're all thinking right now. The eye states he will find out soon enough and floats away into the city, explaining nothing. Somehow believing this incredibly stupid-looking alien overlord to have answers to his past, he heads to the city and from there IT'S UP TO YOU.

At first, Shadow the Hedgehog seems like a joke, perhaps even a parody of the darker games whose popularity was eclipsing platformers around the time that this game came out. I mean, really, read the synopsis I gave for the story up there again. Who could take that seriously? The box art shows an angry-looking Shadow holding a gun in front of an explosion, as if making fun of over-the-top shooters, and you'll be thinking the same thing when you watch the CGI opening. It starts off showing Shadow - who is a three-foot tall, cartoony hedgehog by the way - loading a gun and slowly approaching the edge of a cliff, followed by a montage of scenes including such things as Shadow (who can run several times faster than any vehicle) riding a motorcylce while being chased by angry black birds and jumping off of it before it collides with an object (naturally followed by an explosion), as well as a scene where Shadow just fires at the camera and screams. Need I even mention that an angsty nu-metal-ish song is playing in the background the whole time? Each of the menu screens in the game features a gunshot sound effect playing with every selection. One of said menu screens shows Shadow's face with fire burning in his eyes. It's so cliched that there's no way it could be taking itself seriously. And I'd like to reiterate: the main character of this game is a three-foot-tall, cartoonish hedgehog.

This parody feeling doesn't end when you start playing: Shadow shouts PG-rated profanities almost every time he gets hit or dies, and you also get the ability to use firearms against your enemies. The humans you'll be fighting don't bleed - at all - and the green blood effect seen when killing the aliens is very cartoonish. Heck, the humans don't even die. They just lie there begging you not to kill them. The violence and cursing is kept under control just enough to secure an E10+ rating, and this is a franchise that, up to this point, had never shown a drop of blood or featured the usage of a single curse word, mild or otherwise. And it stars a three-foot-tall, cartoonish hedgehog. It's so tame yet so out of place. Oh, Sonic Team, we always knew you had a sense of humor. So, if this is so obviously a parody, why was it poorly received?

Because when you play it, you realize that it takes itself seriously the whole time. That, and it has some of the worst gameplay and level design in the entire series.

Yes, you are, in fact, meant to take this seriously. What.

The main gimmick of Shadow the Hedgehog is that what stages you will end up visiting and the direction of the story will change depending on your actions in the levels. On paper, this sounds like a fantastic idea for the franchise, as it would add a lot of replay value to an otherwise short game. In practise, though, it's one of the worst things ever introduced to the franchise - and when you're up against Big the Cat's fishing stages in Sonic Adventure and the freaking Werehog in Sonic Unleashed, that's saying a lot.

Basically, the path you take is based on your moral decisions - whether you want Shadow to team up with the good guys (Sonic, his friends, and the humans) or the bad guys (the aliens), or if you just want Shadow to be neutral. Let's talk about what's wrong with this from a story perspective first. First of all, no matter what side you're on, both parties will be shooting at you. Joining the aliens? Alien enemies will still try to kill you. Joining the good guys? The good guys will still try to freaking kill you. To its credit, the good guys being after you has an in-story explanation: a military commander - who, as a bit of trivia, is never at any point officially named even though he is a very important character - holds a grudge against Shadow for some reason and is able to order his troops to go after Shadow, completely ignoring the fact that Shadow has ended up as a relatively innocent good guy for the last few games. It's an incredibly stupid explanation, but it's an explanation nonetheless. The aliens, though? Choose the "Dark" mission and they will still shoot at you for no explained reason. For another thing, this leads to many, many plotholes and inconsistencies. Oftentimes, Shadow will go from location to location without any sort of explanation. Sometimes you'll see a teleportation effect, but that only raises the question of HOW he got teleported. You can also switch sides at any time in any level, and previous "betrayals" are never referenced at any point. Doing something that conflicts with the moral path you're taking, such as striking down a human soldier when doing a "Hero" mission, holds no consequences whatsoever other than being told off by the character accompanying you and is sometimes even required to progress through a level. This is, simply put, lazy.

That's not even getting into how horribly this translates into the gameplay. Remember the annoying Team Chaotix levels from Sonic Heroes? The ones that required you to search for items or objects in a level that was linear in design? Now, imagine them stretched over an entire game and made about twenty times more frustrating and annoying with an even worse camera. That's Shadow the Hedgehog in a nutshell. Both the "Hero" and "Dark" missions generally require you to hunt for items or enemies in a linear level, and there is no room for error. One level's "Dark" mission asks you to kill fifty military robots. How many are there? Fifty exactly. This template is used for the "Hero" and "Dark" missions in nineteen of the game's twenty-two levels. The other three are open-ended in design, yet end up being even more torturous. The landscapes are completely repetitive and the camera is the worst the series has seen yet - which is saying a lot - leading to stages that are extremely easy to get lost in. And like I said, to complete a mission, you have to find EVERYTHING. It's almost insulting that, as you perform actions considered good, a blue bar in the upper right corner of the screen starts to fill up (the same goes for a red gauge in the upper left corner as you do things that are considered evil). If it fills all the way up, you can use one of Shadow's Chaos powers. Sounds good, right? It would be if this particular power didn't cause you to boost forward really fast, past things you need to find to complete the mission.

Oh, but doesn't the game still have your typical "point-A-to-point-B" missions? Those should at least be fun, you may be thinking. Indeed, there are missions that simply ask you to run to the goal, (usually a level's neutral mission) and they are, in fact, the most tolerable...but that's not saying much at all. The level design in Shadow the Hedgehog is laughably bland. It's mostly just running in a straight line with a few loops and some enemies. That's it. There's no semblance of a genuine challenge here, and what precious little platforming the game features is so utterly forgettable that it might as well not even be there.

Like the level design, Shadow the Hedgehog's bosses pose no challenge to you whatsoever. All you have to do is find a gun, then just blast away. Can't find a gun? Don't worry, the homing attack will do just fine, too, even if it will take a little longer to beat the boss. What makes this even worse is that the same final bosses are used for more than one of the different story paths. I see that 2005 Sonic Team liked being lazy quite a bit. I would also like to note that this is the first time a true final boss in a Sonic game has ever left me disappointed.

I am not pleased with you, Sonic Team.

And lest we forget how Heroes cheaply extended its length by making you play through the exact same game four times with few changes. Shadow pulls a similar trick. Each final level has a "Hero" and "Dark" mission. The final boss you fight and, by extension, the ending you receive changes depending on which of the two missions you complete. There are five final levels and thus ten endings. You have to get all ten to unlock the last story, and you will receive the true ending to the game if you beat that. Since allowing you to use the level select to make things quick would be too fair, you'll definitely end up going through the levels you already went through several times and probably even completing missions you already completed. There you are being lazy yet again, Sonic Team. Speaking of the endings, they're all so similar and formulaic that I can give a basic rundown of each without technically spoiling anything: Shadow gets all the Chaos Emeralds, says "Finally, I've got ALL the Chaos Emeralds!", states "I am Shadow the Hedgehog," has an epiphany, declares "This is who I am!", credits. You've got to appreciate the effort here.

But how could I go this far into the review without mentioning the numerous, numerous technical flaws? Actually, I did already mention the camera, but I believe it deserves mentioning again. Sonic Adventure was released in 1999, and its camera could get pretty annoying at times. It was at least somewhat justifiable, though, since it was Sonic's first step into 3-D. Even Super Mario 64 had an annoying camera, albeit less so. Sonic Adventure 2's camera was still flawed, but they had at least tried to improve it. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 were later rereleased for GameCube, and the camera wasn't improved at all, and Heroes featured a camera that was even more annoying. So, Shadow the Hedgehog came out in 2005, after ALL of these games, and it features the worst camera yet. Not only does this mean that Sonic Team couldn't program a competent camera system after developing 3-D Sonic games for six years, but that they only got WORSE at it. Not to mention that in a game where you're going to spend most of your time searching for things, you NEED a camera that's at least somewhat reliable. Even aside from the camera, Shadow's controls are annoyingly slippery, and the vehicles like cars and motorcycles - which are utterly pointless in a game where the main character is supposed to be able to run faster than the speed of sound - tend to control even worse. The auto-aim the guns use is even less reliable, at times being too sensitive and at times not being sensitive enough, and the only thing keeping them from being completely useless is the fact that bullets kill faster than the homing attack. Also, like Sonic Heroes, the game can get kind of glitchy at times. The light dash and homing attack can still backfire just like before, but now some areas won't load completely before you enter them, meaning you can fall into a black void where a solid floor should be and die. An even more frustrating glitch is when enemies - that you often NEED to kill to complete a mission - won't spawn, meaning you'll have to restart the level if you want to complete said mission. I know that at this point I shouldn't expect much from you, but what the heck, Sonic Team?

Finally, the graphics of Shadow the Hedgehog are utter garbage even for its time. Wait, the graphics in Heroes were pretty good, so how could they screw THAT up? Well, part of why Heroes' graphics looked good was because they were bright and colorful, like you would expect from a Sonic game. Shadow is supposed to be DARK AND EDGY, and thus Sonic Team thought the environments should look darker and more subdued. This shouldn't automatically lead to the graphics looking like crap, but apparently Sonic Team thought "darker and more subdued" meant "muddy-looking with blurry textures". Character models don't fare much better; facial animations look like crap and the human characters are blocky. I would expect that from a Dreamcast game released in 1999. I wouldn't expect that from a PS2 game released in 2005. The next problem with the graphics may be exclusive to the PS2 version, but it has the WORST framerate I have ever seen in a video game. There is not a single moment where the game doesn't look slow or choppy, and that is simply unacceptable.

Pretty much the only thing about Shadow I can say legitimately doesn't suck is the music. I absolutely love almost all of the stage BGM's in the game. Shadow also has the distinction of having the most vocal tracks I like out of the entire Sonic series. "I Am (All of Me)", "Almost Dead", and "Waking Up" aren't all that great in my opinion, but I actually really liked "All Hail Shadow", "Never Turn Back" and especially "Chosen One". Sure, it's angstier than anything Linkin Park has ever written (okay, that's probably a HUGE overstatement), but darned if it doesn't sound good.

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Shadow the Hedgehog is quite possibly one of the worst games I've ever played. The gameplay sucks, the level design sucks, the graphics are garbage, the story is atrocious, it's rife with technical problems, it tries to cheaply extend its length, and finally, the "dark" tone is incredibly stupid. The only thing saving it from a 1/10 is its soundtrack. What's really sad about the whole thing is that this was a story that just didn't need to be told. We already knew everything we needed to about Shadow; the information that was revealed in this game was not only unnecessary but completely ruined Shadow's back story. I can understand having to resolve loose plot threads from Heroes such as Shadow's amnesia, but did they really need to make an entire game to do that? And did they really need to do it this horribly?

But perhaps the saddest thing about it all is that things only got worse for the Sonic series from here. After Shadow, this happened:

It honestly made me wonder how I've been able to remain a fan for so long. Sonic and the Secret Rings was bad, albeit less so than Shadow and 06, and the same goes for Black Knight. Even Unleashed, though a decent game overall, was a disappointment thanks to the stretchy-armed monstrosity known as the Werehog. Yes, Colors was great and Generations is shaping up to be even better, but how was I able to keep buying the horrible games without losing enthusiasm until Colors happened? The answer is because when Sonic started going downhill, I was young. Young enough to look past the flaws; young enough to squeeze enjoyment out of these awful, awful games. Yes, there was once a time when I enjoyed Shadow the Hedgehog, and I'm darned glad there was. Otherwise, I might not have seen Sonic through until he got good again. I hope many of my fellow fans had a similar experience growing up.

*ahem* Yes, sorry for that little tangent. Anyway, Shadow the Hedgehog is an unholy abomination of a game and an insult to the series that it belongs to. Pick up the OST, but avoid the game itself like the plague. T-Man, out.

Score: 2/10

My Scoring System:

10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Super Mario Galaxy 2)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Super Mario Sunshine)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Mega Man X6)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Sonic Heroes)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Sonic the Hedgehog 2006)

0 - ...No. Just freaking no. (Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing)

Super Mario Sunshine Review

2011-08-10T08:21:00.010-05:00

As those who have read my Viewtiful Joe review will know, lately I have been clearing some games out of my GameCube backlog. This ended up bringing me to a nostalgic favorite, Super Mario Sunshine. It was not in my backlog per se, as I had already beaten it. However, it was the only 3-D game in the entire Mario series that I had yet to complete 100%, and I intended for that to change. With all that said, it is sometimes considered the non-spinoff Mario game that leans closest to "ehh". Is it as great as I remember it, or is it more nostalgia gone to waste like Sonic Heroes? Time to find out!

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In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Princess Peach and a few of her toadstool servants are going on vacation to the "sun-drenched tropical paradise of Isle Delfino." The plane comes to a screeching hault at the airstrip in order to avoid a strange goop covering the landing pad. While exploring the airstrip looking for help, Mario comes across the cleaning robot FLUDD (Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device - yes, that is the official acronym), which Mario uses to clean the sludge off of the airstrip. Upon doing so, he is confronted by local police and is put on trial for spreading paintlike sludge over the island (which has apparently caused the Shine Sprites, the guardians of Isle Delfino, to run away, which has, in turn, caused the island to get darker), with his sentence being to clean up the island. We quickly find out that the one who did this is an imposter named "Shadow Mario", and thus begins an epic adventure that inevitably features the capture of Princess Peach yet again. Oops, did I just give a spoiler?

Gameplay-wise, Sunshine uses the template that 64 established: you are put in an open-ended stage and given missions to complete. Completing one of said missions allows you to receive one of the featured macguffins (Shine Sprites this time around, rather than Stars), of which you will need a certain amount to complete the game. However, Super Mario Sunshine adds a new gimmick to this formula: your trusty water-shooting backpack, FLUDD. FLUDD has several nozzles, used for different purposes. The spraying nozzle is the default nozzle, and you will have it with you at all times. It does just what you think it would do: it sprays water at things. You will be required to use this ability to clean up the toxic sludge that Shadow Mario has left in the various worlds, but it can also be used to stun enemies and sometimes even interact with the environment. Another nozzle (which you will start out with, but can be traded in for other nozzles) is the hover nozzle, which you can press the "X" button to switch to. It functions as sort of a water-shooting jetpack lite, allowing you to traverse the world more easily. There are two more nozzles that you can switch the hover nozzle out for: the rocket nozzle, which propels to extreme hights, and the turbo nozzle, which finally allows Mario to run as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog - it's about freaking time. This may sound like a stupid gimmick, but it's actually pretty unique and interesting. You will be putting the spraying and hover nozzles to great use throughout the game, and the rocket and turbo nozzles have their own missions and secrets associated with them and are pretty fun to use. Also, what other game lets you do so much with just water? I mean, really?

Sunshine's worlds feature less of a focus on conventional platforming than its predecessor, Super Mario 64, and what conventional platforming there is is usually made easier thanks to the hover nozzle. In return, however, Sunshine's levels are far bigger and more open-ended than anything that 64 had to offer. The game also reintroduces blue coins as separate collectible items from normal coins. There are far less of them, and ten of them can be traded at a certain store for Shine Sprites. Thirty blue coins are hidden in each area, making exploration a lot more rewarding. Of course, a Mario game without difficult platforming might as well not be a Mario game at all, which is why some missions will require you to visit "secret" levels. These secret levels feature platforming that is reminiscent of the classic Mario games (but in 3-D) yet remain very unique and even creative. Also, upon entering secret levels, FLUDD is taken away from you, making for a very difficult and fun platforming experience. These secret levels may also be revisited later on (with FLUDD) to collect red coins for an extra Shine Sprite.

