Our Favorite Games Through the Years - Part 6 - Gaming Thoughts

Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

This was the era where Chalgyr’s Game Room started, over a decade ago now. What started as a small blog to review some games that were semi-recent-ish at the time has turned into a full-fledged site that has seen numerous contributors over the years. There were a ton of great games that released during this period, as evidenced below.

Robert:

PlayStation 3: Assassin's Creed II

I struggled with this particular platform, in large because I was deep in the midst of my anti-Sony days (and to a degree, still am) and in part because there are a ton of really good games on the PS3. From the Uncharted series to the numerous Need for Speed titles, to a host of others and all with their own elements of nostalgia or have their own special meanings ... I had been considering putting any one of the numerous Tales games, or the Trails titles, or maybe the Atelier and Devil May Cry games in. So many to choose! So I picked Assassin's Creed II, in part because it's still one of my favorite games of all time (therefore made quite the impression) but also because no matter what I do, when I reminisce about the PS3 days, Ezio always creeps into my thoughts. I could be thinking about Rogue Galaxy and how it was a criminally under-appreciated RPG, or how absolutely wonderful the .Hack games were, or just how action-packed a Tomb Raider title truly is ... but then there's Ezio and ACII just lurking in the shadows, waiting for that moment to strike.

I spent hundreds of hours wandering the streets of ACII, gathering every little thing I could (and of course, spending quite the time making sure my outfit was just right) and sometimes doing nothing more than wandering the streets and soaking in the sounds of a time and space that I'll never be able to experience for real. That's magic right there.

Xbox 360: Halo: Reach

I think that this is a given, though there are some truly great contenders here- from Call of Duty: Black Ops to Dragon Age to Mass Effect 2 to any number of racing or sports games. The 360's library of titles was huge and fit me perfectly at the time, but the one game that I still compare others to to this day ... Halo: Reach. Reach is an interesting beast- any fans of the Halo franchise will likely know about the Fall of Reach; not only was it the prelude to Halo: CE, but by Halo: Reach's release, Halo and it's lore/history were household names. What I find fascinating about it is similar to why I find the success behind James Cameron's Titanic fascinating ... we already know how the story ends yet no matter what, we can't stop rewatching/replaying.

With how Halo: Combat Evolved and the original Xbox ushered in a new era for both Microsoft and gaming in general, Bungie's magnum opus and their last outing with the Halo franchise before moving on to other projects, brought with it the end of that era (for me). While there are many great games that came to the 360 after Reach's release, none of them gripped me the way Reach did. Brilliant and customizable co-op, exciting multiplayer modes, and a deeply touching (and in some cases, slightly traumatic ... ❤️ Kat) story helped close a chapter in my life, one of heartache and pain, but also of insurmountable mountains of joy, entertainment, and healthy escapism- it's only fitting that amongst the pantheon of greats in a console that's hard to beat, it was Bungie's first and final outings with the UNSC, Covenant, and everything in between, that truly gave life to two consoles and an entire decade of memories.

Nintendo Wii: New Super Mario Brothers

New Super Mario Brothers is a bit of an odd one- there were so many great games on Wii, but none really clicked with me the way New Super Mario Brothers did. I think, though, that it has more to do with life outside of the game than it does the actual title. Yes, it's fun, yes it has some excellent replayability, but what made it special to me was that it brought my family closer in a time when things were rough. We'd laugh endlessly as we bubbled our way to safety and it became more about how bad we could cheese the game with the bubbles and less about playing it- I have so many warm memories of late nights after a long days' work and a short reprieve from a colicky baby. Sometimes that's all it takes ... that and the little "bloop" sound that the bubbles make.

Pierre-Yves:

DS / 3DS: Etrian Odyssey

I’m grouping these two together. The Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS are like the SNES, an absolute treasure trove of games such as: Final Fantasy Remakes, obscure JRPGs, niche RPGs, Radiant Historia, Luigi’s Mansion, Shin Megami Tensei IV and so much more.

HOWEVER, I’m doing another grouping as this series was simply one of the best and I’m a bit sad that Atlus haven’t found a way to bring it over to the Nintendo Switch. Etrian Odyssey. These old school Wizardry inspired titles, first person dungeon crawlers, not only had a brutal nature to them, but you had another component to worry about. Map making. Did you write down the proper shortcut paths? Or did you mislabel them? Were you well prepared or were you “murderlated” by a giant beast type known as a FOE which if encountered? RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

At least in the early stages of each game. There were a fair number of releases and re-released and then to add to the awesomeness there was also Persona Q and Persona Q2 which were side stories to Persona 3-4-5.

Wii: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

So there’s a theme here isn’t there? Yes, more Legend of Zelda. While Wind Waker was cute looking to help mask the dangers ahead, Twilight Princess was dark. At the time being the first title that I was getting for the Wii, I went right through this title with every moment that I could fit in between work and school.

The world design was great, Link wasn’t always just a human but could turn into a wolf to solve certain challenges and this was finally one of those first titles that hinted that the fan theories of history and timelines may actually be a thing…

PS3: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

This is another tough one. Such a library to choose from, but when I think of the PS3? Castlevania: Lords of Shadow comes to mind. Mission based for its story instead of a metroidvania which it’s half of the reason for the style, the narrative of this adventure is what drew me in. Patrick Steward and Robert Carlyle, that right there was enough in the voice acting department to just make one’s jaw drop and they weren’t alone. Add in a great combat system and the ability to return for things that may have been missed? I think I’m going to go play this again now if you’ll excuse me…

Xbox 360: Tales of Vesperia

Bandai’s Tales of Studio’s Tale of Series. From the SNES to the PS1, to the PS2, this would be one of the two main reasons I got an Xbox 360. That and Mass Effect. Tales of Vesperia however to me, other than the lackluster ending and no post credits, would have everything. A protagonist who wasn’t a shiny white knight, a supporting cast that were all great to have around in and out of battle and that includes “Captain Carol” *laughs*. It was everything that I wanted in a Tales of and I was happy with the ports to the latest generation and I totally do not own Tales of Vesperia on the PS3/4, Xbox 360/One and the Nintendo Switch… you do!

