Alienators: Evolution Continues - Review

 Naturally Select Away From This Evolution
The Strong Survive and This Game Perishes

I'm not familiar with the 2001 film Evolution, but we have it to thank -or blame- for Alienators: Evolution Continues. Actually, Alienators is based on a short lived, animated, kids' TV show that was based on the movie, and we all know the quality of product that is churned out when a kids' show is adapted into a video game. In this case, though, Alienators is playable, and that's more than I could say for most games of this sort. The game puts you in control of Ira, a scientist/mercenary/soldier character who fills the typical hero role. The story is told in blocks of text between each of the levels, and it really doesn't matter all that much. The game could just as easily started with a message that read “There are monsters and stuff; go blow them up.” the game wouldn't have lost anything important and it would have gained style points, in my eyes, at least.

Gameplay is what you might expect: there's some shooting, there's some jumping, and there's a fair bit of collecting. As you progress through the game, you'll have to explore each of levels, collecting items as you go, before finally finding the exit and moving on. What can I say; it's a tried and true formula, and there's a reason why it's often used: it just works. There are times, though, when Alienators feels like it's a bit worn thin, especially when you stop and realize that other games have done the same things, only better. It may not be a fair comparison, but games like Mega Man ZX, Metroid: Zero Mission, and even Star Wars: Apprentice of the Force feel similar and superior to this game. Also, the controls feel loose to me, but that's a subjective gripe, so I won't dwell on it.

What is less subjective is the atrocity of the game's password feature. There is no save option in the game, if you want to put the game down for a while and then pick it back up later, you'll have to write down an eight digit password before you leave. Then, when you come back to the game, you'll have to input that password to return to your location. While it may sound like it wouldn't be a big deal, there's just no excuse for a Gameboy Advance game to not have a cartridge save feature. The only reason why a company would release a game without a save feature is to avoid having to put a battery in the cartridge, and therefore cutting the cost of each copy created. It's a penny pinching move that doesn't reflect well on the production values of the game. It wouldn't be so bad, it could even be overlooked, if the game allowed you to continue when you die, but as it is, you'll have to re-input the password every time you die: more often than you might think considering the fact that enemies respawn while health items do not.

While I might not call the graphics beautiful, I must say that I have a soft spot for sprites, and the game provides passable visuals. The enemies might not have the most original designs, but they're all good looking, and the backgrounds aren't bad either. The music is fine, if a little repetitive on the menus, but the music on the levels ranges from alright and repetitive to mind numbingly annoying and repetitive. Sound effects aren't anything to write home about: just about typical.

Come to think of it, if I were to use one word to describe this game, it would probably be “typical.” There's not a lot here that you haven't seen before in other, better games. I don't think there's anything here that needs to be played unless the Alienators TV show holds some sort of nostalgic appeal to you. If you want to prove me wrong, though, you won't have to break the bank to get your hands on a copy of the game. If you shop around a bit, you can find Alienators: Evolution Continues for around $5, but if you take my advice, you'll steer clear of this game.

--Tom

Alien Hominid - Review

 Short and Sweet
Intergalactic Crash Landing: Fun Ensues

Newgrounds is a website well known for games, but the games that populate its servers are typically of the flash variety, nothing like commercial products of any sort. It was, therefor, quite a surprise for me when I noticed the Newgrounds logo slapped onto the charming shooter for the Gameboy Advance, Alien Hominid. Had I been more familiar with the Alien Hominid brand, I would have known that the game debuted as a flash game that was featured on the aforementioned site and racked up over 19 million plays. The developers, an ironically small company known as The Behemoth, adapted and improved their successful flash game and released Alien Hominid for the Xbox, Playstation 2, and Gamecube in the latter part of 2004. Another small game developer, Tuna Technologies, was hired to port the game to the GBA, and the result is the game whose review you now happen to be reading.

Usually, I'm rather hard on commercially released sequels or adaptations of flash games, but in this case I think that the game was improved enough to warrant the cost. The game plays as what I'm tempted to call a “typical” side-scrolling shooter, but, really, there aren't enough games in this genre to dismiss the mechanics as typical. I should say that the control in Alien Hominid is very tight, reminiscent of games like Metal Slug or Gunstar Heroes. You should have no trouble maneuvering your little yellow alien through the game world, blowing the heads off of FBI agents and Soviet soldiers as you go. If there's one thing this game is not afraid to do, it's make a spectacle: clever boss battles range from giant sand monsters to an assortment of large robots, and copious amounts of blood burst from every grunt you take down. The gore can be turned off, but honestly: why would you? It might not quite fit the definition of epic, but it's certainly reaching toward that goal.

What may not be quite so epic is the game's story mode. Every once in a while, you'll watch a couple of still frames and get the general gist of what's going on, but the story really only exists to fit the segments together. Nuclear war, Area 51, Yeti, and, of course, Aliens are all crammed in to the mixture without a whole lot of explanation, but you probably won't need it either. In a title like this that is all about the gameplay, I found that the disparate elements that are introduced without ceremony, flow together to create a game that doesn't seem to be taking itself seriously. There are no moral quandaries to be considered in Alien Hominid, there is no time to stop and think about the wives and children of the endless waves of FBI agents that you'll be murdering, there is only nonstop action, and for that, I've got to commend the game.