Sunshine also features fewer worlds than 64 - seven as opposed to 64's fifteen. However, it again makes up for this in several ways. While it doesn't have as great of a variety of levels, its locales do remain very diverse while still sticking to the theme of a tropical resort island. Several aspects of the levels will change depending on which mission you are playing, including what NPC's you will see as well as what they say, making the levels feel more alive than ever. Speaking of missions, Sunshine features much greater variety in mission structure than Super Mario 64, and the areas feature more missions overall. Besides missions requiring you to chase down Shadow Mario, every mission asks you to do something different. Even missions requiring you to hunt down eight red coins tend to have a different, interesting spin put on them. The game also features several bosses, and while none of them are qute difficult, they are actually very creative and unique as well as a LOT of fun to battle. Even aside from all this, the levels offer a lot more to do overall. There is the aforementioned blue coin hunting, of course, but there are also two hidden Shine Sprites to get in each world, and, like in 64, you can get one last Shine Sprite by collecting 100 normal coins. Many of these attributes extends to the game's featured hub world, Delfino Plaza, which changes as you continue through the game and collect more Shine Sprites and contains many more secrets than Princess Peach's Castle in 64. Overall, I found it to be a far more engaging hub world.

There are two more positive aspects to the game that I feel deserve mentioning. The first is the graphics. The graphics were absolutely amazing at the time, and despite the game being nearly ten years old, it's actually still visually appealing if not technically stunning. The environments are all as bright and colorful as you would expect, and the lighting effects are great. Some of the textures are blurry, but it still looks really good overall. Finally, this was 3-D Mario game that allowed you to ride Yoshi. This may not seem very big, but hey, it's still cool, and he will prove very useful in certain missions and in finding blue coins.

But although Sunshine is a great game, it does unfortunately have a couple of genuine flaws. First of all, the camera in this game is not very good. There will be times when your view will be annoyingly obstructed before the camera catches up to you, and it's not always easy to see where you need to go next. Often, trying to move it with the "C" stick or center it with the "L" button won't help much or can even make it worse. It's not quite something you would expect to see in, say, a Sonic game, but it can be an annoyance. What IS something you would expect to see in a Sonic game is the noticeable lack of polish. Don't get me wrong, the game is far from broken; you will mostly just see some minor oddities. However, there were some disconcertingly frequent annoyances that almost made me wonder if SEGA had developed the game, including three collision detection issues I experienced that came right out of no where and caused me to go through an otherwise solid object. Another example of this lack of polish is a segment toward the end of the game where you have to navigate a boat across a pool of lava that will sink if it hits an object. The method of controlling the boat is that you spray over the side of the direction you want to go in, but there were times when the sides you would need to spray over would randomly invert, making an already difficult area downright frustrating and cheap. Ultimately, I found this issue annoying enough to lower the score down a bit from the 9/10 I initially wanted to give it. Really, Nintendo, I expect more from you.

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While it feels more rushed and unpolished than what Nintendo usually puts out, Super Mario Sunshine is still a great game, featuring a neat gimmick, great variety in mission structure, and a lot to do overall. It's sometimes considered to be the weakest 3-D entry in the series, but while 64 is probably more polished, from a gameplay perspective Sunshine does improve on several aspects of 64. If you own a Wii or GameCube and you're a fan of platformers, this is not a game that you should pass up.

Score: 8.5/10

My Scoring System:

10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Mega Man X7)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

0 - ...No. Just freaking no. (Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing)

Sonic Heroes Review

2011-08-07T21:14:00.012-05:00

Last summer, I reviewed three of the controversial 3-D Sonic games - namely, Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Unleashed. This was partly due to my hype for the then-upcoming Sonic games - Sonic 4: Episode I and Sonic Colors - and also because I find 3-D Sonic games an interesting subject, what with the controversies, broken fanbases, and allegations of bias towards professional critics surrounding them. Well, this year is Sonic's 20th anniversary, and we have yet another awesome-looking game coming out called Sonic Generations. Before it comes out, I've decided to review the 3-D Sonic games I skipped over last year, just so no one feels left out.

Uhh...yeah, sorry, but not that one. I tried to play it again, but the torture was just too much to bear. That statement alone should say enough about my feelings for THAT game. I also won't be reviewing the Riders or Storybook series, as they're just spinoffs and had little influence on the direction or canon of the Sonic games overall. Instead, I will start my excursion through the remaining two 3-D Sonic games with Sonic Heroes. It was released in early 2004 to mixed reception from both the fans and the critics and is sometimes considered the point where the franchise starting its downhill spiral that it has just now broken out of. I, myself, absolutely loved it as a kid, but do I still care for it as much now that I'm an older, more seasoned gamer? It's time to find out!

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Sonic Heroes focuses on four teams of characters: Team Sonic, made of up your usual Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna; Team Dark, made up of series veterans Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat as well as new character E-123 Omega, who is a robot that Eggman built; Team Rose, made up of Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit (first introduced in Sonic Advance 2), and Big the Cat; and finally, Team Chaotix, made up of Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, and Charmy the Bee, all characters from an old 32X spinoff that very few people even knew about. So why did they even bring them back? Well, we'll see soon enough. Anyway, Team Sonic's story is exactly what you would expect: Eggman's planning something evil and they've got to, in Sonic's words, "CRACK THAT EGGMAN WIDE OPEN! YEAH, LET'S PARTY!" Team Rose has to find Froggy and a lost Chao named Chocola, and Team Chaotix (being a detective agency) has to help out a mysterious client by completing missions. Team Dark's storyline is the most interesting: whilst breaking into Eggman's base, Rouge finds Omega and the thought-to-be-deceased Shadow (who can't remember anything), and they all pursue Eggman for their own reasons - Shadow for answers as to his lost memories, Rouge for treasure and Omega for revenge.

Sonic Heroes was the first 3-D Sonic game after the Adventure series, and changes things up from them by introducing the team gimmick. Rather than controlling each team member separately in their own levels as in Sonic Adventure 2, each of a team's three members are controlled at once. Each team is made up of a "speed" character, a "flight" character and a "power" character. The formation of the team changes depending on which one is the leader, and the leader can be switched out using the "Y" and "X" buttons (on the GameCube). Obviously, while in "speed" formation, the game moves at its fastest, and you will also be able to use the homing attack, which is useful for damaging enemies and sometimes even crossing gaps using said enemies. Speed characters also have a tornado move that can knock enemies off balance or take away the shields of some enemies as well as allow the team to swing off of poles, and some can even dash along a trail of rings by pressing the "B" button or jump between walls. When in "flight" formation, the characters stack on top of each other, with the flight character on top, allowing him/her to carry the entire team by flying. The flight character can also shoot the characters s/he's carrying as electrified balls to damage enemies. Finally, when in "power" formation, the team's attack power increases, making this formation useful for clearing obstacles and fighting groups of enemies. The power character can also throw other team members at enemies as fireballs, and can also float, which can be used to propel everyone upwards in areas with giant fans. You will often have to switch between characters to suit different situations or clear certain areas, and sometimes you can take a different path or shortcut depending on which formation you're in. Overall, the team gimmick is unique and places a fun twist on the usual fast platforming gameplay.

One thing that fans will appreciate is the callbacks to the original Genesis Sonic games. In the classics, there were always "Zones" with two (three in the first game) "Acts," or stages, in each, followed by a boss. Things are much the same way in Heroes. While it drops "Acts" and "Zones," you always go through two similarly-themed levels and then fight a boss before moving on to two more similarly-themed levels. Special stages also return from the classics. To access them, you have to find a caged key somewhere in the stage, and avoid getting hit for the rest of the stage to keep it. If you have it when you get to the end of the stage, you will enter the special stage. The way the special stage works is that you must gather spheres scattered around the stage to keep your boost gauge up, which you use by pressing the "B" button repeatedly, as you make your way to either the goal ring or a Chaos Emerald, and the boost will become more effective the more spheres you get. If you enter the special stage in the first of a pair of stages, your spheres will count toward your score, which will be converted into points if you get to the goal ring. If you enter in the second stage of a pair, you will be racing against a Chaos Emerald, of which you will need seven to enter the final story, and you can only have it if you catch up to it. It's actually a pretty fun special stage, and I think that the fact that you have to get the Chaos Emeralds yourself in this game rather than receiving them over the course of the story like in other 3-D Sonics makes things more interesting.

Sonic Heroes succeeds aesthetically as well. The graphics are very good for their time, featuring bright, colorful enivironments. Most of the character models are pretty good, too, but I can't help but think that a few of them are a bit shinier than they should be. Heroes also features a great soundtrack for the stages. While, as usual, I found that most of the vocal themes didn't appeal to me personally, there were a couple that I liked: namely, "This Machine," a catchy industrial rock track, and "What I'm Made Of," the final boss theme.

So, Sonic Heroes does get several things right. It's a bit unfortunate that the rest of the game doesn't fare quite as well. While the gimmick of the week is fun and the gameplay is as fast-paced as ever, not everything about the gameplay succeeds. First of all, the grinding mechanics in this game suck. In Sonic Adventure 2, your speed upon hitting a rail was determined by how much momentum you had beforehand. To keep moving fast, you had to hold the "B" button down to crouch, but you couldn't keep holding it down or Sonic would lose balance. In addition, while I suppose this is more related to the level design, you usually wouldn't be grinding for a very long time without having to partake in some form of interaction or platforming. None of this is so in Heroes. You still hold the "B" button to go faster, but prior momentum is not a factor when jumping onto a rail, nor is balance. Grinding pretty much boils down to holding the B button while the game does the rest for you, which is honestly kind of boring. This would just be a nitpick if it weren't for the fact that this game places a much larger emphasis on grinding than in Adventure 2. Outright automation extends to the few loops that the game has. When going through a loop, you are thrust into a semi-scripted event that strips control completely away from you. This doesn't bother me for most of the smaller loops in the game (such as the ones in Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace), but when it comes to larger ones such as those in Grand Metropolis and Frog Forest, I just found it to be pretty annoying.

The game feels pretty darn unpolished. Though I wouldn't quite call the Adventure games "polished," it was pretty rare that the glitches would intrude on the experience, at least in the Dreamcast versions. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing for Sonic Heroes. There are times when a homing attack or light dash will backfire, which can lead to your doom. In the few boss fights where you will be using the Thunder Shoot ability, the hit detection for it can be severely off at times, leading to frustration. Also, notice that I referred to the loops in the above paragraph as "semi-scripted". Dare to let go of the control stick while running through them and the game will glitch out. It doesn't glitch out severely, but it happens. There are two levels featuring pinball mechanics, but the controls are kind of unresponsive when on the pinball tables. This was probably, to an extent, intentional, but it adds needless frustration to these stages. And none of this is even getting into the camera. 3-D camera angles were never quite Sonic's best friend, but the camera in this game sometimes likes to go through walls, and also won't always clearly show bottomless pits. If you try to turn it with the shoulder buttons, it moves pretty slowly and can sometimes make the angle even worse. Though you should be able to, you can't use the C-Stick to turn the camera around, as moving it in ANY direction causes you to switch to a useless first-person view. Just...why?

Even if these problems with the gameplay had been fixed, there is another element that's of almost equal importance in a platformer: the level design, and in Sonic Heroes, it's pretty much a mixed bag. There is a lot of variety in mechanics and gimmicks, and, as mentioned earlier, there are times when you can take a different path or shortcut depending on which team formation you're using, which is great. On the other hand, (again, as mentioned earlier) some levels feature long sections of the aforementioned boring grinding. Another problem is that the levels sometimes feel like they're relying on beat-em-up elements too much in a game that's supposed to be a platformer. I have no problem with there being SOME sections where you have to defeat a group of enemies to succeed - after all, that's one of the things that the power character is for, right? The problem is that there are just too many of them.

Boss design is even more of a mixed bag than the level design. At the end of each pair of levels you will either fight Eggman himself, one of the game's other playable teams, or several waves of enemy robots. Eggman battles are an absolute joke, and can be won just by continually spamming a single attack. Team battles, on the opposite end of the spectrum, are freaking frustrating. It's supposed to be like rock-paper-scissors, where the opposing team is in one formation and you have to choose the formation it's weak to, but the game never makes it completely clear which formation is weak to which, and even if you do figure it out, it's still pretty annoying. The only bosses that I really enjoyed were the ones that required you to fight off waves of Eggman's robots. These were legitimately difficult and pretty darn fun. In fact, if they wanted so much emphasis on beat-em-up elements, why didn't they just make a few more of those? Aside from those, the only boss I really liked was the true final boss, which, while not as great as the ones from Sonic 3 & Knuckles or the Adventure games, was still pretty fun.

Unfortunately, the problems don't quite end there. Sonic Heroes is a pretty short game...that is, it WOULD be if you didn't have to play through it three more times before gaining access to the last story! As I stated earlier, Sonic Heroes offers four teams to control. What I didn't say was that you have to complete the game with all of them to unlock the final story! Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with this; after all, you know what they say, the MORE the MERRIER! Ohohoho - no, I won't ever quote that line again. *ahem* The problem is that the order and designs of the levels are exactly the same when going through it with each team, with the only difference being in difficulty. It pretty much forces you to play through the game on hard mode (Team Dark) and easy mode (Team Rose) before allowing you to fight the final boss. If you enjoyed the game the first time, you'll probably enjoy it again, but it's a cheap way to extend the game's length nonetheless.

And then there's the final team, Team Chaotix. Earlier in the review, I questioned why they were brought back, since very few people had even played the game they came from. Well, apparently, making you play through the game on different difficulties didn't cheaply extend the length enough, so Sonic Team saw fit to shoehorn THESE guys that nobody cared about in. So what difficulty are they? Super Easy Mode? Brutally Hard Mode? Nope. Team Chaotix's levels are mission-based, either requiring you to find a certain number of items in the level or proceed through a level stealthily. If you ask me, the item collecting stages are flawed conceptually. The Adventure games had stages that required you to hunt for items, but they were open-ended in design - like they should have been. Heroes' levels are linear in design, which, when combined with the game's bad camera, can sometimes make required items easy to miss. Sometimes, if you miss JUST ONE, you'll have to go back through the entire stage AGAIN just to find it. You'll also find yourself trying to explore around a lot to make sure you're not missing anything, which will require you to try to turn the camera, and considering how bad the camera is...yeah, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. Especially notable is the mission in Mystic Mansion, which requires you to use your tornado ability to put out 60 red torches. How many red torches are there? 60 exactly. How long is the level? Long enough to decently space out 60 red freakin' torches.

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So, is Sonic Heroes the point where the series started going downhill? Unfortunately, I would have to say so. It's not quite a bad game; the gameplay can be pretty enjoyable at times and the team gimmick works well. However, almost every aspect of it is flawed in some way so that it seriously hurts the experience. Some would say that the Aventure games weren't that good, but I would still say that Heroes is the one where you could tell something was very wrong. Sorry, fans, but this one is a bargain bin purchase at best.

Score: 5/10

My Scoring System:

10 - Amazing game. Flaws are minor at best. If you don't own it, you should be ashamed of yourself. (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

9(.5) - Fantastic game. Perhaps a couple of notable annoyances, but still a must-have. (Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep)

8(.5) - Very good game. Has a few flaws, but you won't be disappointed with your purchase. (Klonoa)

6(.5) - Passable game. Has its strengths, but unless you're a fan of the series or genre, you're probably better off not bothering. (Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2)

5(.5) - Mediocre game. Not a bad experience, but it's too flawed to be much fun. A bargain bin purchase at best, and only if you're a fan of the series. (Mega Man X7)

1 or 2(.5) - Utter garbage. An unholy abomination that we should do all in our power to avoid playing. In other words, STAY THE HECK AWAY! (Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22)

0 - ...No. Just freaking no. (Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing)

Viewtiful Joe Review

2011-07-26T17:17:00.011-05:00

Released to critical fanfare, but middling sales back in 2003, Viewtiful Joe has been in my backlog of GameCube games for a while. Finally having gotten a chance to play through and beat it, I am now going to tell you why if you haven't already played this game (and you probably haven't), you really should. You ready? Henshin a go-go, baby! (I...can't believe I just typed that.)

