January 9, 2015
[Review] Rayman 1 (PC)

Here goes. My goal for the start of this year is to play through all the Rayman games. After each main entry, I’ll play the handheld iterations that took inspiration from it. So we start with the original Rayman. There are many ports and versions of the game, with many subtle differences. I hear the Jaguar version is especially different. However, the DOS version is the most easily accessible from gog.com. In hindsight, maybe I should have tried the DSi version which attempts to ease up the difficulty by giving you more health and such.

Oh, this game. One of the few that I’ve simply given up on due to sheer difficulty. Normally I like a bit of challenge or can persevere if I’m enjoying the game. In this case, my enjoyment was low due to the slow, plodding nature (as well as slow progression with upgrades… I hadn’t even got the helicopter hair when I stopped) and the “European platformer” style maze-like levels with little direction. So when the game is so unforgiving and the deaths so unfair, I blamed the game’s design. Although you get 9 continues (which might as well just be more lives, since they put you at the most recent checkpoint anyway) the lives run out quickly. The sheer length of the levels exacerbates the problem as you must start the whole gauntlet again upon game over, and if you saved with only a few continues left, well too bad.

After rage quitting, I found out some interesting tidbits. The Rayman Pirate Community’s wiki, an excellent information source claims that Rayman 1 was not playtested for difficulty, and I believe it. By watching a speedrunner I also felt vindicated that I would never pull off the superhuman feats of reflexes and memory that he possessed. I also learned that to get to the final boss, Mr Dark, you must find each and every Electoon cage in all their fiendish hiding spots. What a joke!

So I really can’t recommend Rayman 1. Up until Origins, it seemed valid to ignore it since much of what it established was seemingly retconned by subsequent games. Origins though brings back a surprising amount from this one, with the fairies, the antagonist, the earned abilities, the drone enemies, the environments. The confrontation with Bad Rayman, a cool idea, is also recycled for Legends. So I’d recommend watching Spikevegeta’s speedrun of the game instead of playing it yourself (or rather, it playing you like a mangled xylophone).

Just a few more quick observations, because the difficulty wasn’t my only problem here. The powerup system is obscured from the player; there’s two kinds of fist powerups, but you don’t get an indication of which you have, and you lose them when you die or get hit or something? The “winding up the fist” thing is never useful because it takes too long and doesn’t go far enough. Your Ting count is reset when you die, so you’ll never get 100 for an extra life. The music varies between dull and moody, but no tunes stand out. The backgrounds are vibrant but sometimes obscure important gameplay details. Finally, while the sprites are large and have nice animation, this means the viewing area of the screen is too small and so threats can jump out at you.

It really pains me to have to put down a game. But you have to know when to walk away, and I wouldn’t let Rayman continue to abuse me. I still love him though, and have hope for his next incarnation to treat me better. So I’m moving on to Rayman 1’s little brother on the Game Boy Color. I won’t be covering any of the many, many educational games based on Rayman 1. You can play those yourself and maybe learn some French/English/Maths/etc.

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(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: rayman rayman 1 ubisoft pc review 
January 7, 2015
[Review] Star Fox (SNES)

AKA Star Wing.

For my first review of 2015, I’ve played a game that was the precursor to one that defined my childhood. Lylat Wars (AKA Star Fox 64) was a masterpiece and one I know inside out. Unfortunately Star Fox itself doesn’t hold up too well.

The main issue with this beginning of the Star Fox saga is that it’s been superseded in so many ways by its sequel. Apart from a few settings and concepts that would end up being used in later games, its music, and the novelty of early 3D vector graphics, it’s been made obsolete. Lylat Wars not only takes many concepts of this game and improves on them, it outright replaces its plot as well—Star Fox isn’t even canon anymore! It’s a little rude if you think about it.

Coming as I am at this afterwards, I can only see the ways it falls short. There’s tons of slowdown when stuff starts happening on screen. The SNES’s limited 3D capabilities (augmented valiantly by the SuperFX chip) make spatial awareness difficult and obstacles and shots will hit you when you think you’re safe. There’s also less character without bosses talking to you, and much less team chatter.

Still, for the time and considering the hardware, Star Fox remains a very ambitious game, that was let down by those limitations it was pushing up against. Lylat Wars surpasses it in almost every way, but it’s got a few tricks that make it worthwhile. Flying into enemy ships and bases to fight their cores, locales such as Path 2’s Venom structure or inside Macbeth’s caverns, the “ship graveyard” black hole and the surreal Out of this Dimension are highlights, as well as the moody atmosphere that some levels set with their theme and colour schemes. It also retains the sci-fi pastiche feel, borrowing imagery from Star Wars and the like.

So it’s not all bad on reflection, but the stiff controls and dodgy hit detection made it a struggle to get through. It was perhaps reaching a little too far for the SNES, but I’m looking forward to seeing how Star Fox 2 improves the engine if at all. Did you know that Star Fox 2 was more than 90% complete when they cancelled it so they could sell more N64s? And then the N64 was delayed, making the cancellation a dumb decision in hindsight? And that modders have made it fully playable? So that’s my next (and final) target. There’s more peripheral games to the Star Fox saga, such as Stunt Race FX, Game Boy title X, X-Returns for DSiWare, and Steel Diver Sub Wars; but I won’t be covering them. Sorry. Play them yourself and tell me if they’re any good. Cheers. Oh, and do a barrel roll or whatever.

