VGFacts

Shenmue

As a person who owned a Dreamcast back in the day, I never really picked up Shenmue. I never knew about it until my brother came home with Shenmue 2 for the Xbox in 2004 or so. I never played that either.

I knew what it was though, and I watched videos, comics and more, and I really loved the game, even though I never played it, I eventually got down to playing it via an emulator in December.

Playing the game in 1080p, Wide screen was incredible, and Shenmue itself, while the visuals have aged, I can still be impressed by the limitations at the time, and how well it looks. Ryo, looks very detailed, with his jacket being the only blurry thing on him, everything else looks pretty good. The NPC's aren't detailed, but I like their style, it's pretty interesting, trying for a realism look, but with a small bit of anime (as far as I can tell). The environments look incredible, and even though the game is about 90% billboards, it is still pretty impressive.

I'm currently on the second disc now, and recently found the Phoenix Mirror, and I have to it's a brilliant masterpiece, Yu Suzuki is incredible, the amount of things you can do, really define the genre "FREE".

The only problems I have with the game, are the controls. I don't know who thought that walking should be done with the D-Pad, and the lack of logic in some parts, such as only one person in the small town he is in has a phone book, and it was in a tobacco store.

Overall, a very good game, it may have aged a bit, but it's a timeless classic.

9/10

Yeah, Shenmue is a pretty good game. Anyway:

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale [PS3 version is reviewed]

The main reason why I bought it was another free Vita version game (along with Pinball Arcade, Retro City Rampage, Alien Breed and soon enough Sly Cooper 4) to play away from home but also a quicky game. Looking at the cover, you can see many of the characters of the game (some at the back) but sadly it does seem to be one of the better aspects of the game. As for the game itself, gameplay wise is actually pretty decent with responsive and easy to learn controls, no slowdown, the IPs were treated with some fair respect (like Heihachi being completely in Japanese or Sly Cooper having the binonicom while triggering the level 3 special) and the in game graphics felt okay in terms of backgrounds and the character models (however the new characters like Kat and Zeus have a slight different design making them stand out compared to the original). I knew the game from the beginning was going to be short since it was designed for multiplayer in mind but it isn't a bad thing when I can complete a character in arcade mode within 45 minutes so yeah it is a quick playing game but played overtime [anything more than 2 hours] and you will get fed up.

It's like most of the budget for the game went towards licensing the characters and some of the marketing and not so much in terms of the presentation. The menus are basic, the stories of the characters are still images even if they are quite good for some characters and the music is just there (the only recogniseable theme is the Uncharted theme). For something that is suppose to be a 1st party title, it has a low budget low rate developer feel to the game that is very noticable. Personally the game was made as a marketing advert for DMC: Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Rising: Revengance, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Bioshock Infinite, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force (both games have a free Vita version, well the latter doesn't seem to be out) and God of War: Ascention even if many of them weren't out until recently. Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed was also similar in terms of marketing focused gameplay but at least most of the characters fitted except for Danica Patrick and maybe Wreck-it-Ralph [not as much though].

Since this game gets compared to Smash Bros. all the time even though both games are inspired by The Outfoxies, well it doesn't have the charm of the series even if they are pretty similar (4 player multiplayer arena action, end of boss in the arcade mode [SSB - Master Hand, PSASBR - Polygon Man], characters being from the system [SSB - Nintendo franchises with Snake and Sonic in Brawl, PSASBR - Sony franchises with some 3rd party characters], simple controls).

The problem with PSASBR is that the characters aren't as memorable when compared to Smash Bros. With Smash Bros people can relate to Mario, Luigi, Link, Samus, Fox, Donkey Kong, Kirby, whatever Pokemon is there but with PS All-Stars there's only a few. Kratos, Nathan Drake, Ratchet & Clank, Sackboy, maybe Jak & Daxter are really the only characters that people can related to since the game is rated PEGI 12 (ESRB T?) the younger players might not know who Kratos and possibly Nathan Drake are. Either the characters are more towards the B-side that are either not as well known but still liked (Sly Cooper, Parappa, Spike from Ape Escape even if his redesign is ugly and has a different voice actor, Dan from MediEvil, Kat if you have the DLC), a 3rd party character that sort of fit in (Heihachi [even though some Tekken games were published by Sony], Raiden [most Metal Gear games are on Sony systems], Dante [his original design would have fitted in better but it is for marketing reasons]), unappealing like Radec, don't fit in like Big Daddy or you really have to be a diehard Sony fan to know (Sweet Tooth [Twisted Metal that only Americans seem to remember], Fat Princess, Toro [JP only], Nariko from Heavenly Sword). Don't forget Cole as well taking up two character places (to be fair though, Smash Bros did the same to Mario [Dr. Mario] and Link [Toon Link]).

