The Newest Oldies Round-Up: March '10
After months of writing about painfully bad lineups on the "Virtual Console Round-Up," the revamped monthly article "The Newest Oldies" has demonstrated that there are still plenty of good titles on the way for the Virtual Console. Meanwhile, PSOne Classics lags behind, and XBLA gives us the occasional gem.
The Fatal Fury (Garou Densetsu) series makes me feel simultaneously more and less masculine compared to its cast of characters.
Let's start with Virtual Console. On March 1st, SNK's FATAL FURY SPECIAL hit the VC store. This Neo Geo originally costs 900 Wii Points, for reasons unknown to me. This is an enhanced/updated version of FATAL FURY 2. You can play as the "boss" characters, plus they brought on some cast from the first game. Known as GAROU DENSETSU in Japan, this series of 2D fighters never really grabbed my attention. If I want to rock some SNK action, it's usually via KING OF FIGHTERS. Nonetheless, it's quite the rarity, and fighter-fans might want to check it out.
So the good news here is that Fatal Fury Special is the least interesting of March 2010's four VC releases. Next up, we have FINAL FANTASY II on SNES, released on March 8th. That's the one that's really FINAL FANTASY IV "Easy Type" in Japan. So, do you want to play the inferior version with whole sections of script cut, abilities and items "dummied out," etc? Well, if you are like me and you played the game in 1992, maybe the nostalgic experience will make it worthwhile. But it is a solid $8 to download; and as I said in my review of the DS version, the DS version is a great way to experience the game. And you can probably find that used for $20. Your call. Super-old 2D original or thrice-remade 3D DS version. Or any of the other remakes in-between.
CASTLEVANIA: RONDO OF BLOOD for the TurboGrafx is the game that paved the way for Symphony of the Night (which in turn started the Metroidvania craze). The game is a lot like SUPER CASTLEVANIA IV, but with a rudimentary inventory system, but lacking 8-directional whipping. Whipping straight-forward only? "That's no good!" Much like FFIV, this game is available in all kinds of random places, most prominently on DRACULA X CHRONICLES for PSP. The game itself is a 3D upgraded version of Rondo of Blood, but the original game (as well as the complete version of Symphony of the Night) can be unlocked while playing the game. For 900 Wii Points? Eh... I guess I'd say it's worth it. It's a fun game to be sure. This one was released on March 15th.
"Only for Nintendo 64" ... until now!
Finally, and most importantly, Square Enix very recently (March 29th, to be exact) published the old Quest-developed Strategy RPG OGRE BATTLE 64: PERSON OF LORDLY CALIBER. I saw a dude at Anime Boston this past weekend selling a used, but boxed, copy of the N64 cartridge for like $80 or something. This is one rare frickin' game. And, apparently, it's also a great game. I'm behind on my "Ogre" goodness, but the general verdict from RPG fans is that this game is a rare treat, one of a fistful of worthwhile RPGs for the N64 console. So yeah, for only $10 (1000 Wii Points), this is pretty much the best thing ever. I'm probably going to buy this and play it.
One "PSOne Classic" hit the docket in March. I actually played this one to completion as a kid, and I tentatively recommend it to people who remember the game and say to themselves "hey, was this a good game?" The game is ONE. It has no relation to the Metallica song. Instead, you play some sort of military enhanced-soldier guy with a gun-arm and a barcode on your neck. Right from the start, you're being chased down by hostile police forces and stuff. This 3rd-person, 3D run-and-gun platformer/shooter spans six levels, forces you to conserve ammo, and pits you against some mighty intriguing bosses. Very hard, but if I recall, pretty cool concept as well. It's also from some (in my mind) no-name companies: developer is Visual Concepts, publisher is ASC Games. The PSOne Classics version hit the store on March 18th.
In the land of Xbox Live Arcade, developer 4J Studios did a visually upgraded remake of Rare's N64 classic PERFECT DARK. Improvements outside the graphic realm include online multiplayer and added voice acting. We already mentioned this one on The Jurassic Hour, but I thought I'd plug it here too. I'd much prefer they take this same approach to the game's engine-based predecessor, GOLDENEYE. I'll mess all you Odd Job players up. You can't karate-chop my ankle when I'm rockin' prox mines.
Joanna, do you play mind games? I play "mine" games. GOGO REMOTE MINES!