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It may have one of the lamest puns - ever - in its title, but don't let that turn you off. Viewtiful Joe is quite possibly one of the most original and fun games from the GameCube days. The plot of Viewtiful Joe involves Joe, an average movie fanatic, literally getting pulled into a superhero movie after the old hero of the movie, Captain Blue, is defeated. Becoming the film's new hero, he has to not only rescue his girlfriend, Silvia, but he also has to stop a mysterious gang called the "Jadow" from carrying out their evil plot, whatever that may be. The game is extremely cheesy and over-the-top, but intentionally so. It's meant to be an affectionate parody of both American and Japanese superhero films and comics. As such, we see things like Joe donning a red jumpsuit and striking poses whilst spouting catchphrases such as "Henshin a go-go baby!" or "Henshin a bye-bye!" (or something else involving the word "henshin") and a cast of hammy and ridiculous villains such as Hulk Davidson, the axe-weilding, green rhinoceros biker who somehow owns a hotel or Gran Bruce, a shark that, for whatever reason, wears a scuba tank. Oh, and don't forget the giant freakin' robots.

Viewtiful Joe's cel-shaded art style still looks great even eight years after its release.

Gameplay-wise, Viewtiful Joe is mostly a side-scrolling beat-em-up with some puzzle solving and platforming elements. On the outside, the gameplay looks very simple. Joe's main attacks are a simple punch (Y button) and kick (X button), and up and down on the control stick are used to dodge enemy attacks. There are a few extra moves that can be learned, but there are no flashy combo moves or anything like that. However, this is where we get to one of the things that sets Viewtiful Joe apart from other beat-em-ups: the VFX powers. Thanks to the game taking place inside of a movie, Joe can use video effects to his advantage. These video effects include slowing down the action, speeding UP the action, and making the camera zoom in on him. However, note that your use of the VFX powers is not unlimited. In the HUD, under your health, is the VFX gauge. It decreases the longer you use a VFX power, and if it fully depletes, Joe reverts back to his normal, not superpowered self, at which point he can take more damage from enemy attacks. The VFX gauge replenishes on its own, though, and it can be increased a little bit each time you collect 50 film reel pickups (although it reverts back to the original amount each time a new episode of the game starts).

Each VFX power has different effects during gameplay. For instance, holding down the L button to slow down time will make your attacks stronger, allowing you to break through enemy barriers or knock away disoriented enemies (you can disorient enemies by dodging their attacks). If you knock away a disoriented enemy, you will be able to knock away any nearby enemies, allowing you to rack up tons of Viewtifuls (which are converted into V-Points that can be spent on upgrades at the in-game store, and Viewtifuls are also accumulated by stringing together attacks, dodging enemy attacks and completing in-game challenges with a high rank). When in slow motion, Joe will also automatically dodge certain attacks at the expense of some of the VFX gauge. Slow motion also has varying effects on the environment, such as making explosions larger (useful for attacking enemies and blowing open certain walls) and grounding otherwise unreachable enemies or floating platforms. Holding down the R button to go into "Mach Speed" mode allows Joe to attack enemies with lightning-fast flurries of punches and kicks, which will cause afterimages to attack other enemies and even set Joe on fire, allowing him to burn other enemies. The Mach Speed move also has effects on the environment, such as causing floating platforms to rise even higher or making water run faster, raising the water level. The final VFX power causes the camera to zoom in on Joe. While the camera is like this, Joe can no longer string together punches and kicks, but his punches become far stronger and his kick becomes a spinning kick that can attack several enemies at once. Jumping while the camera is zoomed in causes Joe to do a spinning attack upwards, and if you zoom in while in the air, Joe will do a ground pound, damaging all nearby enemies. This power can be used along with one of the others to have different effects.

VFX powers aren't just used during combat. You will often find yourself using them to solve puzzles as well. For the most part, puzzles in the game are pretty quick and straightforward so as not to break up the fast-paced action. There will be very few times when you will be outright stumped as to what to do. However, puzzles are still fun and keep the game from getting repetitive, and often make clever use of your abilities.

Quite possibly the best thing about the game, however, is its difficulty, particularly how it handles it. Viewtiful Joe is a very hard game. The first episode is easy enough, but the difficulty really picks up and steadily increases after that, with the game becoming extremely hard by the end. It's not too forgiving, either; following the first episode, health pickups won't be all that common, and if you get a game over, it's back to the start of the area for you. That said, Viewtiful Joe is pretty much the definition of "fair". The game's enemies are challenging, but you never feel overwhelmed, and you can usually avoid their attacks if you're careful enough. Also, before the start of an episode, at an episode's mid-point, and before a boss, you are allowed to trade in V-Points, collected in the form of coins and also by accumulating Viewtifuls in combat, for upgrades. If you get a game over, you keep all the V-Points you collected before you got a game over and you are sent back to the store, allowing you to buy upgrades that might make your life easier the next time through. Bosses in the game are a similar case. They all have attack patterns and fairly simplistic ways of beating them, but it's not always easy to figure it out. Even when you DO figure it out, they're still not quite easy, as you have to be careful about dodging their attacks lest you get owned, and thanks to the ever present threat of combo breakers, you have to know when to STOP attacking. In short, Viewtiful Joe is one of the few games where having a high difficulty level actually adds to the experience rather than takes away from it. If you die - and you WILL die - it's YOUR fault, and that's something I always love to see in a video game.

As for flaws, there aren't that many, but they are there. My main problem with the game is that, while you are able to save before and at the mid-point of each new episode, you can't save before the bosses. Not only is this a bit pointless, but bosses generally take quite a long time to defeat. If I want to take a break, I should be able to take a freaking break! The only other flaw in the game may or may not bother you. I personally found the fourth episode of the game to be a bit tedious. For one thing, it's a lot slower than the others, which, to me, felt like it was breaking the game's otherwise fast pace. It also features some mildly confusing level design and a couple of annoying puzzles, and the second area of it felt like it was dragging on a bit. It's not a bad or unfun episode, but it definitely felt like the low point of the game for me. These flaws don't make the game any less worth your time, but they still deserve mentioning.

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Even at its lowest points, Viewtiful Joe is dang good time. Featuring unique gameplay and a difficulty level that will kick your butt but remains fair throughout, it was one of the best games on the GameCube and it's still one of the most fun games you could be playing on a Nintendo console right now. If you're looking for a good challenge, or if you're a fan of beat-em-ups or just action games in general, Viewtiful Joe is the game for you. With that said, henshin a-bye-bye! (...Did I seriously type that? AGAIN?!)

Score: 9/10 - Awesome

It may have a few annoyances, but any game that receives a 9 is an exceptional game that is great fun and well worth your time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Review

2011-07-22T01:33:00.017-05:00

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out for the Nintendo 64 to immense fanfare back in 1998, and it is still considered one of the greatest games of all time. Though I didn't get to experience until 2004, I very much loved it, and I still consider it one of my favorite games of all time. Needless to say, many people were eager to experience it again when a remake of it was announced for the 3DS. It came out a month ago, and I myself picked it up along with my own 3DS. Setting aside all hype and nostalgia, what does the 3DS version offer that's new and how well has the game aged? The answers to both questions are in this review.

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I'll begin my review by going over the changes Ocarina of Time 3D makes to the N64 version. Probably the most immediately noticeable improvement made in the 3DS version of Ocarina of Time is the graphics. The graphics have been mostly redone, featuring new, better character models for Link, most enemies and other major characters; 3-D models for pick-ups found in the field rather than 2-D sprites; and a bright, colorful and outright beautiful art style. The only thing in the game that looks dated are the models for minor NPCs, which, for the most part, look like they came straight from a thirteen-year-old Nintendo 64 game. Another thing that hasn't changed at all is the MIDI soundtrack, which is probably the remake's greatest weakness. It's still by all standards a great and memorable soundtrack, but a fully orchestrated version was definitely called for.

That's not even getting into the use of the 3-D effect. In my review of Rayman 3D, I mentioned that turning the 3-D on did little to make the game's horribly dated visuals look any better, and admittedly, I feared that this meant the 3DS' supposed 3-D capabilities wouldn't offer much overall. Fortunately, Ocarina of Time 3D has thoroughly proven me wrong. Playing the game with the 3-D feature on allows you to see the depth of the world, bringing the game to life in a way that playing without it simply cannot. It's especially noticeable during the cutscenes. There's some ghosting here and there, but it still looks amazing and greatly enhances the visual experience and presentation.

Several changes have been made aside from the visuals as well. Most notably, menu navigation and interface has been highly improved thanks to the use of the touch screen. In the 3DS version, you have five slots to ready items for use rather than three. One of them is set aside specifically for the Ocarina, meaning that you won't have to bother rummaging through menus to get it out, two allow you to use items with the X and Y buttons, and there are two more slots that you use the touch screen for. Using the touch screen may sound impractical for some items, but once you get used to it, it works great. Menu navigation is also far faster now, allowing you to switch between items and weapons in much less time than in the original version. Combine that with the fact that the iron boots can now be assigned to one of five said slots, and (on that note) it has, in fact, been redesigned to make it less confusing, and the once notoriously tedious Water Temple is now just as fun as any other dungeon in the game.

One more change has been made to the controls. When using items controlled in first-person, such as the hookshot or bow, you are now given the option of using either the control pad or the 3DS itself to aim them (thanks to the 3DS' built-in gyroscope). Though using the gyroscope may sound gimmicky, it's noticeably more smooth and precise than when aiming with the control stick, and once you've done it for a while, you'll never be able to go back to using the control stick again.

The only other notable changes made to the 3DS remake are that the Master Quest version of the game is unlocked after you beat the normal version, and there is also a boss rush mode (playable by sleeping in Link's childhood bed in the past after a certain point in the game). Ocarina of Time Master Quest was originally a bonus game that you could get if you preordered The Wind Waker, and in it, the dungeon designs were changed to be more difficult. It was nice, but in the 3DS version of the game, not only are the dungeon designs remixed, but the game has been completely mirrored and Link now takes double damage. Combined with the new dungeon designs, it makes for a more interesting, far more difficult experience.

As for the game itself, it's aged amazingly well. One thing that it got a lot of praise for when it first came out is how lengthy it was. While by today's standards, it's not exactly "long", it's by no means a short game either. Most gamers will take about 20-30 hours to complete it on their first try, and that's not even counting the sheer number of side quests in the game. In fact, this shorter length can, in some ways, be considered an advantage over later Zeldas. Not only does it allow the game to have more replayability, but pacing and plot progression are pretty much flawless. There's always a sense of progression and the game never feels like it's dragging on. The game also never relies on padding to extend its length, not at any point devolving into mandatory fetch quests - something that Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are extremely guilty of - and providing a field that holds no shortage of secrets but is small enough that it's easy to navigate if you just want to speed through the game, something that those who weren't fans of Wind Waker's sailing will consider a godsend. But why speed through the game when there are so many optional quests to do? From finding all the Heart Containers to getting the Biggoron's Sword to killing all 100 Gold Skulltullas, Ocarina of Time continues to impress thirteen years later with the amount of worthwhile side quests it holds.

Combat in the game can best be described as simple, yet satisfying. Though Link's moveset is more limited than in later games in the series, sword combat is still fun and the targeting system works great. And you can't talk about combat without talking about bosses, and while later 3-D Zeldas (for the most part) had better bosses in my opinion, the game's ten main bosses are still great and a lot of fun to fight, each having their own strategies for defeating them. My favorite boss would probably have to be Barinade from the third dungeon.

Speaking of the dungeons, each of the game's eleven dungeons are just as beautifully designed as they were thirteen years ago. Each dungeon features its own unique mechanics and clever puzzles. The Master Quest version of the game provides interesting and extremely clever redesigns of said dungeons, and often puts to better use mechanics and items that weren't used so much in the original version, such as the time blocks and fire arrows. They also live up to the promise of being more difficult. Trust me, if you've not played it before, you will need to use a guide at some points.

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It's really amazing to look at Ocarina of Time and see just how well it's aged. Thirteen years after its release and it's still one of the best games out there, and thanks to the changes made to the remake it's even better on 3DS. The only things about the game that are "dated" are purely aesthetic, and even then, it's mostly just the sound quality of the music. In a perfect world, all of our old favorites would be like this: timeless masterpieces that can be played and enjoyed by all generations of gamers; games that we could one day show to our kids, and that they would love as much as we did. But alas, standards for playtime and gameplay change as gaming technology progresses, and games that were once amazing may one day end up being considered bland and average. It's still a possibility that Ocarina of Time could one day be considered dated, if its sword combat becomes too simplistic or 20-30 hours eventually becomes too short for a game to be worth full price, but considering how well it still holds up after thirteen years, that day obviously isn't coming anytime soon. Though Skyward Sword may change this after it comes out, later Zeldas may have done some things better, but as it stands, Ocarina of Time is the only one to have done everything else perfectly. If you haven't played this game, well, you should be ashamed of yourself, and get this game as soon as possible! The 3DS version is the definitive version, but the original version is still great, so you should pick it up whether you own or are planning to own a 3DS or not.

One thing simply has to be said though: It's kind of sad that the best game on 3DS right now is a remake of an old game. I'm sorry, but it just is.

Score: 10/10 - Amazing.

Sonic Generations Demo Impressions

2011-06-26T03:08:00.011-05:00

At this point, a lot of people would agree that 2010 was, at the very least, a better year than we’ve come to expect from Sonic. Sure, there was Free Riders and the TERRIBLY done XBLA/PSN port of Sonic Adventure, and due to its (often seen as negative) deviations from the Genesis games to which it is touted a sequel – and I’m not just talking about GREEN EYES – Sonic 4: Episode I has earned a reputation as a very love it or hate it game – quite unfortunate for the first part of a game that is meant to be Sonic’s opus, but given Sonic’s track record on consoles throughout the latter half of the 2000s, it’s honestly (and sadly) somewhat respectable. But then we have Sonic Colors, which rocked both of Nintendo’s current systems last Christmas, and while it didn’t satisfy absolutely everyone, I personally thought it was awesome, and it’s the first 3-D Sonic game since the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure 2 to secure a position in the green on Metacritic. Heck, it even got an 8.5/10 from IGN. Let that sink in. A 3-D Sonic game got a great review from IGN.

Unfortunately, gamers and the gaming press at large tend to ignore this fact, as demonstrated by this Kotaku article. Even IGN, whom lauded both Sonic 4 and Colors with praise, would rather point out Sonic’s missteps in their already-infamous history of Sonic feature, posted the other day, rather than many of the games that succeeded. Perhaps it’s to be expected, though. We’ve been burned so badly for so long that perhaps it will take quite a while to forget the pain. Or maybe we need one game so amazing that it will be nearly impossible to deny that Sonic is back.

That is what Sonic Generations, coming to 360 and PS3 this holiday, is setting out to do – and, even better, looks like it WILL do. It features two separate play styles a la Sonic Unleashed, but don’t worry: no stretchy-armed monstrosities this time! Instead, as part of the celebration of 20 years of Sonic, we will be playing as two different Sonics – the rounder, cuter, more childish Sonic that Genesis kids will remember, and the taller, leaner, green-eyed Sonic that my generation knows and loves – or “Ruined Forever Sonic”, as I like to call him after a small but annoyingly vocal faction of fans’ reaction to his presence in Sonic 4. Classic Sonic’s levels feature fast platforming based around momentum physics reminiscent of the Genesis titles from which he hails, and, judging from what we’ve seen, “Ruined Forever Sonic” combines the best elements of Unleashed – that is, the GOOD levels from Unleashed (the amazing sense of speed and seamlessly switching between 2-D and 3-D perspectives) – with the best elements of Colors (enjoyable sections of straight-up platforming). Keeping with the theme, each of the game’s levels are based on locales from Sonic’s previous adventures, (Green Hill from Sonic 1 and City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2 being the ones thus far shown) all reimagined in glorious HD, with remixed music, levels designed to fit the two play styles, and perhaps a few surprises a long the way. You know you want it.