In my point of view, the characters that I liked the most in the game in terms of both character design and gameplay are Kratos, Sly Cooper, Nathan Drake, Heihachi, Parappa, Ratchet and Raiden isn't too bad but people have different tastes.

The characters that people associate with the PlayStation aren't there so no Lara Croft, no Crash and no Spyro [probably too expensive from Square-Enix and Activision to license] so it is a chance of a game that has promise but does not fully meet the expectations of people. It's a decent game but not one that people will be talking about in 10 years time (by then the online servers would have switched off and probably only a few would be playing it).

I can't give a score but only really get it if you are either a diehard Sony fan, want a quick multiplayer game, want a good Vita game (there's no difference between the PS3 and the Vita versions except the resolution and change of controls) or if you want to play a game similar to Smash Bros./The Outfoxies and have some spare cash.

Minecraft, it's like Skyrim with blocks.

Personally, Minecraft can be one of the best, and worst games ever. While yes, you can do whatever you want in it, it becomes limited by your creativity. Those who don't do too well with making extravagant creations get bored easily, and sometimes depressed when looking at others work online, however if you are creative and try to create, lets say a coliseum, you end up spending too much time on it, and the reward is too little for your effort.

With the addition of mods, the game can become a lot more fun, however installing these mods can become a problem. It isn't uncommon hearing stories on how someones game stopped working, or wont load up anymore because of either a faulty file, or a faulty tutorial. Fans who can easily mod the games, however, tend to stick to playing with the mods they got, usually being ones that allow you to have god-like abilities, and eventually lose focus on what the games about.

Playing on a server increases the fun, however, as a single player can now either work together with other players, or have them as rivals on building bigger houses, and getting more items. More often than none though, people tend to get that one person who likes to blow up everything in sight. No, not the creepers, but griefers, the people who blow things up just for the sake of destruction. Although this can cause a problem, it usually brings a new game to players as they can start again, however a fun way to restart is usually cheating for tnt, blowing everything up, and using the newly ravaged land as your new home.

As I said before, this game can be the best, and worst game depending on how the player would like to enjoy their time on it. I would still recommend this game to everyone I know though, and shall give it 7.5 out of 10 stars.

Pokemon Conquest

A game of redundancy and identity crisis lays before you. This game is stuck between a Japanese strategy game and a Jrpg designed to be accessible to children. This inherently is where the problem lies. The pokemon defy Nobunaga's Ambition, the game Conquest is based on, while breaking consistency in strength and defeating the purpose of striving for excellence. If I dare so explain,

Pokemon Conquest is a turn based strategy game centered around "the hero of Ransei", the player, and their attempts to unite all of "Ransei", or copy paste Japan shaped like THE POKEMON GOD, in an open world turn based top view battlefield. Gameplay is reminiscent of other tactics games, Final Fantasy tactics coming to mind, but it lacks the variety in character that you get from tactics. I don't mean character depth, though there isn't a two dimensional character in the game, I mean actual play-wise abilities. Each Pokemon get ONE move. ONE move, is all you get and it is solely dependent on the Pokemon, so your Shinx starts out as a melee character and ends being a Luxray lightning artillery unit, so if you want a CQC strategy, you're done it there. This game does represent Pokemon rather well however in its unfortunate aspects, grinding. The initial mission of uniting Pokepan are sectioned off in the same mission by different areas of the continent. The game will not let you progress within it until you've killed everybody. Then, you will encounter stronger kingdoms and wait a few in-game months while your eevee bulks up.
You don't have this problem when you actually get to select your own mission AFTER BEATING THE GAME, so you eventually do get to employ more land grabbing tactics than scorched earth policies, but that is a long way ahead. What is interesting about post-story Ransei is that not much of it makes sense. For a string of missions, you play as the different female leaders of Ransei, and a girly man, taking over each other's kingdoms in a land grab Mrs. Universe style apparently. Of course, now you get to enjoy the basic strategy that comes with games in this territory, mining and throwing money at the park to make it grow. No, I am not kidding. You unlock banks post-game. Now you're waiting turns so that you can give the kid's a swingset so Tyranitar infect the playground. Sure, you get stronger pokemon quickly, but all the Pokemon you get carry over anyway, and that leads to the main problem with Pokemon Conquest. Your Garchomp ain't got a stick to wave at that piplup! Everything is reset, all work lost, whenever you complete a conquest, and remeasured to the next one you select. The game doesn't level with you, you devolve with it. Those difficult conditions you were fulfilling to get Mewtwo are now meaningless because you did well, and won, not that it matters as the game's multiplayer is local download play anyway.