Finally, and this is slightly outside the scope of this series of articles, MEGA MAN 10 is out. That's not to be confused with MEGA MAN X. And it's out on like, every current-gen platform. It was a "timed exclusive" from one week to the next, with Wii getting the first shot. But yeah, this is just a direct follow-up to MEGA MAN 9, which was what brought the "intentionally retro development" scheme into the forefront of chic gaming. I haven't really sunk much time into this one yet, but I loved 9, so I will almost undoubtedly love 10 as well.
In other news, FINAL FANTASY IX is on its way to the Japanese PS1 archives. We're waiting anxiously for its North American (re)debut.
Exploring Mountains of Abandonware: Four Freebies and One For Purchase
I've got loads of respect for true-blue PC gamers. Heck, two of my favorite people in the world (Gameosaurus Rex and Gamegnathus) still have high-end PCs and continue to partake in great PC gaming experiences.
Once upon a time, I had a machine that was on par with the consumer high-end. It was from 1994 to 1997. Ever since then, I've been below the curve and have generally put consoles and handhelds in higher esteem than my rotting PC(s).
But during those glory days, I played some fantastic games. And I'd like to use this opportunity to tell you about five in particular that, as far as I can tell, fall into the category of "abandonware," where the copyrights have either been voluntarily revoked or else have become so vague that it's safe to freely download them without any pain of conscience.
MENZOBERRANZAN
Released: 1994
Developer: DreamForge Intertainment
Publisher: SSI
link to download (google)
In an early episode of Jurassic Radio, I'm sure I brought up what I see as the holy trinity of old D&D RPGs. There were dozens of them, and they definitely varied in quality. But the three from DreamForge really left a huge impression on me. There were two titles in the Ravenloft universe: RAVENLOFT: STRAHD'S POSSESSION and RAVENLOFT: STONE PROPHET. Sandwiched between these two releases was a Forgotten Realms title: MENZOBERRANZAN.
All three games operate as a first-person real-time Action RPG, where you have a party and you click on the appropriate enemy in range over and over to have your party members (up to 4) attack. In Menzoberranzan, your direction of travel is quite different from the two Ravenloft games. You see, in Menzoberranzan, you see an opening cut scene fighting a dragon on a snow-covered mountain, and then the game starts at a small town on the surface. Your party (starting at just two people) is chased underground. Along the way you meet the ever-popular Drizzt Do'Urden and other characters who will join the party. And you travel down, down, down, (occassionally up), and finally to the Menzoberranzan, the "City of Spiders," a home of the Drow people (including Drizzt).
I think new players to this game would be surprised to see just how colorful the depths of the earth can be. I have fond memories of this game's graphics, primitive as they are.
Menzoberranzan offers multiple endings, all depending on your choices in the final hour(s) of the game in the underground city for which the game is titled. As you travel through the layers of the earth, you'll encounter many puzzles, difficult passages to navigate, and some very interesting characters. Like many PC games of this era, it can be buggy, and as far as I know it's never been patched (even by fans). The rule is to save often and always create new saves (a crash during a save overwrite leaves you with nothing).
Also, check out YouTube user Elanarae for some Let's Play videos of this game!
SHIVERS
Released: 1995
Developer/Publisher: Sierra
link to download (google)
I know we have at least one frequent reader who remembers this game as fondly as I do. Taking cues from games like MYST and THE 7TH GUEST, SHIVERS is a puzzle-solving point-and-click adventure. The setting is an abandoned museum where the museum's curator and two teens mysteriously vanished over a decade ago. You play the role of a curious teen who, alongside your friends, decide to break in to the old museum to see if you can solve the mystery. You get separated from your friends, and for the entirety of the game, you'll be unraveling the mystery and capturing evil spirits.
Yeah, that's right. You're not alone in this museum. Though most of this crazy museum is portrayed in-game as still images (which, I would argue, are still beautiful in their own right), there are about a dozen spirits from some ancient civilization that can be found in a few set locations throughout the museum, and they appear as these colorful, cartoony-animated 2D blobs (often with eyes and mouth). If you have your sound on, you can usually hear some strange noise associated with them. And that's important, because the true goal of the game is to find two pieces (top and bottom) to each sacred jar that used to hold these spirits. Once a jar is completed, holding it out and making contact with the corresponding spirit will seal the spirit. If you don't have the right jar out and you are approached by one of these spirits, you can actually lose health. Lose enough health and you die. Health bars aren't very common in P&Cs, which is part of this game's charm. The challenging puzzles, many of which are single-screen "game puzzle" affairs (anyone who remembers that accursed pinball machine knows what I'm talking about), is also a big attractor.