Richard:

PlayStation 3: Tales of Graces F.

For my PS3 choice I have a game that's tied for my favorite Tales title: Tales of Graces F. I consider Tales of Graces F to be one of the best Tales titles in the franchise, right up there with Tales of Symphonia. Tales of Graces had a great battle system, an interesting array of characters, a "true man speaks with his back", and was a great game to play with friends. It's also the first Tales game I never played as the main character, interestingly enough. The bonus dungeon was also really hilarious, and the angriest I've ever been at chickens and eels. I had a lot of fun with Tales of Graces, making it my favorite PS3 title.

Wii: Trauma Center

I'm gonna toss out another one that's probably less well known for my Wii choice: Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Who knew surgery could be so much fun, if not a little frustrating at times? Following the work of a surgeon in training, Trauma Centre is like a surgery simulator where you will perform operations such as putting in pacemakers, removing glass from traumatic injuries and sewing up patients, to confronting a dangerous man-made disease. I have fond memories of playing this in University with my roommates. We decided to all do our laundry, so we brought a TV down to the laundry room and played while watching over our clothes. Good times, good times. Even with the sentimental value though, Trauma Center is a really fun title and series in general, despite some of the earlier installments being a little finicky with your controls. I'm actually thinking about cracking it back out right now. In fact, I will once I finish writing this.

Nick:

Nintendo Wii: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Most of the games on my list so far have leaned heavily into the single player experience, with a focus on story. There were plenty of great options on this platform that fit that bill as well – but something about this iteration of Mario Bros. resonated with my family and I a lot. We sat around, playing this game for hours and hours together, and had a blast doing so. It was a chaotic mix of competition and cooperation that brought out the worst and best in all of us, but also created a ton of really fun memories.

Microsoft Xbox 360: The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

This is where things really start to get ridiculous. In some ways, the last several entries I had were a bit easier, because while there were a ton of really good games on most of those platforms, I was generally a broke college kid raising a family who did not get to buy a ton of games. Around the time the Xbox 360 came out, I finally had access to grown-up money, and I started buying a lot more games again. Gear of War was my first real banger for the console, and I loved it, and there were tons of memorable games that came out, but Oblivion was probably my single biggest time-sink on the 360. I did -everything- that there was to be done. I explored the nooks and crannies of the nooks and crannies. I owned all the houses and decorated them with all kinds of ridiculous crap that I picked up and kept like a digital hoard. It was the first DLC I ever bought for a game. Yup, I had horse armor. It was ridiculous, but no regrets either.

Sony PlayStation 3: The Last of Us – There were so many titles that I loved on the PlayStation 3. My most played game was likely one of the Maddens that Landon and I had a long-running franchise of. There are so many good titles here I could talk about at length, and The Last of Us feels like a really ‘safe’, ‘mainstream’ choice given some of my weirder entries up until now. At the end of the day though, this game just hit me emotionally. The story, the characters, the tense gameplay, all of it. My son played through it as well, and it’s one we both talked about quite a bit while we were playing and after. I played through it again on PS4 as well later and was surprised at how much the story resonated with me still, even after a second go-round. 

Article by Robert, Pierre-Yves, Richard, and Nick

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Super Paper Mario - Retro Reflections

Standing out as an eccentric sibling to the core family of Super Mario games, the Paper Mario series has spent its brief legacy introducing players to the Mushroom Kingdom in a uniquely quirky, playful, and story-driven way. Often considered the spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG for the SNES, this offshoot franchise has spawned several creative and personality-packed titles. I’d like to, in the future, talk about the first two games for the N64 and GameCube respectively, but today we’re going to explore the world of Super Paper Mario, a Wii title and the third installment in a cult hit series.

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Reflecting on the Nintendo Wii

I have owned every Nintendo console (except the Virtual Boy) since the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System graced my living room, opening my eyes to a whole new world of video gaming. Obviously the visuals and sound were unlike anything I had played at the time, but more than that the experiences the NES brought to the table were new. Never before had I seen sports games or action games - or adventure and role-playing games like this. The technology brought with it not just bells and whistles, but innovative new possibilities in game play.  Now that the Wii U is upon us, I wanted to take a look back at the original Wii, and reflect on my experiences with this unique gaming console.

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Wii U price rumor, hope you had a nice Easter weekend!

A handful of general thoughts coming out of the Easter weekend.  For starters, I hope you had an excellent weekend, whether you celebrated the holiday or not.  My kids?  Properly showered with sugar after participating in a plastic egg hunt.

Next up - I've seen a couple of sites now stating that the Wii U will release at a $300 price point.  Opinions on that price point have been all over the map, with references to the Wii and 3DS being at $250 initially. 

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Gaming Thoughts... Do we need the next generation of consoles yet?

This is something I have been thinking about for awhile now - but I find myself wondering:

Do we need the next generation of video game consoles yet?  For me, the question is an odd one.  I have been playing video games since I got a TI 99/4a and I was around five years old.  I haven't gotten every single console along the way.  Quite often I did not get something like the SNES until years later in fact.  The only system I have stayed current on consistently was the PlayStation.  I had the first PlayStation on release day, and got the PlayStation 2 and 3 within a year or so of their releases.