Though, I have to give the game some credit.

As frustrating as it is, I do enjoy it. I like the game, maybe not as much as Ogre, or Final Fantasy Tactics, but it has its charm when you recruit someone you had before and can push, and I cannot deny that it is simple enough that the game will work as a good introductory series to tactics and strategy games. It is relatively small though manages to stretch itself out for a while, mostly from grinding, and if you're like me, you'll enjoy a scenario or six. It just gets old quickly because the only major changes between scenarios are basic objectives and characters. You always see the same venues, always attack the same kingdoms, always fight on the same arenas. It just gets, well... dry. As much as I have railed against this game, it is good, not as good as other tactics games out there, but if you want to try out a tactics game and don't mind a slower pace learning environment, this is an excellent game for you. Though if you get it, make sure a good friend of yours does as well, or you'll be bored blind before you can say "I'll remember your face" (a really creepy thing generic soldiers say if you don't recruit them)

Even though I started a Mass Effect 1 playthrough the other day, I'm going to review Metal Gear Rising: Reveangance.

I'm going to talk about the negatives first. First off, I was really disappointed with the weapon selection. Playing through the main game you get two main weapons and three sub weapons. Both of the main weapons are katanas that play exactly the same, and you don't get the second one until literally the last ten minutes. The sub weapons you get are all pretty bad. The bo staff type thing is the better of the three, but there is really no point in using it at all. The sai you get from the boss Typhoon doesn't even work like a sai, but more of a grappling hook that pulls enemies towards you. It might do more, but I didn't even bother checking the upgrades. The third is actually an awesome weapon, but it's so goddamn slow that it's not practical at all. There are some other swords you can unlock by grabbing collectibles. I haven't unlocked any of them, but I'm pretty sure that they play exactly like the default katana

Secondly, I was really bummed about the lack of customization options. There were a few teaser trailers that well...teased it and sort of implied you'd have a lot of options. But you don't. If you didn't get any of the pre-order skins you get five pre-designed suits, three of which give Raiden stat boosts, one of them is the default suit, and the last one is a mariachi suit he wears during one mission. I really wish there were more unlockable skins, hats, torsos, etc. It really bugs me when developers skimp on character customization.

Now for the good stuff. WHICH IS EVERYTHING. This game is balls to the wall, nonstop action. MGR has some of the most fluid combat I've ever played, and it's really the only game I've ever played where I've felt like an actual badass ninja. Sure, the Ninja Gaiden games are good, but the difficulty is crazy hard and I never feel like I'm this super awesome badass ninja because SO IS EVERYTHING ELSE AND THEY'RE BETTER AT IT THAN YOU. Raiden is a total motherfucker, and it shows. That doesn't mean this game is easy though. I played through the normal difficulty and there were some challenging parts, but nothing soul crushingly difficult. You can upgrade all of your swords and gear, increasing stats and unlocking new moves. It's all good here.

Despite the fact that Rising isn't a stealth game, it is still very much a Metal Gear game. If you enjoy how bat shit insane most of the Metal Gear stories are, then you'll fit right at home with Reveangance. Everything about this game screams Metal Gear; from the weird characters to the even weirder plot twists, and even the classic, cheesey "so bad it's good" dialog. There are cardboard boxes to hide in and lengthy CODEC conversations to be had. The game is really short, like 4-5 hours short, but it's meant to be played through multiple times, as some things can only be found/unlocked by playing higher difficulties such as wigs that give you unlimited "Jack the Ripper" mode which is makes Raiden much stronger and faster.