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Filed under: star fox star wing argonaut software snes review 
December 14, 2014
[Review] Kirby’s Adventure (NES) & Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (SNES)

Kirby’s not my usual bag, so I thought I’d compare two of his games I’d played recently. Of course, I snagged Adventure during the Famicom sale even though I wasn’t terribly interested in it. Dream Land 3 was more appealing, because of its distinctive “crayon-y” art style and its use of cameo Nintendo characters.

The differences go deeper than the art style, as I found out. Adventure is a Sakurai game, and so feels similar to the other Kirby game I’ve played, Super Star Ultra, which is based on Sakurai’s Super Star. The emphasis is on a variety of powers and their organic use, with setpieces sprinkled in the levels and secret areas to find. DL3 on the other hand relies on its animal buddies to change up your movement and your more limited power set, as they each change how each power works, as well as employing collectibles and optional objectives.

On the whole I preferred Dream Land 3. It obviously has the graphical edge over Adventure, being on a more powerful console but its more unique style also appeals. The music stuck with me more, and it had a bit more variety with softer pieces in the animal friend and NPC rooms, while also having very dynamic tracks for things like boss battles. Those boss battles were also more fun; Adventure felt like powers were too limiting and did hardly any damage. The sheer variety of powers in Adventure I also found overwhelming compared to DL3’s more manageable set.

DL3 also had a more enjoyable structure; rather than a series of obstacle courses with minigames sometimes, it felt like an adventure (ironically). Helping the NPCs with their various needs (figuring out what they wanted was sometimes a puzzle in itself) with the help of your buddies and possibly even a co-op friend gave a good feeling of teamwork, as well as varying your side goals. The NPC designs were super cute, and as I said seeing characters like ROB and Samus was a welcome sight. Having more collectibles like little stars and the NPC objectives were also good ways to give rewards to players for exploring or doing things.

The co-op mode of DL3 was a surprise, and allowed me to play with my dear wife for a while. Unfortunately the ramping difficulty, combined with her discomfort with platformers, led her to drop out, but it was good while it lasted. Of course, both games get harder as you go on, leading to my general frustration with Kirby games: a lack of precise control with increasingly demanding platforming and combat. As the games get harder the experience of playing them feels worse. I saw them both through, but only DL3 had enough other appeals for me to strive for 100%.

There were a lot of fun ideas in both games, though. Moments that stand out in my mind were the level in Adventure that apes the Game Boy palette of Kirby’s origins, and the massive dungeon-like pyramid in DL3 where you search for ROB’s missing parts. Ultimately though DL3 had more of these moments, placing it ever above Adventure in this comparison. And what’s up with that weird blank line that’s always on the left of the screen in Adventure?

I don’t feel overly convinced about the Kirby series in general. Dream Land 3 was actually delightful in a lot of ways, but the core gameplay still seems slightly unsatisfying to me. Not to mention the Kirby games’ tendency to go “Oop, you wanna get to this secret area? You don’t have the right power. Start the level again.” The only other games in the series I’m curious about are Mass Attack and Epic Yarn, the ones with interesting gameplay or artistic gimmicks. I didn’t get on with Adventure at all, but I’d easily recommend Dream Land 3, there’s lots to love from the look to the variety. And it’s just so cute!

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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review kirby kirby's adventure kirby's dream land 3 hal laboratory nes snes 
December 11, 2014
[Review] Final Fantasy 3 (iOS)

I feel I have a history with the Final Fantasy series. We never actually owned any RPGs on the SNES or 64, but when we got our GBA, we apparently stocked up. I really connected with the series, it’s quite well-made and just gets more ambitious and interesting as it goes on. So, having played 1& 2, 4, 5, and 6, I felt something was missing. Going beyond into the 3D-era ones would be crossing a line I can’t come back from. But finishing out the hexology, I can get on board with.

Of course, that makes this the first FF game I’ve played that’s not sprite-based. The NES original never left Japan, even when they remade a whole bunch for GBA. It took until the DS to redo it, and in doing so they made a lot of big changes. The main characters were faceless cyphers, much like FF1, but now they had names and personalities. On the other hand, sacrifices had to be made as the engine was seemingly not optimised enough, meaning less monsters per battle.

Of course, being released so late like this, inevitably I and many others had played another 3 sequels which had built upon it. The result is a feeling of taking a step back. The plot is more basic, with few interesting revelations. The job system is less fleshed out than 5, with less abilities and the necessity to grind when switching to overcome an adjustment phase. On top of that you have basic problems of old RPGs like this, like additional grinding, a lack of direction, samey towns and environments.

I may have had trouble engaging with this game as much as I did the others. The factors I mentioned are partly to blame, the control scheme (a passable but still unwieldy touch interface) didn’t help matters. The characters weren’t too appealing either; maybe I’ve seen it all before at this point, or maybe I wasn’t taking the game as seriously as when I was a young'un. I don’t know. Maybe I was expecting more, but why? I’ve seen the 3 improvements on what this game had to offer, especially FF5.