The final part of the game's charm is its powerful mix of factual cultural history, "conspiracy theory" history (example: aliens helped build ancient structures around the world including Egyptian pyramid and Stonehenge), and fiction written particularly for the game. There's plenty of audio and video interlaced into the game, but even just reading the text on the display panels next to a museum exhibit is quite interesting. The player will run into some crazy, creepy, and even downright terrifying areas of the museum (the "Man's Inhumanity To Man" exhibit always scared me).
I should also note that the soundtrack, by Guy Whitmore, was awesome. This game had great music.
HERETIC
Released: 1994
Developer: Raven Software
Publisher: id Software
link to download (google)
Though many gamers are quick to remember the sprawling levels and "hub zones" of HEXEN, many forget the original game from Raven Software that would lead to the creation of Hexen. That game was HERETIC. Based on the DOOM engine, Heretic took place in a dark medieval fantasy world. Its weapons were pretty much carbon copies of the Doom weaponry (in terms of effect) though they had a medieval style to them. An inventory system was added, the ability to look up and down was added (remember when you couldn't do that in Doom and would get angry?), and they even added the ability to fly.
Most FPS games are set in a time frame that is modern or futuristic, hence fitting the "shooter" in the genre name. But medieval/magic-based shooters are a horse of a different color, and to me, Heretic was the one that paved the way. The environments were awesome, the levels were scaled larger than those in Doom, and the boss fights were straight up crazy.
Both Heretic and Hexen would go on to have their own sequels, but the original Heretic has long been my favorite to return to. I know there's a huge community of fan-based levels for Doom (series) and Quake (series), but not so much for the Raven Software games (Heretic/Hexen). To me, that's fine. the original level design is enough to keep challenging me to this day.
THE ELDER SCROLLS: ARENA
Released: 1994
Developer/Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
link to download (Elder Scrolls official site)
I think during the early days of the Jurassic Radio podcast I talked about this game so much that it got "pantheon'd" for our top five / top three segments. And that was entirely my fault. To this day I can't stop talking about the game.
Why? I have no idea. The game was buggy as all get-out at the time of its release, and it remains buggy to this day (even with some patches applied). Bethesda made THE ELDER SCROLLS: ARENA (the first game in the long-running series which currently runs up to THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION) a free-to-download title from their own website in 2004. But it comes with a word of caution: paraphrased, they say the game is rudimentary and is also likely to crash on you.
Yet, I've gone back to this game once every 2 or 3 years, even though I'm not a huge Morrowind or Oblivion fan. Arena calls to me despite its super-ugly graphics and cheesy MIDI music, despite the stupid riddles and the frequent freezing/crashing. I guess I like the game because it was the first game of its time to be so thoroughly open, and as a result, so thoroughly exploitable.
The first time I learned I could create my own spells, some of which with dungeon-altering capabilities (remove walls, create stairwells, etc), my mind was blown. When a friend showed me how to cheat the spell system by designing an insanely powerful AoE spell that cost almost no mp, I was hooked. There would be no stopping my battle mage.
Robbing houses and palaces was also plenty of fun.
If you're willing to take a risk on a glitch-filled adventure with DOSbox and/or you want to see the foundation for what has become a defining experience in computer RPGs, get this game.
STONEKEEP
Released: 1995
Developer/Publisher: Interplay
link to purchase (good old games)
Well, I *thought* this game would have been abandoned, considering Interplay died ages ago. But it looks like the copyright holders actually got STONEKEEP listed on GOG. In digging up info, I also learned that Black Isle had been working on a sequel to this game until 2001 and then canceled the project, and that Alpine Studios intends to release a sequel for WiiWare later this year. I guess I didn't realize how well-loved and well-remembered this game was by the industry.
Anyway, this is another first-person real-time Action RPG. You control the disembodied soul of the protagonist, Drake, but instead of having free-roaming motion (like in the DreamForge games), all movement is tile-based. You walk square to square, defeating enemies, pressing buttons and pulling switches, and collecting loot. Your path takes you through a descent into deeper and deeper underground realms (I guess I have "a type" when it comes to these kinds of games; this is sounding strikingly similar to Menzoberranzan). Along the way, you must collect orbs representing the planets of our solar system, some of which have special magical effects that can help Drake.
