The Mario Kart series has been around for a while now, and like any 15 year-old franchise, it has been argued that the games have continually grown stale. After the gameplay-filled Mario Kart DS helped shred that reputation with its online races and Mission Mode, it looked like the series would find ways of growing. Unfortunately, the latest edition of the series not only doesn’t advance the formula, it seems to put the series in reverse.
Some people may argue that the game’s new additions to the races do advance the series in a new direction. These people would be wrong. The main new addition to the series is the ability to race on motorcycles. These new vehicles are fun at first, but are ultimately little more than a gimmick, as the karts prove to offer the more rewarding race experience.
There are some refreshing additions to the series, however. The new trick system, which rewards a well-timed action when launching off jumps, is a great way to keep skill involved in the series after removing the controversial “snaking” tactic. Additionally, the Wii’s motion controls translate remarkably well to the arcade racer. Granted, tilting the Wii Remote alone is a broken system, but the inclusion of the Wii Wheel shell makes a world of difference. After a few races, this control method feels incredibly natural, and surprisingly, makes the other control option unnecessary. This is even true during the hectic and highly competitive online matches. These races are even more hectic and competitive than before thanks to the addition of four racers per race, bringing the total to 12 drivers per race.
However, while these additions help make the races more fun, the overall package is still hurt by the lack of the Mission Mode. After Super Smash Bros. Brawl brought a huge variety of gameplay types to its formula, it would have been nice to see Mario Kart follow suit. Unfortunately, this means there are no alternatives for players tired of racing. Once this happens, the only option is to turn the game off.
While this lack of depth hurts the game’s overall score, it is difficult to rate the game too low. The 12-player races and some great track designs make Mario Kart Wii the best racing experience on the system, especially with a group of friends.
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - Review
Pokemon games sell a lot of copies. A lot of copies. It’s hard to deny this when every new addition to the series is released alongside a nearly identical version, and both games top the charts for weeks. This sales phenomenon continues to get more and more stupefying with the success of each set of sequels, which are almost indistinguishable from their predecessors.
All of this repetition is sure to make even the most diehard Pokefan anxious for something new, which is why it is so refreshing to see these pocket-monsters starring in spin-offs. This is especially true when the spin-offs are actually fun, unfortunately, in the case of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, the game is only slightly refreshing.
The main purpose of the game is to give fans of the franchise a new way to play with their favorite character, and it succeeds at doing so. It is great to see the Pokemon in a new setting (some more than others…who really cares about some of the newer additions like Croagunk and Corphish?), and it is fun to be able to directly control a Pokemon rather than its cookie-cutter trainer. While the concept behind the game is swell, the actual game is less successful.
The gameplay is split into two locations. The first is within Treasure Town, the central-hub where most of the game’s forgettable story is told. While in city limits, players can use their time to purchase items, choose their teammates, and receive jobs to be completed in the second location: the dungeons.
Dungeons are where the majority of the game plays out. Players will travel through multi-level caves and gain experience by fighting wild Pokemon. These battles will be foreign to those used to the combat in the regular Pokemon games. Rather than having random encounters and separate battle-scenes, fighting Pokemon in the Mystery Dungeon games takes place in an almost real-time fashion with enemies that are visible outside of fights. Though characters still take turns attacking or using items, the actual skirmishes happen much faster than in traditional RPGs.
This system has its advantages and its drawbacks. On the plus side, taking the time to partake in battles to increase your experience is a much faster task and is less likely to become a chore than it is in traditional Pokemon games. Unfortunately, this method only allows control over the main character, leaving all actions of the supporting crew up to the computer. This lack of control can be nice on unimportant battles, but the computer is more likely than not to make some bad decisions during struggles with more difficult enemies.