It had its unique aspects that helped it stand out from the classic FF crowd. An array of airships with different properties is new. Guest party members following you around is new, although they don’t pop into battle as often as you’d like. Getting letters from different characters is nice. The magic system (which was also used in FF1 NES, but not the remake) is refreshingly different, with charges of different tiered spells. The floating continent is a cool way to start the game and get the reveal of a larger ruined world, although FF6 uses these tropes differently. That particular fact doesn’t have much consequence though, and the latter half of the game is a bit of a jumbled mess. If I hadn’t been using a walkthrough I don’t know if I’d stick with it.

Things just sort of happen in this game. There’s a backstory of warriors of darkness to balance the cycle, much as your protagonists are now the warriors of light (as usual). But the cycle stuff isn’t really developed and I was expecting a reveal of some characters I knew being said warriors, but they turned out to just be 4 generic dudes in the final dungeon. And then in true old JRPG fashion, the bad guy who’s been built up is replaced at the last minute with a cosmic thing, then you kill it. Then credits.

In the end the game doesn’t leave much of an impression. Luneth, Ingus, Refia, and Arc are no Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Galuf. Xande is no Golbez. Unei and Cid are cool but they don’t do much. And those four old guys just fail as comic relief. The 3D models too, somehow end up seeming less expressive than the sprites I remember.

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend FF3. It seems important to play it as the last remaining piece of the “classic FF” era, but it sticks out being the one that’s not simply improved from the original. And so much of what it’s trying to do has been done much better by the other games. The plot is unremarkable, the combat is slow, the 3D update and added gimmicks are unnecessary. But at least now I can do the list thing. Let’s see… 6<5<4<1<2<3. That’ll do.

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Filed under: review final fantasy square enix final fantasy 3 ios 
November 30, 2014
[Review] Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

Some years ago, I decided it was time to try a Castlevania game. After a quick Internet search, I somehow arrived at Aria of Sorrow being a good example, at least of the exploration-based “Metroidvania” style. I emulated it and was very impressed, loving the style and well-crafted gameplay, along with the addictive soul-collecting mechanic. Emulation problems meant I couldn’t actually finish it, but after briefly borrowing the DS sequel last year, I’ve been on the lookout for my own copy. And finally I procured one for myself!

I couldn’t be happier with the game. As I type this I’ve just finished my third playthrough, in the unlockable “Julius Mode” which lets you play as a team of supporting characters with different abilities that supposedly call back to earlier games. I wouldn’t know, but even without a deep knowledge of the series I found it an absolute delight. The sprites and animation are just gorgeous, and it’s a dream to play. Collecting all the items and souls is still a powerful drive, and the unlockables are satisfying.

In fact, I was so impressed that Order of Ecclesia went straight on my wish list, and I may even look into Portrait of Ruin later (the other two DS instalments, which reviewed almost as well as this one). Symphony of the Night has also, I am now aware, often been touted as the high point of the series.

My only question at this point is why has it taken me so long to get into this series of excellent 2D action-platformers, one of my favourite genres? I don’t know, but I’ll try not to play them all so quickly, as I’m afraid of burning out on the seemingly homogenised aesthetics. Despite many taking place in radically different time periods, the castle and enemies always seem to look pretty similar in screenshots.

Oh well, as I said the sprite art is amazing anyway. The plot is also not too deep or groundbreaking, but I did get attached to the characters involved, despite the slightly spotty localisation. Touch screen use is a tad gimmicky but does add, rather than detract, from the experience. So despite a few small quibbles, I loved this one. I have absolutely no complaints about the control or structure of the game itself, it’s wonderful.

I find myself running short on words for this, because it was just so good. So I’ll leave it at that. I hope other games in the series can engage me as much as this has, even if they don’t have the addictive soul-collecting mechanic.

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(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review castlevania castlevania: dawn of sorrow konami ds 
November 2, 2014
[Review] Metriod II: Return of Samus (GB)

This is it; the last main Metroid game I had yet to play. Aside from First Hunt and Galactic Pinball, I’ve now experienced the complete saga. It’s odd of course, because not only were several of the games made anachronically according to the series’s timeline, I played them in a strange order too. Starting with the Advance games (the last and first in the timeline), I became accustomed to the controls there, which made Super too floaty and needlessly complex for me.

Metroid 2 is a bridge between the first and Super, and introduced many concepts that made their way to the console sequel. The larger Samus sprite, the Varia changing your appearance, ducking, as well as the ship and some of the abilities. From my memory, it also seems to be closer in feel to Super. Being simpler though, I found it easier to deal with. I should also note that I used savestates and a map throughout (MDB’s reconstruction of the Nintendo Power map, to be precise).

There’s not too much variety and it’s quite linear, as well as the numerous repeated level structure elements you’ll notice. But it’s quite short, ramps up nicely, and feels self-contained and the right length. I miss the days when these big franchises weren’t afraid to give us a little sidestory on a handheld. The consistent theme in tracking down those Metroids is a unique experience.

The music is largely unintrusive, apart from the fantastic “Main Caves” theme. The graphics look nice, but this is one of the more complicated games to get colours into. Usually you have to try it on a Super Game Boy and a Game Boy Color, not to mention the different options they’ll give you. I was happy with what I ended up with, nice contrast between enemies and background. The only problem is that the light blue level tilesets never changed, giving it an unfortunate uniform feel despite the different designs of those textures. Most likely my fault, but oh well. It’s too bad they never actually made the proposed DX version of this game for GBC.

