Rock On!!!!

The long wait is over. Rock Band 2 is mine! I've had it less than a week, and I thought I would share my initial impressions. As a beginning note, my Rock Band 1 disc got a small crack in it about 5 weeks ago. Enough that I didn't want to play it, so for a month I was Rockbandless. So getting Rock Band 2 wasn't just upgrading it was coming back after a month's wait. This will likely color my impressions.

First basic song gameplay. It's pretty much the same. You have notes scrolling down the screen, and you hit the appropriate button, or drumpad, or pitch and you get points. The more points you get the higher your star score is. Pretty simple; it worked for Guitar Hero (which Harmonix the people behind Rock Band invented, before being bought by a rival company), it worked for Rock Band 1 – why change it.

Other gameplay. Nifty Nifty improvements – In RB1 playing solo, you just had a list of songs to beat, in linear fashion. This followed the structure of Guitar Hero as well. However in group play, you had a world tour. You had cities you could play it, and venues within that city. Each song or set of songs within each venue was a gig that you earned fans for playing, as well as stars, as mentioned before. Now this gameplay is there is RB2 for solo play. Now the old linear play is gone... which is a bit of a shame, it made for a great practice list. Other things you can do are challenges, and there are 9 tiers of them (IIRC). You beat a challenge at a lower level, and it unlocks one or more at a higher level. You play completely through a chain of challenges and you win something nifty, like special instruments or special outfits. These challenges change with time. If you download 3 songs from an album you get a “X album” challenge added. These are the two biggest gameplay changes, and for the better.

Now free-play changes to an extent – in RB1 you had access to all the normal songs; there were 14 (again IIRC) that were Boston/Harmonix bands that you could unlock. In RB2, you only start with about 20 songs in free play. The rest have to be unlocked in World Tour or in Challenges. There is one set of challenges (Marathon Challenge) that playing straight through that unlocks all 84 songs.

Speaking of free play, the list of songs has changed a look. There are more ways to sort the music and it scrolls faster. This is necessary. RB 1 had 58 songs, RB 2 has 84 on disc and another 20 that will be coming for free. But wait, there's more! You can put in your RB1 disc, update the game, and pay 5 bucks for and export feature, that rips all but three of your Rock Band games to your hard drive. Yes, the entire game content is exportable to RB 2. The three missing songs were due to licensing problems. So if you have Rock Band, and you buy rock Band 2 you have 139 songs right out of the gate. But wait, there is still more. Harmonix has released downloadable songs every week since Rock Band came out. So if you have been playing RB you likely have some DLC (short for Downloadable Content). Myself, I had 91 (I didn't realize it was that much). So at the point I have RB2, I had 230 songs in the game.

Wow.

And all of this extra music is integrated seamlessly into the game. It changes challenges (see above), any of it can show up on random setlists in Tour mode. They can be picked on normal choose your own sets while Touring.

Lastly there were a lot of minor tweaking – enhancements to the character creation area (not much but some), what your band multiplier is during multiple overdrives is easier to see, a drum trainer, and extra options like a No Fail Mode.

All in all it is a major improvement, not in any one area, but a whole.

Highly recommended.

And now back to strapping on a guitar and rockin' the world.
Games played since last post
Bioshock (360)
Rock Band 2 (360)

Viewing things in a whole new light.

I won my wife a new laptop for school from a sales contest at my second job. She hooked her old monitor up to it for a two monitor experience. She also decided not to use her monitor (as it is a 17") and wanted to use mine (a 15") - as she didn't see the need for the larger regular monitor when she runs two of them. So we swapped.

So all of that was to say I have a new bigger monitor!!! Woohoo!!! I never would have thought that the extra 2" would have made a difference, but they have. It allowed me to move up to the next higher resolution, and keep things roughly where I like them.

And my games look amazing. :)

And now back to creeping through an underwater city killing crazy splicers.

Games played since last post:
None - look at the timestamps. :)

It's all about the Bioshock

Having finished Halo, and taking some time to play a couple of rented game (Too Human and The Darkness), I finally sit down to play the next game I am going to tackle.... at least until Rock Band 2 comes out in a just over a week.

The game is Bioshock.
The setting: a scientists/entrepreneur built a city underwater in 46, inviting all the people he thought would fit into his utopia (a Randian/Nietzschian Utopia I get the feeling). The game is set in 1960, and you are a the survivor of a plane wreck, who made it into the city.

There is a lot of bio-engineering going on – most people in the city are changed and crazy. You end up getting a shot that alters your genetics (giving you the ability to shoot electricity) right away, and you go from there. The visuals of the city are very art deco, and the music is eerie – except when the radio plays music that is in game, like The Blade Runner song, or Lady Day esque God Save The Child.

And that brings up to the little girls. They have some amount of gene material that when you use it, allows you to get more mutated (such as gaining stronger skin for extra health or defense). You can get this stuff two ways – doing a full harvest, which gets you more, but kills the girl, or getting it from her without killing her which gives you less. But one of the mad scientists tells you if you let them live, you will get something special from her. Being the person I am, I'm saving the girls. It was right after killing the “Big Daddy,” a girl's guardian, and getting the prompt on what do do with the girl that “God Saved the Child” plays the first time.