And just to show even further how much they love us, for a limited time (20 days to be exact, starting at June 23, Sonic’s official birthday) SEGA is offering a free demo of the beta version on Xbox Live and PSN to give us a little taste of what we’re going to get. Although we can likely expect to get to play as “Ruined Forever Sonic” at some point, so far only Classic Sonic’s Green Hill Zone is playable. Over the past few days, I have played the demo almost non-stop, analyzing it as if it were some elaborate, complex, deep work of art meant to be studied and appreciated. I’ve played it until I’ve gotten bored with it, and then played it some more, and I can safely say that while there are improvements that can and probably should be made in the months leading up to the game’s release, it’s probably time to put all of our fears and doubts to rest. Ladies and gentlemen, the demo of Sonic Generations is awesome.

The first thing I want to go over is the visuals. Green Hill Zone has never looked so great. The lighting effects and colors are simply gorgeous, and the zone’s checkerboard patterned walls and grass are beautifully detailed and generally look fantastic HD. But even aside from that, the level just feels so alive. As you run through the level, you will pass by numerous giant totem poles and be able to admire the surreal landscape of the level. It’s not content to bore you with repetitive scenery, either, and as you traverse the stage you will venture into dimly-lit caves and run along mountaintops. Classic Sonic’s model is also highly detailed, as are those of the enemies in the game, which seem to have been given somewhat of a metallic shine. Definitely a nice touch. Oh, and while I’m at it, the remix of Green Hill Zone’s original theme is VERY nice.

Of course, at this point Sonic Team knows better than to put all of the work into the graphics, and it certainly shows. The first thing most of you who were disappointed with Sonic 4 are probably wondering is if they got Sonic’s physics right this time. For the most part, yes, they did. When running or during a spindash, Sonic carries and maintains momentum just as he did in the classics and just as he should. Perhaps the best way that Sonic Team has shown their work is that it’s even incorporated into the level design, as you will need to make use of Sonic’s momentum to go through loops and to take some of the faster paths through the stage. Oh, and when coming off of a quarterpipe, he doesn’t uncurl either, if that bothered you, you unpleasable little retro nerd (kidding). Unfortunately, not all is perfect with the physics. In fact, this brings me to the first negative point I will mention: pressing down while running (which causes Sonic to roll into a ball briefly), while not as useless as it was in Sonic 4, generally only slows you down from my experience. It’s not a big disappointment, but it’s something I’d like to see fixed by the time the game is released.

Now, there IS another change that has been made to the physics, but it seems to be intentional. Bouncing off of an enemy no longer causes you to bounce to a height proportional to how much downward momentum you gained. Instead, the height is always fixed. I say this is intentional because bouncing off of enemies seems to have been made into a sort of “double jump” now. This is demonstrated very well by a section toward the beginning of the stage where you have two paths to take: a lower route through a tube that will overall be a slower route, and a higher route on a ledge that Sonic can’t jump to normally. However, there is a purple bee enemy flying back and forth, and if you can time a jump so that you can hit it while it’s close enough to the ledge, you will bounce off of it and be able to reach the ledge. It’s a mechanic that works well and that I hope to see used more often in the game’s levels.

This brings me to yet another of the demo’s major strengths: the level present is EXTREMELY well designed. The level blends speed and platforming very well, just as the Genesis games did, but that’s not even the best part. The level is multi-layered like in the classics, featuring an upper, middle, and lower path, the upper path being the fastest to take but the hardest to stay on. This is where you can REALLY tell that Sonic Team knows what they’re doing, because as I continued to replay the demo, for the first ten or so playthroughs I kept finding new areas and shortcuts through the level. There are TONS of different pathways and shortcuts to take in this one stage, and it truly captures the freedom and exploration that set the Genesis games apart from other platformers way back in the early 90’s along with Sonic's speed. Oh, and as mentioned before, to take the fastest paths through the stage, you will need to utilize Newton’s third law of motion to your advantage. If the first stage of the entire freaking game is like this, then just think, what will the rest of the classic stages be like?

He's waaaaaiting...

Now, a common criticism of the game (aside from the poor implementation of the rolling mechanic) from those who have played it is that Sonic feels kind of heavy and stiff, and I will have to concur. It’s nothing game breaking, but it’s definitely noticeable and it’s something that should be fixed. I’ve also heard people complaining about things like the number of scripted events in the stage, how springs are activated by hitting them from any side rather than by jumping on them (and are also scripted) and that the stage has more automated segments than the classics. Though I do think that changing some of this could help the game to feel even more like the Genesis games, I honestly didn’t take issue with any of these points. Not enough of the level is fully scripted or automated to detract from it in my opinion, and the thing about being able to use a spring from any side seems really inconsequential anyway. Really, just polish it up, fix the rolling, make Sonic feel lighter to control, and make the spindash a bit weaker and I think this game will be ready to play this Christmas.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the Generations demo. Now, SEGA, getting to play a classic level of this game early is great and all…but when those 20 days are up, will you let us play Modern Sonic’s level a bit? Please?

Sly Cooper Series/The Sly Collection Review

2011-06-23T03:55:00.013-05:00

When I get nostalgic for the early and mid 2000s, my mind always turns to Sly Cooper, an anthropomorphic raccoon who was one of the PlayStation 2’s three mascots, along with Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank, back in the day (and the only one I really grew up on). The entire series was remastered for PS3 last year, and an unlockable extra was a teaser for “Sly 4." This year at E3 brought a brand new trailer as well as gameplay footage (!!!!) for the game that is now titled “Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time,” developed by the up-and-coming Sanzaru Games rather than Sucker Punch, whom have moved on to the Infamous series. All three instances reduced me to a state of giggling with childish glee as if I were once again nine years old. Of course, that’s an age where you can say that Nickelback produces deep and meaningful music without getting simultaneously punched in the face by every intelligent human being on Planet Earth. Before I got too excited, I decided to go back and play through the original PS2 trilogy, partially to relive some good childhood memories and partially to see if my love for the series wasn’t just me viewing it through nostalgia goggles. Here are my reviews for the games in the Sly Cooper series. They are based on the PS2 versions of the games (as I do not own the collection), but this also doubles as my review for the PS3 collection. Also, this is going to be pretty long, so bear with me.

*Also note that this review will contain some spoilers for the plot of Sly 1, which will appear in the first paragraph of the Sly 2 review.*

-----General praises----

If there’s one thing that has remained completely consistent across all three games in the franchise, it’s the fact that each game feels like you’re playing a cartoon, and this is completely intentional. Much as Infamous went for a comic book feel, the Sly Cooper series goes for a cartoon feel and, just like Infamous, does so exceptionally well. Most obviously, the cutscenes that take place before and after “episodes” of the games are made completely using 2-D, cartoonish art, albeit with somewhat limited animation (in the first game moreso than the others), and the aesthetics in general are very reminiscent of cartoons. The cartoon feel runs deeper than the visual style, however. The plot of each game features a “monster of the week” setup, with all of the games’ episodes featuring a different villain, and each character (including the villains) has a defining personality.

Another thing I greatly appreciate the series for is that, by platformer standards, the series as a whole has a very well-done and sometimes even dark storyline, with protagonists that you really like and care about and villains that you really hate. Being a cartoonish series about an anthropomorphic raccoon who steals stuff, the games know not to take themselves too seriously and always find the time to inject some comic relief into a situation, but really, for platformers, these games have a very interesting plot (Sly 2 and 3 moreso than the first).

-----Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus Review-----

I will start my excursion through the franchise with the first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus. Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus (hereon referred to as “Sly 1”) introduces us to – wait for it – Sly Cooper, an anthropomorphic raccoon who comes from a family of thieves that goes back hundreds of years, and each of these thieves have learned their techniques from a book called – wait for it – the Thievious Raccoonus, and each of these thieves has also added their own techniques to the book. Also, apparently the Cooper family only steals from other criminals, cause, you know, I guess that makes you somewhat less of a butthole? Regardless, when Sly was a kid, a group called the Fiendish Five broke into their home, brutally murdered his dad, ripped the book’s pages out of it and then left with said pages. Well, gee, that’s not nice, is it? Now, Sly is an adult with two trusty companions: Bentley, an intelligent turtle who handles most of the technical crap, and, the ehm…pink…hippo-thing, Murray, who, in this game only, exists solely to drive the gang between locations in the Cooper equivalent of the Mystery Machine. To keep his family name worth something, Sly must find the Fiendish Five, exact sweet vengeance and steal back the pages of the Thievious Raccoonus. Along the way, they must avoid Carmelita, a fox cop who wants nothing more than to see the gang incarcerated.

Sly 1’s gameplay can be best described as something like Metal Gear meets Crash Bandicoot. For the most part, the game plays as a linear platformer. You jump from platform to platform, kill stuff and break stuff while collecting coins. Sly can only take one hit normally, but you can collect up to two magically delicious lucky charms (no, it’s not really the cereal) that will allow you to take more damage. You will find lucky charms as you go through the levels, but you can also get lucky charms by getting 100 coins, and if you already have two of them, getting 100 coins will net you an extra life. One of the things that make Sly stand out amongst platformers is the element of stealth in the game. Part of the challenge of the game is avoiding laser security and spotlights, as getting caught will result in an alarm going off followed by the lasers and spotlights becoming heat rays ready to burn your flesh. The game also features flashlight-carrying guards whose attacks are tougher to avoid than those of other enemies, and if one catches you, they’ll blow a whistle that will send other such guards rushing to their location, all with a thirst for blood. You don’t want that, so it’s in your best interest to dispatch of them stealthily.

Another thing that makes Sly stand out is the incorporation of parkour elements into the gameplay. Sly carries a cane with a rounded end. Aside from being used as his main method of attack, he can also use it to grab onto hooks, done rather famously by jumping and then hitting the circle button. After grabbing onto a hook, you can then swing back and forth to gain enough momentum to jump to your next destination, provided you don’t already have enough momentum. Sly can also use his cane to grab onto and then climb up and down poles and pipes, done by, again, jumping and hitting the circle button. As the game progresses, you learn two more moves requiring the amazing button combination – the Ninja Spire Jump, which allows you to land safely on narrow surfaces, and the Rail Walk and Rail Slide, which allow you to walk and slide on said narrow surfaces. These parkour and stealth elements are woven into the platforming gameplay very well, making for a fun platforming experience with impressive level design.

Of course, platforming isn’t all you’ll be doing in Sly Cooper. Though Sly is the only playable character for most of the game, you will get to play as Murray and Bentley…sort of. Murray gets a few driving levels (two of them involving racing) and Bentley gets a computer hacking level, played as a top-down shooter, toward the end of the game. Not every moment spent playing as Sly is spent platforming either. There are two missions in the game where you are riding in a hovercraft with a gun attached, and you get to drive around killing stuff as you make your way to the end of the level. There are also a few missions where you have to defend a character making his way to a key by shooting all enemies and obstacles in his path, one of these aforementioned levels being played as Carmelita. These brief alternate gameplay levels are fairly enjoyable and add some nice variety to the game.

One critcism that Sly 1 sometimes got was that it’s too easy, and, well...I would have to disagree. Maybe I just suck, but I found the game to be fairly challenging, especially the five bosses…well, three of them. With the exception of the Panda King, whom you can win against by simply smacking him with your cane constantly – no, really – and Raleigh, where all you have to do is wait for him to be vulnerable so that you can smack him with your cane, the bosses are difficult and have interesting ways of defeating them. The battle with Muggshot, for instance, takes place in a room with multiple levels, each having a set of mirrors and crystals. Whilst avoiding gunfire from Muggshot, you must hit the mirrors with your cane to make light shine on the crystals, and once all of the crystals are lit, Muggshot’s guns will melt from the heat. This will force him to retreat to the next level of the room in order to get replacements. You follow him, and then the battle continues in a similar manner, except more difficult. Also, Mizz Ruby’s battle is played as a rhythm game. She will send energy blasts in the shape of controller buttons at you, and you must press the corresponding buttons to avoid them as you continue towards her so that you can land a hit.

With all of that going for it, Sly 1 could have been a great game. Unfortunately, there is a major flaw: it’s…pretty freakin’ short. Most gamers should be able to beat it within three days at the most. Granted, there are collectible clue bottles in the game, and finding all of them will reveal the combination to a vault containing a page of the Thievious Raccoonus (which will unlock a new move), and there are also challenges to complete a level within a certain amount of time, which will unlock developer commentaries. However, with the exception of the dive attack and the moves that allowed you to fall into water and off cliffs without taking damage, I rarely found myself using the extra moves, and does anyone seriously care that much about developer commentaries? Though it’s fun while it lasts, the short length makes it kind of hard to recommend for full price. Of course, given its age, it’s highly unlikely any game store would be selling it for full price, but it’s still worth mentioning.

Score: 7.5/10 - Good

-----Sly 2: Band of Thieves Review-----

Sly 2 picks up two years after the original Sly Cooper. Clockwerk, the mechanical final boss of the first game, has been defeated and disassembled and his parts are now at a museum. In an attempt to make sure that he never returns, Sly and the gang break into the museum to find that the parts have already been stolen. They are confronted by Carmelita and new character Constable Neyla, the latter of whom mentions that the “Klaww Gang” may have stolen the parts. Further research indicates that they may indeed have, which results in the gang once again traveling all over the world to steal from a group of international criminals. Fun, right?

Sly 2 is a very different game than Sly 1. Rather than a straight-up platformer with stealth and parkour elements, Sly 2 is a mission-based, open world game. The game has eight playable worlds, each with their own missions, and the stealth and parkour elements are the rule rather than the exception. The game also introduces several new abilities for Sly. Sly can now perform stealth kills on unsuspecting enemies, and can also pickpocket enemies for coins and even treasure that you can sell on the Internet for even more coins. Speaking of which, although collectible clue bottles return with the same purpose, coins are now used to purchase new moves and items for Sly and the rest of the cast. They’re not as useful as the ones you find in vaults (unless you’re required to get them to continue), but some of them are still pretty cool. Oh, and each character has a health bar now, which is very nice.

This brings me to another major addition to the game: Bentley and Murray are now playable characters. Sly is the character you’ll be using the most and he is my favorite character to control, but that’s not to say that Bentley and Murray aren’t pretty dang fun to control as well. Murray is no longer the cowardly, pink hippo-thing he was in Sly 1. He’s…well, he’s still pink, but he’s now the main fighter of the group. He can pick up objects or even unsuspecting enemies and throw them at other enemies, and also has a “thunder flop” move that creates a shockwave when he lands. Combat isn’t Bentley’s strong suit, and it shows. However, he is able to put guards to sleep by going into first-person view and then firing a tranquilizer dart at them, after which he can lay a bomb next to them and just wait for the sweet satisfaction of seeing them get blown to smithereens. Bentley’s hacking missions return from the previous game, and he also has an RC chopper that he uses for missions that require air support.