(It's worth noting that two of the planets can be easily missed by skipping the Faerie Realm, a place whose entrance is part of a cryptic puzzle that also inconveniently contains a glitch. Patches and save states were released in the '90s for gamers, myself included, to gain access to the realm. If you move on without doing the Faerie Realm quests, you will reach a "point of no return" where you're at the last boss without all the planets and cannot win.)
The game had tons of voice acting (for its time), lots of fun and interesting characters, some cool FMV sequences, and it sticks out in my mind as one of the hardest PC RPGs I ever beat. I'm certainly interested in the WiiWare sequel.
The Newest Oldies Round-Up: February '10
(This time with no images, because I think my clever writing trumps screen shots.)
February had one classic-ish game on XBLA, three good ones on VC, and a ridiculous load of PSOne Classics (only one of which is worth talking about).
Starting with the XBLA release, DARWINIA+ (released Feb. 11) is a repackaging of two games: DARWINIA and MULTIWINIA. We mentioned it on a recent episode of Jurassic Radio. The original Darwinia was released in 2005, so this really is a newer "oldie." But it's worth mentioning, if only because developer Introversion Software deserves the love for making such a strange hybrid of RTS and Tactical goodness. Darwinia+ was released a few months ago for PC on Steam, but now Xbox 360 owners can pick it up for 1200 MS points (that's $15).
Among the PSOne Classics, the one that's really gettin' me feeling nostalgic is GRANDIA. This classic RPG from Game Arts (the developers who also created the LUNAR franchise) deserves attention and accolade. Again, this was mentioned on a recent episode of Jurassic Radio. Even though the protagonist is an annoying kid, and the voice acting is all-around awful, the battle system, art, music, and sense of grandeur from the game's world all make it a worthwhile RPG. For $10? Yeah, it's a worthy download, right up there with FFVII and VIII. And it just came out a little over a week ago (Feb. 25). Go get!
The Newest Oldies Round-Up: January '10
This monthly article used to be the "Virtual Console Round-Up." But you and I both know that old games are being directly ported to all kinds of current-gen platforms. The Wii doesn't exclusively hold all the good stuff. PSN, XBL, even iPhone / iPod touch has "new" releases of old stuff, including HD remakes of classic games. The point of this whole monthly article was to help you, dear reader, re-live some excellent oldschool gaming experiences. That, or, discover something excellent for the first time.
So that's what we're doing from now on. In the immortal words of Five Iron Frenzy, we hope you hate it.
30-Second Review: Half-Minute Hero
HALF-MINUTE HERO is a PSP game from Marvelous Entertainment that boils jRPG tropes down into easily digestible chunks. Looting and level grinding are still here, they just take seconds instead of hours. It's based on the freeware game 30 Second Hero, and playing that gives you a good idea of what to expect from the game's title mode. When it sticks to the formula of short, self-contained RPGs, it works beautifully.
Unfortunately, the game deviates often, breaking up play into four separate modes. It tries to simplify the RTS, shoot-'em-up and escort styles the same way it does with the RPG, but with varying degrees of success.
Hero finishes off a dark lord.
Each mode has a goal that must be completed in 30 seconds. The hero has to defeat a dark lord. The knight has to make sure nothing distracts the sage while he casts a spell. The evil lord and the princess both have curfews for some silly reason. Each mode ranks you by how fast you're able to complete the level. If your overall rank is high enough for the mode, you unlock a harder enemy in a later mode, sort of like the Weapons in the Final Fantasy series.
Jumpman Review: "New Super Mario Bros. Wii"
I missed Mario. Sure, there's been a great Mario game on each of Nintendo's last three consoles, but it's just not the same when he's in three dimensions. Mario is the one character that I don't want to see punching bad guys in the face. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII gives me the chance to stomp on goombas again.
Not much has changed. Bowser has stolen Princess Peach, again, and Mario will stomp on any residents of the Mushroom Kingdom who get in the way. And if you haven't played a Mario game since SUPER MARIO WORLD was released nearly 20 years ago, don't worry.The title character has a few new costumes, and he's learned how to jump off of walls, but he's still Jumpman at heart.