Back when I played Doom the first time (and Heretic to a similar extent), I was completely drawn into the world by the music, the graphics, the atmosphere. I haven't been that drawn into a FPS for a long time. Until now. This game is the most atmospheric game I have played in forever.

I've beat 3 levels of 16, so I'm not that far into it, but I am really really enjoying playing this thing. Amazing.

And now back to creeping through an underwater city killing crazy splicers.

Games played since last post:

Too Human (360)
Half Life (PC)
The Darkness (360)
Pac Man (Arcade on PC with emulator)
Moon Cresta (Arcade on PC with emulator)
Solitaire (PC)

Back in the Saddle again....

Well.....

It's been about 2 months. Wow. I didn't expect to be gone that long. Well, I have returned. And let me explain why, then we'll get to the video games.

The demands on my time have lessened – I've not got any callings in my church right now, the big one I had was reshuffled to someone else, when a member of the group I was in got called to a more important position, and that always means a new group. So I was released. I've successfully limited my time on the internet. I was surfing about 6 boards a day. I've limited that to three, and I limit my time on them. I've stopped working on the RPG game that I have been working on for years (my Fantasy Hero Campaign).

Then there is the big one – the wife arranged to get herself back in school to finish her degree. She is taking 15 credit hours of 300 & 400 level classes, plus working. So she is at school, at work, or working on her homework. So I am now left with extra time, and at odds with my time – this post is being written while she is at class, as a matter of fact.

So what does that mean for this blog – well without the wife around, and more importantly for this subject, without the wife around playing video games on the consoles, I have been keeping myself occupied playing games. So without further ado – my game report.

I decided to finish Conan that I have been playing in fits and starts since I got the machine. Fun game. Enjoyed it, and it was really cool to actually beat a game again. So with that on my mind I decided to beat another one.

I started Halo about a week and a half ago. I beat it yesterday. Really cool game. Great story, great narration, amazing graphics, especially on a last gen machine. I was completely blown away – and the game had an easy mode that was easy enough I could beat it.

So now, I am playing Too Human (a rental through Blockbuster, my second job, so it is free). Level 5, and enjoying it. And just today, while the wife was playing her Digital Devil Summoner (no idea which one), I decided to play a game on the PC I haven't played for a while – Half-Life One. I have Orange Box for the 360, but before I play HL2, I wanted to beat the original. I've cleared the first 2 of 17 levels.

So that is what I am up to. Expect further updates, and reports on progress of games, plus other various and sundry comments on games.

And now back to killing cybernetic Goblins and Trolls, and being visited by the Valkyries way too often.

Games Played Since last post:

Too Many to mention

Taking a Break

This is just a quick little note to explain abscence of posts.

I've been pulling back on my internet usage. Trying to spend more time with other things (gaming, music, video games, time with the wife, church responsibilities - that sort of thing).

I've already really cut the time I spend on messageboards a lot.

Blogging is the next to go.

I'll post occasionally if something strikes me, but I need some time away from the 'net right now. I've been feeling depression set in again (I hate hate hate the summer - too hot) and I've unplugging to try and connect to more real world stuff.
To be honest I spend 8 hours a day working from home in front of my computer. I need to spend more time on work, and less on surfing (working from home on the net really makes that too easy)... and when I am off work, I've really been feeling the need to get away from the computer too.

So,
see ya 'round.

I'll be back.

Just don't know when.

Guitar Hero 3

My absence from posting, as has been mentioned, is due to playing music games. Rock Band, Rock Band 3 and Singstars. GH: Aerosmith in two weeks. :)

So anyway, today, I beat GH3 on medium (still working on hard difficulty, that will be next).

The game is a blast. And I loved the way the game played at the end, thusly: In the cut-scene before the last set, you sign your soul for success, and you come and play in "Lou's Inferno". The tracklist for the last set:
White Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson. Instrumental.
Raining Blood - Slayer - all about dying and going to hell.
One - Metallica - about not being able to die, because you are in hell and being tortured.
Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden - about seeing some sort of satanic ritual, and having it infect you and take over you mind.

Notice a theme?

So you beat the set and lou (a demon, short for Lucifer I am sure) walks out, pulls a guitar from the ground and you get a boss battle. For those that haven't played these - in the boss battle you play against a computer opponent, and you earn "attack powers" so you can mess up the other guy. You have end with a higher rock meter than your opponent to win. The song you play vs Lou - Devil went down to Georgia. The into has no attack powers. Then the devil's song plays and Lou messes you up. Then Johnny Plays and you get all sort of attacks on Lou. If you win (which I did first try) after that you get a "Now Finish Him" message. The lyrics come up "And devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat, and he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's Feet" and on, and then you play the last riff.

Great theme.

Then the animation has the band flying out of hell on motorcylces with wings, and the ground raises up under you, into the sky. You get a spot on the top of this tower, and the credits roll, and Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce plays. The song is about Evil having control and you fighting and beating them and bringing freedom to anyone. This finishes the theme of the last set.
And the song is amazingly difficult to play. The developers intended the expert mode to be unplayable. They underestimated the fans. There are numerous videos on youtube of people beating it on that hard.

Great Game. Looking forward to GH: Walk this way, GH: Metallica. And depending on compatibility with Rock Band GH: World Tour.