As I played through Sly 2 again, I realized that I had forgotten how much I loved it. In fact, bearing in mind that I have yet to play Infamous 2, I would say that Sly 2 is Sucker Punch’s best game yet. Yes, even better than the original Infamous, and allow me to explain why. One of my main problems with Infamous was that there wasn’t that much variety in side missions, which resulted in them getting kind of repetitive. The story missions weren’t repetitive, but as I recall for the most part you were shooting stuff with lightning. Now, I love shooting stuff with lightning, but let’s take a look at Sly 2. There are very few missions in the game that ask you to do quite the same thing as another mission, and playing the game never gets old. Another thing that I love about Sly 2’s missions is how you never feel like you’re doing something just for the sake of doing something. Every mission feels like you’re doing something that’s essential to accomplishing the objective at hand, and at the end of every episode there is a big, final job where every character gets a chance to shine and you (usually) get what you came for and sometimes even fight a boss. Combine that with the multiple playable characters and the fact that the gameplay is noticeably more polished, and you have what is in my opinion a better game than Infamous.

Sly 2 is considerably longer than Sly 1, featuring eight full episodes as opposed to five, and the episodes take longer to complete overall. Also, I found the plot and the cast of villains to be a lot more interesting than that of the original Sly Cooper. Really, the only thing that I find wrong with Sly 2 is how, in areas where there are several things that Sly can land on or grab onto (by jumping and hitting the circle button, of course), Sly won’t always grab/land on the thing you want him to unless you are right next to it, which can be a bit frustrating.

Score: 9/10 - Awesome

-----Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves Review-----

In Sly 3, Sly learns about the Cooper Vault, which holds everything his family has ever stolen, and his cane is the key. Unfortunately, the island it’s on is owned by the nefarious Dr. M, who has been trying to open the vault himself and keeps the island under heavy security. Sly, along with a group of (at this point kept hidden, except for Bentley) characters, makes it to the Cooper Vault, when he is stopped by Dr. M, who attacks him using one of his gigantic genetic engineering experiments. Whilst being crushed to death, he remembers how he recruited everyone he needed to get there, and the first five episodes are those memories.

Although I have a lot of fondness and nostalgia for Sly 3, I remembered that as a kid I never liked it quite as much as Sly 2. When I was first getting into it again, I didn’t quite understand why. The gameplay is mostly the same as Sly 2, but it feels a lot more polished and refined, and some changes have been made that are small, but do help to make the game more enjoyable. For instance, Bentley, left in a wheelchair after the events of Sly 2, is a lot faster and can jump a lot higher (thanks to his jet thrusters), and can even upgrade his jump so that he can jump four times. He also has his own method of stealth killing and pickpocketing enemies now, as does Murray.

In addition, five new playable characters have been added in since Sly 2 (although you can only use them for certain missions). Carmelita makes her first fully controllable appearance, allowing us to blast people in the face with her shock pistol. The Guru is perhaps the most interesting new character, being able to jump on enemies’ backs to possess and then ride them, which is really freaking fun if I do say so myself. Penelope is now in charge of the RC vehicles rather than Bentley. She uses a chopper with a claw that she can use to yank enemies and toss them away as well as an RC car outfitted with turrets. The Panda King, who was a boss in Sly 1, can lock onto enemies and use his fireworks to blast stuff – which is awesome. Finally, Dimitri, who was a boss in Sly 2, has...first-person underwater diving missions. Yes, in a series where none of the fully controllable cast OR the enemies is able to swim at all, one character has first-person underwater diving missions. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, as a kid, I never liked Sly 3 quite as much as Sly 2, and as I got farther into it, I remembered why. To start with, what’s another way that Sly 3 tries to change things up from Sly 2? Well, whereas Sly 2 had a lot of variety in objectives, Sly 3 has a lot of variety in gameplay, and that’s its greatest weakness. Now, don’t get me wrong, having variety in gameplay is not an inherently bad thing. In fact, Sly 1 and 2 had areas and missions where the gameplay changed entirely as well, albeit in smaller amounts, and it helped to further add variety to the games. The problem with Sly 3 is that a decently-sized chunk of it isn’t even played as a platformer. The addition of more playable characters is partially to blame for this. As mentioned before, Penelope is now in charge of RC vehicles in the game. What I didn’t mention is that you are going to spend a lot of missions controlling said RC vehicles. That’s not to say that it’s not fun, though. What isn’t fun is playing as Dimitri. The first mission with him can best be described as bland, boring, uneventful, and boring. Did I mention it was boring? His second mission, up until the boss fight (which was sort of fun), is needlessly frustrating due to awkward control. Thank God you only have to control him twice in the entire game.

All that said, most of the characters fit in fairly well with Sly, Bentley and Murray. However, a fair number of the missions played with them don’t even feature platforming. Heck, half of the fifth episode of the game is spent on a pirate ship where you engage in battles with other ships. Now, there’s something I want to clarify here: except for Dimitri’s gameplay, the problem is not that these alternate gameplay sections aren’t fun. In fact, I rather enjoyed most of them. The problem is that it feels like the game can’t decide what it wants to be. Does it want to be a platformer? Does it want to be a dogfighting game? Does it want to be a driving game? Does it want to be a DIVING game?

Another thing that I didn’t like about Sly 3, at least when compared to Sly 2, was the amount of time spent playing as the title character. I think the other characters – except for Dimitri, of course – are a lot of fun to play as, but I mentioned in my review of Sly 2 that Sly was my favorite character to control, and that still holds true for Sly 3. So why am I hardly spending half the game controlling the title character? Also, one thing that annoyed me about Sly 3 as a kid is that it has fewer episodes than Sly 2 – six as opposed to Sly 2’s eight. However, a lot of the missions take longer to complete, so it’s roughly the same length overall.

For all of the ranting I’ve done about its faults, Sly 3 is still definitely a great and fun game and very much worth your time. Most of the alternate gameplay is well done, and the characters besides Sly are fun to play as. I just wish that at least 90% of it had been a platformer.

Score: 8/10 – Very Good

-----Advantages of the PS3 collection-----

Keeping in mind that I haven’t played the PS3 versions of the games and I’m just going by Wikipedia (because we all know that’s the most reliable source ever, right?), The Sly Collection upscales the graphics a bit, adds in new mini-games that can be played either with the PS Move or the normal controller and has trophy support. That’s not much if you already own the PS2 versions, but if you’ve never experienced the series, you’re a fan of platformers, and you own a PS3, then what are you waiting for? It’s only 30 bucks on Amazon.com, so go get it!

And thus ends my critique of the Sly Cooper series. I bid you good day.

Rayman 3D Review

2011-05-17T01:35:00.035-05:00

As a kid, I had been interested in the Rayman series, being the platformer lover that I was (and am). At around 5 or 6, this resulted in me unknowingly buying a racing game, Rayman Rush, and from what I remember, it was a fairly mediocre one at that. I lost all interest in the series until this year, when a friend got a 3DS. The only game he had for it was Rayman 3D, a remake of Rayman 2: The Great Escape, which was a very highly regarded platformer during its day. Recently, I went over to see him and, having very little better to do (as he was experiencing the awesome puzzleness of Portal 2) and interested to see what I had missed way back when, I decided to play it through until the end. Here is my opinion of Rayman 3D. (Also, this is my first review for a 3DS game. Yay.)

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Rayman 3D is a 3-D platformer starring Rayman, a…thing…with a huge nose, two long…ears?...antennae?...is it hair?...and floating appendages that aren’t connected to his body. Well, that’s totally not weird at all, right?

Seriously, just what the heck IS Rayman?

Regardless, Rayman’s primary moveset includes a “magic fist,” which allows him to throw magic orbs that ricochet off of walls and other surfaces and serves as his main means of attack; holding himself up between two close-together walls, during which time he can move along the walls and even jump from where he’s hanging; and the ability to spin his…"ear-hair-tennae"…around like a propeller in order to slow his descent from a jump. As the game progresses, the power and versatility of these abilities will increase. Not far into the game, Rayman is able to use his “magic fist” as a grappling hook to swing from ring-like, purple fairies by simply shooting at them, and later can charge it up for a more powerful shot. In addition, in one level only, Rayman is able to use his propeller ability to fly.

Unlike a lot of 3-D platformers from the late 90’s, Rayman 3D is not inspired by, nor is it a clone of, Super Mario 64. Instead, Rayman 3D takes a fairly linear approach that focuses more on straight-up platforming than exploration, which leads to one of the game’s biggest strengths: the level design. Rayman 3D's levels feature lots of fun platforming and, especially for its time, a good amount of variety. From using an indestructible plum to cross a lava flow, to lighting a powder keg with a torch and using it to fly to your next destination, to riding a missile with legs through an obstacle course as if it were a highly combustible horse, Rayman 3D definitely knows how to keep things interesting. It's really not hard to see why it was so highly regarded back in 1999. And yes, you do all of that stuff in the game. And yes, it is ridiculous, but at least it’s not out of place in a game where I can’t even tell you what the main character is supposed to be, right?

Really, now.

But although it’s not a Super Mario 64 clone, the game isn’t devoid of item collecting. Far from it, actually. Scattered throughout the game’s levels and sometimes even trapped in cages are yellow fairies referred to in-game as “Lums,” and there are times when you will need a certain number to access a new area. There are 1,000 in the game, although to complete the game, you aren’t going to need nearly that many. Now, if you DO get all of the yellow Lums in a level, as well as break all of the cages, you are allowed access to the bonus stage. In it, you must help one of Rayman’s friend Globox’s babies win a race by tapping the "A" and "Y" buttons repeatedly. If you win, a fairy will fully restore Rayman’s health....but considering that most of the actually dangerous hazards in the game kill you in one hit, (in which case, you’ll respawn with full health anyway) it’s honestly kind of useless. In addition to yellow Lums, there are red Lums that restore your health, orange Lums (recognizable by their demented grins) that seem to extend your health if you get enough, green Lums that act as checkpoints, and blue Lums that replenish some of Rayman’s air when he’s underwater.

Unfortunately, fun as the gameplay and level design are, there are several reasons why I would advise against putting down a full 40 bucks for Rayman 3D. First of all, the graphics really haven’t aged well. The framerate can get really shaky at times, and a good deal of the objects in the game are just flat, 2-D images or textures, most glaringly the thorny vine obstacles and pits, the animations of which are just laughable. And don’t even get me started on the backgrounds. Granted, the 3DS has only just been released, but when one of the first games shown for it at E3 looks as good as a GameCube game, it really makes one wonder why they didn't take more time to improve the graphics. The 3D feature doesn't do much to make the game look better, either. In fact, it only makes a difference when objects are close to the screen. Also, the sound quality (with the exception of the music) is pretty bad as well, even if you’re wearing headphones. Most notably, the Klonoa-esque gibberish spoken during cutscenes is virtually inaudible.

In addition to that, even if the game’s combat system was serviceable back in the day, it’s pretty lackluster now. As stated earlier, Rayman’s main means of attack is shooting glowing orbs at enemies. Combat pretty much consists of holding “L” to strafe and avoiding your enemy's attacks while holding the “Y” button to charge your own attack, or, if you can’t use the charged shot yet, tapping the “Y” button repeatedly until the enemy’s dead. Don’t get me wrong, I know not to expect much from combat in a platformer, but in most platformers, normal enemies usually take one hit to defeat – two or three at the most. Nowadays, if you’re going to give non-boss enemies a health bar, you need to make combat interesting than this.

Fortunately, combat takes a back seat to platforming, but there’s a flaw that hurts that, too: the camera. The camera is highly uncooperative, sometimes even going outside of the level, and makes areas where you are supposed to swing from the ring-like fairies especially difficult because you can’t always see where the next one is. It doesn’t help that the game provides no means of controlling the camera except for centering it behind Rayman’s back by pressing the “L” button, and even that doesn’t help much sometimes.

On top of all that, the game is…pretty short. I was able to beat it over the course of a single day. Granted, it was a dedicated day on which I had very little better to do, but even so, a single day is still a single day. Now, I know that no platformer is that long – in fact, Sonic Colors, which I gave a 9/10, is just as short as Rayman 3D. But before you start calling bullcrap, allow me to clarify something: for me to recommend a short game for full price, the experience either needs to be top-notch the whole way through, or the game needs to have the replay value to back it up. Sonic Colors succeeded in both areas. Rayman 3D does not succeed in either.

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Rayman 3D is most certainly an enjoyable platformer, sporting fun and varied level design, but with all of its flaws taken into account, 40 dollars is a lot to ask for it. I can’t be sure if the framerate and camera problems are exclusive to the 3DS version, considering that I’ve never played any other version of the game, but even if it weren’t for those flaws, the lackluster combat system and short length would still drag it down quite a bit. Still, if you’re a fan of platformers and haven’t already experienced the game on another console, you might want to check this game out once the price drops a bit.

Score: 7/10

A game that receives a 7 is generally fun to play, but its weakness seriously hurt the experience. Buy it if you’re a fan of the genre or franchise, but not for full price.

Alan Wake Review

2011-05-14T01:00:00.012-05:00

Alan Wake, an Xbox 360 exclusive, is the first game by Remedy Entertainment since Max Payne 2. I have yet to play those games, but being the huge horror fan that I am, I thought Alan Wake looked interesting. When I found it for a good price at the local game store, I didn’t pass up the chance to buy it – and boy, am I ever glad that I did. Here’s why Alan Wake is a work of art that everyone should experience.

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Alan Wake involves the titular character, a successful and well-known writer who has been experiencing writer’s block for two straight years, going on vacation with his nyctophobic (afraid of the dark) wife, Alice Wake, to the town of Bright Falls in an attempt to briefly forget about his career. They reach their cabin on Cauldron Lake when Alice reveals that she brought a typewriter, hoping that the different scenery would inspire him. An argument ensues and Alan goes outside to clear his head, until he’s startled by his wife’s screams when the lights in the cabin go out. He rushes up to the balcony overlooking the lake and believes he sees her in the water. He dives down to save her, and then wakes up later, having apparently been in a car wreck on a cliff, injured and with no memory of the past week. That’s when crap gets real.

Technically, Alan Wake is a survival horror game, and one of the few that doesn’t involve endless swarms of zombies piling onto you to eat your brain and exploding in gushes of blood when you successfully pull off a headshot. Instead, you’ll be fighting off human beings possessed by darkness, referred to in-game as “Taken”. Gameplay-wise, Alan Wake is a third-person shooter. However, Alan Wake adds an interesting gimmick to its combat system.

Taken can’t be hurt by bullets alone. To damage them with your gun, you must first burn the darkness away with light, hence why you will be carrying a flashlight throughout the entire game. You can tell how close you are to burning the darkness away by the ring around the center of the light. As you shine light on them, the ring gets smaller and smaller until it reaches the center of the light, at which point you can do damage. The larger the enemy, the larger the ring. Fortunately, by holding the left trigger you can boost the light and focus it on an enemy, making the ring disappear faster. However, doing so makes the battery life go down, so be weary of that. If it runs out, you can press the “Y” button to insert a new battery into it, boosting the charge back up a bit, but if you don’t have any, it will recharge on its own (albeit slowly).

Though certainly great, the gameplay of Alan Wake is actually its weakest aspect. The best parts of the game are the story and the atmosphere. The story itself is fantastic. Though I would rather not give any details beyond what I already said in order to avoid giving out spoilers, the plot is highly engaging and keeps you interested as more and more details are revealed.

The storyline is complimented by the atmosphere and storytelling. Remedy Entertainment has successfully accomplished the feeling of a horror mini-series. During the nighttime, the atmosphere is dark, creepy and unsettling, and you never quite know when you’re going to be assaulted by a group of angry Taken. If you stumble upon a TV, you can tune into the game’s Twilight Zone knockoff with intentionally hammy acting, Night Springs. The storytelling adds to this as well. Every cutscene, Alan’s style of narration, the “recap” scenes at the start of each “episode” of the game, and some of the (intentionally) sillier moments that all TV shows and horror movies have, all added to the feeling that I was playing an interactive horror show – and that’s definitely a good thing.