I feel quite good about this game, allowing for the fact I used a map. There was a good amount of challenge, exploration, and not too much backtracking. I certainly had a better time than with Zelda 2, as this actually keeps and evolves the core gameplay of the series. And using that Spider Ball to just nip around any surface was so fun! The beam-switching mechanic was interesting too, with several instances of each littered around, and none being compulsory until the end.

I even got the best ending for finishing under 3 hours and with 100% items, although as I said I had my map and savestates. Metroid 2 is a fine instalment for the series, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the final release of the fan remake AM2R. The baby! I actually like the baby now.

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Filed under: metroid gaming metroid 2 review gb Nintendo R&D1 
October 26, 2014
[Review] Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

Hyrule Warriors will be tricky to review. For now, I’ll say I love it. Smash 3DS… I think I’ll wait for the Wii U and do them together. In the meantime then, and before Pokemon comes along, here’s a review for this old and better off forgotten game.

How the Zelda series ever got off the ground I’ll never know. Even at the time, I think Zelda 2 was seen as a misstep. I feel that Zelda 1 was not much fun, but its highly anticipated sequel not only is less fun, but has completely different core gameplay. A jump button, a mix of overhead adventure map with very little interactivity and sidescrolling action stages, a collection of magic spells, an experience bar, random encounters. It sounds like some generic other Famicom game, not Zelda.

I don’t find it surprising that this blend of Final Fantasy and early Castlevania was not followed up on in the rest of the series. The sidescrolling gameplay was used sparingly again in main titles, but was the core of the game only in the most obscure and disregarded titles: the Zelda Game & Watch, and the first two CD-i games: Link, the Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It just feels out of place.

This holds true for many other aspects too; the music is largely forgettable, except for the Temple theme and even that has only just been reused in the main series, having found prominence in Smash Bros. Smash is also the only place to use the upward and downward thrusts from this game, fitting well enough there. The game looks ugly and many of its characters and settings have fallen into the landfill of history. About half the enemies will never be seen again or are quite different reinterpretations of existing ones.

It’s not just that the elements of the game feel wrong for Zelda; they are badly executed in the game itself. Enemy behaviour is either punishingly unforgiving or laughably exploitable. There is little vertical interaction. Objectives are extremely unclear, and the temples are so mazelike as to require an external map (Nintendo Power’s Player’s Guide is recommended, along with Zelda Dungeon’s walkthrough for things to do outside temples). The game script (and the manual!) are typical NES gibberish. The seams between overworld and sidescrolling section break the feel. The control and momentum… just don’t feel good. Oh and there are lives, and they don’t respawn, ever.

Enough rambling, though. Should you play this game? Nah. I mean, you could try it out, but in this era this style has been done so much better, and like I mentioned, this is a bit of a black sheep of the Zelda series. Beyond one boss, Dark Link, and the town names showing up as the Sages’ names in Ocarina, it doesn’t have much lasting impact on the series. I’ve seen it has its defenders, but I found it pretty lacking in fun. Big thumbs down from me.

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Filed under: gaming review zelda zelda 2 nes nintendo ead 
October 10, 2014
[Review] Okamiden (DS)

I didn’t ever review Okami, I played it before starting the blog. But trust me, I loved it. This is back before we were married, my then-girlfriend bought it for herself because it looked so good, and she was in the position of many people of suddenly owning a Wii and not being sure what to do with it. She made me play it though because she found it too hard, which is fair enough. She loved to watch me play, all the way through, and it’s by no means a short game.

When we found out about the sequel on DS, of course we were interested. Especially because it was apparently a little easier. She was so excited to find a game that she was both interested in and was up to her abilities. In fact she did play through it, and despite putting it down for a few stretches (the boss battles in particular), eventually finished it for herself. I was very happy for her but of course looking over her shoulder every now and then wasn’t the ideal way to experience the game.

So finally after a long time, I also played it. Now apparently you can only have one save file, but that’s ok because I started from her New Game Plus and got the weapon that breaks the game. Cool beans. Even without that, you can consider it a cut-down, simpler version of Okami. Which is a great thing.

Clover went under, and came back as Platinum away from their awful Capcom overlords. But to their credit, Capcom actually made a sequel, farming it out to a little company called “Mobile and Game Studio”. Doesn’t exactly stand out, but look here, among all their cheap mobile games, it’s Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyo (aka Little Sun). In my opinion, this unheard-of studio did a fantastic job converting the Okami experience to the DS.

The art is just like how you remember, as is the music (although that gets repetitive). They even recreated many of the areas of Okami, albeit smaller and broken up by loading zones. They change them up though and their new content and environments fit right in. I wish there weren’t so many “points of no return”, which prohibit backtracking. But the price you pay for that is the new system of buddy characters. Throughout the game Chibiterasu (Amaterasu’s son, and the most adorable gaming protagonist bar none) meets five children that he befriends, who serve the Issun role of interpreting for you, dialogue and so forth. But having five distinct kids helps vary the personality of that companion role. Not to mention the help they give you in battle.