This last generation of consoles however, I have been very fortunate.  I got a grown-up job, making grown-up money that allows me to make grown-up decisions on how to spend it (generally on decided un-grown-up things like game systems).  The Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and PSP and Nintendo DS and 3DS all came into my house as a result (not to mention the PC I have).  I got spoiled.

But that means I am also really, very heavily invested in this generation of consoles.  As I look around online, a lot of others feel the same way it seems.  Are the technological leaps and bounds significant enough to warrant the expense of new hardware?  It only seems within the last year or two that the systems became more reliable.  There were horror stories about the PlayStation 3 and 360 upon release, with their various lights and rings of 'death'.  Even the Wii was not safe from this, though it was less prominently talked about.

There are some obvious advantages:

- New technology means bigger, faster, more visually and audibly pleasing games
- Lessons learned from this generation can be applied (shipping with larger HDs, true online play)

But do they outweigh the possible concerns?

- What will these systems cost?
- Will there be additional costs, like Xbox Live?
- Will the new hardware be reliable, or suffer the kinds of breakdowns that plagued this generation
- Will all of the technology be welcome? (for example, rumors of limiting used game sales)
- Will there be a push to even more digital content (and if so, will ISPs be able to support it, or is there an additional embedded cost here)
- Will the price of games continue to climb with this generation?

There are some obvious concerns for the system manufacturers and the developers as well.  New systems usually mean less experience with the development tools.  It can be harder to create new games rapidly, and you usually have a lower market penetration earlier in the life cycle of a system than the middle or end, so you have fewer potential customers to buy your games.  With all this new technology, will development costs go up?

I suspect those questions are what spearhead the notion that the Microsoft Durango or Sony Orbis as they are being called, may be using technology to prevent used game sales.  They want a return on their potentially large investments, but I am worried too.  During these early days, I think studios are going to be susceptible to large losses.  Will they be less likely to try out new IP's than to go ahead and roll out things like the next CoD or Assassin's Creed?  Those titles are what you hear about most for the Wii-U at this point - established franchises.

It's all speculation at this point, but my son and I were chatting the other day, and he is turning into quite the little video gamer himself.  Reminds me a bit of me *sniffles at the nostalgia*.  Anyway *clearing throat* - moving on... he commented on how expensive games and systems were.  Even now for his DS and 3DS he can't buy a title new.  He buys them used.  The amount of discretionary income he gets a year is almost nothing outside of birthday, Christmas or the occassional odd job to make a few bucks here and there.  He's been reading all the rumors about next generation and pointed out that he is glad he has a 3DS, because he can still buy used games.  Otherwise he might be priced out of getting games at all if he always had to buy new, or it would be one or two a year.  He commented that he's lucky because his dad buys games and he can play those, but that a lot of his friends can't get games but maybe a few times a year.

I feel I'm getting a bit wordy here, so hang on tight with me (if you're not already glazed over and drooling on your keyboard.  I'm pretty sure I have the knack for inducing that in others).

I found that interesting - that a 13 year old kid is making me realize that the game industry in many ways is pricing itself out of the 'kid' market by and large.  It is almost as if video games, if the prices continue to go up (systems, games) and external costs go up (online subscriptions, online passes) - we are making video games a more adult form of entertainment.  It's almost like the video games are following our generation around, since most of the prior generation never got into them, and now the younger is struggling more and more to keep up.  Are used games the answer?  Probably not.  But they serve a purpose too.  Quick, when was the last time you bought a brand-new NES game?  I still pick up classic games for my old systems.  Do the developers get anything from it?  No.  Is it good to see gaming history played and preserved?  I believe so, without a doubt.

Right - you eventually need that 2nd hand market or the system dies off.  Maybe they want that - obviously publishers are making money off of re-releases of classic titles and compilations.  Eventually it will be a hobby that is probably entirely digital.  But it feels like we are still a long ways off from that, at least to me.  I know my ISP can't keep up with me watching Netflix, and friends of mine struggle to download movies or who download a bunch of Steam games get themselves in trouble.

I think the next generation of consoles is threatening to arrive 2-3 years too soon.  Some of the rumored innovations could be awesome, others could severely hamper the market though as well - potentially doing more long-term harm than good.  It's early, we have lots of time for all of this to sort itself out.  But in this day and age of internet and opinions scattered across it, I suspect publishers, developers and 'the big three' read comments and concerns.  They can't think of everything, so hopefully articles like this, even if I'm in a one-person minority, maybe gets read by the right person in the right place and it gives them a slightly different perspective.

The video game industry is at a crossroads where we have become more mainstream and popular than ever.  A few wrong choices however could set us back considerably, just like the right ones can propel us forward and break the few remaining barriers to more complete acceptance.  I'm excited about the next wave of consoles and their possibilities, but I'm also afraid that a few missteps will undo a generation of growth as well.  What are your thoughts?  What are you most excited about or nervous about?  What one or two things are you most hoping to see come out of this next generation of consoles coming out in the future, and do you agree that it is a bit too soon, or that these console releases cannot get here soon enough?

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Just a quick blurb...

Just a quick blurb, but I know several people have really enjoyed James Bond 007: GoldenEye for the Wii - our good friend Coffee With Games has had it mentioned on his blog several times in the past - and today Amazon has made it the video game deal of the day at $16.99 new, so if it's one you've been on the fence about, that seems like a pretty good price so I thought I'd mention it this morning.

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Mario Kart Wii - Nintendo Wii Review

Not exactly a new game, and not even a new game to me - I've owned it since this came out. So why the review now? Well, I haven't shown my Wii much (any) love since Metroid: Other M and before that, Red Steel 2. But, there's another reason I decided to write about this game. We had some friends come out the other night, and we broke this game out and had an absolute blast with it.