Also, in an attempt to make the battles flow better, attacks are mapped to button commands rather than through menus. However, there is only room for one of the character’s four special attacks in the control scheme, so menu access is necessary quite often. The menus are a little too difficult to manage for simple tasks that would ordinarily be done efficiently. To perform the average task of choosing an attack that is not assigned, a player must enter four different menu pages. There were times when I chose to ignore my fight strategy and just use the assigned attack, rather than go through all that trouble.
In a game that is fun to play through, however, these complaints about the fighting mechanics can be overlooked. Unfortunately, the dungeons aren’t terribly fun to experience.
All of the game’s dungeons are randomly generated. This is generally thought of as a great way to keep players interested in levels after playing through them. Since the terrain is created on the spot by the computer, the experience of exploring a cave is never the same twice. The problem with this system, however, is that it prevents the developers from creating worlds that are worth exploring at all. With no interesting environmental sights or puzzles, the emphasis of playing through the game is put back onto the flawed battles.
Obviously, there is a lot to complain about with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. Of course, some people do appreciate what randomly generated dungeons add to a game. These people will definitely find some worthwhile content in this title. There are also the people that will buy anything that has a Pikachu in it. These people will find even more to like about this game. However, those who have only a passing interest in RPGs or Pokemon should check out Pokemon Diamond or Pearl instead. It’s not like it will hurt Nintendo at all; the game is still going to sell a ton of copies.
Score: 6/10
All of this repetition is sure to make even the most diehard Pokefan anxious for something new, which is why it is so refreshing to see these pocket-monsters starring in spin-offs. This is especially true when the spin-offs are actually fun, unfortunately, in the case of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, the game is only slightly refreshing.
The main purpose of the game is to give fans of the franchise a new way to play with their favorite character, and it succeeds at doing so. It is great to see the Pokemon in a new setting (some more than others…who really cares about some of the newer additions like Croagunk and Corphish?), and it is fun to be able to directly control a Pokemon rather than its cookie-cutter trainer. While the concept behind the game is swell, the actual game is less successful.
The gameplay is split into two locations. The first is within Treasure Town, the central-hub where most of the game’s forgettable story is told. While in city limits, players can use their time to purchase items, choose their teammates, and receive jobs to be completed in the second location: the dungeons.
Dungeons are where the majority of the game plays out. Players will travel through multi-level caves and gain experience by fighting wild Pokemon. These battles will be foreign to those used to the combat in the regular Pokemon games. Rather than having random encounters and separate battle-scenes, fighting Pokemon in the Mystery Dungeon games takes place in an almost real-time fashion with enemies that are visible outside of fights. Though characters still take turns attacking or using items, the actual skirmishes happen much faster than in traditional RPGs.
This system has its advantages and its drawbacks. On the plus side, taking the time to partake in battles to increase your experience is a much faster task and is less likely to become a chore than it is in traditional Pokemon games. Unfortunately, this method only allows control over the main character, leaving all actions of the supporting crew up to the computer. This lack of control can be nice on unimportant battles, but the computer is more likely than not to make some bad decisions during struggles with more difficult enemies.
Also, in an attempt to make the battles flow better, attacks are mapped to button commands rather than through menus. However, there is only room for one of the character’s four special attacks in the control scheme, so menu access is necessary quite often. The menus are a little too difficult to manage for simple tasks that would ordinarily be done efficiently. To perform the average task of choosing an attack that is not assigned, a player must enter four different menu pages. There were times when I chose to ignore my fight strategy and just use the assigned attack, rather than go through all that trouble.
In a game that is fun to play through, however, these complaints about the fighting mechanics can be overlooked. Unfortunately, the dungeons aren’t terribly fun to experience.
All of the game’s dungeons are randomly generated. This is generally thought of as a great way to keep players interested in levels after playing through them. Since the terrain is created on the spot by the computer, the experience of exploring a cave is never the same twice. The problem with this system, however, is that it prevents the developers from creating worlds that are worth exploring at all. With no interesting environmental sights or puzzles, the emphasis of playing through the game is put back onto the flawed battles.