What I can't commend the game for is its length. It took me less than two hours to see everything that Alien Hominid has to offer, and a playthrough of the main game itself will take less than an hour. Shelf life is somewhat extended by the inclusion of three minigames, but even these are a bit of a let-down. Coming off as little more than simplistic flash-esque games themselves, the minigames probably won't occupy you for very long. If you're going to reap continued enjoyment from this game, you'll have to be willing to put in multiple playthroughs, a possibility that is nicely enhanced by the well-implemented difficulty settings which do a good job of making the game accessible without compromising the rest of the game. You'll have to play on medium or hard if you want to see all of the levels the game has to offer.

The music is somewhat forgettable, and I could go on with nit-picky details like my hatred of the way you're forced to hide in level 3-1, or the awkward spaceship levels at the end of the first two worlds, but those are forgivable faults. The important thing is that the game is fun, and if you're willing to put up with the fact that there are only 12 levels, there's no real reason why you should pass this game up. The only difficulty might be the availability of the cartridge: the game was only released for the Gameboy Advance in Europe, so you might have to do some looking around before you're able to dig up a copy. Used copies do occasionally show up on Ebay and Amazon, though, and the prices are typically in the mid range of around $10. It may have its flaws, but if what I've said here doesn't sway you, feast your eyes on some gameplay footage and tell me what you think in the comment section below.

Alien Hominid Gameplay
More Alien Hominid Gameplay

--Tom

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger - Review

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube.
The Low-Down On the Finest Game From the Land Down Under

Every era has it's genre, and for the the early part of this millennium, the favored game type was the 3-D action platformer. Just a few years after the innovation that Nintendo showed gamers with 1996's Super Mario 64, other companies caught on to the particular gameplay mechanics required and ran with them, creating a long list of high-quality franchises. Most will be familiar to gamers: Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper, just to name the some of the more popular titles, but lurking in the background, there was always the B-list of mascot games, and most prominent among the also-rans was a little game called Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Perhaps it's not fair to call it an also-ran, though: when released in 2000, Ty, while not a media sensation, did manage to sell over a million copies and become a greatest hit on both Playstation 2 and Xbox, but it also singlehandedly put its developer, Krome Studios, on the map, a company whose previous “greatest accomplishment” had been Sunny Garcia Surfing. Krome went on to develop two more Ty games for the major consoles before shutting its doors just a few months ago. Ty was their only original intellectual property, and aside from a few movie-based games and Wii versions of cross-platform games, their greatest accomplishment, but what does the game look like today?

Krome was an Australian developer, and the Ty series plays on the many stereotypes associated with the land down under. If this game were your only source of knowledge on the culture and society of Australia, you might think that the country would be a strange mixture of the Wild West and the rocky surface of Mars, populated by a group of people with strange accents and frequently used supposed slang words that might even put the Crocodile Hunter to shame. Yes, the world depicted in Ty is a complete exaggeration, but whether you see it as glibly ironic or deliberately obtuse will be up to you. As you might have gathered from the title, the main character, and, indeed, all of the other characters, are anthropomorphic animals, an idea which, though normally overused, is somewhat revitalized by the species used. The menagerie here consists of Kangaroos, Koalas, Platypuses, and a variety of other Aussie animals that don't see much play in other games of this sort. The aesthetic and atmosphere, too, are quite well done: alternately desolate and vibrant, the game does a good job of conveying the beauty of the land without employing the powerful graphics that today's consoles command.

If I were to complain about anything, I suppose that it would have to be the graphics. I am a firm believer in the slogan “The graphics don't make the game,” but I realize that decade-old polygons can be off-putting for some gamers. The game isn't ugly by any means, but the early days of the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube don't hold a candle to the processing power of today. Ty has all the hallmarks of the era: rough textures, limited draw distance, and bland will make appearances over the course of your adventure. If these are the sorts of issues that bother you, it would be best to keep that in mind when considering Ty. Another possible downside to the game are the long load times, it's not unusual to have to wait from ten to thirty seconds seconds before entering a level. Once you enter, however, there are no obvious loads while playing.

The game consists of nine main levels, four boss battles, two deathcourse levels, and one bonus level. In the main levels, you'll be tasked with assisting NPCs and gathering items to earn “Thunder Eggs.” When you earn enough of these geode-like stones, a boss portal will open and allow you the chance to move on the next area. In addition to the Thunder Eggs, you can search out additional collectibles like invisible boxes that contain concept art from the game, or gold gears (called Golden Cogs) that may be traded in for new variations on Ty's signature weapon: the boomerang. The boss levels are actually fairly innovative, with designs that surpass the typical “attack weak point for massive damage” sorts of bosses that are typically used. Each boss is well designed and distinct from the others, and the strategy you'll use to take them out won't necessarily come to you immediately. What I'm calling the deathcourses are the two final levels before the final boss battle, and unlike the main levels of the game, they contain no collectibles, and are instead focused solely on giving you a hard time. I'll talk a little bit more about the bonus in just a bit.