Some context - a group of about 5 or 6 of us regularly hung out at one particular friend's place in college. The standard games we would play were some combination of Madden, Tecmo Bowl, Golden Eye and Mario Kart 64. Many a weekend was lost to that couch and those particular games while beer and wings were consumed in plentiful portions.

Fast-forward to the other night, and we broke out Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 64. Thing is, the appeal of this game goes well beyond nostalgia. My kids and wife played too. The next morning my son and youngest daughter were up before us, playing online and trying to hone their skills for the next day's play. We had a really good time, so here goes:

Graphics - 8:

This series has never been a graphical powerhouse, but the Mario charm shows through and is inviting to younger gamers and older ones alike, as evidenced by our weekend experience with it. There's not as many animations, shadows, lighting effects as true racing games, but it does hum along without tearing and stuttering, keeping the game flowing at a rapid, smooth pace that keeps the fun factor high. Textures and details are a bit low most of the time as a result, but I love the vibrant colors throughout.

Sound & Music - 8:

Limited voices, decent music if perhaps less-than-amazing. It's generally up-tempo and fits what you're doing in the game. Sound effects are just varied enough to keep from getting monotonous. I actually like how well some of the sounds coming out of the controller work. That in particular was clever use of the technology in my opinion, and it serves an actual purpose when it happens.

Gameplay - 8:

Good overall track variety and selection. Some of the throwbacks are a blast to see. The motorbikes are a nice addition and you have a bit more control in the air as you show off on big jumps. The online actually adds a ton of value to the game. I've never been much for solo-racing in the Mario Kart games, and with this feature, you don't have to. Still a pretty robust community from what I can see. I've read a lot of complaints about how the AI works - though honestly it doesn't bug me much. Sure, the person in last has the best chance of getting huge 'weapons' or abilities to try and cut into the lead, but it helps keep the game fun for everyone involved, even if one or two of the players are clearly better than the others. If you go into it with that expectation, it doesn't generally bother you much.

Intangibles - 8:

Online really helps here. Other modes like the various battles help as well. The game is a racer at heart, but sometimes it is fun just to go after one another as well on a course. The single player is okay, but honestly it just feels like training wheels for the online or local competitive modes.

Overall - 8:

It's not the best racing game out there. In many ways, Mario Kart is not even a racing game. There are vehicles on wheels, start and finish lines and timed laps are a factor - but there's a sort of playful combat mixed in and outlandish shortcuts and plenty of game modes to keep you busy. I still get a huge hit of nostalgia from playing Mario Kart 64 - but there is a lot to like in this version as well, as long as you go into it with your expectations properly aligned.

More Mario Kart Wii Videos

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Metroid: Other M - Wii Review

I have always been a bit 'late' to the Metroid games. I didn't play the first one for the NES until the 'surprise' that Samus was a female was old news by a year or two. I never completed the SNES or Gameboy versions, playing them at friends' houses but never getting my own copies. I thought Metroid: Prime for the Gamecube was awesome, but my buddy beat it before I did and showed me the ending, and I never got around to finishing it. Truth be told, the last Metroid game I actually played through from start to finish was the original. It's odd, since I've always liked the series, so when Other M was announced, I was determined to finally sit down and play it through, and overall - I'm glad I did.

The game is clearly a Metroid one, featuring our bounty hunting heroine, Samus. Many of the creatures from the first game are re-imagined in this game, but instead of being a 2-D platformer or a first-person adventure, this game is set in a 3D world with some first-person elements. You will travel in every direction - up, down, left, right, forward and back. The first-person elements come in the form of some limited 'research' storyline moments, and when you point your Wii remote at the screen you enter a first-person view where you are stationary but have access to some powerful attacks and locking mechanisms like missiles. Sometimes the battles require this mode, other times it is just more convenient due to the weapons/view angle - and sometimes it is a hindrance, especially since you don't really have the ability to move around.

Similar to the other games, you slowly add to your abilities - though there is a story mechanism in place for this. Unlike the first game where you have to find improvements for your gear, you have most of them already in place but you are not allowed to use them.

That was perhaps the biggest chance taken with this game, and one of the most controversial. Nintendo games are known for great gameplay, but not really for quality narrative. The Metroid series has been no different, but in Other M they have a fairly involved storyline in place, and for the most part I think it works pretty well. There are some quibbles that can be made over how Samus' character is portrayed, and that she allows someone to tell her when she can use the powers of her suit, but overall I found that the storyline really kept me engaged in the game.

Graphics - 9:

I would say this is one of the prettiest Wii games I've played to date. There is a pretty good variety of environments and they look great. Samus looks good in action and seeing some of the classic creatures brought to life was fun. The cutscenes were quite good as well. In fact my oldest at one point asked me what system the game was on, and when I said "Wii" - she was suitably surprised and equally impressed.

Sound & Music - 9:

I thought the music was great - it fit the action and areas really well. There were plenty of good sound effects and for a game with a lot of 'shooting', it never seemed to annoy my wife the way games like Halo or Gears of War does. The voice work added to the already great visuals of the cutscenes. Even if you didn't care for the story itself, the presentation was among the best, if not the best, I've seen on the Wii, and the voice acting was a big part of this.

Gameplay: - 7:

A bit of a hit here. I thought the first-person view was a cool idea that could have been a bit better polished in execution. In some of the investigative scenes I would sweep over my target option 4 or 5 time before it would register and lock in. The camera worked pretty well the majority of the time, but there were times it was hard to target what I wanted to unless I went first-person, but that also made me a sitting duck.