All in all, I really enjoyed this game and I highly recommend it to any fan of the genre.

Miasmato

Okay to anyone who WATCHED the stream, we all saw that it was not exactly a AAA title WHICH IS FINE.

Story
As you start a new game you are introduced to the main character who is shipwrecked on an island with a deadly disease that will kill you, so naturally that means you must find a way to cure yourself. Sadly that is all you are given and then are thrown into the island. Throughout the game you will come across shacks/huts/yurts that may or may not have left over notes or newspaper articles that, to me, did not seem to play a whole lot into either the lore or help explain why you are there.

Controls
They are typical PC first person game controls; you have WASD to navigate, shift to run for short distances, and left ctr to crouch, use the tab key to pull out your journal (will explain soon) use the mouse to move the characters head around, use the left mouse button to interact with certain objects and the right mouse button to use your compass and what not.

Journal
So this character is dumped on an island with no items and you WILL eventually come across plants and fungus that you can pick up and if this is your first time interacting with the plant/fungus then you will write down basic information about what it looks like and what not, you will also need to go to your laboratory (will talk about that soon) to finish your journal entries. The journal also holds all notes/articles you find along with your map (will talk about that soon). Last, your journal will hold any medicine you acquire (will talk about soon); but your journal will only hold ONE of each kind of medicine and/or tonic so you can't stack your basic medicine or well you CAN but the second basic medicine will overwrite the previous object in that slot in the journal.

Laboratory
Eventually you will no be able to hold any more fungi or plants so you will need to find a place to research each item and the laboratory will be where you want to go. Please not, there are small camps that allow you to store a set amount of plants/fungi but you WILL need to go to a nearby laboratory to research these specimens to make medicine and/or elixers. Laboratories will also be where you will finish your journal entries for each plant/fungi.

Map
*scoff* If you WANT to call it a map then you can but that is all it is, a generic map with SOME drawings of huts to indicate SOME camps, probably the more major camps that have laboratories. Other then that, that is it. The map will not track where you are or where you were because you will find pieces of each section of the island as you explore.

Medicine
So as I mentioned, your character is sick with a deadly disease so you have to help cure him. As you progress through the game you will learn that your character is very prone to drowning in shallow water which will result in him getting a fever which WILL lead to death unless you find medicine to combat the fever. There are also other ways to get hurt like tumbling down small slope or getting mauled by a monster (will talk about soon) so having medicine helps you, not only to keep you from dying, but will also regain your stamina.

Monster
Because there is only one monster and he is an ass. The first time you encounter the monster you will hear a heart beat and that means the monster is near by. There is nothing else to it, there is a monster who hates you, or maybe just hates you picking up plants/fungi, and will start to chase you.

Combat
Yeah...That's pretty much does not exist in Miasmata. You can swing stuff and throw stuff but they really do nothing because the main character seems to have trouble following where you aimed at. So avoid combat if possible because you are only wasting valuable time to run away.

The Main Character
He is a peach, let me tell you what. He can't swim more then 5 seconds before he starts to drown. He can't climb hills very well without tumbling down and getting hurt. He can't go down hills or small slopes without tumbling and getting hurt. He is a short person because the boat you crashed on is taller, or almost as tall, then you are. He has no stomach in which to eat (A theory I have that will be explained at the end) and likes to drink chunky water.

Theories
I have a few theories about our hero and also a theory about the island.

1) The main character is nothing more then eye balls and two arms and hands because that is all you see of him therefore whose to say there are other limbs on him?

2) This is a theory I mentioned a few times during my stream, mainly near the end, that the island is against you. Whenever I encountered the monster, I was holding plants/fungi. I never encountered the monster empty handed, at least I do not recall that, so my theory is that the monster attacks ONLY if you are working on finding a cure but will leave you alone if you are just minding your own business and letting the disease kill you.

Overall
For an indie game, it is not THAT bad. There are some nice survival horror aspects that really did get me excited like first meeting the monster or researching plants/fungi to find new cures or elixers. I had a hoot with certain parts of the game like lighting a candle with an apple or picking up a pan and replacing it with a hatchet and seeing the hatchet gets stuck in a pole.