And now back to bashing drums.

Games played since last post:
Universe at War - 360
Solitaire - PC
Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis
Kung Fu Panda - 360
Rock Band - 360
Guitar Hero 3 - 360.

Long time playing

Not a lot of updates recently. I got sucked into rock band. We bought it, and the wife and I do vocals and guitar respectively. That is pretty much all I've been playing for the last 3 weeks. That is so unlike me to only play one game for so long, but the whole "be a rock star" and the whole "game with the spouse in the living room" just grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I've really got into the music game recently with Guitar Hero, Frets on Fire, Rock Band, and Singstar. :)

Not much of an update, thought I'd at least explain why I haven't posted much.

Back to strapping on the Guitar and rockin' out.

Games played since last post:
Rock Band (360)
Singstar Amped (PS2)
Singstar 90s (PS2)
Frets on Fire (PC)
Spider-man: Friend or Foe (360)
Iridium Runners (PS2)
Solitair (PC)

Game Report I

Legend of Zelda 1: Adventures of Link – I've cleaned out and finished the first two palaces, and have the raft from the third. All my levels are at 8, and I've got both the heart and magic containers on the first continent. 6 Links; I love save state. If I die, I just load. So in the game, as far as it can tell, I've never died, nor quit. :)

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 – Completed the first two Green Hill Zones, and got the Chaos Emerald in both of them. Again save states are wonderful. I have 5 sonics so far.

Radiant Silvergun – I've got as far as level 2A. My weapon levels are at 7 for each one.

Battlestar Galactica – Been playing, and I've got much better at the controls. I've beaten the first three submissions, but you can't save until you beat the full mission (which has 6 submissions). I have to start over at the start each time, but I get a little further in each time I play.

We bought a Guitar Hero Guitar (A Gibson a Xplorer). We have another on lend – so I re-rented Guitar Hero III and the wife and I have been doing Co-op on it. It's been a blast to be able to play together.

I've also picked up a number of new games (been finding them cheap) and have some more on order. So Expect a Snap Judgment review shortly.

And now back to games – Entering the Matrix.

Games Played since last post
Guitar Hero 3 (360)
Battlestar Galactica (Xbox)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Link (NES)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Arcana Hearts (PS2)
Solitaire (PC)
Minesweeper (PC)
Frets on Fire (PC)
Battlestations Midway (360)
Ikaruga (XBLA)
BattleZone (XBLA)

The Controller

I have mentioned before that I do a lot of emulated games on my computer - basically any console before the PS2/Xbox generation, and arcade games. Now aside from the arcade games, I own pretty much everything I emulate (Yes I even own a Vectrex).

Each game machine has it's own controller. Some are cool, some are a pain, some are really problematic like the N64 controller. It took a couple of years but a controller that I can use as the native controller in every emulated console I have on my computer.



Two analog sticks, for PS games. The analog is also used in the N64. A D-pad for any game that uses it (all the way back to the Atari 2600). 4 shoulder buttons, again for PS games. 6 front buttons, so it works great with the 6 button Sega controllers from Genesis on; plus it really works for the Capcom arcade fighting games. With the D-pad, buttons and shoulder buttons it can actually pull the N64 stuff, and is more comfortable than the native controller.
It's also programmable so if a game doesn't quite recognize the controller I can map all the buttons to keyboard buttons (or even make little macros, like a series of button presses, but I have never used that aspect of the controller).

Now some of the configurations are a little odd - the should buttons are the start and select for the Saturn, the rightmost two are the same for the PS... and don't get me started on N64 configuration... but while some of this is a little strange, there are enough buttons and sticks that every button for every game will be mapped.

The only thing that would make it perfect for the console emulator is a start and select button type thing in the middle.

And yes it does Rumble/Shock/Force Feedback.

And now back to games - shootin' down Cylons and trying to get comfortable piloting a Viper.

Games Played since last post:
Stuntman Ignition (360)
Frets on Fire (PC)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Arcana Hearts (PS2)

Delays, new games, and a new plan

You may have noticed that there was a huge gap recently. A couple of reasons; real life intruded with a couple of weeks of overtime, health stuff, and a little too much time spent on my Pen and Paper RPG. A lot of my snap Judgment reviews came from free rentals of video games, which has been one of the nifty perks from working for Blockbuster. Movies before they hit street, and free game rentals.

However some dunderheads screwed it up. They would get games right when they came out, and kept free renting for weeks, so the customers couldn't get access to games. So the new rules – only 1 game rental at a time, and only after the game is out 8 weeks. So my Snap Judgment reviews are going to slow way down... i was doing 3 or 4 game rentals at a time, but I never kept them more than a week.

So leaving that behind, I have a game I must crow about.

Frets on Fire.

Info here.

This is a Guitar Hero clone, that is a free game (Sourceforge) for the PC and Mac. There isn't any stage or characters, just the notes/neck and a few basic graphics on the side.. but the gameplay is there. There are editors out there that allow you to make the note track for the game, so you can take any song you have, and make a gameplayable song out of it. These are up for download in different places (Torrents or FoF fan sites and such). The game can import the songs from any GH song for the PS2. So you have access to all the GH games, plus fan created stuff. Lots and lots of good stuff.