Also, the game has a great exploratory feel to it, but it sometimes felt like the 'rules' were not clearly explained. For example I got stuck at one point for a good long while before I happened to jump up near a round hole in the wall. Samus grabbed on with one hand and hung there, and then I was able to morph into a ball and role into it, but I never noticed any tutorial or demonstration of this jump, grab and morph tactic, but it was used quite a few times in the game. At first I thought maybe I just missed something, but my son got stuck at the same part until I pointed it out at him. It was also annoying to sometimes see items that you wanted to collect, and that you could see and would show up on your map, but try for a long time to get them only to realize later on that you needed a specific item (like a wave gun to shoot through the wall and activate a trigger that was otherwise inaccessible). The first person mode is very cool in some of the details it gives you, but this was a pair of areas they probably could have explained better - perhaps through that mode.

Now, despite those 'bad' points, the combat is fast and smooth for the most part. You auto-adjust and shoot at things no the fly, and there are times where you just feel like a very dangerous bounty hunter. I especially liked some of the finishing moves Samus can put down on guys, like when she jumps on a creature and charges a blast to the head at point-blank range. You just feel lethal in those moments. Also there are frequent save/heal points, which is nice. Menus are easy to get around and there are multiple difficulty settings for people who want to try the game a few times.

Intangibles - 7:

The game is well-made and it is a lot of fun to play. I dislike when games rely exclusively on quicktime scenarios for things like boss-fights. You're offered these things in Other M, but you seldom have to use them - but doing so would make your life easier. There was a lava dragon I fought at one point and there were some cool scripted events during the fight that could be used to amp up the damage done, but I missed most of those and just gunned him down traditionally. I hate when you fight a boss, miss the quicktime event and he gets 1/4 of his health back.

Once you beat the game, there is an option to use your collection of powers to try and gather all of the items in the game. Cool for completionists, but honestly once the primary story was done, I didn't personally have much interest in that. I'm really big on completing stuff/gathering everything I can along the way, but once I reach the conclusion of the main story, I don't usually go further with it (Fallout 3 after the expansion packs is a good example of this. I did everything along the way, beat the game and didn't bother with the remaining side quests - just my preference).

Also, the game takes a hit with how short it is - I beat the game in like 12 or 13 hours. Not bad, but with no online and no New Game+ or additional story elements to hook my interest, it loses some value there for me.

Overall - 8:

This game is an interesting one, and its reception was just as interesting. For every person I find online bashing Other M, there's another singing its praises The 'professional' sites could not seem to agree either, with IGN scoring it quite high (8.5 I believe) while Gamespot and Gameinformer ranked it much lower if memory serves me right (6-something range I believe).

I for one found the game a lot of fun, and my son did too. Both of my daughters watched me play through large chunks of the game. They were invested in the storyline, and I enjoyed it too. I've always liked Metroid games, but as this was the first one I had beaten since the first, it just felt like they got a lot more right than wrong.

 

 

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NBA Jam - Wii Review

Going to theme again this weekend. Got free tickets to a Pistons/Heat game last night. Seats were high, Pistons got drilled - but it was still a load of fun, so NBA is my theme this weekend. :)

EA Sports did not get around to releasing its "EA Elite" basketball series (based off of its longstanding "Live" series) this year. For the last several years, 2K sports has been releasing an NBA series that has been receiving better reviews and sales. Thankfully, EA had another NBA game in the works, and while it does not try to contend with 2K as a realistic sports simulation, NBA Jam is a game that brings back a lot of memories while being a whole lot of fun.

NBA Jam has been around for aged - I remember it from late high school/early college. It was a quarter muncher in the arcades, and it was a blast when it was brought to home systems. We still have a version of it bouncing around on one of our Nintendo systems - I want to say our Super Nintendo. I may have to look that one up for my Retro Reflections this weekend.

I imagine most people have at least seen or played a round of NBA Jam in one form or another over the years, but for the uninitiated it is an over the top 2 vs 2 arcade hoops game. Defense consists of soaring ridiculously high in the air to block shots, or to try and steal the ball - or to simply shove the ball handler in an effort to knock them down and take the ball, or maybe knock them out of the air on a shot or dunk attempt (which sort of reminds me of Arch Rivals now that I think about it).

Offense consists of dribbling, passing and shooting. Oh, and dunking. Lots of ridiculous, high-flying dunking. You can amp these options up, doing some fancy dribbling to try and ankle-break your defender. You can throw elbows to clear space around you (Bill Laimbeer and Charles Barkley would be proud of these swinging limbs) and are capable of flipping behind the back passes to your teammate. This is all well and good, but you play this game for the insane dunks and hope to hit 3 shots with one of your players while the defender does not score. Do this, and the insanity ratchets up a few more levels as you hear the announcer let everyone know that your player is "on fire!". You gain a tremendous bump to your shooting percentage, allowing you to rain down three pointers and perform roof-scraping dunks that leave the net burning when the ball passes through it. Flying alley-opps, summersault dunks and more are not only fun to watch, but something you see occur in almost every game as well.

There are some other modes as well. You can play the classic game, but we have a remix mode where it is NBA with Power-ups (like ones that make you really strong, really fast or really small for example). There's a backboard smash where the goal is to deplete the basket's 'health' and the win. Obviously picking high flying dunkers over three point shooters or nimble guards works best. There's 'boss battles' where you play against NBA legends like Magic Johnson or Larry Bird - I thought these were cool, but a bit frustrating at times, 21 - which is three guys doing what they can to be the first one to reach 21 points. So, how does the entire package hold up?

Graphics - 8:

The visuals themselves are fairly throwback - but I loved that about the game. There are Photoshopped heads tacked onto the bodies. No fancy 3D rendering of heads here - you get faces that are looking this way or that way; they're comical and fun (especially in Big Head mode). There's plenty of things going on in the background, and while none of it is rendered in incredible detail, the graphics all animate very smoothly. I am sure from a technical standpoint it's easier to craft an engine that only has four players on a court instead of ten like an actual NBA sim, but the quality was excellent all the same. The game oozes style, and it feels like one big highlight reel.