There are also new dungeon-type areas, which, to go along with the Zelda comparison that’s often stated of Okami, are presented similarly to the top-down 2D Zeldas. Using your partner is usually a big part of these zones. I appreciated the change-up of the gameplay here, and they are appropriate for the DS’s capabilities.

Another thing the DS is ideal for is the brush techniques, many of which return plus some new ones (plus the brush gods all have little babies now too! So cute!). Whether the recognition is better or whether it’s just much more accurate drawing directly on the touchscreen, I almost always pulled them off when I wanted to. Very gratifying compared to the sometimes spotty Wii drawing, although without the benefit of the coloured smoke before drawing which that version’s control scheme allowed.

In terms of the story, it follows on from Okami with events nine months later, although you also go back in time to set things up or alongside events of that game, as well as going back 100 years to the “backstory” portion, something Okami did as well. It gets a little confusing, but the story feels suitably meaningful and you meet many familiar faces and new ones too. Sometimes it feels like things or people are only there to reference Okami instead of serving the game in any important way, but taking both of them as a whole is probably a good way to look at them so the way it complements its mother(?) game only strengthens them as a unit, I suppose.

I should have said that the core gameplay is pretty similar to Okami too; traversing 3D environments, instanced battles, plot-focused, exploration and collecting. Of course, many mechanics have been removed or streamlined for this DS iteration. It doesn’t feel compromised though, the way it’s designed everything feels just fine. And the humour and charm is perfectly intact.

The additions are also very welcome, as I’ve said. There’s a new village you keep returning to that you can improve and grow by inviting people to live there. There are enemies that appear on the “overworld” so to speak, outside of the scroll battles. There are different materials to collect to upgrade your weapons, and elemental attack items. And the partners are great.

Basically, I had a lot of fun. It’s also fairly long for a DS game I suppose, it took me 24 hours. Although the broken-ass weapon helped some battles to go quicker (the battles are one of the things that gets tedious after a while). So I’d recommend playing it after someone had finished it once? There are some items to collect that remain collected on subsequent playthroughs though. It’s that annoying balance where you get rewards after completion, but it’s long enough and so plot-driven that you don’t want to replay it too much.

Either way, if you love Okami this game will certainly please you. Unless you can’t get past the low resolution or the gameplay simplifications. In my case, I swallowed those easily and found the perfect follow-up to one of the best games on the Wii (and PS2 and the HD one and whatever). Don’t write it off, it’s really quite wonderful. Once again I express my surprise that this unknown studio that makes so many “casual” games has lived up to Clover’s work. Play it! Even if only to see Chibi’s reaction to the silly nicknames his partners give him. It’s worth it.

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(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: gaming review okami okamiden mobile & game studio ds capcom 
October 9, 2014
[Review] Link’s Crossbow Training (Wii)

While Skyward Sword left a bad taste in my mouth, Hyrule Warriors made everything yummy and nice. A review for that will be coming later, but in the meantime I had a nice little palate cleanser with the budget arcade shooting spin-off Link’s Crossbow Training.

You know Nintendo. They make a peripheral, have one good idea for it, use it in exactly one game and then it collects dust in your cupboard while a few third parties make lackluster attempts to use it as well. Meet the Wii Zapper, an attachment that slots your Wii Remote and Nunchuck into a frame that makes it like holding a machine gun. Or indeed, a crossbow. Of course, being long past the age of peripherals at this point, I couldn’t just pick one up; nor would I need to. This game was in a hundred bargain bins, and I can tell you works perfectly fine without the Zapper.

The remote itself is all you need; the Zapper I feel would merely make it easier to stabilise. But adjusting the sensitivity down is sufficient to make the game playable. I even got a platinum medal in one stage! smug Seriously though, it feels like the kind of game the Wii Remote was made for. Of course, I wouldn’t have bothered with it if it hadn’t been part of the Zelda series.

Playing Skyward Sword made me appreciate Twilight Princess more. This game reuses assets exclusively to Twilight Princess to be a sort of gaiden, or sidestory, to that game (even though it doesn’t really have a story as such). It’s like a tour of different locations and setpieces, fighting a variety of enemies from that world. Therefore I really appreciated seeing all those elements, it’s like a short reminder of all the fun things that happened in TP. There’s no Twilight Palace unfortunately, but hey-ho. That’s what we have Hyrule Warriors for.

So I said budget before. I cleared the whole game in an hour. Mostly bronze medals, but I’ve never been much of a score-chaser; it’s unlikely I’ll try very hard to top myself. But for the $2.50 I paid for it, I think to myself: I’ve spent more than that playing some shooters in arcades, but this one was more resonant with me, and now it’s on my shelf next to Twilight Princess. So if, like me, you have fond memories of that game, you might get a kick out of it.

Oh by the way, if you do play it, some advice: combos are very important. You can shoot jars and stuff without breaking your combo, but if you’re going for good scores, be accurate. On the other hand, you get bonus points for hitting all targets for the objective in some levels. So try it both ways. I got a great score in the final stage, but I had to do it again because I didn’t actually manage to beat Stallord. Had to get that closure.

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(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: gaming zelda link's crossbow training wii nintendo ead review 
October 5, 2014
[Review] Picross e4 (3DS)

The time has come for another Picross review. The fourth Picross game on the eShop (fifth if you count that stupidly restricted-availability Club Nintendo one), what makes this one stand out? Oh and by the way, I found out the other day Japan is getting another, better Nintendo-themed Picross game that’s even more exclusive as you need Platinum status… whatever that means. Why won’t you let me give you money, you awful company?