In general, the game plays a lot like the aforementioned Super Mario 64: the Thunder Egg system is very similar, if not completely copied from the stars collected by the fat plumber, but Ty's outback is far from a re-skinned Mushroom kingdom. While the hardware limitations of the Nintendo 64 left Mario with an unadorned and abstract world, Ty was afforded the luxury of both structure and logic. Levels in Ty are usually very linear with a definite start and ending marked by a spawn point and a portal back to the hub world, that said, I don't think that this linearity cheapens the experience. Yes, there are typically arrows pointing you in the direction that you should probably go, but this comes off not as hand-holding but as more of a guided tour. You'll probably need to visit each of the sprawling levels several times in order to find all the collectibles, and if your first time through is just from start to finish, your second time will allow you to do a more thorough exploration of all the nooks and crannies that hide countless goodies just waiting to be found. There too, the NPC mission structure will force you to backtrack and take alternate routes that will help to relieve any repetitions, and, in addition, each area features a more open level that will have you trading the focus of the other levels for a marvelously captured sense of scale. Swimming through large swaths of the Great Barrier Reef and driving through the Outback, make for excellent changes of pace.

The story of the game isn't really anything special. Ty is out to save his family from the clutches of an evil Cassowary, and in the process, thwart the bird-brained villain's plot to take over the world with giant robots, or an alternate dimension, or something. It's not remarkably clear why any of this is happening, and if you really want to know what's going on, it would probably be best to read the instruction manual, which does a much better job of telling the back-story than does the game. At the heart of it, it's another “orphan saves the world” sort of story that's more common in Japanese Role-Playing Games than anything else, but it's serviceable here. The cut-scenes are primarily done with in-game elements and their finest feature is probably the outlandish slang and unfamiliar accents that I've mentioned before.

The true challenge of the game is not whether or not you are going to finish the game. Honestly, almost anyone with a moderate degree of skill can reach the conclusion of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Even the deathcourses don't hold much of a challenge for a competent player. What may stump all but the most dedicated is 100% completion. If you want to get every Thunder Egg, every Golden Cog, help every NPC, and discover the life-increasing Rainbow Scales, you've got quite a job ahead of you. Still more time consuming is collecting each one of the 150 concept art pictures, which are so deviously placed in nearly transparent boxes. It took me over eleven hours to complete the game 100% without using any sort of guide, and I'm still lacking one of the concept art collectibles (which don't count toward your percentage). I'm afraid that I lack the strength of character to search through each of the levels all over again for that last practically invisible box.  (For an idea of how hard they are to catch, see if you can find the box hidden in one of the pictures in this article.) Even that rather lengthy amount of time might not tell the whole story: that was after having played the game several times. If I had attempted a similar feat with no prior knowledge of item locations and strategies, I have no idea how long it would have taken me. The reward for getting 100% is the somewhat disappointing bonus level, which isn't really a level so much as it is a place to put an inordinate amount of picture frames. The reward for a perfect game will have to the satisfaction of job well done, because the bonus level isn't much.

One of the nicest elements that I have yet to mention is the soundtrack. Each level features a beautiful or tense piece of music that sets the mood perfectly for the game. Not only is each track sufficiently unique, but they are all strikingly catchy. Weeks after setting the game aside, you may find yourself humming Mangroves at Night, the theme to the Bridge Over the River Ty level. In the end, I was forced to download some of the songs for my listening pleasure. The music strikes a balance between resting in the background and drawing your attention, enhancing the experience to the fullest extent.

Perhaps you can tell that I like this game quite a bit, and for that reason I might not be the most objective person to offer my opinion of this game. Be that as it may, I think that the information I've provided in this article is sufficient to allow you to form your own opinion of the game, and you already know if this is the sort of game that appeals to your sensibilities. Granted, it does lean toward a younger audience, but the game can provide a challenge for anyone regardless of skill level or age. I especially recommend this game for children graduating to “real” games. You may have to get them through the tougher bits, but it will provide them with knowledge that will hold true for a lot of the games that they may move on to after finishing. Among the candidates for a game they might try after this one is the sequel, Ty 2: Bush Rescue, which I will be reviewing shortly, be sure to check back for that review in a couple of weeks.

--Tom

Image Sources: Krome Studios

Metroid Prime: Why it's the best thing since sliced bread.

If there's ONE thing, ONE thing I like better than Portal, it's Metroid Prime. Retro Studios's 2002 title is not only the best Metroid games, not only the best Gamecube game, not only the best Nintendo game, but the best damn game in the history of platformers. Weapons, gameplay, music, even story!