The basic gameplay is that you use your keyboard for your guitar – the F1 thorugh F5 keys are your fret buttons, and the return key is your strum bar. So if you don't want to spend the money on Guitar Hero and guitar, you can play for free.

You can use your Guitar Hero (or as I understand it your Rock Band) controller with it. And yeah, it makes gameplay that much more fun. So I have a guitar borrowed from a co-worker and been playing the game. So now I can say I am a Guitar Hero nut. We are planning on getting our own Guitar Hero guitar (the wife enjoys the game and plays too), and we are going to save up for Rock Band.

One of my projects I decided on. Because I won't be doing as many snap judgement reviews (they will be down to once a month or so), and I want something to post at least weekly, I am going to choose games for each platform I have, and play games through, and post progress on said games. This also will help me focus on playing through and finishing games, rather than my normal butterfly like approach of lighting here and there for a few moments on each game. The tentative list:


NES – Legend of Zelda 2: Link
SNES – Act Raiser
Genesis – Sonic the Hedgehog
Saturn – Radiant Silvergun
PS 1 – Spyro the Dragon
PS2 – Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Xbox – Battlestar Galactica
Xbox 3600 – Bioshock.

I'll try and play at least a level or two on at least half these games each week and report.

I'm going to start each of them over, and play all the way through with the exceptions of Link and Gauntlet – I'm a bit into each of those (Link is about halfway) so I don't want to start over.

And now back to games - strappin' on the Axe and playing for the crowd.

Snap Judgement Reviews 4: The Dream Child

Forza Motorsports 2
I hated this game. I played for about 10 minutes and it completely and turned me off. I really hate racings sims, and I really like arcady racing games. Forza is probably my least favorite driving game since I wasted money buying Gran Turismo 1. To me, if you can't jump in the car, race on the easiest level, and on the third try not come in dead last, it is a waste of time.

This is a waste of time.

Ridge Racer
The other side of the coin – this was a fun game to play. Tried the demo, and really enjoyed the race there, so I traded in Forza for this. Much better. The drift turning is how I've turned in racing games since the 80s- I have always just turned hard, stop accellerating, then accelrate in the new direction, so this game was made for me.

Cars
Another racer (can you tell I was stuck on a theme for a while). This one was fun, it captured the feel of the movie, and is a decent racing game as well. It's on my to buy list.


Sega Rally Revo
The last racer on the list. Halfway between Ridge Racer and Forza. There is a little too much sim for a full dive in game, but I actually enjoyed this one. It is on my to buy list, but on a really cheap.

Dark Sector
First Person Shooter. Modern but with twists – special funky weapons (go glaive go) and mutants. So it does go SF, which is always a bonus. The game is a solo game; no squads to control, no partners to look out for, just you against the bad guys. I loved it – flashbacks to Doom and other classic solo (and good) FPSs. Perhaps a little too much cover taking needed, but still fairly fun. On my list, at a discount.


Viking
Another run around and chop things game (think God of War, Conan, Guantlet) a less linear. Nice visuals as a Viking chopping things up. There are a few gameplay problems; no sprinting, so if you are running from bad guys, they catch up. But I really enjoyed myself.

And now back to games - strappin' on the Axe and playing for the crowd.


Games Played Since last Post
All of the above.
Solitaire (PC)
Williams Pinball (PS2)
Arcana Hearts (PS2)
Frets on Fire (PC)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle Of Doom (360)

Snap Judgement Reviews 4: A New Hope

Black for the Xbox was pretty cool. A little too much cover taking for me, but unlike things like Gear of War (ick) if you get hit once or twice when you break cover to move, you don't get killed. I think that is what I dislike most about cover-heavy games: you have to think just like the programmer to move from cover to cover, because a couple of shots will kill you. Black, thankfully isn't like that. It is a modern shooter, another genre I don't especially care for, but again, I liked what I saw in this one. The control was decent and the story, what I saw of it, was acceptable. This is one that went on my to buy list, albeit cheap; something like 10 bucks or less.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon II. See the above for things I don't like: Cover heavy games, and modern setting. This game was full of those two. In the training area, I broke cover for 15 seconds to get close to a couple of the bad guys and they mowed me down. Game ejected, and ignored. I don't mind using cover occasionally, the thing is I don't want to be fragile enough that not doing so for 15 to 30 seconds gets you killed. Timeshift is a cover heavy game, and I liked that, because you could stand up to some damage.

Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. I never really played much of this series, I got Crusade for Christmas and played some, but not a whole lot. This means my view of this game is not colored by expectations of what it would be. I really like this game. A Dynasty Warriors kind of game, with RPG elements. Lots of things to kill, upgradeable weapons, spells, levels and stat purchasing. I really enjoyed this one. The biggest complaint I heard was repetitive, well I still play things like Pac Man and Space Invaders so repetition isn't something that bothers me. The camera can get blocked occasionally, and that can be a pain, but I like this one nonetheless. I rented it, and bought it the next week.

Two Worlds. I rented this to see if the game was truly as bad as the reviews I read made out. And you know what – they were. This game is completely and totally average. The dialog is painful – modern sentence structure and approach with a smattering of verilys anons and forsooths to make it seem archaic. Graphical glitches, and simple combat make this one to buy, but only when I find it for ten bucks.