In addition to the fire flower and super mushroom common to all Super Mario games and the tiny mushroom that showed up in the Mario for Nintendo DS, New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduces an ice flower, a propeller suit and a penguin suit. The ice flower lets Mario freeze most bad guys into blocks of ice. When in the penguin suit, he shoots ice, swims quickly and can slide on his stomach. In the propeller suit, Mario can shoot straight up in the air and float down. Unfortunately, to get Mario to spin, you have to shake the Wii remote up and down, which isn't precise or very natural. It's not going to kill you often, but it is going to happen once or twice.
The propeller suit is handy, but handles poorly.
But aside from that one irksome control scheme, New Super Mario Bros. Wii oozes polish. Most levels are short, tightly designed obstacle courses that can be dashed through at full speed if you have the skill, and confidence, to jump at each right moment.
Three big coins are hidden in each level, and the coins can be traded for movies in Princess Peach's castle in the first kingdom. These movies are worth unlocking. Some of them reveal the big coins you haven't found yet, some of them reveal secret level exits, but the most interesting ones are the super skill videos that show off amazing precision work by people playing the game. The skill videos are fun to watch and give you ideas for how to up your game, which is important for the multiplayer portion of the game.
Players can work together to play through the game in coop mode, they can compete for scores, kills and coins in free for all, or they can compete for coins in coin battle
Luigi controls the lights while everyone else plays the level.
No mode works well well with two players. My roommate and I did little more than send each other to our deaths when we tried to help each other in coop mode. And if one player has more experience with the game, coin battles and free for all are lopsided and frustrating for the other player. A third or fourth player makes each mode more chaotic. That detracts from coop, but evens the playing field during coin battles and free for all because weaker players can conspire to doom the better players (like Luigi, the jerk).
It's a testament to Nintendo's polish that neither single nor multiplayer mode feels tacked on, and it's hard to say which style of play is more enjoyable. Among the multiplayer options, coin battle is the clear winner for me, but my solo playthrough was only broken by sleep and work. If you have access to three friends who want to play the game, use them, but it's not a big deal if you don't. Either way, "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" is an ode to the two-dimensional side-scrolling plumber platformers of the 8- and 16-bit consoles, and I couldn't be happier.
It feels like 1996 again
This week felt a lot like 1996. There's been lots of colored loot, lots of mouse clicking and lots of time spent pouring over skill trees.
BORDERLANDS
My mild fury at having to wait a week for a copy of Borderlands where you can actually aim was tempered a bit by knowing that everybody toiling on the console versions got bug-ridden copies of the game. Sure, my game has crashed a few times, but I haven't lost any specialization points and my phase strike ability worked from the start (well, once I reached the right level).
This skag doesn't like fire very much.
I don't have much to add to what Benji said about the game. It's a sick FPS with simple, solid RPG elements. I play an "invisible ninja chick who wields a shotgun" and various machine guns, and I haven't had this much fun shooting people in the face since Half-Life 2. The randomness of the loot system is a bit annoying, and mediocre guns often have silly level requirements, but I'm willing to look past that.
My biggest problem is that I can't play as much as I'd like. Benji and I are playing together, and we have to stay the same level or the game gets unbalanced pretty quickly. We played for a while when I was only two levels behind him, and I couldn't damage the bandits the game threw at us.
But Borderlands has made me happy, both when I'm alone and when someone's got my back. It's exactly what I expected, and it is good.
TORCHLIGHT
If, while playing Torchlight, you get a sense that you've delved deep underground in search of sweet loot before, don't be alarmed. A small developer called Blizzard made a very similar game in the 90s called Diablo. In fact, some of the people who worked on that worked on Torchlight, which might explain why it's so much fun.
Hanging out with my imp, puppy and golem.
Torchlight plays like Diablo, only with better graphics. Not much else has changed. Scrolls still reveal the identity of mystery drops and take you back to town, minibosses still surround themselves with weaker versions of themselves, and there are plenty of gems to fit onto your stuff. The only additions that are new to me are a pet that holds your stuff and basic spells that every character class can use, including your pet.
There are three character classes available. The destroyer hits things, the vanquisher hits things with arrows, and the alchemist has a marketable profession to fall back on if this dungeon crawling gig doesn't work out. I picked the alchemist because they're basically a cross between a mage and a summoner, and I like to sit back and cast ember lance while while my imps, wolf and golem engage the dungeon denizens. It's been a lot of fun, but it's also been really easy on normal, so I'll probably start over on hard. I'm not sure if I'll pick a new class. I like having minions do a large portion of my work, but the other classes have some pretty cool skills.