The Bad
The map is useless and pointless to have. Half the time I looked at the map I was even more lost then I was BEFORE I pulled the map out. I sometimes had trouble seeing where I was going but that was probably just my own problem. The controls were so aggravating; I mentioned COUNTLESS times how my character's movements were so slippery that I kept comparing the main character as a block of cement sliding on ice. Swimming is pointless because he will start to drown after 5 seconds and he will also DROP any items he was holding. Our main character also can't walk down small slopes without taking a tumble which will hurt him. Duplicate items get overwritten whether being a second basic medicine being picked up or forgetting to pick up medicine that you JUST finished researching and you made something new and THAT overwrites what you PREVIOUSLY researched.

So all in all I give the game a 4/10
It tried it's best but in the end the game felt more like an unpolished demo then an actual game.

God of war ascension a lack luster entry that focused on wrong aspects 4/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr1P8dP105o

Dragon warrior 2 (i beat these games at roughly the same time)

I first played dragon warrior at a young age and didn't understand to well how the game worked. It was not until many years later that i decided to pick the series back up, though some would call them dated I like to think of them as the perfect example of less is more.

Gameplay
The gameplay is your prototypical JRPG run fight run fight run search get item fight get gold buy new item, simple time consuming and very fun there was times when i would play the game and just "grind" for hours at a time and forget that I needed to go rescue a princess or kill a dragon.
Gameplay is simple and addictive.

Story
You have to collect five artifacts to open a castle to kill a bad guy doesn't get more simple JRPG then that.

Characters
Don't expect to become attached it still was the NES age so character development in games was something you would only really find on the pc.

Sound
The music in town and world map is light hearted and great and the battle music and sound effects are spot on but if you plan on making it a long grind session i suggest queuing up that netflix on your laptop or pc if its near by and going on a movie or tv marathon because it gets stale after you hear the same loop for the sixty time.

Graphics
Bright and colorful excatly what you want on an nes but my favorite is that akira toriyama of dragonball and dragonball z fame did the charcter models so the animation is just awesome.

8/10

Sure its grind heavy and that might not appeal to some but that hard grind unforgiving gameplay is what sets it a part you feel accomplished when you actually beat the game.

Now i played mine for my NES but if you emulate then i suggest playing the remake on the SNES it never made it to America but there are english translastions its the same game just 16 bit-arrefic

Reviewing a game I haven't finished, this should be interesting, never reviewed a game I've not beat before, but here we go.

Jeanne D'Arc. A game developed by level 5.

Story:
Starting with the story, you are playing a French woman named Jeanne who's town was recently burned down in the 100 years war by the English. The reason, the English were looking for a powerful armlet, which Jeanne happened to get from a dying old man while heading to the nearby Church with a friend in search of another member of the town.

Without spoiling anything, the set up for this story is a bit typical, but I think it plays out well, or at least it has so far. I'm really quite enjoying it and I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is pretty much what you'd expect out of a tactical RPG not unlike Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem. However, having said that, there is something about this PSP game that I like better than both the aforementioned titles. the battles are fun, the transformations are not only fun and give you great attacks, but spells and weapon specific skills are also fun, and can be used against you as well as for you, making the battles rather difficult. I do think however that leveling up is a bit too easy and doesn't take enough EXP, but even that is leveled out somewhat by making foes give you less EXP each time you level up.

Music:
The music in the game thus far has been great, setting the moods for the areas you visit quite well and with a really cool victory music as well making you feel like you really earned that victory. I really can't go too far into detail about it because of a lack of time spent in game but from what I have heard, I really expect a good OST from this game overall and each new area is proving my hopes to be well founded.

Voice acting:
The voice acting in this game is actually fairly well done. The French accents aren't perfect for everyone but they are believable and likeable. What little I've heard of the English voice acting lacks the proper accent, but hey, it can't be perfect and it still isn't bad, it's just not accurate and considering this is a fantasy game, I can forgive it somewhat.

Graphics:
This isn't something I normally talk about with reviews, but I really do enjoy the graphics in this game. They areas are colorful and beautiful, the animations for attacks look very good and overall they really help layout the scene that the game is trying to create. I have to say though, that I think the character models should have been altered as they all look as though they are Chibi's. Short with large heads. I've gotten pretty used to the idea now but it is still kind of odd and worth noting. The animated sequences are very good though and really look like an anime, which I hope is what they were going for.