Sound and Music - 6:

You know, I don't recall most of the music. I recall a few tunes here and there that were okay, never really heard anything that made me go: wow - that doesn't fit. But the sound effects were good and the announcer was a treat. In the old games he rattled off comments and one-liners and they still did not get old for me. The enthusiastic presentation kept me grinning and I was looking forward to certain catch phrases - knowing they would inevitably occur. Obviously it's not amazing tech on display here - it's not as detailed as the kinds of audio you find in a game like NBA 2K11 or Madden, but it gets the job done and helps set the mood. Still, a bit more variety wouldn't have hurt, especially given how many games you do play to get through a 'season', and it really does not have the depth of a game like NBA 2k where you get a lot of color commentary about a player's background.

Gameplay - 8:

You can navigate the menus easily enough. There's several modes here. Still, none of it works if you don't have a smooth controls and a fun game to play. Luckily NBA Jam delivered this. The pacing is fast, and sure - sometimes it feels a bit cheap when you get laid out near the end of the game and the cpu hits a near-half court shot to win the game *ahem*, but pulling off huge dunks never gets old and watching a basketball that's on fire swish through the net, setting it ablaze from beyond the three point line is a great feeling. There are a few different control schemes too, for people who just want to use the Wii remote on its side, or use a more active scheme that takes advantage of the motion, or a classic controller hooked up to the Wii remote (I usually used the last option myself, but all of them worked quite well in my opinion).

Intangibles - 7:

The game is a hoot. When I first put it in, I played for nearly 3 straight hours. All three of my kids stopped to watch and ask questions. My oldest, who doesn't really care for sports or play many video games sat out on the sofa chatting with me and getting excited at some of the bigger dunks for nearly an hour. My son doesn't really play sports games, but he enjoys this one too. He's not interested in a post game that mirrors real life, or if Blake Griffon's dunk ability is an 80 or 90 or how his players will progress. Games like NBA 2k11, as well as they are made, have never piqued his interest once, but he wanted to play this - on his own and with/against me. This game really plays and feels like the classic game - right down to having a bunch of unlockable content, which is a lot of fun to find as well.

That said, there are some limitations here. The game does not offer a great deal of depth to the core game. There are obviously differences in the players, but really Lebron James never felt that much different to me than using Wade. Bed Gordon and Rodney Stuckey were just fine, but not much different either. The additional modes are interesting, but don't live up to the primary game for the most part. Playing locally is fine... but there's no online, and that feels like a tremendous missed opportunity. That would have added a ton of life to this title in my opinion.

Overall - 7.25:

I've really been enjoying NBA Jam. It was a Christmas present that I've finally had a chance to sit down and spend some time with, and overall I have to say it is one that I am going to enjoy playing through another season or two with. But, I suspect it will wind up in my trade-ins pile before spring, and that's a shame because a few more decisions would have furthered its value - like adding online support. However, when it's said and done, NBA 2K11 will be getting put back into my 360 sometime this summer when I get an itch to play some basketball again, because the year by year progression and online options will be there. Then again, consider the audience I suppose. None of my 3 kids will playing NBA 2K11, but at least 2 have played NBA Jam. It facilitated some discussion between my daughter and me about the NBA, some of my favorite players - and that probably would not have happened without this game. That will no doubt keep me thinking favorably about NBA Jam for the Wii, much as I have fond memories of it from the arcade and Super Nintendo days.

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Mario Party 8 - Nintendo Wii review

Mario Party was a great game when it first came out. It has all of the trimmings of a great kid-oriented game, and it certainly appeals to that audience too. But I remember our neighbor and one of our other friends, back when I was in college and in my 20's, coming over to play until all hours when my wife and I were exhausted too. There were times Heather and I would go to bed and others would stay up playing it. The idea behind a video game that operated like a board game made for quick set up and tear down time, easy save options so you didn't have to worry about trying to put a board in a safe spot until later, and introduced minigames that made the experience more interactive and skillful than say, a game of Monopoly.

There have been a lot of different Mario Party games over the years - and we picked up number 8 not too long ago for our Wii. Our kids have always enjoyed the series, and while we haven't gotten every iteration of it, we've owned several. And let's be honest, the big kids (my wife and I), enjoy them too.

Graphics - 4:

Going to have to be brutal here. The Mario skin over top of it is cute in its own right, but the graphics themselves are underwhelming. Recently I reviewed a game called Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn and complained about how the combat textures and graphics overall looked like they would be right at home on a Gamecube. Well, this game fails to even meet that standard. At least some of the art in Fire Emblem had some nice art, but really here everything feels a bit 'chunky' - almost like it was designed for the Gamecube and not a higher end system (and let's be honest, of the current gen systems, Wii is the weakling of the group, so when a game doesn't even live up to those standards? It's a problem). Another oddity is the game doesn't push widescreen - you get black bars along the left and right sides. The bright colors and familiar Mario themes help save this game from taking a dive to an even lower score, but all in all, a pretty disappointing effort here.

Sounds and music - 4:

The melodies are not so bad I guess, but the music quality seems really low-end. It just feels like the music should be a lot better than this. Another problem - the sound effects. They are really, really repetitive. The board ones are a bit worse than the mini game ones, but they are pretty underwhelming to begin with, and when you mix them up so seldom, they grate just a bit more.