Erm, anyway. What’s this one about? Well, it’s like the past ones, but seems like a culmination of them. A sort of best-of. Although now we have e5 coming too, but whatever. The point is, this one includes Micross puzzles from e2, Mega Picross from e3, and has extra reward puzzles if you have save data from the previous games on your 3DS. It could perhaps be a good introduction to the different things on offer in the series, and would then reward you for getting the past ones.

Of course, the trade-off is it only has two Micross, which are the best ones. The reward puzzles are Mega Picross, which will be bad news if you hated those. I found them refreshing, but I was glad there were lots of normal ones too. They’re also all lumped together instead of in Normal Mode and Free Mode categories, letting you choose at will whether to use Normal or Free rules for all puzzles. This instalment also features a page of bigger puzzles, 20x15.

Overall I’d say it’s the best one yet, especially if you’ve played the previous ones as it seems to have the most improvements, and synthesises modes from them. If you’re as hooked as me though, just get all of them! And wait anxiously for e5! Mmm, Picross.

1:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1SNz_Nj
Filed under: gaming picross review picross e4 jupiter 3ds 
October 4, 2014
[Review] Giana Sisters DS (iOS)

Before you ask about the title, the iOS game titled “Giana Sisters” is a port of the DS game called “Giana Sisters DS”. I think it’s less ambiguous to refer to it as such. I tried to emulate the Commodore 64 original, but had a heck of a time and gave up. They recreate the levels of the original anyway in this one, which was a nice touch. Pity they did such a poor job on this port.

Compared to the DS version, the graphics for the iOS port have been prettied up a lot. Everything’s super smooth and has lots of expressiveness. However, the animation is jittery and there’s frequent tearing between background tiles, making it on balance somewhat unpleasant to look at.

The levels would be fun to play through, and for the first part of the game often are, but the second major issue with this port is the controls. It’s not a good touchscreen conversion at all. Too many times to count I died because of the fiddliness of it all.

Menus are rough, abrupt, and buggy. Navigating the world map requires multiple tries. The pre-level splash screen displays how many lives you had before your most recent death. Do you see what I’m trying to say? The whole thing feels like a botched mess. I considered switching entirely to an emulated version of the DS copy, except I would lose the portability, my progress, and the nicer sprites and backgrounds. Still, having said that, the slightly chunkier DS sprites have a charm of their own. I decided to continue the iOS one, but had frequent hiatuses due to the general frustration.

I wanted to play this one in preparation of the Mac port of Twisted Dreams, but to be honest it didn’t exactly make me excited about the series. Did I mention they repeat essentially the same boss fight throughout the game—and that’s a design flaw, not a fault of the port. Overall though, I wouldn’t recommend the iOS port at all really. Just emulate the DS version if you want to look at the series’ history, perhaps before Giana Sisters 2 comes out eventually (although in doing so you’d realise how inappropriate that name is for the fourth in the series). If you want to play the C64 one, well I can’t help ya, buddy.

12:01pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1SIsDSv
Filed under: gaming giana sisters giana sisters ds review ios spellbound interactive kaasa solution 
October 3, 2014
[Review] The Legendary Starfy (DS)

Hi everyone! You may remember my Super Princess Peach review (check the #tose tag on my blog); I found out it was a Mario-branded spin-off in a way from the Starfy series. Well, if not spin-off, then very similar. It’s the same type of exploratory 2D platforming, finding collectibles, fairly gentle difficulty, and just general look and feel.

It’s no secret that a character’s presence in Smash Bros will also increase my interest in them slightly. Anyway as the only translated Starfy title, official or otherwise, I thought I’d give this a shot. Immediately I was reminded of Ikachan, the brief indie game from the creator of Cave Story. Although Starfy is more level-based, it has a similar feel. Ok maybe it’s just because it starts underwater.

Starfy has an interesting level design dynamic, as there’s essentially two control schemes that are used equally in the game: on land and swimming underwater. Even in places like forests there’s giant droplets falling down, or later the whimsical ability to swim in rainbows that keep the balance between the two. It helps to change up the way you’re playing, and keep it fresh.

The characters in the game are all very likeable and amusing. In this game (the fifth in the overall series), there’s lots of returning ones but an unfamiliarity with the franchise didn’t hurt my appreciation. The art style includes a puppet or stuffed toy aesthetic that is very charming, as well as manga-style cutscenes. The game itself does the interesting blend of precise spritework for the environments, while decking out the backgrounds (and the occasional boss) in 3D polygons. It all adds up to an appealing mix of styles that still gel together in a colourful way.

As I alluded to, it’s pretty simple to play, and not too punishing. You get lots of health, and it’s cleverly tied to the primary minor collectible. I found it relaxing more than anything to play through, and with a configurable bottom screen, you can also be alerted to the presence of treasure if you’re looking to get everything. You will also have to replay past levels to find the secrets after unlocking more abilities, which got a little tedious at times.