THE STORY

The story begins with Samus intercepting a distress signal from the Frigate Orpheon, a space pirate research ship. She soon finds all of it's crew dead, or seriously injured. Further exploration finds the Parasite Queen, a giant bug thing hanging above the core. She soon dispatches it, and it falls into the core, causing a countdown timer to start. As Samus is leaving, she comes across Meta Ridley, a reincarnation of her old foe. Meta Ridley escapes, and as Samus is pursing him, a blast of electrical energy knocks Samus's powerups offline. She chases Meta Ridley to Tallon IV, a planet which has been impacted by a meteor containing Phazon, a deadly blue substance with incredible destructive properties. She lands on Tallon IV, and sets out to discover the Pirates' true intention.

THE GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is a lot different from most First Person games, and it bears lots of similarities to Half Life, except it's not as combat oriented, and the puzzles are a lot shorter. To jump, you hit B, and to fire, you hit A. Missiles are fired with the Y (Or D-Pad up, if you're playing the Wii version), Morph Ball is X (Or C if you're on the Wii), L (Or Z) locks on, and R allows freeview (GC only). All the controls feel natural, and are very quick and responsive. A lot of reviewers don't like the lack of dual sticks, but who cares? It plays like a dream. The power ups are the basic Metroid stuff, Varia suit, Ice beam, bombs, missiles, etc. All of them control like they do in the 2D games. Only thing is, they don't stack, so you have to choose them individually.
The biggest addition is visors, with a main visor, scan visor (Which allows you to scan enemies and computers for information), a thermal visor, an X ray visor, etc.

THE MUSIC

Holy mother of crap is it awesome. Just listen to the music on the right! It's fricken amazing! It mostly consists of remixes from old games, Lower Norfair being the Magmoor Caverns theme, Brinstar being the first Tallon Overworld theme (It switches to some other track when you acquire the Spider Ball) All of the tracks are beautifully made, and sometimes I had paused the game just to listen to it! It's that well done!






THE FINAL WORD

Buy it. NOW. It's the best damn game on the Wii/Gamecube. Final score, 9000 out of 10.

The Best Multiplayer This Year - Part 1

So, what have you played the most this year? It's unlikely that you trawled through Final Fantasy XIII and a large plethora of J-RPG's so i'm gonna go out on a limb and say multiplayer. Going mano a mano against real people, just usually with guns.

There has been so many good multiplayer titles this year, but lets start from the top. Unfortunately i can only include games I've either played or heard a lot about, so some obscure titles possibly won't make it to the list.

January

MAG (Massive Action Game)


This is a game that really play's up to it's name. Intense 250 player online matches that seem like warzones, objective based missions that break people into teams inducing tactical play and... Well, 250 players, need i say more? I mean that's amazing. The only problem is, released back in January, you could have a tough time finding a 250 player game now with all the other quality titles that have come out this year.



February

Bioshock 2

To many this may just seem to be a tacked on multiplayer to enhance the overall experience. But the Bioshock multiplayer managed to bring a lot to the table, and all in a typically Bioshock like manner. Plasmids were included to help turn the tide of battle, Big daddy suits were available first come first served, and a sprawling narrative opened up of your character within the uprising before the original Bioshock as you played. Now that's just classy. Hopefully there's still players about so you can still experience the magic. Sorry, the adam *giggle and gafore*


March

Battlefield: Bad Company 2


I can't explain this multiplayer to you without the phrase "Holy Shit!" The aim of the game? Destroy the enemy teams pot's o' gold. How? By any means necessary, in this game, you'll get things done. Any structure is destructible, so an enemy in a tank is a real situation, you can't sit tight and hold for the best, oh no, you have to take that thing out before your base crumbles! I've never found a more intense multiplayer experience than the Bad Company series. The frostbite engine really does itself justice with the demolishing mechanics, this is FPS multiplayer at it's finest. Oh, did i also mention the class system is awesome, and the focus on team play really helps to get people tactical? It's just brilliant.

Fat Princess: Fistful of cake!


This game was brilliant on the Play Station Network last year, but the updated and refined PSP release just takes the cake... No pun intended? Please! The multiplayer is completely different in Fat Princess, although it can be summed up to a game of capture the flag, it's much much more! The enemy have your princess, and you have theirs. You both want your princess back, unfortunately for the kingdoms, the negotiator is out that day, so it's all out war on the other kingdom to get your princess back until he get's back! How do you stop the other team getting their princess back? By feeding her cake of course! The more you feed her, the fatter she gets, the fatter she gets, the harder she is to carry... It's a fantastic idea that includes resource collecting, classes and most importantly a heavy focus on teamwork! There is also the psn original Fat Princess which is by no means worse, pick up an entry to this series, you won't regret it.


Perfect Dark

Well what can you say? It's Perfect Dark! The N64 classic that highlighted the N64 as a multiplayer platform along with another certain title by the same company. This game defined console shooters, and deserves recognition for this, although the rezed up single player isn't as good as I remember, the multiplayer is still some of the best around. Hell, it's only 800 Microsoft-Points, why not grab it now?


April

Splinter Cell: Conviction


Two players max, sure. But you can't fault it. Conviction's multiplayer is solid, and not only contains a rich co-op experience that has a fantastic twist at the end, but also a plethora of modes to play with. One has you trying to take out the other player as stealthily as possible whilst guards patrol the map ready to shoot and kill whoever they may see. Another see's the player's working together to survive, yes, a horde mode, but still. The Splinter Cell formula gives these the spice of life, and since you only need a friend, there's no excuse not to try this one out!