There's virtually no story and little quest variety, but if you're playing this kind of game for that, you're doing it wrong. This game begs to be played with the TV on.
WIDGET TD
Take control of towers in WidgetTD.
I also played the demo for a pretty simple tower defense game from Graybox Games called WidgetTD. Like any other tower defense game you build and upgrade defensive structures and hope they're enough to keep wave after wave of attackers under control.
The only mechanic WidgetTD adds to the mix is the ability to take control of any one tower. This brings up a first person cockpit view, and you can aim for the enemies you want. For some towers, this isn't much use, but from the cockpit, your basic gun tower can hit anything on the map. The difficulty seems a bit out of whack though; creeps' hit points ramp up far faster than you can upgrade your towers. Otherwise it's a strong entry for the genre.
NEWS
Here are some of the things we'll be talking about in this week's podcast.
Leigh Alexander talks about Demon's Souls in a Kotaku feature defending hard games. She says hard games aren't necessarily frustrating, and that a good hard game will explain why you fail and offer a road to mastery. But really, I just want to hear more from Rex about Demon's Souls, because everything I've read and heard about the game makes it very hard to not buy a ps3 right now.
David Carlton at malvasia bianca asks why we divide games into genre by their point of view, and not their content, and suggests we define Beatles Rock Band as a non-fiction game, not a rhythm game.
And finally, I feel bad for gamers who paid real money for legitimate copies of Borderlands before the street date, but couldn't play until the online verification servers came online Monday. Someday those servers are going to shut down and the only way to play the game will be with a crack. That's the real problem with licenses.
If you've got something else you want us to talk about, comment here or send me a message @gamegnathus
Playing Friday: Dhampirs, Heroes, Blobs and Metal
I picked up a used PSP this week, so I spent a good portion of the past seven days experimenting with the system. Word of warning: Don't buy a game on the account of the guy who owned it before you and then reset the settings so you can set up your own account.
The first thing I did was download Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from the PSN store. I had been playing through Dawn of Sorrow on my DS, but the PlayStation classic takes precedence over any of its spiritual sequels. It is just as awesome on a tiny screen as it was on the television in my brother's room in high school. Or Benji's room at college. Or in the other four or five places I've played through it.
Then Brutal Legend, A Boy and His Blob and Half-Minute Hero came out on Tuesday and halted my Castlevania retrospective. The only one of them I can recommend without reservation is Half-Minute hero.
HALF-MINUTE HERO is an absolute joy to play. It's divided into various games that breed traditional RPGs, shooters and RTSs with WarioWare titles. It all started with a flash game called 30 Second Hero, where you have to discover your purpose, level up, buy weapons and save the kingdom from an evil lord in less than 30 seconds. And that's basically what you do in the Hero 30 mode.
In Princess 30 mode, you fetch items for your sick father and shoot bad guys with a crossbow. In Evil Lord 30, you summon monsters and throw them at bad guys. Hero 30 is the most fun, probably because that's the concept that launched the game, and the other modes are afterthoughts. The Evil Lord 30 mode is cool, but it's very hard to tell what's going on, and Princess 30 suffers from a lot of repetition, but they're both still quite a bit of fun.
There are three other modes I have yet to unlock. If the rest of the games on the PSP are this good, I'll shoot myself for putting off the purchase for so long.
A BOY AND HIS BLOB is adorable, but it's also surprisingly thin. I played the original way back when, and it was inscrutable and frustrating and virtually impossible for a small child of my age to play. The remake is a game only a child could play. The game holds your hand through all of the first world's 2D platforming stages, telling you what jellybeans to feed your blob and where to do it. Hopefully things will change after the first world, and the platforming and puzzles will become more interesting.
I would never have thought to use the parachute to fall down that cliff safely without that sign.
And finally, BRUTAL LEGEND is a joy to watch someone else play. It has a great story, mediocre controls and an RTS component where you play as a general on the ground. I think that mode has a lot of potential, but I handed off the controller to my roommate right before the first of those missions. So I need more time Brutal Legend's to determine for myself if that works.
Eddie Riggs prefers not to suffer the heretical practitioners of hair metal.