The cuteness may get overbearing to you if you’re particularly macho, especially the costumes you get to dress up your perpetually-beaming star. You also get to dress up Starfy’s sister Starly, although disappointingly she’s only playable in specific sections of levels by co-op download play (a bit of a half-assed feature), and in an epilogue chapter.

There’s lots of levels, and lots of extra content to find and unlock, and it’s not too hard to do it. I think if you like the Kirby games (I haven’t played too many, but they’re definitely the most similar), this should keep you occupied. It’s got lots of fun dialogue too, so it’s got its own niche. I guess I could make a thing out of playing a game for every series represented in Smash… What do you think?

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1SE2Sui
(Notes: 14)
  
Filed under: gaming starfy the legendary starfy review ds tose 
September 14, 2014
[Review] Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)

Well, let’s get this over with. I hope now that the immense hype has died down after a few years, we can look back on this as on the whole a pretty mediocre Zelda game. That’s what I feel anyway. I mentioned in my long-ago Twilight Princess review that I chose the older game over the new hotness, and having now played both I think I made the right decision. I like Twilight Princess more.

That’s not to say that Skyward Sword wasn’t fun, nice to look at, and had inventive ideas to bring to the Zelda formula. But the flaws and niggles stack up, and the plot wasn’t very engaging to me.

First, let’s talk about the “level design”. There’s not really an overworld, just mini-areas that bring some dungeon-like puzzle solving to themed locations. But then there’s dungeons as well, so I ended up just feeling like an aspect of the Zelda experience was missing without large areas to explore. They were memorable, but partially because of all the backtracking you have to do. I even had to go through an already-completed dungeon a second time as part of the plot, which I resented. You also end up with less overall variety in locations with only three or four themes.

Another aspect that lacked variety in a significant way was the enemies. You end up with essentially palette swaps of bats, blobs, and bokoblins in the three major zones, which got seriously boring. Not that Zelda hasn’t done that before, but it seemed to lack very much beyond them.

I also dreaded fights, and here’s a big sticking point of the game in general: the motion controls made it hard to enjoy. The game relies heavily on the gimmick of the Motion Plus, which is fine I guess, but what they were demanding of the player I don’t feel the hardware was capable of pulling off, or at least how I was using it. Having to point in menus and dialogue was annoying but passable, and aiming things worked pretty well, but any time a precision flick was required the whole thing fell down. Which is a huge problem because so much combat, and certain puzzles, demand you swing the sword in a specific direction at the right time. The precision required was often difficult to do, which caused frustration to me, the player.

This principle extends to other things too: you cannot reliably do maneuvers you intended to, such as doing a vertical spin attack instead of horizeontal, or the awful swimming. But the swimming is modelled after the flying, so let’s talk about that. I hate the flying. They’re going for a Wind Waker thing with a large sky/sea, with islands. Except the islands in SS are inconsequential but for a handful, it’s totally disconnected from the land portions, and controlling the flying is not relaxing or fun like sailing, it’s painful to the wrist and causes anxiety. And for that matter, why is there an impenetrable cloud layer under Skyloft but everywhere on the ground has BLUE SKIES?

There’s a few of these aspects that they’ve taken from past games. The Silent Realms are also pretty shamelessly ripped from Twilight Princess’s bug hunt sections, but I don’t mind so much since they expanded the concept into a stealth-type mode and it’s quite fun. It is yet more backtracking over the same areas though, but it works because you use the knowledge of the layout but they change some things around.

New things include the stamina meter, which I’m conflicted on. On one hand, running is cool, but on the other it depletes from normal activities like climbing and depletes too quickly, with no possibility of upgrade. So you feel constantly forced to travel below the “optimal” speed, all the while with a big green thing on screen and an irritating alarm sound.

Speaking of irritating things that get in the way, let’s talk about Fi. Lots of people complain about all the companions, but I liked Navi ok and loved Midna. This time, things don’t turn out well. Her text is too slow and unspeedable. She pops up way too often to point out very obvious things. She could have been interesting as the spirit of the Master Sword, but her fakey “robotic” demeanour is extremely obnoxious to read. And would my criticism be invalid if I had an adverse reaction to a robotic, subservient, young girl wearing stockings who refers to you as “Master”?

This brings me to my next niggle. There’s just a few elements that seem too distinctly Japanese for Zelda, which I’ve always felt inhabited its own distinct fantasy world, like the dragons’ attire or the vocalisations. I’m trying not to seem racist, but it just took me out a little. As I alluded to with Fi, I also struggled to accept the anime-style cliches that are rife (I always hated starting in a “high school” environment. The characterisation of most of the main characters left me cold and bored, and many of the side characters were too “stock”-feeling—I especially had no feeling for Link or Zelda, and hence lacked some motivation, especially as you find out more about their roles. On the other hand, like many people I warmed up to Groose quickly and enjoyed his scenes immensely.

The other races in the game were also lackluster. There’s, what, two Gorons? They were fine, but the moles were just off, the jellyfish were bad and too few. The Kikwi were ok though, and the robots were fine. And I like how they made humans a rare occurrence, but you don’t get a whole lot of meaningful interaction with any minor characters. Thinking back on it the areas were cohesive enough, but maybe I just miss towns.