Keep an eye out for part 2! (May-August)

-Serde

Image credit: 1up.com, Pocket-lint.com, Gamernode.com, modtv1337.com, bitmob.com, videogamesblogger, incgamers.com

The Arcade of Anime?

Are we changing our name?

Short answer, no.

However, in the "Arcade of Anime" article's we'll be looking at games that are to be imported here from japan.

Why "Arcade of Anime" then? Because the name has a nice ring to it!

The 3rd Birthday
___________
Format(s): psp

The first game we're going to take a look at is the third, and latest installment in the parasite eve series, the second of which was released back on the playstation one. Square Enix describes the game as a "cinematic action rpg" which is all well and good considering the game is within an rpg series that was made to be cinematic, featured role playing elements and focused on action. The change however is that the battle system from the first two games has been ripped out and replaced with 3rd person shooting. Now, i'm fine with this, but on the psp? I understand that there have been "successes" in the 3rd person shooting arena on the psp with the likes of resistance: retribution and the syphon filter series, however they were still "good... For the psp". I guess it's a big risk revamping a decade old series that wasn't the best recieved, so the cheaper handheld route has to be the way they go. I digress, the set-up for the game is that beasts have descended on manhattan, and it's up to our protagonist Aya to defend the place. Watch this space for more details before the game hits our stores in May 2011

Ghost Trick
_________________
Format(s): Nintendo DS

Ghost Trick - Phantom Detective is a game from Capcom that centres around our friendly neighbourhood Sissel. He's... Well, he's a bit dead. Now don't you think this'll stop him though as our Sissel, he's up for a challenge. So he decides to dedicate the rest of his ghostly life to helping protect the lives of innocent people, the alive ones that is. All in the meantime he is trying to find out how he died, and why. The story is said to be quite gripping, and it sounds like it'll hold anyone to the edge of their... DS? The gameplay takes the form of a murder mystery. Each level, someone has been killed and it's up to the player to prevent that death. Sissel can travel back 4 minutes prior to the killing within a small radius to try and stop it, and can also posses inanimate objects with his ghostly powers. It all sounds very interesting, and i can't wait to have a go. Out in Japan right now if you fancy importing, Ghost Trick is out in the west in Mid January! Keep an eye out.


Thus concludes this Arcade of Anime!

Seeya folks!

-Serde

Image credit: gamerfront.com, gamerant.com

Pac-Man Pinball Advance - Review

Pac-Man Plays Pinball
Not Quite Amazing

Few of the Arcade greats had easy transitions to modern gaming. The video game industry was forced to make a huge departure from the primarily coin-operated market of the late 70's and early 80's, moving to the home console-driven market of the late 80's to the present day. Some stars of the arcade days, like Donkey Kong, went into the new market almost seamlessly with high-profile games like Donkey Kong Country that established them in the modern era as viable mascots, and for a while there, it seemed like if anyone were to succeed, Namco's Pac-Man would. Pac-Man's enormous popularity allowed him to overcome missteps like Pac-Man on the 2600 or Pac-Man 2 on the SNES and Genesis, and the lovable yellow dot even managed to successfully cross over the 2D-3D divide in 1999's Pac-Man World. However, the last decade hasn't been very kind to Namco's hungry, hungry spheroid, and after a long parade of spin-off titles, Pac's reputation isn't quite what it used to be. While the recent Pac-Man Championship Edition DX has been receiving rave reviews, we're not talking about that game today. Instead, we've got one of those dreaded spin-offs: Pac-Man Pinball Advance.

I would like to think of myself as an open minded guy, and I was willing to enjoy Pac-Man pinball as nonthreatening, kid-friendly pinball game for the younger-skewing Gameboy Advance, but sometimes games don't even give you the chance to like them. The game starts off with a none-too-pretty cut-scene that seems to be comprised of low-resolution, 2D elements from Pac-Man World 2. The story is the same kidnapped family tale that was told in the first Pac-Man World, but, really, a story isn't necessary in a pinball game. The point of pinball is to play the game, and you'll be supplied with two different boards to do just that. Each board includes alternate a night version that is essentially a new skin of the same board with a blue color scheme.

As is so often my complaint with cheaply made pinball games, the physics of Pac-Man Pinball Advance just don't seem like they've been refined. The flippers aren't able to get the ball up to speed half the time and the speed of the ball doesn't seem to be correctly fitted to the rest of the gameplay. The boards, too, seem like they weren't well designed for the way the game is played, with many of the objectives purely luck based and deadly gutters that are diabolically placed in a such a way that you're only ever a couple of bumpers away from loosing. These factors add up to make the game seem like it's less about the core skills of pinball and more about just hitting the ball around and hoping that something will happen.