-------------------------------

Alan Wake is a true masterpiece. Perhaps the best thing about the game is how well each aspect compliments another. Much of the storyline is revealed during gameplay, which is made more engaging by the atmosphere. The atmosphere, in turn, adds an eerie feeling to the story and gameplay, and it along with the storytelling adds a horror movie-like feel to all of it. Take out or change just one of these elements, and it wouldn’t feel the same or be as perfect as Alan Wake is. Well, almost perfect. The only flaw with the game is that the characters’ facial animations during the cutscenes look kind of awkward. It’s not bad enough for me to knock the score down, and aside from that the graphics are fantastic, but it still deserves mention.

In short, Alan Wake is an engaging third-person shooter with a fantastic story, atmosphere and storytelling. I cannot stress how hard it is to stop playing when you start. If you own a 360, then this is a game you absolutely shouldn’t do without.

Score: 10/10 – Amazing.

Though no game is absolutely, 100% perfect, a 10 game is probably about as close to perfect as a game can get, and throughout its duration is a wonderful experience that you have no excuse to miss out on if you own the platform.

Retro Review: Crazy Taxi

2011-05-11T00:05:00.021-05:00

It’s not very often that my Dreamcast is used for much else than Sonic Adventure nostalgia, and recently I’ve decided to break out some old Dreamcast games that I never played much of as a kid. Among those is the original Crazy Taxi, the classic arcade port that was fairly popular way back in 2000. I never played it much then, because, well, I was just 4 and I sucked at it, and thus I don’t have much nostalgia for it. So, looking through my vast collection of games, its yellow and black-spotted disc caught my eye, and I wondered if it would be worth playing again. I thought “Why not?” and popped it into my Dreamcast. Considering the game’s nature, I expected to enjoy myself for a little while and quickly get bored, but to my surprise, this 11-year-old arcade game is still highly addictive.

(Also note that this is the first in a series of what I’m calling “retro reviews,” in which I look at an older game from a modern, non-nostalgic perspective.)

------------------------

In Crazy Taxi, you must drive a taxi (wow, I would never have guessed) around in an open-world city and pick up pedestrians, after which you must get them to their destinations within the time limit – through any means possible. To transport the passengers to their destinations (and get tons of money), you are going to have to completely disregard your safety as well as that of your passenger, boosting through traffic, driving through oncoming traffic, jumping off of ramps, driving along the rooftops…yeah, you see where I’m going with this.
Much road rage will ensue.

The whole point of the game is to collect as much money, which acts sort of like a “high score”, as possible. Before starting one of the game’s two areas, you are allowed to adjust the time limit to suit your preferences. A game can last for just three minutes, five minutes, or ten minutes. If you choose to play by the arcade version’s rules, you start out with fifty seconds on the counter, and you get more time whenever you pick up pedestrians and when you drop them off at their destinations. During the time limit, you must make money by picking up pedestrians and delivering them to where they need to go, and the faster you do so, the more money you get. You can also get money by sustaining “combos.” A combo will automatically start if you keep from hitting an obstacle or another car for long enough, and you also add to the combo by drifting and jumping off of ramps. Be aware, though, that passengers have their own time limits, and if you take too long to get them where they need to go, they’ll jump out of the cab in frustration. When time runs out, you are graded on your performance based on how much money you received.

And…that’s the entire game. No, really. Well…there is the “Crazy Box” mode where you can play extra challenges, and it’s pretty cool, but it’s honestly not very much. Also, there are only two playable areas in the entire game. Needless to say, it’s a very shallow game. Combine that with the VERY poorly-aged graphics and, under normal circumstances, it would be very hard to recommend such a game. And yet it is so fun and addictive that it doesn't even matter.

Weeeeeeeeeee!!!

Seriously, this is a game that, shallow as it is, is going to keep you coming back for more constantly. It is tons of fun to just go back through, challenge your scores, and just enjoy the over-the-top action. In addition to that, it’s fun to pick up pedestrians you didn’t the last time through and see if you can get them to where they need to go in time, and there may even be areas of the two cities that you haven’t seen yet. Of course, that’s not to say that the gameplay is perfect. There are times when the taxi almost seems to get stuck for a few seconds, most often if you try to turn from a complete stop while offroad. It doesn’t happen too often, but if you’ve got someone in the back of the taxi and time is ticking, it can be pretty annoying. Still, this game was released in the year 2000, and it's still very addicting in the year 2011. And that’s saying a lot.

Oh, and did I mention that (on the Dreamcast version only) the entire soundtrack is made up of songs by Bad Religion and The Offspring? Even if (like me) you don’t consider yourself to be a fan of either of those bands, and even if you outright hate them, you can’t say it doesn’t fit the game. YAH YAH YAH YAH YAH!

Pictured above: The soundtrack to youthful rebellion. Or reckless driving. Whichever.

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In conclusion, Crazy Taxi is a cheesy, over-the-top joyride that makes up for its lack of depth with its enjoyability and addictiveness. It’s not a game I could recommend for full price, but as old as it is, it’s unlikely you could find any version of it that costs that much anyway. Of course, very few people these days own Dreamcasts, but the game has been ported and re-released a good number of times. The most recent re-release of the game has been the XBLA version (and it’s only ten bucks!), but considering how shoddy the XBLA port of Sonic Adventure was, I would caution against taking chances with that one. Personally, I would recommend the PS2 version, as it seems to be the most well-received port aside from the DC version.

And with that, I’m off.

Score: 7.5/10 - Good.

Decimal scores are rare but they can happen. In this case, I felt that there wasn't enough to it to rate it an 8, but I thought that giving it a 7 would be giving it too little credit -- after all, it's 11 years old, yet still very addictive.

Sonic Colors Review

2011-02-26T19:19:00.003-05:00

I’m probably a bit overdue with this one, but keep in mind that most of my reviews last year were for Sonic games – most of them not even new ones. This year also marks Sonic’s 20th anniversary, which of course means more Sonic goodness (or badness, perhaps) to come. I wanted to put a bit more distance between my last Sonic review and my next one and I in fact considered not reviewing this one at all, but being a huge fan of the cocky blue rodent, how could I refuse?

Anyway, now cue the long, long intro about how great Sonic was on the Genesis and Dreamcast and how 3-D Sonic games suck now and blah, blah, blah. Look, let’s not make this harder than it already is. We all know that this is a review of a post-2003 3-D Sonic game, so I’m pretty much obligated to be scathing and “biased,” as Sonic fans insist on calling everyone who rates a Sonic game lower than an 8/10 now. Let’s just get this over with and…

…wait, Sonic Colors is good?! Yes, that’s right, folks, after many years of churning out mediocre 3-D Sonic titles that have destroyed Sonic’s reputation, SEGA has finally gotten their act together and released Sonic Colors, the first great 3-D Sonic game since Sonic Adventure 2. So, without further adieu, I’m going to tell you why this is one 3-D Sonic game you SHOULDN’T skip.

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I will start counting the reasons why Colors is the savior of the Sonic franchise with the story. No, I’m not kidding. The plot itself isn’t anything special, and really, it’s not supposed to be. Basically, the ever-so-evil and ever-so-bald Dr. Eggman has built a giant amusement park over Earth (or Mobius if you prefer) by chaining several planets together with a tractor beam. Sounds innocent enough, right? Actually, Eggman’s ultimate plan is to harness the energy of a race of colorful, squid-like aliens called “Wisps” to create a mind-control beam that will give him total control over the Earth, or Mobius, or…whatever. Basically, Eggman’s evil, and Sonic and Tails have to stop him. It’s simple, it’s fun, it’s Sonic.

The plot itself isn’t anything to write home about. Actually, the reason why I love this game’s story so much is because of – still not kidding – the writing. For this game, SEGA decided to bring in the writers for MadWorld and Happy Tree Friends, and boy, was the change for the better. While Sonic Unleashed would occasionally throw in a childish joke for the kiddies, Colors actually has some pretty funny moments and even some intelligent jokes. Of course, there are some pretty corny ones as well, but since it’s technically a kids’ game, what can you expect? Also, gone are the bland “HOLY CRAP IT’S EGGMAN GOTTA GO SAVE THE WORLD” personalities of old. Instead, the new writers have turned Sonic into a cocky, arrogant teenager who is prone to gloating, and Tails is a young mechanical genius with a sense of humor. This is greatly helped by the new voice actors. Yep, this is one Sonic game that won’t make you want to tear your ears off after five minutes of hearing Sonic talk!

The graphics of Sonic Colors are absolutely stunning, and that’s saying a lot for a Wii game. As its name would suggest, the environments you are going to be running through are EXTREMELY vibrant and colorful. Of course, since it’s a Sonic game, you’re going to be running fast, but even at its fastest moments, the framerate very rarely chugs. The soundtrack delivers as well, with each level’s theme being energetic and fitting. Some of my personal favorites are Planet Wisp Act 1 and Aquarium Park Act 1.

Where Sonic Colors really excels is actually the gameplay. The gameplay is fundamentally similar to the daytime stages of Unleashed. As you play through a level, you will switch between both 2-D and 3-D perspectives, and Sonic retains the boost gauge as well as the stomp and quickstep moves from the latter game. However, whereas Sonic Unleashed’s daytime stages were based mostly around having quick reaction time and getting to the end of the level as fast as you can, Colors’ stages feature a LOT more platforming, which is very much welcome. If you found Unleashed’s daytime stages too automated, then look no further! In addition, the game’s level design is highly varied. Almost every level feels fresh and new and provides new challenges, even when it uses mechanics you’ve seen before in the game.

This variety owes itself at least partially to Sonic Colors’ featured gimmick, the Wisps. The Wisps are alien beings of varying colors that transform Sonic to give him a power when he rescues one from a capsule. The power Sonic gets depends on the type of Wisp. A few of these are the cyan wisp, which turns Sonic into a laser that can dash through the air at light speed and ricochet off of walls; the pink wisp, which turns Sonic into a spiked ball that can travel along walls and ceilings; and the yellow wisp, which allows Sonic to drill through dirt or travel easily through water. These powers are used to help Sonic find new routes and items. Although gameplay gimmicks in Sonic games are generally annoying, the Wisps are fun to use, never overused and very well integrated into the core gameplay.

Sonic Colors isn’t going to last very long, but the game has some great replay value in the form of collecting all 180 Red Rings. For every 20 Red Rings that you collect, a Sonic Simulator stage is unlocked. Completing enough Sonic Simulator stages will get you Chaos Emeralds, and if you’re a Sonic fan, you should know what happens if you get all of those.

The game isn’t perfect, however. Most of the bosses are honestly pretty easy. This isn’t helped at all by the fact that all of the bosses from the latter three worlds are just slightly different versions of the bosses that you faced before. Also, the controls are somewhat jerky in the 3-D sections, which can cause some minor annoyances.

So What’s Good?

- Great writing
- Stunning graphics
- Great soundtrack
- Gameplay more focused around platforming
- Highly varied level design
- Wisps are fun to use
- Great replay value

…But What’s Bad?

- Bosses are pretty easy
- Bosses from the first three worlds are rehashed in the latter three
- Somewhat jerky controls in 3-D sections

----Conclusion----

Sonic Colors is easily the best 3-D entry in the franchise. Featuring creative and varied level design, a fun powerup system, and great platforming challenges, this is a game no Sonic fan should do without. It’s not perfect, but after the crap that SEGA has churned out over the past several years, do we really need it to be?

My Rating: 9/10.

A game that receives a 9 is an exceptional piece of work that a lot of time and money went into, but due to notable flaws or just not having enough “oomph”, it falls short of the coveted 10. Still, any game that receives a 9 is highly recommended.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Review

2011-02-05T04:36:00.015-05:00

Kingdom Hearts has always been a personal favorite series of mine. With gameplay that is a brilliant combination of Zelda-style exploration, satisfying hack n’ slash fun, and Final Fantasy-esque RPG elements, as well as a fantastic story and the simple joy of reliving your childhood through the various Disney worlds, I have loved the series ever since I played the first game. Though not every title has been great, (358/2 Days and Chain of Memories) the series is still going strong, with the most recent main game in the series, Birth by Sleep, being my second favorite behind Kingdom Hearts II. Re:coded, the latest spinoff game in the series, was released just a few weeks ago. Is it worth buying, or is it just like Days if not worse?

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Okay, let’s start with what Re:coded does wrong. First of all, the story is somewhat lackluster. Basically, Mickey, Donald and Goofy are trying to figure out what happened in Jiminy’s Journal from the first game and find a mysterious message and tons of bugs in it (yes, apparently Jiminy's journals are like computers, and no, it doesn't make sense), so they use a Sora created by the journal’s data to get rid of the bugs and find out what the message means. Then a bunch of stuff happens, and…well, you get the picture. It occasionally tries to evoke emotions, but really doesn’t do that good of a job when you know that a lot of these characters aren’t even real in the context of the story. Besides that, it isn’t that important to the franchise overall. If you were only going to buy this game so you could understand the story of the next major game, well, you may as well skip it.

In addition to that, you can no longer change the camera controls so that you use the shoulder buttons to move the camera like you could in Days. You have to use the stylus to turn the camera instead. You will get used to it eventually, but at first it will feel weird. Another flaw that the game has is that Sora automatically jumps every time you reach the edge of the platform or walk up to a ledge. This can cause annoyance in areas heavy on platforming, and besides that, I honestly don’t see why it’s necessary. I know where the “B” button is, thank you!

Once you get past those flaws, however, there is a lot of fun to be had here. First of all, the game uses the same combat system from Birth by Sleep, complete with Command Decks and finishers. However, combat is even faster in this game, and just as before, it’s a whole lot of fun. The game also uses a similar upgrade system, but with a few new additions. In addition to the moves gaining experience points, your Keyblades upgrade the more you use them. As your Keyblades upgrade, so do your Clock Abilities, which are effects that are activated as you fill a small gauge above Sora’s life bar. When the gauge is full, you can use Sora’s finishing move. Each Keyblade has a different speed, a different amount of strength, different combos, and different clock abilities.

Another cool new element added to the upgrade system is the Stat Matrix. The Stat Matrix is very similar to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X and the Crystarium from Final Fantasy XIII. Throughout the game you will earn “Chips”. You can install these “Chips” onto blank spaces in the stat matrix to improve your stats. You can make these Chips form trails to mechanisms on the stat matrix that will give you new moves, activate cheats, unlock more accessory or command slots, or even power up the Chips you already have installed.

Above all that Re:coded does right, however, is the amount of variety in the game. Most of the game will be spent experiencing the simple joy of whacking away at Heartless with the Keyblade, although the game has far more to offer than that. Each world gives you something new to do. Wonderland features Sora searching for “Inklings”, the stolen memories of the world’s residents. Olympus Coliseum takes place in its entirety as a turn-based RPG. In Hollow Bastion, you must use your buddies, Donald and Goofy, to defeat enemies and perform other tasks for you.

Also, at some point in each world you are going to encounter a glitch. No, not the annoying kind that causes you to fall through an otherwise solid floor. These “glitches” are not flaws with the game. (You will understand when/if you play the game) When you find a glitch, you must find a hidden backdoor into a matrix-type place, where you must defeat all of the enemies that are causing the glitch. Before tackling each floor of these areas, you must wager a certain amount of points (which can be traded for EXP, Munny and Chips after you are finished with the area) to take on a challenge, such as taking damage no more than a certain amount of times or not letting an attack miss a certain amount of times. These challenges add more depth to these matrix areas.

Alongside all of this, there are some places where the gameplay changes completely. As stated before, Olympus Coliseum is played as a turn-based RPG. Attacking enemies involves a Paper Mario-style action command, in which hitting the “A” button at the right time allows you to deliver an extra blow. In addition, instead of using the commands in your Command Deck normally, you can combine them to perform devastating attacks. There are also areas that take place as a fairly simplistic 2-D platformer or rail shooter. In these sections, the Command Decks are done away with completely and are instead replaced with diamonds that store elemental abilities, which you can pick up to use with the “X” button. These alternate gameplay sections aren’t very deep, but they are fun nonetheless.