As a synthesis of Zelda elements, it’s quite good, with recent advancements such as bug collecting and treasure improved on. It also has some nice new things, such as equipment upgrading and managing your inventory. The dungeons are also pretty good, with interesting themes. The bosses though sucked, partly because of the sword difficulties I mentioned, and partly because of the repeated boring Ghirahim fights that take the place of real bosses. I may have still been having counter-reactions to the hype though, seeing the whole thing as a bit up itself (they even mention the 25th anniversary in the text of the game). Also too much tutorials.

I hope I made myself clear about the anime thing. I’m just tired of the tropes and cliches, and I thought Zelda was a little more, well, its own thing. You know? Eh, sometimes I’m glad I don’t have too many followers, who could get super mad about my super controversial opinions. I don’t want to cause an Internet Scene™ after all. Anyway I’m glad that this was another case of borrowing a game from a friend that I was hesitant to splurge money on for myself. Because it’s fine, it’s even pretty good, but I’ll just say it’s not near the top of my “Zelda favs” list. I just want to think that I hadn’t decided that place before playing it—I think I gave it a fair chance. And why are Link and Zelda’s eyes so big? Ahem. Thanks for reading.

3:54pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1QmWXzA
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: review zelda zelda: skyward sword wii nintendo ead 
September 6, 2014
[Review] Puzzle Agent 2 (iOS)

My wife and I played the first one together on iPad, and we were happy to play the second (eventually). It’s a very appealing game, with a nice hand-drawn visual style, a decidedly odd story, and a Professor Layton-esque structure. Being fans of the puzzle prof, we liked the chance the iPad gave us to play it together. Although it’s obviously inspired by the successful DS series (which the designers Sean and Jake have admitted on Idle Thumbs, if I recall correctly), it doesn’t quite live up to it.

For one, it’s quite short. The two games together would be closer to a Layton game in length, I think, although I suppose that fits with Telltale’s episodic MO; and I can’t complain for the price. For another, the puzzles are nowhere near as varied or testing, either being a little too obtuse or just reusing simple concepts often.

The strength of it is in the presentation though. Graham Annable’s style stands out, even when some textures or lines appear coarse; arguably it’s part of the charm. The creepy atmosphere comes across in the plot but also the odd pauses and such. All the characters are memorable and the voices are fun. Just taking in all the oddball stuff makes the game worthwhile.

Although the puzzles aren’t always imaginative, they’re still satisfying to solve, and the way they’re framed is often interesting, especially when something unexpected happens like when the FBI agents stick their guns over your puzzle UI suddenly. They try to make the puzzles story-relevant too, which is more than you can say about Layton half the time.

I just love the little world they’ve created, with the weirdo FBI departments, the tiny Alaskan town of Scoggins with its eraser factory and Nordic cultural gnome-worshipping society, and all the looneys you meet. The bizarreness just cranks up in the last half/third of this second game too, with the teasing coalescing quickly into a pile-up of wacky reveals. In fact it goes a bit off the rails, I’m not sure the pacing is handled well in the transition from unsettling goofiness to full-on conspiracy insanity.

I was quite satisfied in the end though, and it leaves me curious to try some other adventure games. Especially if my wife will join me. I’d recommend this game for the story alone, but it’s a solid puzzle adventure too.

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1Q6jqtH
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: ios telltale puzzle agent 2 puzzle agent review 
September 5, 2014
[Review] Mario Kart DS (DS)

Well, Mario Kart. What can I say? I haven’t played one since 64, but obviously it’s the hotness. I don’t particularly care to pursue it, but hearing again that DS had a Mission Mode (during discussions of Mario Kart 8’s shortcomings) prompted me to borrow it from my brother. No, I wouldn’t buy the thing!

You could say I’m in the Diddy Kong Racing camp. I just like my games to have a little more depth, and since I’m your basic antisocial nerd, the multiplayer components of most games are lost on me. As it turns out, I found MKDS’s missions to be quite cool, especially when you have a boss fight against Super Mario 64 DS’s bosses.

It’s also the most crossover-y Mario Kart, which appealed to me (not counting the Arcade ones with their Pacmans and Tamagotchis and drums, but pretty awful gameplay, or MK8’s not-yet-available DLC; I’ve written off that game already). I guess when you get right down to it, R.O.B. and the Blue Falcon don’t amount to much, but… well, I’ve already undercut my point, but to be fair, I played this game before the DLC thing.

It wasn’t exactly a full experience borrowing it like this: my bro had already unlocked most stuff. I just tried to see all the content, and do the missions. It was fine. Seeing how much better his times were on some missions took me right back to childhood competitions. And considering also I haven’t played one since 64, overall it was a somewhat nostalgic experience.

I’m putting my foot down now though: no matter the fancy graphics and lighting effects, no matter how many weirdo characters they add, I’m not buying a Mario Kart until that mission mode comes back, or at least some other single-player options. I absolutely did not buy into the MK8 hype, and I feel a bit of a minority in my position to want more from the franchise. Pink Gold Peach and Baby Rosalina most certainly did not help. Enough whining though, I’ve got more games to play. Now should I play Konami Krazy Racers, or a Crash Team Racing? Maybe I’ll fire up the old Nokia emulator for Rayman Kart.

12:00pm  |   URL: https://tmblr.co/ZpvIwu1Q1roRt
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: review mario kart mario kart ds nintendo ead ds 
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