I can speak positively about the music, though. Taking inspiration from the sound-tracks of the first two Pac-Man World games, the music is suitable different but comfortably similar to what we've heard before, never overstated, but not noticeably enjoyable either. It is, to some extent, just there, but it's not bad. The game also has some nice features like multi-ball, functional store system, and he nice touch of a ghost eating mode, but these are outweighed by the almost unforgivable lack of a high-score table.

I don't think there are any hard-core Pac-Man fans to whom I can recommend this game, but if there are, I have to wonder how they explain the last ten years of Namco trying to use Pac-Man as a cash cow for mediocre games like this one. The game can be found for five to ten dollars, but I can think of no good reason why you need to search out a copy. If you find yourself feeling the need for a power-pellet or two, stick with the classics, there's no need to turn to Pac-Man Pinball Advance.

Pinball of the Dead - Review

Zombies Prefer Pinball of the Dead
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAINS!

House of the Dead is probably one of the most venerated on-rail shooter series ever to bless us with its presence. Chances are, if you go to your local bowling alley or pizza parlor, there will be a House of the Dead arcade cabinet around the corner. When you've got a franchise like this, there's always the temptation to throw together a spin-off title and see how well it does. These can range from awesome, as is the case with Typing of the Dead, a re-make of the original House of the Dead where keyboarding skills take precedent over itchy trigger fingers, to meh, as is the case with Pinball of the Dead for the Gameboy Advance.

In Pinball of the Dead, you'll be playing through the events of one of the House of the Dead games. Don't ask me which one, though, because, honestly, do you need a story for a zombie pinball game? The game consists of fairly typical pinball action with the addition of flesh-eating monsters are various other unpleasantries. You'll rack up points in a fairly typical way over the course of three boards: Wondering, Movement, and Cemetery. The boards are all multi-level and fully functional, but they're not all created equal, Wondering lacks color or variety, and Movement gets old quickly. Of the three, I prefer Cemetery simply because of how populated the board seems with bumpers, switches, and lights. It looks better and seems to be more enjoyable.

Pinball is one of those genres that's surprisingly hard to pull off: if you've ever played pinball in real life, you know what pinball “feels” like. When games don't get the physics right, it's very easy to notice. Unfortunately for Pinball of the Dead, the developers didn't quite get things right. There are tw speed settings for the ball, but even the fast option leaves the ball moving at a snail's pace, but even that can be inconsistent, with the ball suddenly speeding up or slowing down for no reason. The hit detection seems to be a little off on the flippers, too, as sometimes the ball will fly off in the opposite direction. In general, the physics just aren't right, and in a game that relies on predicting where something will go, you need to have consistency.

The game isn't all that pretty to look at, either. Keeping in mind the age of the game and the platform for which it was released, it's still not a beautiful game. The graphics aren't terrible, but they're undefined in the way of that awkward transition between all 2-D and 3-D capable consoles. The music isn't anything special, and the sound effects are similarly unexciting. The voice acting is fairly well done and not overused. It actually seemed like the sort of one liners that might be delivered from the speakers of a pinball table. A saving grace, if only a small one.

By this point, you might be thinking that I'm going to conclude by trashing the game and saying that you should probably purchase something else if you want to get a pinball fix, and while this may be true, don't dismiss Pinball of the Dead out of hand. This is the sort of game that grows on you -or perhaps more aptly, creeps up on you- and when you start to get into it, it's not all that bad. I found the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts, but that might not be the case for you. I would be lying if I said there aren't better pinball games on the Gameboy Advance, but I wouldn't be lying if I said that there are few with more character.

--Tom

Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire - Review

How to Learn From the Past: Pokemon Pinball
What a Difference a Bit of Polish Can Make

After the critical acclaim garnered by the first Pokemon Pinball game, it was only natural that Nintendo would want to release a second game in the spin-off series. Four years after the release of the first game, and after an upgrade in hardware, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire was released in 2004 for the Gameboy Advance. If you've read my review of the first game, you know that I have several issues with that title, but going into this game with an open mind, I was surprised by what I found.

One of the major faults of the original Pokemon Pinball game was the poor physics and overall unrealistic feeling of movement. It's almost amazing to note how much has been done to correct this in Ruby and Sapphire: the control is tight and the physics of movement, the way the ball rolls seamlessly down the table, stands in stark contrast to the loose and awkward controls of the previous installment. The game requires a lot of precision, so these better controls mean that players are able to develop a greater degree or proficiency and skill when aiming for certain targets or attempting to trigger particular events. Whereas the older game had a certain element of hit the ball and pray something will happen, this game makes you feel like you're actually in control, like you're really earning your score.

This is the game that proves the concept of the original game. The developer, Jupiter, didn't make any changes to the two-board structure that I complained about in my other review, but with competent objectives and proper gameplay, you never feel like you're at a loss for something to do. One of the improvements to the game was the addition of a second method of capturing Pokemon. Unlike the first game, where you could only capture by triggering the Catch Mode and hitting bumpers to reveal the monster, Ruby and Sapphire adds a Hatch mode where repeating a certain action several times will eventually cause an egg to hatch and the Pokemon inside the egg to walk around on the playing field. Players can then complete the capture by hitting the Pokemon twice. Variety is also added by small bonus stages similar to the stages in the first game, but seem to happen more frequently due to how comparatively easy catching Pokemon is.