Obviously, there is a lot to complain about with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. Of course, some people do appreciate what randomly generated dungeons add to a game. These people will definitely find some worthwhile content in this title. There are also the people that will buy anything that has a Pikachu in it. These people will find even more to like about this game. However, those who have only a passing interest in RPGs or Pokemon should check out Pokemon Diamond or Pearl instead. It’s not like it will hurt Nintendo at all; the game is still going to sell a ton of copies.
Score: 6/10
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Review
Some of you readers may have been wondering when I planned on posting the review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that I have been teasing you with since the inception of this blog. Well, here it is. Though this piece of literary brilliance is, admittedly, late in coming, I have a good excuse: I’ve been having far too much fun with the game to pull myself away long enough to write an article about it.
For Nintendo fans, a huge part of Brawl’s fun is discovering every bit of fan-service that the game has to offer. Every facet of the game is oozing with nostalgia, and finding every bit of Nintendo history hiding on the disc can quickly become an obsession. As in Brawl’s predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee, there are over 500 trophies to collect, each including a descriptive paragraph detailing many of the characters from the company’s rich history. However, the collectibles do not stop there. During play you can also find or unlock various music discs.
Each disc unlocks a new musical track from almost all of Nintendo’s big hits, and even some you may have never heard before. This music ranges from a medley of classic NES game songs to fully orchestrated versions of more modern music. Making these tracks even more desirable is the customization that they offer. As your song collection grows, you can change the rate of frequency in which the songs play within the levels, allowing you to hear your favorites often and your least favorites never.
Rounding out the list of new collectibles are over 700 stickers, each containing promotional artwork for even the most obscure Nintendo titles.
It may seem odd that I spent the first 275 words of my review detailing the game’s many collectibles without even mentioning how the game plays, but there is a reason for this. Brawl feels as if its primary mission is to give a giant high-five to the Nintendo enthusiasts around the world. Everything from said collectibles to some very special unlockable characters and stages do just that. Heck, the game even includes a list of every Nintendo published game release.
However, what makes Smash Bros. Brawl truly special is that even without a single recognizable Nintendo character, it would still be one of the most fun gaming experiences available on any console.
The core experience of playing Brawl is very similar to that of Melee. Two to four characters square off in a frantic battle with controls that are simple enough for most “expanded audience” players to understand, but with enough depth for the more experienced gamers to develop really complex strategies. Of course, even the best strategies aren’t of much help when a Nintendog pops out of an assist trophy - which makes a character appear that can either help or hinder your gameplay - and blocks your view of the screen.
This unpredictable nature is what makes Smash Bros. such a special series. It manages to take the best of both fighting and party games and mesh them together to create a game that can even the playing field for all players, without hurting the integrity of more hardcore matches. Brawl continues this tradition and improves upon it with fun new items, such as final smashes - which allow a player to unleash a character-specific finishing move - and the aforementioned assist trophies, as well as interesting new levels like the Wario Ware stage, in which miniature challenges will appear and reward success with an upgrade. There is nothing quite like fighting a frantic battle and witnessing everyone stop moving because a “red light, green light” style challenge appears.
While the hallmark of Smash Bros. has always been hectic matches with a group of friends, fans of single-player experiences will find a great deal of content to keep them satisfied for quite some time. The most satisfying single-player mode is the Subspace Emissary, a side-scrolling adventure featuring almost all of the game’s characters. This is a fairly lengthy quest that features fun boss fights and a huge collection of cinemas.
Of course, if you aren’t in the mood for a story mode, the Brawl still has plenty to offer solitary gamers. The Event mode tasks players with completing a match under specific conditions, such as defeating 50 enemies in a set time frame. Plus, players could try to beat their best score on one of the target tests, where the objective is to hit all the targets within an obstacle course. Also, lonely gamers can get their multi-player kicks by playing friends or strangers in online matches. Clearly there is a variety of ways to play Brawl, and I haven’t even mentioned half of the modes (both for space and to prevent spoilers).