Rating:
My rating scale is out of 5 and I think so far I'm going to give Jeanne D'arc, I 4.5/5. While that is subject to change, I really enjoy what I've played so far and would recommend this game to anyone who likes tactical RPG's because this is quickly becoming my favorite.

I was going to review Sly Cooper 4 but instead decided to do Sonic 4 Episode 1 since it is still fresh in my mind.

Anyway Sonic 4 Episode 1 is a 2D platformer that to many is Sonic's strongest point so from what I heard from various people, it is a disappointing game but needed to try for myself to see whether it is bad or just the fans being extremists. It was on sale with its sequel so it didn't cost much to try it out. First things first, I had low expectations and noticed straight away the physics were a bit off but got used to them fairly quickly.

The graphics are pretty good and can't really seem any problem with them what so ever. Sonic is animated fairly well like if you look up, you can see his smiling expression and Robotnik well... Eggman getting angry when he loses. The sound a lot of people don't like at all but since I am tone deaf, have no problems with the music even if Splash Hill Act 1 sounds like a cheesy synthesizer. In fact Casino Street Act 3 reminds me of Spring Stadium from Sonic 3D. There is no story in this game and only Sonic is the playable character which is a good thing since it is more focused on the star of the game but some people may not like it if their prefer another character.

As for the gameplay, the best way of describing this game is Sonic 1 and 2 Revisited with a homing attack. The five stages are inspired by both games. Splash Hill (Green Hill [enemies, boss] mixed with Emerald Hill [the background, the corkscrews]), Casino Street (Casino Night), Lost Labyrinth (Labyrinth), Mad Gear (Metropolis) and the final stage (Death Egg mixed with a bit of Scrambled Egg from Sonic 2 Master System). Oh and the special stage is the Sonic 1 one. Since I love Sonic 1 and 2, this is like getting the best of these 2 games by condensed. Yes, I liked Metropolis Zone from Sonic 2. For the diehards, it does seem uninspired though.

The controls aren't bad apart from the dodgy physics but I am not one of the knowledgable fans to know whats wrong with them. The collision detection is also a bit off as well like for example in Casino Street, you can launch in flipper mode even if you are a touch outside the flipper and does affect the bosses a bit. To get into the special stage, the player shouldn't run too fast otherwise they miss the jump to the giant ring at the end. Too bad Sega didn't make a patch to fix the problems but the sequel did fix them though so at least they figured it out. As for the level design, most of it is actually decent but I did notice quite a bit of homing attack the bubble type of enemy from Sonic 3 (I forgotten the name of it...) to get to higher areas. For the diehard Sonic fan at a certain website, they mocked this game and made a hack called Sonic 2 Dimps Edition so if you ever played that, you would have a good idea what this game is about.

Usually I struggle badly at the 2D Sonic games with only getting as far as Labyrinth in Sonic 1, the final boss in Sonic 2, Marble Garden in Sonic 3 but have completed Sonic CD, beaten Sonic Triple Trouble and the Dimps 2D Sonic games but this game is an exception. I have beaten the game within 3 attempts with only 4 Chaos Emeralds left before truely completing the game. The first 2 stages were easy getting at least over 20 lives [there were a couple of problems regarding Casino Street Act 2 in terms of timing of the cards], the only stages I had problems were Lost Labyrinth Act 2 with the fire platform puzzle and the final boss in terms of timing. After all I am a rubbish player. So the experienced Sonic fan can complete this in their first try.

So yeah, this is a decent game. Not the best Sonic game but definitely not the worst. However it could have been worse. As some people may or may not know, the game got leaked before it was finished on the 360 and the Wii [the PS3 was also leaked but only a few played it] and had two different stages. Casino Street Act 2 and Lost Labyrinth Act 2. The former was a pinball challenge and the latter was a mine cart stage ala Donkey Kong Country. Due to the physic problems, they showed the games weaknesses even more. Apparently the mine cart stage uses tilting and it got stuck. Obviously they changed it for the better and they made the stages more Sonic like but if you have a mobile, the stages weren't changed so you get to play the original version of this game with the pinball challenge and the mine cart stage.