Everything seems more intuitive in Ruby and Sapphire, the boards are well balanced, and I was able to rack up similar scores on both Ruby and Sapphire boards. It's also fairly easy to catch and evolve on both boards. This balance means that the player feels less like they have to play one board more than the other, and leads to a more enjoyable experience. The game is easier, perhaps, but that doesn't cheapen the experience, if anything, it encourages the player to try to do more in the game. Looking at the Pokedex, I actually felt confident in the possibility of completing it, given enough time. The difficulties that had to be overcome in order to evolve in the first game, meant that completion seemed like an impossible task, not so in Ruby and Sapphire.

Another new feature is the Pokemart, which allows you purchase items like additional lives, multipliers, or instant transport to one of the bonus stages. These upgrades are paid for with coins that are gathered by taking certain routes on each table. Though the idea is a fairly good one, I didn't find the Pokemart to be especially useful. Saving up the coins necessary for the useful items takes quite a while, and you never know if you'll have the right number when you happen to open up store option.

Things I would have liked to have seen, would have been a multiball feature or a multi-level component to one or both of the boards. These are fairly standard things for pinball table to have, and I feel that their exclusion is somewhat unfortunate. That said, what is there is quite impressive.

Looking at both games side by side, it's almost hard to believe that they were separated by a mere four years. Clearly, the developers had a lot more processing power and graphical capability to work with while creating the Gameboy Advance game. The graphics are crisp and sharp, suitably modern, but retaining a certain quality of hand-drawn old-school character. The game features a good number of beautiful pixel art pieces, the sort of quality work that won't age like the jagged polygons that might be splashed over the game if re-made for the DS. Perhaps the GBA was the last classic portable system, and, if so, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire is the last classic portable pinball game.  You can get your hands on a copy of the game for anywhere from five to fifteen dollars, and, if you're a fan of pinball or a diehard Pokemaster, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do.

--Tom

Pokemon Pinball - Review

Pokemon and Pinball: A Match Made in Heaven?
Setting Off the Tilt.

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, putting the name Pokemon on a game was almost a guaranteed sales strategy for Nintendo. Despite the marketing gold that they had on their hands, the Big “N” did a fairly good job of resisting the urge to flood the marketplace with shovel-fulls of below-average games. That' not to say that they limited their output; no, throughout the later part of the millennium, there was a steady stream of Pokemon titles, but the vast majority of those games were of the quality we would expect from a company as preeminent as Nintendo. You can't win them all, though, and after churning out the high quality RPGs that form the main portion of the game, sometimes the spin-offs suffered from unfortunate issues. Pokemon Pinball is, unfortunately, one of those games.

That's not to say that Pokemon Pinball is a bad game: it's not. The game does what it can with the hardware of the Gameboy Color, and it was certainly one of the better pinball games on a portable system. When it was released in 1997, critics received it positively, but a lot of things have happened in the years that followed. The level of advancement in portable gaming in the last thirteen years has left Pokemon Pinball in the dust. Whereas games like Pokemon Red and Blue are still enjoyable years after the technology they used was outdated, Pokemon Pinball hasn't aged well.

Pinball is a fun game; the design and gameplay of the game we know as pinball have been honed for over a hundred years, and Pokemon Pinball doesn't do much to change that formula. There's a reason why we like these games, though, and while everything may look right on paper and in theory, it's not perfect in the end. Pinball relies on proper, or at least consistent, physics, but that's not exactly what you'll find if you play this game. The ball rarely does what you expect it to: speed, direction, and deflection seem to be fairly plastic, and you'll often the game running in a way that you can immediately recognize as unrealistic and impossible. This is especially prevalent on the Blue board.

Evolution in Action.

And there inlies my other complaint with the game: the boards. While there's nothing specifically wrong with either board, no matter which way you count them, there are still only two boards. The two boards, might keep you occupied for a while, but it's hard to play the game for any length of time because of this lack of variety. There are occasional mini-boards that will provide objective-based challenges, but these are few and far between. The game will tell you that you're moving from location to location in the Pokemon world, but these changes do nothing to effect the way the game plays. The issue is further compounded by the fact that, due to the previously mentioned physics issues that crop up heavily in the Blue board, you'll have to play on the red board if you want to play anything close to an actual game of pinball. This can be problematic, though, because it's much easier to catch and evolve Pokemon on the blue board.

Another possible downside to the game is the attached rumble pack, which I found more annoying than helpful. Maybe it was cool thirteen years ago, but with rumble built into most controllers nowadays, there's nothing special about this feature.

I love old games, but I can't review this game based on how it fits into historical context. Based solely on how fun this game is to play right now, I've got to recommend against picking up an old copy of Pokemon Pinball. It's not bad if you just want to play for a few minutes and catch a couple of Pokemon, but ultimately, time hasn't been kind to this game. However, if you are a Pokemon fanatic who requires Pokemon Pinball to complete your Pokemon collection, this game will only set you back a couple of dollars. Just don't expect the same level of quality that you find in the main series.