This abundance of ways to play is a large reason why the game is so fun. It allows you to play the way you want to, and before you can tire of one mode, you are off enjoying the next. No two gamers are likely to play exactly the same way. In my first five hours of Brawl, I played through the Classic mode with one character, challenged the target test with a few characters, played through a couple of levels in the Subspace Emissary, played some on-line battles, spent some time enjoying the various trophies and music tracks I had unlocked, then played through the Classic mode with a different character before finishing off with a half hour of the Event mode. When my friend came over to partake in some multi-player battles, I discovered that he had spent most of his time working through the Subspace Emissary. We represented two very different, but ultimately very rewarding, ways of playing Brawl.
Fortunately, Brawl does not have any major problems. However, when playing a game as thoroughly as this game encourages, you are bound to find some issues with it. For one, controls are the same in regular battles as they are in the Subspace Emissary, and they are not as tight as they could have been had they been designed for a platforming game. Also, it would have been nice if each character had an individual target test obstacle to complete, as it was in Melee, rather than the five different courses for all the characters to share. And, of course, fans of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360’s online services will be disappointed with Brawl’s limited online matches.
While Brawl would have greatly benefited from addressing these issues, it is difficult to fault the game for a few nitpicky problems. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a game of great ambition that succeeds on almost every level. It may have taken more than six years, but Nintendo has finally given its fans a reason to stop playing Melee.
Score: 10/10
For Nintendo fans, a huge part of Brawl’s fun is discovering every bit of fan-service that the game has to offer. Every facet of the game is oozing with nostalgia, and finding every bit of Nintendo history hiding on the disc can quickly become an obsession. As in Brawl’s predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee, there are over 500 trophies to collect, each including a descriptive paragraph detailing many of the characters from the company’s rich history. However, the collectibles do not stop there. During play you can also find or unlock various music discs.
Each disc unlocks a new musical track from almost all of Nintendo’s big hits, and even some you may have never heard before. This music ranges from a medley of classic NES game songs to fully orchestrated versions of more modern music. Making these tracks even more desirable is the customization that they offer. As your song collection grows, you can change the rate of frequency in which the songs play within the levels, allowing you to hear your favorites often and your least favorites never.
Rounding out the list of new collectibles are over 700 stickers, each containing promotional artwork for even the most obscure Nintendo titles.
It may seem odd that I spent the first 275 words of my review detailing the game’s many collectibles without even mentioning how the game plays, but there is a reason for this. Brawl feels as if its primary mission is to give a giant high-five to the Nintendo enthusiasts around the world. Everything from said collectibles to some very special unlockable characters and stages do just that. Heck, the game even includes a list of every Nintendo published game release.
However, what makes Smash Bros. Brawl truly special is that even without a single recognizable Nintendo character, it would still be one of the most fun gaming experiences available on any console.
The core experience of playing Brawl is very similar to that of Melee. Two to four characters square off in a frantic battle with controls that are simple enough for most “expanded audience” players to understand, but with enough depth for the more experienced gamers to develop really complex strategies. Of course, even the best strategies aren’t of much help when a Nintendog pops out of an assist trophy - which makes a character appear that can either help or hinder your gameplay - and blocks your view of the screen.
This unpredictable nature is what makes Smash Bros. such a special series. It manages to take the best of both fighting and party games and mesh them together to create a game that can even the playing field for all players, without hurting the integrity of more hardcore matches. Brawl continues this tradition and improves upon it with fun new items, such as final smashes - which allow a player to unleash a character-specific finishing move - and the aforementioned assist trophies, as well as interesting new levels like the Wario Ware stage, in which miniature challenges will appear and reward success with an upgrade. There is nothing quite like fighting a frantic battle and witnessing everyone stop moving because a “red light, green light” style challenge appears.