Unlike most Sonic fans, I actually feel sympathic towards the developers in this case. While people blame Dimps for this, I actually looked at the credits and two of the programmers aren't even from that company [one was Safari Games if I remember correctly]. It is probably the case of the game having a low budget, the staff don't have experience since some of the Dimps people were probably working on Sonic Colours DS at the time plus other games and whoever was were probably the younger members who might have not worked on a Sonic game before plus with the two outsourced developers. Yeah... They probably had a idea of what a Sonic game is about from memory but didn't have the full skills to achieve what the fans wanted. They aren't someone like The Taxman who is both a fan and has vast knowledge of the games to know how to program them like how Yuji Naka programmed Sonic 1, 2 and 3, they are doing this as a job and remember Sonic isn't as famous in Japan as America and Europe so their interests might have been elsewhere.

So should I recommend this for the Sonic fan? NO, unless a Sonic fan is more forgiving to its weaknesses. The diehard SR fans hate it for the physics and level design, the Adventure fans probably hate it for lack of characters and for being 2D. However, who should I recommend this game to then? There aren't many 2D platformers on the PS3/360; apart from the other Sonic games [Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 [XBLA], Sonic CD], there's the two Rayman games and Puppeteer on the PS3 coming soon so there isn't as much choice when compared to some other consoles e.g. the Wii has New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Wario Land: The Shake Dimension and they are the ones that I know about. For that, you can try it since it is fairly cheap and is enjoyable. I also recommend this to a younger person as in someone who is younger than a teenager (6 to 11). They get to play a game that they can play and enjoy without much problems, the graphics are good and more appealing to their eyes when compared to Sonic 1, 2 and CD [you got to remember, younger people don't like blocky graphics from 20 years ago unless someone who grew up with the older games is with them] plus for mobile players you get more value than a stereotypical mobile phone game. It maybe more expensive but it is a higher quality compared to gambling Puzzle Bobble/Bust a Move and Bejeweled clones, most endless runners and fixed strategy games that are common with phone gaming.

Shameless self-promotion.

This is more of a game I play frequently rather then the last thing i've played.

Tokyo Jungle


Original Review Here

Fast and Furious Showdown. It's pretty much what I expected from a movie game.

Skate It for the Wii.
It's the kiddie version of the Skate games, but it still has all the hilarious physics problems. That's all you really need to know.

This is a review I've posted on another forum that I decided to bring here.


This may not be the most debatable game, but when it came out there seems to be a difference between critics and fans. Critics gave it positive reviews, while "some" fans of the series did not like it. I say some because I know there are many people who love the game despite the change in gameplay, but we'll get to that later. For now, do I think it folds with the rest of the series or should it be crumbled up and thrown in the recycle?

Since this is an RPG I feel like I need to explain the story. I know, I know, "story is non existent in the Mario series!" But considering the Mario RPG series is actually known for having interesting stories and twists, this one needs to be worth talking about, and besides, this game is well known for having a good story and if I can't share my opinion then who can? So this means I'm going to be sharing spoilers, but just in case, if I do more reviews I'm going to be adding spoiler boxes down below, so you can enjoy for yourself or in case you're one of those gamers who don't give a s**t about story in a video game.

I bet you want to know what I think of the gameplay. Well, I can sum it up like this. Nintendo, if you wanted to make a Mario platformer for consoles, make one. Don't put it in a spin off that has a different focus. As for the gameplay itself, you can switch between 2D gameplay and 3D gameplay. I think the problems for me is in the controls. I understand that Nintendo wants to be like the NES controller, but I wish you could also use the classic controller. I'm glad there are motion controls, but I don't really like playing the wiimote at least sideways. It's like using a TV remote sideways and all of words and numbers are on their sides, it doesn't look right. This is one of those games where they should at least have more controller options, like the Gamecube controller (because a PM game was released for it). Mainly because there's not many buttons for the Wiimote on it's own. you press up next to the door. Now that would've been fine in 2D, but sometimes when you flip in 3D trying to enter a pipe it gets confusing. (It gets worse in 4-4 where the gravity changes along with the control scheme in any direction) If only they could've used the B button. The controls are just too restrained. The platforming itself is fine, but what I really hate are the segments where up have to go up the level, because any time you get hit or make a wrong move, you get knocked back, and fall down sometimes back where you started. It's starting to become a bad cliche isn't it? I feel I should mention the Pixls, they act as weapons and special attacks, like throwing, bombs, hammers, ground pounds, etc. Like Zelda, some of the Pixls can be underused, sure they can be used to solve puzzles, but in battles only a few are useful. It gets worse as some of them aren't even useful in boss fights. Speaking of which, except for some bosses, a lot of the game is too easy, more or less than the other Mario platformers depending on your skill, Granted in my recent playthrough I got Barry right after I beat the Chapter 3 Boss and it made most of the game easier because if your timing is right, you can get through the bosses easily. Even if you don't have these kinds of crutches they can still be easy because you can just use Throueu (sp. right?), or do the usual jumping on technique to hit the enemies, and they are not that hard to dodge, the only real challenges are Francis (who doesn't really turn invisible as much as turns unsolid..), and Count Bleck. I haven't beaten Pit of 100 Trials yet, but that's optional and not really part of the main game. So while the gameplay can be good and not bad, it needs to be more of a challenge. This is before people complain about the main Mario platformer series being too easy mind you.