Some of the news we'll be talking about this week:
A gamer's wife describes the benefits of being married to a console slave and living in an entertainment hub.
Mario is dead.
Gamefly has been having some trouble with the USPS lately. And a lot of trouble with the USPS lately.
Virtual Console Round-Up: June and July '09 (and some angry commentary)
The releases on Wii Virtual Console have continued to dwindle. June was so depressing that we didn't even report on it at the time. And July...well, let's just say they didn't release anything for the last two weeks. As to why that is, there's a questionable email from an unnamed Nintendo of America representative, and we'll get to that later. But first, the (overpriced) VC titles. This is going to be a lengthy post, so please hit that lovely "more" button to check out the full article.
Virtual Console Round-Up: May '09
It was slim pickin's this month for those of us who like to spend lots of money downloading old games. Wii's Virtual Console service offered one measly release per week. And, of course, only one of them stood out from the crowd.
That one was THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: MAJORA'S MASK. This "classic" N64 title is now seeing its third outing, as it was also packed with a "Collector's Edition" bundle on the GameCube. However, initial reports confirm that this is probably the best of the three versions. The GameCube version was known to be glitchy, and this Virtual Console port runs slightly more smoothly than the original N64 version, due to the beastly hardware that is the Wii (note the sarcasm, but also note that the Wii is still far more powerful than the N64).
Goron-Link will pwn j00.
If you're not familiar with Majora's Mask (from under which rock did you just crawl out?), it's a standalone adventure incorporating the same 3-D graphics as THE OCARINA OF TIME, wherein Link is forced to wear different masks to complete his quests. Putting on a mask transforms him into an entirely new creature, be it a Goron, a Zora, or something far more monstrous and intimidating. After putting on a mask, Link has a time limit (approximately one hour IRL, which is 72 hours in-game) to complete whatever needed to be completed using said mask. This shape-shifting phenomenon was (and still remains) new to the Zelda series, and word on the street is that the dungeons and puzzles in this game are top notch.
Also worth noting is that Majora's Mask marked North America's 300th Virtual Console release. Only 300? Come on, Nintendo (and all third parties)! Get your act together!
The other releases for the month were TOWER TOPPLER (C64), GALAXY FORCE II (Genesis), and CLAYFIGHTER (Genesis). Let's take a quick peek at each.
Tower Toppler, also known as "Nebulus" and a pile of other names (depending on region and console), is a game that had one great concept going for it. You control a cute little ball of fluff with legs named "Pogo," and your objective is to get to the top of eight towers and bring them down. When climbing the tower, holding left and right sends you around the perimeter of the cylindrical tower. However, the camera stays fixed on your character, and all movement is done by sending 2D, pixelated objects around the front and back of the tower. Great concept, to be sure, but worth 500 points? The game deserves credit for inventing the concept, but it was executed better in games such as BATTLETOADS (see level 12: The Revolution). Of course, you have to be good enough at Battletoads to reach the last level to enjoy it. So, maybe it is worth the download after all. Still, 5 dollars? For a Commodore game? Yuck.
Evil clay snowmen? It seemed like a good idea at the time.
ClayFighter was a cute novelty for its time. All these made up claymation characters, almost all of them a spoof of some pop culture icon, would battle it out Street Fighter style. The original game was released for SNES and Genesis. There were two sequels, neither of which (in this Gameosaur's opinion) are as cool as the original, despite the enhanced graphics with each subsequent game. My beef with this release is that the SNES version definitely had the superior graphics (though I suppose that may be trivial to some people at this point: the game looks downright gross by today's standards). But, regardless of version, the actual gameplay here wasn't all that great. If you're a fan of fighting games because you actually want a balanced match, look elsewhere. There are fairly big differences between each character, so there is some "cheapness" to go around. And, IIRC, the last boss was a big jerk (he was also a giant pearl necklace).
Finally, a rail shooter hit the VC this month. Galaxy Force II has a tiny following across teh internetz to this day. But compared to great shooters like GRADIUS and the infamous TOUHOU franchise, I don't much see the point of buying this. Then again, I never played it as a kid, and nostalgia is a big selling point for the majority of VC titles.
If you're gonna blow some dough this month, I'd recommend picking up Majora's Mask and nothing else from the releases this month. At least we have some half-decent WiiWare to look forward to in the near future (hi2u FFIV THE AFTER YEARS and VANDAL HEARTS).