While the hallmark of Smash Bros. has always been hectic matches with a group of friends, fans of single-player experiences will find a great deal of content to keep them satisfied for quite some time. The most satisfying single-player mode is the Subspace Emissary, a side-scrolling adventure featuring almost all of the game’s characters. This is a fairly lengthy quest that features fun boss fights and a huge collection of cinemas.
Of course, if you aren’t in the mood for a story mode, the Brawl still has plenty to offer solitary gamers. The Event mode tasks players with completing a match under specific conditions, such as defeating 50 enemies in a set time frame. Plus, players could try to beat their best score on one of the target tests, where the objective is to hit all the targets within an obstacle course. Also, lonely gamers can get their multi-player kicks by playing friends or strangers in online matches. Clearly there is a variety of ways to play Brawl, and I haven’t even mentioned half of the modes (both for space and to prevent spoilers).
This abundance of ways to play is a large reason why the game is so fun. It allows you to play the way you want to, and before you can tire of one mode, you are off enjoying the next. No two gamers are likely to play exactly the same way. In my first five hours of Brawl, I played through the Classic mode with one character, challenged the target test with a few characters, played through a couple of levels in the Subspace Emissary, played some on-line battles, spent some time enjoying the various trophies and music tracks I had unlocked, then played through the Classic mode with a different character before finishing off with a half hour of the Event mode. When my friend came over to partake in some multi-player battles, I discovered that he had spent most of his time working through the Subspace Emissary. We represented two very different, but ultimately very rewarding, ways of playing Brawl.
Fortunately, Brawl does not have any major problems. However, when playing a game as thoroughly as this game encourages, you are bound to find some issues with it. For one, controls are the same in regular battles as they are in the Subspace Emissary, and they are not as tight as they could have been had they been designed for a platforming game. Also, it would have been nice if each character had an individual target test obstacle to complete, as it was in Melee, rather than the five different courses for all the characters to share. And, of course, fans of Playstation 3 and Xbox 360’s online services will be disappointed with Brawl’s limited online matches.
While Brawl would have greatly benefited from addressing these issues, it is difficult to fault the game for a few nitpicky problems. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a game of great ambition that succeeds on almost every level. It may have taken more than six years, but Nintendo has finally given its fans a reason to stop playing Melee.
Score: 10/10
Monday, February 18, 2008
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Review
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Since the beginning stages of creating this blog, the plan was to have a review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl ready by this date. It seemed like the perfect fit to launch a website in honor of Nintendo by featuring the game that is looking to be a love-letter to Nintendo fans. Unfortunately, the last minute pushback of Brawl’s release date changed that plan.
While it’s gamer nature to lament the delay of such a high-profile game, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. Luckily, a kindly professor was there to lend a helping hand.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village is definitely a unique game. At its core, it is a collection of brainteasers. Anyone who has ever flipped through a book of riddles is sure to be familiar with the fare presented here. For instance, in one puzzle you are given the task of determining which one of four children is lying, based solely on one statement from each person. But while using deductive reasoning and wit to solve puzzles is a fun way to pass a few minutes every once in a while, Professor Layton has actually found a way to make these activities exciting in a way I never thought possible.
Obviously, the game’s story and presentation are a big part of Professor Layton’s appeal. The brainteasers are placed between a well developed mystery, which has the professor, and his apprentice Luke, attempting to explore an odd town to find clues to help find a hidden treasure. The old-fashioned detective story is kick started with an impressive animated movie, and more of these films are spread throughout the game, rewarding the player for their progression through the story.
Seeing the mystery through to the end is enticing enough, but there is more to Professor Layton’s allure than just the tale it tells. The game’s ending can be seen after completing a little more than half of the puzzles, but most players will be anxious to seek out every brainteaser that they can. This is because finding and solving puzzles feels more like working toward completing a collection than solving a problem.