I will say that the graphics are the most creative I've seen on the Wii and the level design looks good. Especially when you begin a chapter and all the lines draw themselves revealing the level, that was amazing! The character designs made for this game, don't really match up with the previous Mario characters, to the point where I don't know if the new characters are out of place or the old characters. For the music, not a lot of the music stand out. Most of us know the final boss theme, The Ultimate Show and... that's it. I barely even remember the songs in this game. (Note: I know this part was very short compared to the rest, but just expect that for other future reviews)

This game is not really that bad, and I'd appreciate Nintendo for trying something new, but if Chuggacconroy calls this game a "love letter" to the classic 2D Mario games, then it could technically be called a dear john letter to the Traditional Turn based gameplay. While the story at times can be good, it just comes off as being unfocused. Some people have said this is a parody, but if this is a parody, then I must ask why we have some emotional conflict done right and a dark tone? That's like making a funny satire with a dramatic scene that makes you cry. Also one minor point, the cameos need to stop! They just feel forced and for the references to previous Paper Mario games, don't make sense since this game takes place in an alternate dimension, that isn't the one from the previous Paper Mario games, so how do they know this stuff?

My rating will be different, instead of numbers or letters, it'll be depended on this.

Worth Keeping
Worth Playing
Worth Renting
Worth Testing
or Worthless

And the rating for this game is: Worth Renting

Now that I'm done with this, the next game I plan to play is... this.

Wish me luck, guys!

^if we're doing that, here's mine for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate

Quote:I never bought or played the original Lords of Shadow. I knew what takes place in it though;
The game looks gorgeous. Easily the best graphics I've seen for the 3DS so far. It's a 2.5D games so you while you walk massive statues and towers loom, and stairways coil. Even when zoomed up, characters and enemies don't become blocky. Cutscenes are in done celshaded effects though (For a reason?) but without lip sync. Characters just open their mouths and go :o A lot of the game is dark and brooding (Real Is Brown after all.) but it does have some unique areas.
All Belmonts including Gabriel, and Alucard are equipped with the Combat Cross, which has a large radius, making enemies worth fighting a cinch. You get subweapons, but most of them aren't worth much, and it's easier to just keep the flow of combat going by just button mashing. The combat system is a bit clunky. They want you to defend from attacks and get them with counters, but pressing Y until it dies works better.
Levelling is not important because they only give you a new attack, for all of your increases in stats are found in upgrades.
Which brings me to the enemies. They're mostly the common staples to the Castlevania franchise, zombies, skeletons, Mermen, hunchbacks, etc.
There are some unique ones I haven't seen before, my personal favourite being the Gargoyles,I know they've appeared before but these differ. They're like flying furnaces, and the Vampire Knights, who seem like fallen angels. Unfortunately; It stops there. This batch of enemies is small. I loved about Castlevania that it had SO many different kinds, nearly every game had about a 100 of which many were unique to that game.
Storywise the game throws three protagonists at us, but the game doesn't unfold in chronological order. Simon and Alucard take place simultaneously, but Trevor's set before the game proper. Due to this Act III feels unneeded. Like the Scorpion King to the Mummy II. Perhaps it would have served the game better if the acts took place in different order, but that's nitpicking.
Overall the game is good; very good even in some regards; but it's not 100% what I wanted from a Castlevania. If I had to give it a grade I'd go with 7. Wouldn't for everybody, but if you're new to the series and especially the reboot it's not a bad game.