Turok. Another FPS, which as a genre will pop up a lot here. Some cover play seems to help, but to be honest, it wasn't required. I hit around boulders when shooting dino's and I did a fair amount of cover when in a firefight, but then I turned around, grabbed my knife and ran out and killed smaller dino's in HtH. I truly enjoyed this one, and it has also gone on the to-buy list. My only complaint (and this one is not uncommon among recent FPS, is that you don't have a health monitor onscreen. I like to know where my life total is.

And now back to games - slashing monsters with swords, collecting drop items, and leveling up.

Games played since last post
Turok (360)
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (360)
Rumble Roses (360)
Bonk (TG-16)
Solitaire (PC)
Conan (360)

Save States and Cheating

For those that don't know, a Save State is a feature of an emulator that saves the game exactly as it is. When you Load State it brings up the game exactly as you save stated it. This allows for saves in games that don't normally have them, or in places you can't save in the game (a save anywhere in the Final Fantasy games for example)



I do a fair amount of my videogaming through emulation. I have the Xbox 360 and the PS2 hooked up, and everything else I do through my computer and whoo boy do I have a bunch,and even worse I have the consoles, games and such in storage upstairs. Emulation for me is for convenience.

So I was playing the PS1 Space invaders update, and I play through 5 or 10 stages at a sit. I save state before each level, and if I die, I replay. I do similar things with Super Mario Brothers 3 and Sonic. I play through a level or two and save state. This allows me to actually progress through and beat these games, something I just don't have the time to do in one sitting these days.

Save stating is actually one of the main reasons I do emulation, for just that reason. It allows me to play the games on my schedule, not theirs. And as I don't have the 3 to 5 hours to spend beating a mario game all at once, it is refreshing to be able to play through old favorites, and not just play the same levels over and over.

It also means I am “cheating' to an extent. By replaying levels till I get them right from a savestate I don't suffer whatever negative consequences for failing at that point. This allows me to get every crystal in sonic (I hit the bonus section, and don't get the crystal – load state and start the level over. And I am not one to be above cheating – I used the old Game Genie on my NES and Genesis, Gameshark on PS1 and 2, and recently been using Code Breaker.

The reason I do this? Simple, and it is the mantra of this blog. I play the games on my time, my way. If the game is too difficult for me, I cheat. If I the game is set up to only play in one long sitting, I'll break it up. I may not be playing the games the designers sold me, but if the only way I can enjoy them is to change the rules, then so be it.

Now Back to games - Shooting down marching aliens.

Games played since last post:
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (PS2)
Solitaire (PC)
Conan (360)
Space Invaders (PS1)
Ghost Recon Advance Warfare 2 (360)
Black (Xbox)
Bonk (TG-16)
Exile (TG-16 CD)

Ding Ding Ding – Fight!!

I've mentioned before that I love certain genres, but I really suck at playing them. Today's post will be all about one of those. Fighting Games. How bout a list: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Dead or Alive, Guilty Gear, Soul Caliber, Dark Stalkers, Xmen, Primal Rage, Killer Instinct, Eternal Champions, Clay Fighter, Godzilla, King Of Fighters, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, World Heroes, Samurai Showdown, Cyberbots.

Whew, quite a list, and it isn't by any means comprehensive. And today that is what is being discussed – the games where you spend you time beating up on the guy across the screen from you with flesh, weapons, ch'i, any old thing that seems appropriate. Be warned, this isn't an analytical piece, it is a love affair with the genre.

I love these things. If I can get past level 4 without it being on Easy, it is amazing, but I love them anyway. Some of them are button mashers, other have a very deep and intricate game play. Some are 2d some are 3d.

First some words on the game that started it all. Street Fighter II. And all the little add ons with extra character. It originally had 8 characters, then 12 then more, and new and different characters came out. Then things like Rage Meters, and super combos. And Capcom kept coming out with other – Dark Stalkers, X-men, Marvel Supers, Marvel Vs Capcom, Cyberbots (A personal favorite).

The other leader was SNK games which ended up in the NeoGeo arcade and home machines. Many fighting series, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, World Heroes, Samurai Showdown. And as they became well known for the genre, they instituted their King of Fighters series, taking characters from their other fighting games and pitting them against each other.

Then the unthinkable happened. The two biggest 2-D fighting game companies worked together with the Capcom vs SNK, and the SNK vs Capcom. Each one had characters from each company stable fighting each other. And one used a very Capcom like fighting engine and controls, and the other used SNKs. Great Games.

There were the home games that didn't move around the arcade – Weaponlord, Clay Fighter, Eternal Champion (and man were those sprites big for the era). And the Mortal Kombat series which gave us Fatalities and their variations, and the idea of photo instead of animation.

We also had a 3-d Revolution. Tekken and Virtua Fighter. This led to a slew of 3-d fighters, Dead Or Alive, Soul Caliber, and even 3-d versions of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.

And the games did usually have some similarities but that was due to trying to reach the largest number of players. You had one big lumbering guy who did lots of damage. You had a light fighter that was swifter than the wind (my usually choice), some all around good fighters (usually the character the stories were built around).