So What’s Good?

- Amazing graphics, some of the best on DS
- Very fun and satisfying combat
- Stat Matrix is a nice addition
- Lots of variety

…But What’s Bad?

- Story is uninteresting
- Camera controls take some getting used to
- Sora’s tendency to jump automatically at certain spots can cause annoyances

----Conclusion----

Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded is easily the best spinoff game in the series. I was never bored by it like 358/2 Days, or annoyed by its battle system like Chain of Memories. Battles were just as fun as ever, and I loved how fast they moved. Lasting around 15 hours, the game isn’t exactly lengthy, but it should keep you occupied for a long enough time. Granted, all of the worlds are from the original Kingdom Hearts, and nothing in it is probably going to absolutely amaze anybody. However, if you need to scratch that Kingdom Hearts itch and can’t wait for 3D, (and Kingdom Hearts III, whenever that’s coming out) KH: Re:coded may be for you.

My Score: 8/10.

Though not spectacular, a game that receives an 8 is satisfying and a whole lot of fun to play. Fans of the genre/franchise shouldn’t pass it up, and while I can’t recommend it as readily to non-fans, it’s still worth a look if you think it looks fun or if you find it for a good price.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I Review

2010-10-13T21:28:00.003-05:00

-------Guide to My Rating System------

5 out of 5 – Fantastic. Loved it. Get it. Now.
Example: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

4 out of 5 – Great, but its flaws do detract from the experience. Still a lot of fun, and generally worth a buy.
Example: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

3 out of 5 – Alright. There’s certainly fun to be had, but it’s very flawed. My “mixed bag” rating. Not worth the risk of buying it for full price, but if you find it for $20, it’s a decent purchase.
Example: Sonic Unleashed

2 out of 5 – Below average. May have its good points and even shine sometimes, but a bad experience overall. Bargain bin purchase at best, if you’re a fan of the franchise.
Example: Sonic and the Secret Rings

1 out of 5 – Garbage. Don’t buy it, don’t rent it, don’t borrow it, don’t play it, don’t look at it, don’t even think about it.
Example: Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22

---------Introduction--------

The point where Sonic’s descent into chaos began is highly contested among the fanbase and gaming journalists. Some say it began with Sonic Adventure, some Sonic Adventure 2, some Sonic Heroes and some place the point where things turned to crap even later. For me it began with Shadow the Hedgehog in 2005. The tedious mission structure was made even worse by the uncooperative camera, and the “darker” aspects of the game really seemed like a joke in a game about a 3-foot-tall hedgehog, in addition to the voice acting. It wasn’t a complete mess, but it certainly wasn’t very good. Thankfully, we also got Sonic Rush that year, a fantastic sidescroller on DS. It wasn’t over just yet.

The real crap started the next year in 2006. It was Sonic’s 15th anniversary and Sonic fans were waiting with baited breath for the game that would come out for the then-new Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles and change the Sonic formula forever. It was to be titled simply SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, and would be a complete gameplay reboot of the franchise. Unfortunately, when it came out, it was obvious that it was unfinished. The game was broken in almost every way imaginable. Scripted events would mess up, flinging you out of a loop and to your doom. Sonic would go through walls and controlled like a slippery lizard. The story was overemphasized and in addition to that was filled with plotholes and a relationship between a human character and our blue hedgehog buddy that can only be described as strange and gross. The game was supposed to change the Sonic formula, but it didn’t it all. It played like Sonic Adventure, except without the speed that made those games so much fun. Yes, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was slow, and that was a big part of the reason why it was so bad. Oh, wait, it did have fast parts – except they were on rails and unfairly frustrating.

What happened after that, no one can describe. It’s as if SEGA lost all faith in the Sonic brand even as it continued making games. For the next three years, all Sonic games would range from mediocre to decent at best in quality. The only Sonic game released during that time that could be considered good was Sonic Rush Adventure, a sequel to Sonic Rush, for the Nintendo DS. We nearly had a great 3-D Sonic game in Sonic Unleashed, but it seemed as though SEGA was intent on ruining every Sonic game that came out somehow, and Sonic Unleashed came with the Werehog. His stages featured slow, clunky combat that clashed too heavily with the best parts of the game (the daytime stages where Sonic was his normal self) and really weren’t very much fun. What before had only one blemish was now an ugly, disgusting, acne-infected face that no one could look at without grimacing.

After all that crap, SEGA finally decided to take Sonic back to his roots. The first episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, an episodic release on iPhone, WiiWare, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, is out now for all to play and enjoy. So, does it succeed in revitalizing the Sonic brand, or does it fall flat on its face once again? The answer is here.

--------Graphics and Music--------

Sonic 4 is played from a 2-D perspective with 3-D styled graphics similar to the Rush games on DS. Everything looks just as it should in a Sonic game. All of the environments are brightly colored with some nice detail, as are the enemies, bosses and Sonic’s sprite. The water effects are really nice, too, with a cool-looking ripple effect. Overall, Sonic 4’s graphics are very pretty, even on Wii. The music similarly succeeds. It offers up the same kinds of upbeat, fun tunes that 2-D Sonic was known for, and it all sounds great. I’ll give particular mention to the music associated with the levels of Lost Labyrinth Zone and Mad Gear Zone, which you’re going to be rocking out to for a long time. (I can’t believe I just said “rocking out.”)

----------Gameplay----------

Sonic 4’s gameplay is fundamentally similar to the classic Genesis games to which it is billed a sequel, yet features some notable differences. First of all, Sonic gains the Homing Attack from the 3-D games. If you haven’t played any of the 3-D games, it basically allows Sonic to take out any enemy with the press of a button by locking on to them while in mid-air. Though never overused, it’s put to good use in Sonic 4, allowing you to reach otherwise unreachable areas by attacking a chain of Badniks. It’s a lot of fun to use, and works quite well in 2-D.

Another notable difference between Sonic 4 and the classics is the fact that it uses Sonic Rush’s physics rather than the classic physics, which caused a lot of prerelease controversy. Now, admittedly, there are some problems with the physics, (Sonic can stand sideways on slopes sometimes if you get him in the right place and some other minor things; the worst glitches seem to have to be sought out) but it doesn’t ruin the game at all. In fact, I went through the entire game barely even thinking about them. Another side effect of the Rush physics that a lot of people seem to be complaining about is that Sonic appears to have no inertia, coming to a stop immediately upon releasing the d-pad or analog stick. Though it technically doesn’t make any sense, I honestly don’t see how this breaks the game. Sonic still runs fast, and once you get used to the physics, the game is a lot of fun.

Like the classics, to get the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 4 you have to complete an Act with 50 rings and then jump into the giant ring at the end of the Act to reach the Special Stage, which you must then complete. Sonic 4’s special stages are based off of those of the original Sonic the Hedgehog for SEGA Genesis, but feature all new mechanics and controls. This time around, you must use either the motion control or the D-Pad (on Wii anyway, and probably PS3 as well) to tilt the stage to navigate Sonic through it, a mechanic that works quite well. You’re timed and must collect time bubbles to keep from running out of it, and you also have to collect rings to open doors as you make your way to the Chaos Emerald. These special stages are highly challenging and pretty fun as well. Also like in the classics, collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds allows Sonic to transform into Super Sonic. Super Sonic runs twice as fast as normal Sonic, jumps higher, is invincible, can breathe underwater and overall is just a ton of fun to play as.

All of its differences aside, Sonic 4 accurately captures just how fun it is to run through loop-de-loops, grab rings, bash Badniks and platform, all at high speeds. Sonic 4 has a heckuva lotta speed and is a heckuva lotta fun, even with the different physics, and the Homing Attack is a lot of fun to use.

---------Level Design--------

I really like the level design of Sonic 4. Now, I know there were a lot of prerelease complaints about it being “too automated” and having a perceived overabundance of springboards and boosters, but I honestly never cared. There is automation, but it’s really no more automated than the original Sonic Rush, perhaps even less automated than that. And this is just my opinion, but for me, the so-called “automated” parts really add an extra hectic, fast, feeling to parts of the game. Even with the “automated” parts, the game’s levels have good platforming sections and are a lot of fun to play.

Another reason why I love the levels of Sonic 4 is that almost every level seems to bring in some new, fun gimmick, and the game never gets old. Of course, when I say “gimmick,” I don’t mean anything like the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed or the sword in Sonic and the Black Knight. These are just various little elements that the levels are based around, and they’re all very cool. To give you some examples, Casino Street Act 2 has cards that Sonic can spin to get “hands” of rings and lives. If Sonic gets three of the same type of card, he gets those rings and extra lives. The very next Act in the same Zone features cannons that Sonic can shoot himself out of to travel long distances. Lost Labyrinth Zone Act 1 features large boulders that Sonic can run on top of for travel if he can keep his balance. Easily my favorite gimmick comes from Lost Labyrinth Act 2. The level is very dark, and Sonic carries a torch throughout the whole level. This torch allows him to light larger torches and packs of dynamite to open up new areas. These kinds of gimmicks keep the levels fresh throughout the entire game.

Sonic 4’s level design isn’t perfect. There is another design trait it inherited from Sonic Rush, and it’s pretty nasty: the unexpected death pits. It just seems like bottomless pits are put in places where you can’t tell there are bottomless pits, and falling in them due to a misplaced homing attack or jump is just plain frustrating.

---------Difficulty---------

For me, this is honestly the area where Sonic 4 disappoints the most. Seriously, Sonic 4 is really easy, and you’ll find yourself racking up lots of lives throughout the game. Fortunately, the game isn’t completely without challenge. Getting to the end of an Act with 50 rings to reach the special stage is just as hard as ever, and actually beating the special stage is a whole other story. Some of the later bosses can also be quite challenging, especially the final boss.

---------Replay Value--------

Being only the first episode of a much bigger game, Sonic 4: Episode I is pretty short, but as fun as it is, it’s likely that you’re going to find yourself replaying the game several times. In addition to that, there is a time attack mode, complete with leaderboards to compare your times to other players.

---------Conclusion----------

Sonic 4: Episode I is easily the best Sonic game in years. It’s really fast and a crapload of fun. It’s not without its flaws, but SEGA is finally on the right track with the franchise in my opinion. I highly suggest that you download this game, and if you’re unsure of it, you can always try out the demo. If Sonic Colors is as good as it looks, then I’ll finally be able to say something I’ve wanted to say for at least three years: Sonic is BACK!

So What’s Good?

- Pretty graphics
- Great music
- Great sense of speed
- Homing attack works well in 2-D
- Fun level design
- Almost every level brings in a new, fun gimmick
- Great replay value

…But What’s Bad?

- Physics feature some minor glitches, nothing game breaking
- Bottomless pits can catch you off guard and you can’t always tell where they are
- Pretty easy

Score: 4 out of 5

Halo Reach Review

2010-10-07T12:44:00.014-05:00

-------Guide to My Rating System------

5 out of 5 – Fantastic. Loved it. Get it. Now.

Example: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

4 out of 5 – Great, but its flaws do detract from the experience. Still a lot of fun, and generally worth a buy.

Example: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

3 out of 5 – Alright. There’s certainly fun to be had, but it’s very flawed. My “mixed bag” rating. Not worth the risk of buying it for full price, but if you find it for $20, it’s a decent purchase.

Example: Sonic Unleashed

2 out of 5 – Below average. May have its good points and even shine sometimes, but a bad experience overall. Bargain bin purchase at best, if you’re a fan of the franchise.

Example: Mega Man X7

1 out of 5 – Garbage. Don’t buy it, don’t rent it, don’t borrow it, don’t play it, don’t look at it, don’t even think about it.

Example: Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22

---------------

I had intended to make my next review after Sonic Unleashed Metroid: Other M, but due to my inherent laziness my preorder of Halo Reach came in the mail before I wrote it. With Halo Reach being the newer game, I believe that I should review it first.

Anyway, I can save you the trouble of reading the review right now: Go buy Halo Reach. By now, you should have gone to the nearest GameStop and picked it up. Wait, what, you want a more in-depth explanation of why Bungie’s final Halo title is so great? *Sigh* Fine, fine.

So, let’s start with the graphics. The graphics of Halo Reach can only be described as amazing. All of the environments, characters, vehicles, enemies and weapons are beautifully detailed. In fact, I’d say that it may just be one of the best-looking games for the Xbox 360 right now. The music is also fantastic and filled with the intense drum beats and somber tunes we’ve grown to expect, but this is a Halo game, so the quality of the music pretty much goes without saying.

The gameplay of Halo Reach is also fantastic. The game plays like other Halos, but there are changes and additions that greatly affect the gameplay. For one thing, players can kill enemies by performing assassinations if they can sneak up behind them and press the melee button. These assassinations look spectacular and add an element of stealth to the gameplay that IS optional, but you’ll probably find yourself attempting to perform assassinations a lot because of their usefulness and because of how stylish it is. But mostly because of the style.

Another thing that really changes the gameplay is the addition of armor abilities for Spartans and Elites. These armor abilities replace the items from Halo 3 and are quite a bit more useful. These include a roadie-run ability that is a much appreciated addition; Armor Lock, which makes you invincible for a short period of time; the Drop Shield, which returns from Halo 3 and now actually restores your health when you’re in it; Evade, which allows you to dash with a long-ranged dodge roll-type move; and my personal favorite, the jetpack, which allows you to fly in the air. It’s for a limited time of course, but it’s still epic. Absolutely epic.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a new Halo game without a butt-ton of new weapons. Some of my personal favorites include the DMR, which looks similar to the Battle Rifle from Halos 2 and 3 and retains it zooms but is actually a powerful gun that only fires one bullet at a time, and the Plasma Repeater, which can be thought of as the Covenant’s answer to the assault rifle except more powerful. It’s also notable that the original Halo’s pistol also makes a return in this game complete with a zoom function, much to the joy of fans.

The campaign of Halo Reach is an absolute joy to play and quite possibly the most enjoyable in the series thus far. You control Noble 6, a SPARTAN who has just joined the Noble Team to replace a fallen member. Along with the rest of Noble Team, he attempts to protect the planet Reach from falling to the Covenant. Although you’re not gunning down Grunts with the Chief this time around, the storyline is just as engaging as ever and in fact, very sad. If you end up having to dry your eyes at the end, don’t worry; I’m sure you’re not the only one. I’d also like to mention that Halo Reach is the first time in a Halo game that I’ve enjoyed playing splitscreen co-op with a friend just as much as I have playing by myself.

The single player campaign doesn’t last very long and thankfully, it doesn’t need to. Actually, Halo Reach’s real longevity comes from its multiplayer. Honestly, I’ve never been addicted to a game’s multiplayer the way I have been to Reach’s. Taking a hint from games like Modern Warfare and Bad Company 2, Halo Reach introduces loadouts to the multiplayer, which determine what weapons and armor abilities you start out with. In addition to that, each game type (such as Rumble Pit or Team Slayer) features several game modes, and there are quite a few new multiplayer game types and modes. One of them is Infection, in which a group of humans have to fend off a group off zombies with Energy Swords. If a zombie kills a human, it becomes infected and is added to the zombies’ team. One new game type is Invasion, in which one team is made of Spartans and the other is made up of Elites and occasionally each team must perform different objectives. Another new game type is Team SWAT, in which players have no shields, but only health, and are equipped with a DMR and a pistol with infinite ammo. It’s based around getting one-hit kills with headshots, and though it can get frustrating, nothing is more satisfying than successfully pulling off a headshot. Firefight also gives you the much-needed feature of online play, and even comes with its own game modes. Those are far from the game’s only game types and modes, and when you factor in the variety present in the multiplayer and just how friggen addictive it is, you’ll be playing Halo Reach’s multiplayer for a long time.