One of the mini-games the player can partake in is a jigsaw puzzle that can only be completed by collecting every piece of the puzzle; pieces that are only awarded to the player by completing certain brainteasers. Other collectibles include mechanical pieces that can be used to rebuild a mystery item and furniture items that can be used to furnish the character’s room. These rewards had me anxiously talking to every character and searching every area of the village in the hopes of finding all the brainteasers. This lent Professor Layton an addicting quality that makes it feels a lot like the original Pokemon game (and considering there are 150 brainteasers hidden throughout the game, this comparison seems quite appropriate).
If there is anything negative to be said about Professor Layton and the Curious Village, it is that most people are going to have difficulty solving a good portion of the puzzles.
The developers did a fairly good job at solving this issue, however. Astute players will be able to find a limited number of hint coins hidden throughout the village. When you get stuck, you can always use this specialty currency to purchase hints. This is a much better alternative to simply using an online-walkthrough to solve the problems, but it still feels rather cheap at times, especially when you are forced to get help on four or five consecutive brainteasers.
Overall, Professor Layton is a surprisingly fun game that offers an experience that cannot be found anywhere else. It may not be a blockbuster like Smash Bros. Brawl, but it is certainly a rewarding game that will appeal to both casual and hardcore game players.
Score: 9/10
Since the beginning stages of creating this blog, the plan was to have a review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl ready by this date. It seemed like the perfect fit to launch a website in honor of Nintendo by featuring the game that is looking to be a love-letter to Nintendo fans. Unfortunately, the last minute pushback of Brawl’s release date changed that plan.
While it’s gamer nature to lament the delay of such a high-profile game, I decided to make the best of a bad situation. Luckily, a kindly professor was there to lend a helping hand.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village is definitely a unique game. At its core, it is a collection of brainteasers. Anyone who has ever flipped through a book of riddles is sure to be familiar with the fare presented here. For instance, in one puzzle you are given the task of determining which one of four children is lying, based solely on one statement from each person. But while using deductive reasoning and wit to solve puzzles is a fun way to pass a few minutes every once in a while, Professor Layton has actually found a way to make these activities exciting in a way I never thought possible.
Obviously, the game’s story and presentation are a big part of Professor Layton’s appeal. The brainteasers are placed between a well developed mystery, which has the professor, and his apprentice Luke, attempting to explore an odd town to find clues to help find a hidden treasure. The old-fashioned detective story is kick started with an impressive animated movie, and more of these films are spread throughout the game, rewarding the player for their progression through the story.
Seeing the mystery through to the end is enticing enough, but there is more to Professor Layton’s allure than just the tale it tells. The game’s ending can be seen after completing a little more than half of the puzzles, but most players will be anxious to seek out every brainteaser that they can. This is because finding and solving puzzles feels more like working toward completing a collection than solving a problem.
One of the mini-games the player can partake in is a jigsaw puzzle that can only be completed by collecting every piece of the puzzle; pieces that are only awarded to the player by completing certain brainteasers. Other collectibles include mechanical pieces that can be used to rebuild a mystery item and furniture items that can be used to furnish the character’s room. These rewards had me anxiously talking to every character and searching every area of the village in the hopes of finding all the brainteasers. This lent Professor Layton an addicting quality that makes it feels a lot like the original Pokemon game (and considering there are 150 brainteasers hidden throughout the game, this comparison seems quite appropriate).
If there is anything negative to be said about Professor Layton and the Curious Village, it is that most people are going to have difficulty solving a good portion of the puzzles.
The developers did a fairly good job at solving this issue, however. Astute players will be able to find a limited number of hint coins hidden throughout the village. When you get stuck, you can always use this specialty currency to purchase hints. This is a much better alternative to simply using an online-walkthrough to solve the problems, but it still feels rather cheap at times, especially when you are forced to get help on four or five consecutive brainteasers.
Overall, Professor Layton is a surprisingly fun game that offers an experience that cannot be found anywhere else. It may not be a blockbuster like Smash Bros. Brawl, but it is certainly a rewarding game that will appeal to both casual and hardcore game players.
Score: 9/10
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