Ah stories. Yes these games had stories, usually pretty thin ones, just enough of a plot to justify these characters coming together to beat each other's brains in. The biggest part of the stories were in the character background, why they come to the tournament, and who they are after. Some of the home games have a challenge or story mode that has you run through a number of fights, with small little cut scenes dealing with the characters backstory.

Now back to games - running around a 3-d maze killing monsters and collecting crystals and hearing "Valkyrie needs food badly"

Games played since last post
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (360)
Bards Tale (PS2)
Soul Caliber 2 (PS2)
Space Invaders remake (PS1)
Spyro the Dragon (PS1)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Pinball Hall of Fame - Gottlieb Collection (PS2)
Defender (Arcade through Mame)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (PS2)
Conan (360)

Snap Judgment Reviews 3: With A Vengence

Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition.
I've never really played any of the tomb raider games, but they are so huge in the industry I felt the need to try. I rented Legend a while ago, and hated it – I couldn't make the jumps, and I got stuck within 10 minutes, in the tutorial. So I tried to give this one a shot. It took me a half hour to get bored. Run around look in rooms, no real direction on what you need to do, puzzles with no impetus. So this is a put back on the rental shelf and never touch them again. Thumbs down.

Dead Rising
I'm not a fan of zombie stuff, but I've heard this one was pretty fun. I played it for an hour or two. It was a blast; running around avoiding or killing zombies, rescuing people, running zombies over with a lawnmower. The “hard to read” wasn't as bad as I feared (I have no HD TV, and the text is fairly small on regular TVs). I've not been a huge player of 3rd person action games, but this, Lost Planet, Conan, God of War and Earth Defense Force 2017 is making me into a fan.

Stranglehold
This was the best of the bunch. A John Woo video game, starring Chow Yun Fat – a sequel to Hard Boiled. I wasn't expecting much out of it, and boy was I surprised. As I've stated before I'm not a fan of spending all my time behind cover in a shooter – I like to run out and shoot things – and if you have ever seen a John Woo movie, then you know that is his approach.
The mechanics reward that kind of game play – you get a healing meter that lets you heal damage. One of the ways to add to the meter is to make stylish kills – double gunned while leaping in slow motions, while sliding down a handrail on stairs, while jumping over counters, or rolling on a cart. So the more you dive in and kill the easier it is to get your health back. The game has slo-motion and 2 handed gun play, as you would expect from a Woo movie. You also get “standoffs” a particular style of combat where everything goes in slow-mo and you have to take out villains in a particular order while avoiding their shots, and you can unlock a mode where you focus on the bad guy, shoot him and there is a small cut scene of his death – and you can do this to any enemy.

This one truly is an action movie in game form. It is at the top of my “to buy” list.

Now back to games – Running through ancient lands of Hyboria cutting off people's arms

Games played since last post

Turok Dinosaur hunter – Demo (360).
Dead Rising (360)
Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition (360)
Stranglehold (360)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Panzer Dragoon (Saturn)
Clockwork Knight (Saturn)
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (PS2)
God of War (PS2)
Conan (360)

A Treasured Game

Another innovative way to make things possible for use casual gamers, increasing abilities on the game. I love shooters – first person, third person, scrolling horizontal or vertical. One of the best vertical scrolling shooter is Radiant Silvergun* It's genius is that unlike most shooter of this type – there are no temporary power ups. I say again, there are no temporary power ups – you don't pick up something to make it possible to get through the level, then die, and come back in the middle of the level just like you started the game.

What you have instead are weapons that power up. The more you shoot things, the more the weapons power up. You can save your game, and when you come back to it later the weapons are as powerful as you left them. This does two things; First, as you memorize the early levels by replaying them, your guns get more powerful so you clear the earlier levels faster, getting to the areas of the game you haven't before more quickly. Secondly when you get to the later stages of the game, getting killed once doesn't mean you are completely screwed – your ship comes back just as tough as it was when you died.

So hardcore gamers that relish the challenge can play the game, and plow through it fast. Us casual gamers who aren't so good at shooters, can level up, and beat the game a little slower. Now I love shooters, but I suck at them** So here is a game that even though I suck at shooters, I can still play it. It just takes me longer to get to the end. So what do you know, a hardcore game, with a minor tweak to game play, and it becomes casual accessible. So give props to Treasure.

Yes I have a copy I was a fan of the Saturn and imported a number of games for it. This was one of them.

** A phrase you will likely hear a lot on this blog, it applies to so many game types.

Now back to games – Running around a cave and shooting some dinosaurs.

Games played since last post

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Radiant Silvergun (Saturn)
Turok Dinosaur Hunter -Demo (360)
Devil May Cry 4 - Demo (360)
Rumble Roses XX(360)
Gauntlet Dark Legacy (PS2)
God Of War (PS2)
Conan (360)
Soul Calibur 2 (PS2)
Solitaire (PC)

Snap Judgment Reviews 2: Electric Boogaloo

Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast
Here is a driving game for me. Lots of nifty visuals, fun little “sub games” when driving with the girlfriend. No trying to learn how to drive a real car, or get licenses (I hated Gran Futurism). On my list to buy.

Call of Duty 3
Another fun military shooter. I'm not a huge fan of real life settings in games, so I plan to just have the Cod and Mo series for my real life type shooters. This one was a blast.