--Tom

Picross 3D - Review

Picross 3D
An Extra Dimension and Another Success

The DS has always had a strong stable of puzzle games in its library, and featuring prominently in that pantheon since its release in 2007, has been a little game called Picross DS. Based on a from of logic puzzle known as nonograms and striking a balance between Sudoku and Minesweeper, Picross DS was hailed as innovative and addictive by the video game press, but puzzle games are not particularly prone to spawning sequels that make changes in gameplay, which makes the recent release of Picross 3D somewhat surprising. As might be deduced from the title, Picross 3D shakes up the gameplay by adding depth to the height and width in the original Picross formula. The new, 3D puzzles not only look more intricate and daunting, but makes an interesting new twist to the game.

I didn't start off appreciating the additions, though. After the first couple hours of gameplay, I found myself losing interest in the game and wishing that I could just go back and play the original. There's always the possibility that a puzzle game will become tiring, and I'm afraid that this holds true for Picross 3D. You may pick it up for a little while, complete a few puzzles, and then put it down again. It's much better in small doses. Of course, this means that you might not be able to rely on Picross 3D holding your attention for a long plane ride or car trip.

The game is a slow burner: gradually, as I played more and more, I started to realize that I was liking the game more and more. The controls work well, moving and rotating the camera with the stylus and then using the X and Y buttons to mark and destroy blocks as you slowly reveal the shape in the center of each puzzle. The music wont blow you away, but it sports a fairly competent variety. In the end, I just turned down the volume and listened to the radio. There's nothing wrong with the sound effects or music, but you won't miss them if they go away.

If you're worried about content, let me put your fears to rest: Picross 3D boast hundreds of puzzles that will take you quite a while to complete. You might be able to easily complete the first few difficulties, but the puzzles to increase in difficulty, and you'll have quite a job to do if you want to get a perfect score on all the puzzles. A star system that rates your performance on each puzzle encourages you to play through each one two or three times to get the maximum possible score. In addition, even if you're able to make it through all of the challenges offered with this game, you can download additional puzzles through the Nintendo WiFi Connection. You can also create and share your own puzzles and share them with friends or upload them to the internet for other players to download. The puzzle creation tool is remarkably easy to use, and you'll have no difficulty making complicated challenges in no time.

As previously mentioned, the game takes a while to get into, and this is partially the fault of the fact that you have to play through all the tutorial levels before you can get on to anything remotely challenging. This is not to say that the tutorials aren't helpful, you will probably need to use them to get a grasp of the basic changes that have been made in the Picross formula, but forcing you to go through all the learning levels and then through all of the ridiculously easy beginner levels, just adds more time to the experience, not more enjoyment.

Overall, Picross isn't the sort of game that pulls you in for hours on end, but over the course of the last week, I've found that I've played it quite a bit. A minute here and a minute there really starts to add up, and looking back on the time I've spent with it, I've got to say that I did enjoy playing. So, despite first impressions to the contrary, I can find no reason not to recommend Picross 3D as one of the best puzzle games for the DS. Give the game some time and you might find that you'll come to agree with me.

--Tom

Music Games Suck... Or Do They?

The music game is a genre that has been exploited, raped, and milked for all its worth. In 2009 there where no less then seven guitar hero games, including guitar hero: greatest hits which has been called “the very definition of milking it”. Do they suck? Maybe not. Currently there have been 3 games released this year: guitar hero: warriors of rock, DJ hero 2, and rock band 3. gh:war, seems like more of the same, however the other two are something different.

DJ hero 2

DJ hero 2 is unique among the music genre for several reasons. The first is its all most exclusive use of original music, composed of mixes made by such big names as DJ Qbert, Tiësto, Deadmau5, and DJ Shadow. As well as many in house DJs. The game shows that this genre can be used in more then just rock music and with an instrument like the turntable. Although there was the first one before it DJ hero 2 is more “mature” then the first one. It adds more dance and electronic music and tones down the hip hop of the original (akin to guitar hero's branching out of just metal and heavy rock), added competitive DJ battles and cooperative mixing, and adding “freestyle” mode zones. DJ hero shows how much you can do with a music game.

Rock band 3

The rock band series has been known for innovation, by introducing the “full band experience” and expanding the different genres of music in the game, but this one really blows the music game genre away. There are two new features added to it , first a keyboard player, and then pro mode. Now when i tried pro mode i was on keyboard because 1. i play keyboard and 2. they didn't have any other pro controllers. It both pissed me off and blew me away. It blew me away because it is amazing how they managed to make it work, and pissed me off because i was getting my ass handed to me. By making the controllers “real” (they are midi compatible and the guitar can be plugged into a amp and work) they have opened the Pandora's box of amateur musicians. There is just two problems, the price (the keyboard was $80), and the fact they have mostly emphasized guitar and almost forgotten the bass.

So do music games suck? I i don't think so. But only time can tell.