Gameplay - 6:

There's a wide variety of minigames, but the control schemes are actually quite a bit more limited. This is actually not a bad thing, it helps keep the games from getting too confusing, and they generally make good use of the Wii control's movement support. You'll be waggling away on a lot of them, though there's several games where you hold it like a regular controller and use the directional pad and the 1/2 buttons (usually the more combat oriented mini games). I did not have many problems with the controls, but I play more games than any of my other family members. Even my wife commented on several occasions that she felt like the controls were not responding very well. Menus navigate easily enough and the boards have some interesting variety to them not found in older versions of the game, so that helps. Some people whine that there's too much luck involved, but it's supposed to emulate a board game, and those often rely on little more than luck. So, with that in mind, the minigames provide a level of skill to the proceedings that negate the 'too much random luck' argument, in my mind.

Intangibles - 8:

Pretty much the one thing the got right. The game has a nice, solid Mario theme going on. That's always a good place to start. There are a ton of minigames, and they do a good job (most of the time) of integrating the Wii motion controls. There's quite a few modes and you can customize your game settings a fair amount. Also, as a multiplayer game, it works so much better than a single player game in my opinion. It would benefit from some online play, but honestly I doubt that there are that many people who are online and playing this game anyway, so the option (or lack thereof) might be a relatively moot point.

Overall - 5.5:

Now, a lot of points are lost on the technical side of things. There's a good chance that the audience won't mind - so that makes a huge difference here. I've got 3 kids. Every time I've proposed we sit down and play the game as a family activity, at least 2 and my wife quickly volunteer. Of course, that's when you notice things like questionable controls or the odd graphics. It's a flawed game with a great premise and the potential to charm an audience like my household provides. This of course helps, but it does not completely mask the shortcomings of the game itself. It's almost more of a teaser of what could have been, than what was.

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Red Steel 2 - Nintendo Wii review

Happy New Year!

Hope you are all in for a very nice evening, whether it's going out with friends, having family visit, or just hiding indoors and playing some video games - here's to a great if all-too-fast 2010 and what we hope will be an even better 2011. With that out of the way, I wanted to slip in my last game review of the year.

Red Steel 2 was one of those games that I think slipped under the radar a bit. It got pretty good overall scores from professional game sites, and overall players seemed to enjoy it, but I'm sure Ubisoft had been hoping for better overall sales. There were a few things probably working against the game though - from the Teen rating, to its requirement of Wii Motion Plus to the underwhelming public opinion of the first game. Now however, might be a good idea to pick this one up if you have had any interest in it. I've been seeing this game relatively cheaply on a variety of sites now, most Wiimotes come with Motion Plus, and many people now already have the Motion Plus, due in part to Wii Sports Resort. And don't let the name fool you - this game may share some principle ideas from Red Steel, but it's not a sequel and the quality is much, much higher.

Graphics - 10:

The game oozes style with its unique visuals - combining the Old West with Eastern/samurai influences. There's a flat, cartoonish look to the graphics that is not my personal favorite, but it works for the game and runs at a beautiful clip. I've read that it runs at 60 frames per second, and I don't doubt that. The engine used works well, never showing pop-in or tearing of any kind. The colors used are also vibrant most of the time. I would have to say overall, this is probably one of, if not the best-looking Wii game I have had the pleasure of playing to date.

Sound & Music - 7:

This was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, the sound effects got the job done without ever being overwhelming - or terribly memorable. The music was quite good however, as I found myself on several occasions pausing and thinking how cool/atmospheric it was Like the graphics, the music was among the best I've enjoyed for the Wii to date. So why not a higher score? Well, the voice acting. It was bad - almost to the point of irritating me at times. I've heard some people say that it was an intentional choice to make it campy in order to compliment the cartoony graphics, but if that's the case then I think it was a poor design choice. In a game where your actions are so immersive, having voice work that takes you out of that feeling of 'being there' hurts a lot in my opinion. I'm usually a huge fan of voice work in games as much as possible, but here it was more detraction than advantageous.

Gameplay: - 8:

There is a lot of positive to take away from this part of the game. The Motion Plus is beautifully realized here. The sword motions are well-represented on the screen. This is no Wii Sports Baseball where clever animations hide the fact that controls are not precise - here your sword stabs and slashes all respond very nicely. There are times the motions are misread, and it can be somewhat frustrating when it happens, but I can't even say for certain that the game was misreading it - or if I was just being a bit too frantic in my handling of my weapons during some of the more chaotic combat scenes. I will admit I enjoyed the swordplay a lot more than the gun mechanics. Pointing and aiming is fine, if a bit too touchy at times, but swinging, blocking and counterstriking were a lot more fun for me personally. It should also be noted - this is not a game for sitting on the sofa. A lot of Wii games can be done sitting down - do not count this among them. I'm sure you could, but you'd be cheating yourself in doing so. You should be moving your arms about as you square off with a group of thugs. That being said, some people really rebel at the 'get up off of the sofa' ideal, even if they have a Wii - one of my buddies at work is like that. The controls do not work nearly as well from a seated position in my opinion - you have been warned.

Intangibles - 5:

The game takes a sizeable hit here for me. For all of the things done right above (except the voice work) - the game is just too short. I think I beat it in about thirteen or fourteen hours. There's some challenge stuff to add to it, but not much and with a lack of online modes, once you're through the story - there's just not much to do beyond that. I also enjoyed the early part of the game more than the latter quarter or so. The progression system is nice, allowing you to improve in a variety of ways such as new techniques, but by the last quarter of the game or so I felt too strong. I do not recall many fights at all that challenged me - I was just mopping the floor with all of the bad guys by that point. Lastly, the storyline of the game itself was somewhat lacking - I was completely into the gameplay and the combat, but it felt like the mechanics deserved a better game around them. I was doing a lot of contracts and side adventures more for the sake of the combat than any sense of story or game progression. If the experience could be slightly refined and dropped into a much longer, deeper storyline, I think we'd have an all-time title here.