Medal of Honor: Front line
See above. And I got it for 3 bucks, so it almost doesn't matter. If I get an hour or two fun out of it, it's paid for itself.

Prey
I love this game so far. I like the set up, with the main character rediscovering his beliefs seeming to be a major story arc. The weapons are cool looking; the alien organic weapons are just nifty. And the jukebox in the starting area played some really good tuneage (Heart, Foreigner, BOC).

Yeah - a bunch of shooters this time.

Now back to games – jumping on robots to set little animals free and collecting rings.

Games played since last post

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)

I won, I won !!!!

I beat a game, and achieved a milestone in another in the last week or two.

I beat the easy level of Earth Defense Force 2017. 53 levels of bug blasting fun. I call this out, because I often say “I play games, I don't beat them.” This attitude comes from the fact that I don't play games like hardcore players do – I sit down for a half hour or hour, and play, then move on. EDF is set up just for people like me – the longest mission took a half hour or so. So I could sit down play a level or three, save and go on. Another really cool bit is that your hit points go up by collecting things enemies drop when killed, and you can go back and play previous levels anytime you want. So when I first got the last mission, I needed a lot of hit points, so I could go back and play an earlier levels and gather hits. I did this for 4 levels, and then I beat the game. Cool.

There are a number different difficulty levels, and because every level you play gives you extra hits, and you can gather more weapons, after you beat the game on easy, you have much more hit points, and a bunch of weapons already, so you can actually play them on the next difficulty level, whereas if you tried to start there (or at least if I did) you die really really fast.

The second game is Rumble Roses XX (yeah yeah, I play the game in spite of the cheesecake, not because of it). Playing (on easy) I just got the singles title belt. Took me a bit, but I got it. And this game is set up in many ways like EDF. I can drop in, play a couple matches, save, and come back to it later. So I can just play for a little while each game, but I never lose where I am.

As a side note, the engine is the best wrestling engine I have ever played. I watched Professional Wrestling a lot when I was younger, so I always wanted a good wrestling game, and I have never really seen one that fit the way I like to play, and this engine is just what I want. The way unlocking things work really well for mimicking the source material; for example to unlock the bad guy (“heel” in wrestling parlance) of a character you have to get the character to having the title, then play another character, and win the title. When you win the title from your previous title holder, the heel version is unlocked – the character lost the title and went bad, a staple of Pro Wrestling.

Both these games highlight something – I play games differently than “hardcore” gamers. I read two reviews of Rumble Roses where they said “This is a great game, but it gets old after half an hour or an hour”. That really implies that these players sit down for hours on end and play. And I do that occasionally – I remember marathon sessions of Doom years ago – but that isn't my normal approach.

So yeah, I've found with the hard drives on the consoles, more and more games are ones you can play in smaller time chunks. And that is a good thing. With the “gamer” stereotype becoming less and less common, and more and more casual gamers are playing (thank you wii) gamer developers are starting to make more games that appeal to a broader market.

Now back to games – jumping on robots to set little animals free and collecting rings.

Games played since last post (long wait, so a big list here)

Half Life (PC)
Solitaire (PC)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Rumble Roses (360)
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (Xbox)
Star Trek Legacy (360)
Morrowind (Xbox)
Oblivion (360)
Virtual Fighter 5 (360)
Prey (360)
Call of Duty 3 (Xbox)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)

Gameplay

Gameplay complaints today. Not complaints about gameplay in games but people complaining about gameplay. I remember one of the big complaints about FF VII is that “The gameplay was nothing but hitting the X button”. Yeah, so what? The gameplay in an RPG isn't what happens with the controller, but how you build your character, and what you do as you advance. Just like in a pen and paper RPG. But the incessant complaints about there being no gameplay has, over the years, been taking RPGs more and more real time. RPGs as a whole are one of the last refuges for people that like some kind of video game, but have no thumb sweat ability.

Another one is a sin of IGN, who complain about the simple repetitive gameplay of Dynasty Warriors or Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. Again, so what? We played Pacman, Defender and Asteroids for hours on end back in the day. Those things has simple, repetitive gameplay, but they were a blast to play. There is something to be said for simple games. There are those, like me, that don't want to spend hours figuring out the intricacies of a control structure or the tactics the game wants. We just like to sit down and play dang it.

I sometimes thing it may be in the differing ways that games get played. I play for a half and hour, or hour at a time (tops) at any single game. I drop in, play for a while, save, and stop. I'm sure that the people who complain about the simplistic game play tend to play for hours and hours in one sitting.

Now back to games - bashing aliens with a crowbar.

Games played since last post.
Half Life (PC)
Solitaire (PC)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Rumble Roses (360)
Assassins Creed (360)
Call of Duty 4 (360)

Snap Judgement Reviews 1

One of the things I intend to do on this blog is give commentary of games I play. I work at a movie rental place and get free rentals, so I will do a lot of these. My “Snap Judgment Reviews” are reviews on first impressions of a game, usually made with less than an hour of play. If a game can't grab me in an hour, well too bad for the game.