------------------

With all that said, it’s obvious that Bungie’s Halo games have gone out with a bang. Let’s hope that 343 Industries’ games can live up to Bungie’s but for now, Halo Reach gets a 5 out of 5.

Sonic Unleashed Review

2010-08-17T18:05:00.007-05:00

From now on, before every review, I will put my review scale, just to make sure everyone knows what each score means.

5 out of 5 - Fantastic. Loved it. Get it. Now.
Example: Super Mario Galaxy 2

4 out of 5 - Great, but may have a few notable issues. In general, it's well worth buying. Equivalent to 8-9 on a 10-point scale.
Example: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

3 out of 5 - Ehh. There's fun to be had, but a 3 game is usually bogged down by several issues that thoroughly detract from the experience. Unless it's downloadable, especially short games (less than 10 hours) with little replayability get this score by default. Not worth full price, but a good purchase for $20 or less. Equivalent to 6-7 on a 10-point scale.
Example: Mega Man X6

2 out of 5 - Below average. The bad outweighs the good. It may have some redeeming qualities, but they're overshadowed by the negative points. You might want to rent it and play it before you buy it, but if you don't do that, think before buying it for much more than $10. Equivalent to 4-5 on a 10-point scale.
Example: Sonic and the Secret Rings

1 out of 5 - Garbage. Don't buy it, don't rent it, don't play it, don't look at it. If you see someone about to buy it at GameStop, swat it out of his/her hand and wag your finger at him as if he/she were a 4-year-old who had gotten into trouble.
Example: Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22

------Introduction------

As much as I love the Adventure series, I can understand the reasons for which they are criticized. Everyone loves the blue blur's speedy gameplay in both games, but the games are controversial for the other characters' alternate gameplay styles. Both games featured play styles drastically different from the series' trademark speedy platforming, such as using a mech to shoot down enemy robots and hunting for various trinkets and treasures in a large, non-linear level. I enjoyed them, - well, most of them anyway (thinks of Big and Amy) - but a lot of people strongly disliked them for differentiating too much from the core gameplay of the series as well as, for many people, just not being that much fun. Thus, they should have been removed from later games.

It seemed that SEGA understood this when they made Sonic Heroes, a decent game that focuses solely on speed, and where the only thing resembling an alternate gameplay style was Team Chaotix's linear mission-based gameplay. Unfortunately, SEGA appears to enjoy making the same mistake more than once, and Sonic 06 came with Silver, who was slow and his only method of attack was picking up boxes or other assorted junk strewn about the stage, throwing them, and hoping that at least one hit an enemy. It may have been a unique concept, but his stages were slow-paced and really just boring. Shadow came back, too, and his gameplay was mostly similar to Sonic's, except he used vehicles, which controlled VERY poorly, and besides that, shouldn't he and Sonic at least be able to run faster than any vehicle? Those are far from the game's only flaws, but this is not a review for Sonic 06.

After Sonic 06, SEGA needed to make a different game to rekindle others' faith in the speedy blue hedgehog. People were hoping for a solo adventure starring only Sonic. When Sonic Unleashed came out in 2008, that's certainly what they got...but with a few unwanted strings attached. This is what I think of Sonic Unleashed. My review is based on the version for the PS3.

-----Graphics-----

Sonic Unleashed's graphics are very good. The game's FMV's are simply gorgeous, about as impressive as a Pixar movie. I especially like the realistic effects done with the Werehog's hair in the FMV's. The in-game cutscenes look okay, but the framerate is somewhat lacking. Graphics during gameplay look very good as well. The look of the daytime levels is bright and colorful and very pleasing to the eye. Nighttime graphics aren't quite as impressive, although Sonic's Werehog form does have very noticeable fur, as does Chip, Sonic's sidekick in this game. The NPC's in the hub worlds have a cartoony look rather than the more realistic look that Sonic 06 and Sonic Adventure 2 went for, which is definitely a good decision for the game. My biggest complaint about the in-game graphics is the framerate, which is quite a significant problem. The framerate is at its worst in the hub worlds. The framerate is NEVER consistent there and is ALWAYS slowing down. I also dislike the draw distance. It doesn't cause any problems, but it seems like it should be better on a game for a next-gen console.

-----Story-----

Sonic is once again trying to stop Eggman from doing whatever the heck it is that he's trying to do. Eggman catches Sonic off-guard and traps him in a capsule, reminiscent of Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic had already used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to go Super Sonic, so Eggman uses his invention to rip the Chaos Emerald energy out of Sonic, after which he uses their energy to shoot a cannon into Earth. This not only breaks the Earth into several pieces, but it also releases Dark Gaia, yet another evil demon in the series that had apparently been sealed inside the earth's core. It also completely drains the Chaos Emeralds of their energy and causes Sonic to turn into a Werehog. Yes, a Werehog. (Shakes head) Having no more use for Sonic, Eggman throws him out the airlock with the now-powerless Chaos Emeralds. Since in the Sonic universe, there's both gravity AND air in space, and the Earth has no atmosphere for Sonic to burn up in on the way down, Sonic plummets down to the Earth's surface. His fall is broken momentarily by an energy field from an unknown force, (you'll find out later what it's implied to be) only to start plummeting again a second later. Upon landing, he finds Chip, a weird pixie-type creature who has completely lost his memory. Believing that he had hit Chip when he fell and that caused him to have amnesia, Sonic decides to help Chip regain his memory. Fortunately for everyone except Eggman, Dark Gaia had been awoken prematurely, so he dispersed himself across the whole planet. Sonic and friends figure out that they can restore the Earth by refilling the Chaos Emeralds' energy in Gaia Temples, which they obviously need to do in order to keep Dark Gaia from destroying the world.

The plot may seem like the standard "evil demon" plot that has been used in 3-D Sonic games before, most infamously in Sonic 06, but fortunately Sonic Unleashed doesn't take itself too seriously. In fact, there is actually a lot of humor in the game, usually involving Eggman's stupid robot sidekick or comic relief from Chip. This is definitely a refreshing change of pace since Sonic 06's plot, which was not only filled with plot holes, but was really just too stupidly dark for a game about a cartoony blue hedgehog that runs at the speed of sound. Sonic games can have you saving the worlds from demons left and right for all I care, as long as it's done like this.

------Gameplay-------

Like several other Sonic games before it, Sonic Unleashed features two drastically different play styles: series-famous speedy platforming with Sonic in the daytime and beat-em-up stages with the Werehog at night. The game constantly has you alternate between the two play styles to progress through the game. Like with my Sonic Adventure 2 review, I'll review the two play styles separately.

--Daytime Stages: Sonic the Hedgehog--

The daytime stages are easily the best in the game. They use the same gameplay that has made many other Sonic games so great: speed-based platforming. Sonic gets a few new abilities in Sonic Unleashed. Most notably, Sonic gets a boost ability, similar to the one in Sonic Rush, except the boost gauge is filled by collecting rings rather than doing tricks. You're going to find yourself boosting a LOT. It significantly increases Sonic's speed and allows him to plow through enemies, which is a lot of fun. One of the others is the Quick Step, which allows you to strafe to the left or right quickly to avoid obstacles. Sonic can also find new shoes in the hub worlds, which give him new abilities. The light dash has been around since Sonic Adventure, but the others are all new. These include the stomp move, which allows Sonic to...well, stomp, in order to press buttons and stuff, the wall jump, which allows Sonic to jump off walls a la Super Mario 64 and the air dash, which allows Sonic to boost in mid-air.

Sonic's stages provide a sense of speed that can only be described as mind-blowing, but you'll have to keep boosting by holding the square button to fully experience it. The first time you play through many of the daytime levels, they will be very difficult, because you don't know what to expect. To get the best ranking (rank "S") on every stage, you'll have to play them a lot and memorize the level to at least some extent, which isn't a problem, because you're almost definitely going to find yourself playing these stages over and over and over again to "S" rank them. The game's stages are more linear than in previous 3-D Sonic games and feature less platforming, but there are still plenty of shortcuts and some alternate routes that you're going to need FAST reflexes to get to. As said before, the sense of speed is amazing. Forget Sonic 06 and its empty promises; THESE are true next-gen speeds.

I only have two complaints about the daytime stages. The biggest one is the framerate, as mentioned before. It regularly hiccups, but it's most problematic in the Empire City and Adabat day stages. These stages are still a lot of fun to play, but the framerate is definitely an issue. My other complaint is that the controls are great for speeding across more straightforward terrain, but not so good for the few platforming areas featured in the game. It's not really that much of a problem; you'll just have to be kind of careful.

In short, the daytime stages are extremely fast and fun, with enough loops and corkscrews to make your head spin. In fact, I'd say that this may actually be the fastest Sonic has ever been in any Sonic game ever. You're almost definitely going to find yourself playing them over and over and over again to improve your score and rank.

So, yes, the daytime stages are great, but how does the rest of the game fare? Let's find out.

--Nighttime Stages: Sonic the Werehog--

At night, Sonic turns into a Werehog, basically a were-WOLF, except for the fact that the character in question is a hedgehog. While in the Werehog form, Sonic sacrifices his trademark speed for brute strength and...stretchy arms? *is confused* Being a strange cross between Mr. Fantastic and The Thing, the Werehog's gameplay involves a combination of Prince of Persia-style platforming and beat-em-up gameplay. The Werehog has a variety of combos and moves at his disposal, and more can be unlocked by upgrading his combat skill with the experience points you get from defeating enemies. His strength, life and guard ability can also be upgraded, as can his Unleash gauge. When you press R1, you can use the energy stored in the Unleash gauge to make the Werehog faster and more powerful for a limited time.

So, what would be the best way to describe the Werehog's gameplay? It's not quite as bad as people say. Some of the combos are pretty neat, and I like the upgrade system. That said, though, they're still not very good. You can initiate quick time events to kill an enemy more quickly after you've drained its health. This would be okay, except it barely gives you enough time to think. Fighting the large enemies with clubs can be extremely frustrating. You can be hitting it when it suddenly up and decides to jump, knocking you away. When it lands, it creates a shockwave. You cannot - and when I say you cannot, I mean, you absolutely CANNOT - get up before the shockwave hits you, knocking you away again. I also just LOVE (<-- Sarcasm) how when you're behind this particular enemy, if he slaps in front of himself, you still get hurt. The framerate is also pretty bad for these stages, and the Werehog's voice is VERY annoying -- especially his stupid howl. Ugh. Okay, I guess it sounds like I'm nitpicking. Really, the biggest flaw is that the Werehog stages just aren't all that much fun. This is made a million times worse by the fact that they can last up to half an hour long. Compare this to the 3-5 minutes required to complete the day stages. And to complete the game, you're required to play just as many Werehog stages as you are daytime stages. Obviously, unless you do any side quests or play the optional daytime stages, you're going to spend more time with the Werehog the first time you play through the game. This is especially bad because not only is the Werehog not that much fun, but it doesn't even come close to the core gameplay of the series. Even the treasure hunting levels in the Adventure games are closer to the core gameplay than the Werehog stages. I'd much rather play those -- actually, I really enjoyed those stages! Of course I'd rather play treasure hunting stages!

In conclusion, the Werehog isn't necessarily bad. It's more along the lines of mediocre, which still isn't saying much. It's especially saddening that his stages can take up to half an hour to complete, whereas the daytime stages only take 3-5 minutes to complete. You're required to complete just as many Werehog stages as daytime stages. This is made even worse by the fact that the Werehog's gameplay doesn't even come close to Sonic's core gameplay by any stretch of the imagination. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy most of the Adventure games' alternate play styles, but they actually somewhat fit in with the rest of the game. At the very least, they weren't as far from the core gameplay as this! The Werehog was an awful idea, and whoever came up with it really hated Sonic.

--Hub Worlds--

Like Sonic Adventure and Sonic 06, Sonic Unleashed has hub worlds. Each hub world is based on a real world location. Apotos and Spagonia are based on parts of Europe, Chun-nan and Adabat are based on parts of Asia, Holoska is based on the Arctic, Mazuri is based on Africa, Empire City is based on New York and Shamar is based on the Middle East. Each hub world consists of a town, where you can talk to people and do side quests, and an Entrance Stage, where you can access the daytime and nighttime stages for said towns.

A lot of people complain about the hub worlds, saying that you have to wander around talking to people only to find that they can't help you. This is absolutely not true. If there is a time that you have to do this, it's only at the very beginning of the game and the first time you visit Chun-nan. Beyond that, the only person you ever have to talk to for the most is Professor Pickle. Yes, his name is "Pickle." His strange name aside, he'll always tell you where to go next.

Talking to other people can also give you insight on where to go next, but it's usually not necessary. Sometimes if you talk to people, you'll have an opportunity to complete a mission or side quest. These side quests and missions add longevity and replay value to the game. You can also buy souvenirs from shops to give to Professor Pickle in exchange for rewards, and food, which you can either feed to Sonic to gain Experience Points, or feed to Chip. Feeding them to Chip will strengthen your bond if the food is good, and hurt it if the food is bad. Your bond with Chip doesn't have that much of an effect on the game, but he will occasionally give you things when you feed him good food.

As said before, you can access the game's daytime and nighttime stages from the hub worlds' Entrance Stages. This is what one of my biggest complaints about the game comes from: collecting medals to unlock new stages. You'll always have to have a certain number of sun medals to unlock day stages, and moon medals to unlock night stages. You'll probably find yourself unable to continue with the game because you don't have enough medals, meaning that you have to go back to levels you've already played and look for medals. In my opinion, this is just a cheap way to add fake longevity to the game. Aside from that, the framerate in the hub worlds is VERY bad, as I said before.

In short, the hub worlds are pretty nice, but medal collecting is annoying and the framerate is a real problem.

------Replay Value/Playtime-----

Sonic Unleashed isn't a very long game, and considering how many more Werehog levels there would be if were to be any longer, perhaps it's for the best. Thankfully, the game has a LOT of replay value. This mainly comes from the daytime levels, which you will almost definitely find yourself playing over and over again either to improve your score, or just for fun. Every entrance stage has at least one optional daytime level, usually shorter than the required one and revolving around a specific mechanic. As said before, people in the hub worlds will also sometimes give you side quests and missions to do. You can also buy souvenirs from shops in town to give to Professor Pickle for rewards. Scattered about stages and towns will also be art books, containing concept art; records, which have the game's music on them; and tapes, which you can collect to watch the game's cutscenes again.

---------Conclusion-----------

So, can Sonic Unleashed be thought of as a success and the game that made the Sonic series respectable again? It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, it provided gameplay that featured a sense of speed possibly unparalleled by even the other games in the series. The daytime gameplay has also provided the framework for the next potential series savior, Sonic Colors, which doesn't appear to have any annoying mechanics, and proves that, yes, SEGA and Sonic Team still know how to make Sonic fun. On the other hand, they put it Sonic's wonderful gameplay on the same disc as a mediocre beat-em-up that not only had little to do with Sonic, but just isn't all that much fun in the first place. Since Sonic Colors looks like it's going to have all the good points of Sonic Unleashed without throwing in a not-so-good alternate gameplay style that takes up a good chunk of the game, I'd say that unless you find Unleashed for a good price ($20 or less), it would be a good idea to skip it and wait for Colors. This is T-Man, signing off.

So what's good?

+ Daytime stages provide an amazing sense of speed
+ Tons of replay value
+ Graphics are great
+ Story is lighthearted and comical, in contrast to previous 3-D Sonics
+ Werehog has tons of combos at his disposal
+ Upgrade system for the Werehog is a nice addition

...But what's bad?

- Werehog stages are too long compared to the day stages and take up too much of the game
- Werehog's gameplay has very little to do with Sonic and really isn't that much fun
- Medal collecting is annoying
- Framerate is an issue

Score: 3 out of 5