Overall - 7.5:

I really wanted to give this game a higher overall score. I bought it shortly after it released, and it was one of those games that sat on my game shelf several months longer than anticipated. Once I gave Red Steel 2 a chance, I thoroughly enjoyed it - but with its lack of replay value, it's now in my stack of games to be traded in sometime in the next couple of weeks. It's one of those titles that if you can pick it up cheaply, it's worth a play and will give you a couple days of solid, entertaining action. It's not one that you'll put away and forget - in fact I'll likely recall Red Steel 2 fondly for some time to come. However, I can say right now that I have little interest in picking it up for a second round of adventure, diminishing the title's long term value when I have plenty of other games to play still. For those considering this title for kids, there' a bit of language and there's plenty of violence to be had - though this may be where the cartoon style is a boon. It doesn't strike me as visually 'worse' than some of the more action-oriented cartoons you find on TV nowadays.

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Random Odds and Ends

Interesting article on Yahoo! (Internet Archive link) about the Onlive cloud system for playing higher end games on lower end computers. As someone with a fairly low-end cpu, the idea is intriguing - as someone with a 360, Wii and PS3, I'm firmly in the corner of having hardware that just plays games under optimal conditions. Probably not for me, but interesting all the same.

Got my Wii back. The first round of the process did not go so smoothly - my UPS shipping label never arrived, so after about 10 days I flagged them down. The next one got to me 2 days later, it was shipped out, repaired and back 3 days later. So that time the process ran about a week. Having picked up a handful of new Wii games, including one for the kids for Christmas, I'm rather hoping to roll out some Wii reviews again soon. Spent some time tonight playing Wii Sports Resort tonight with my son, rebuilding Mii's and fiddling around with Dr. Mario Online Rx. Good times. :)

Not sure specifically what was wrong with the Wii - they replaced the whole thing it looks like, so it must have been a fairly major failure. Still, $85 shipped, replaced, with a 1 year warranty isn't too bad - and I had heard horror stories about how ds's and wii's could be tough to get your downloaded games back onto. It wasn't bad at all, they associated the new machine with my old, and my prior downloads list was on there, so Mario Party, Ninja Gaiden, Final Fantasy, Pokemon Rumble and more simply had to be downloaded. Perhaps the biggest bummer was the loss of the save data. Makes me want to start using the SD card and see if that's a bit more reliable since between this and my daughter accidentally reformatting it this summer, we've had to rebuild our Smash Bros. and Mario Kart data for the 3rd time now.

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New Super Mario Bros. Wii

So I’ve had a few requests now to try and do more detailed game summary breakdowns, like my earlier reviews. I probably won’t do image and video embeds for now – but if people do want to see them I can generally make it happen (my computer is super slow though when I try to record game footage. 

Definitely need an upgrade, and with the whopping 2 cents I currently have stored away from Google Adsense, I am so on my way there)… Anyway… New Super Mario Bros. Wii has been out for awhile – so why am I just now reviewing it? Well, I picked it up as a release date title for my kids for Christmas last year and have only recently begun to play it. Plus, I needed a Wii game review on this site, so why not start with this excellent one? 

 The overall game so far has proven to be a lot of fun. I admit, I’ve been away from the Mario games for quite awhile. A couple decades ago I was blasting through Super Mario Brothers, parts 1-3, Super Mario World, etc – and I’ve played some of the others along the way that were Mario related: Yoshi’s Island, Paper Mario, Mario 64… but I didn’t beat any. For the most part, I hardly played them. Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are supposed to be great games, but I haven’t gotten either yet (even used, if you can find them, they’re still pretty pricey). 

This one? I get the feeling I’ll beat rather soon… 

Graphics: - 8: 

Probably the category I flip-flop on the most. The visuals are nothing we haven’t seen before. Mostly 2d stuff with some 3dish elements in there. Given that the Wii is not exactly a graphics powerhouse, that should knock the score down kind of low – but the colors are vibrant, the art direction is a lot of fun and I constantly found myself simply enjoying the world visually. It immerses you in a world involving a plump Italian plumber, riding a little dinosaur while jumping on or eating turtles. Job well done on that front. 

Sound & Music – 8: 

 It sounds good – the effects are nothing amazing, but there’s enough variation to keep them from getting annoying. The music? It’s Mario music. Love it or hate it (I’m more of a love it) – it’s classic video game soundtrack and it sounds great. 

 Gameplay – 8.5: 

Mario revolutionized platforming and has reinvented itself so many times over – but it always comes away feeling good. Jumps and controls feel like they should, though the waggle/spin takes just a bit of getting used to. 

Intangibles – 9: 

It’s Mario. In many instances, that’s enough for people. But the addition of multiplayer is a gas, and really – a very welcome change. Single player mode is still a bit of a challenge, and in some ways multiplayer makes the game even harder. But there’s a brilliant implementation to it that just adds to the experience – as long as you’re gaming casually. 

My son who takes games a bit too serious at times? Not a good match for his younger sister. But overall, we have a ball with it. Big creative worlds to explore really add to the overall depth and add replay value to the game. I bought this new – I haven’t seen it used in any of our Gamestops – and I think the above is largely why. 

Overall – 8.5: 

I don’t play a lot of platforming games anymore. Somewhere along the way I decided to quit beating myself up with the need for perfect jumps and fast-moving level memorizations. This particular game however remained fun – not only for me, but for the entire family. I’m sure there will be a good deal more to uncover as we get further into it as well, but overall it is fairly hard not to recommend the game if you have a Nintendo Wii and enjoy Mario, platforming and group games.

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