Snap Judgment Reviews:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Gorgeous game. Decent controls, and I just wan the other characters to get out of the way so I can play the dang game. They get in the way, get shot, and reset me back to checkpoint. They don't seem to do much to help, and are just a problem.
Game difficulty - On easiest level, I got killed in the second firefight. Not a good thing on easy level. Now part of that is my play style, I tend to run and gun, and not hide or take cover a whole lot. But unlike The Darkness I wasn't frustrated to the point of wanting to throw my controller against a wall. I didn't try to replay after I died once (it was late). Will play more and see if that is just some basic tactics I need to learn rather than a problem with the game and my play style.
Major comment great game, but I just wish it were a solo game. I hate squad based games, but this one may be good enough to keep playing.

Addendum - Didn't take much to get through the first firefight - and while there are sqaud members around, I don't seem to lose if the enemy kills them (which really hasn't happened yet). So this one is going to get more play. And the squad stuff helps give it a stronger story aspect.



Gears of War.
Visuals are cool, I like the controls and the game. I'm usually not for 3rd person games, but both Earth Defense Force 2017 and Lost Planet have become favorites so I thought I'd give this one a try too. I enjoy playing it, but like above, one the easiest mode, I got killed in the first firefight. An NPC got hit, and the screen came up wanted me to help him. Screw that, I'll kill the bad guys first. If he dies, that just means I get to play a solo game (as I prefer). Like CoD4, I intend to try again, with better tactics than last time. I have a feeling this one may be a keeper.


Addendum - after playing Gears of war for 20 minutes and getting killed time and again in the first real firefight, and then going to gamefaqs and finding that unlike other shooters a quick burst of gunfire can kill you - and taking cover is one of the most important things in the game.... well this one is off my to get list. Not the way I play.

But now back to games - time to try to assassinate some Templars.

Games played since last post:
Battlestar Galactica (Xbox)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
DoA 2 Hardcore (PS2)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Zelda 2: Adventures of Link (NES) - my favorite of all of the Zelda games. Period.
Solitaire (PC)
Minesweeper (PC)
Luxor 2 (360 Live arcade)

Easy should be Easy

Ever play a game on “easy” and it isn't? That just sucks. I love video games of all stripes and styles, aside from a couple (see history in the sidebar). And one thing I've noticed is that many game developers don't want people like me to enjoy their game.

I spend lots of money on games, and I love playing them, but to be honest, in a lot of ways, I'm not that good at them. I don't sit down for hours at a time and play straight through a game. I play it in 20 and 30 minutes chunks, weekends notwithstanding. :) I don't want to take hours to learn the ins and out of the details of the game just to be able to play it. To master it yes, but to play it - no. A good example of a game done right this way is DoA 2 for the PS2. Easy level, don't know any of the moves, don't know any special moves, and I beat it first time through. That is what an easy mode should be like. Now I like fighting games, and I will take the time to master their fighting styles, and game play, but I didn't need to in order to enjoy this game.

Easy should be hard enough that a guy who has really never played video games before should be able to peruse the rules, get the basic controls, and have a chance of beating the game.

Having recently picked up a 360, and a bunch of older Xbox games, I find that a lot of the Xbox games don't have an easy level, even if they say they do. Take Battlestar Galactica, a game I really have been enjoying, but I still haven't been able to save my game. I have to complete the first mission, with 7 sections to it, before I can save. I don't have 2 hours to sit down and make my way through the whole first mission, without getting killed or failing a sub-mission mind you, before I can save. So I've been playing the same sub-missions over and over. So yeah, I'm getting better at them, and some time in the future, I'll be good enough to get to the point to save.

The point is, I shouldn't have to.

Another game done right is Earth Defense Force 2017. Each scene takes 5 to 20 minutes. You can save after each one. The difficulty does increase, but I've only failed to beat 3 scenes the first time through, out of about 20 I've played so far. I tried the game on hard - first mission beat the crap out of me. So I go back to easy.

I applaud the Wii and the advent of developers who actually make games that beginners or people with no game skill can play on easy. The whole casual game movement is something I hope really takes steam.

But now back to games - shooting down Cylons... the original ones, where Apollo was a guy's name name and not a call sign, and Starbuck was a guy. :)

Games played since last post:
Godzilla saves the Earth (PS2)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Lego Star Wars Complete (360)

Player 1

As noted in my history, I don't do the online game thing. I have never liked multi-player games in general, although there were a few in the arcade - I enjoyed playing Gauntlet in '85 with my RPG group, and playing Golden Axe with my wife.

I have never, ever played video games to play against someone else. Back when street fighter came out, if someone else came up to play two player, I would ask them not too. If they did, I just turtled in the corner and let them beat on me, or walk away from the machine. I never compared my high scores with others; I would try an beat my personal best, but never worried about where I stood in comparison with others.

This attitude followed me from the arcade to home computers and then to consoles. I love doom - I loved the doom community, with all the extra levels and such. I have hated all multi-player games I've ever played. I can't stand MMOs - although if one came along that had absolutely no PvP and punished players for screwing with newbies or griefing, then I might. I don't care about gamerscore or achievements - in my 360 I have a profile just for downloading content. I never play games on it. So I profile with everything zeros. :)

For me, Video games is generally a solo hobby. I play when I'm not surfing message boards (which is interactive), Roleplaying (my other major hobby), reading or watching movies. The only multi-player I actually do, is when the Wife and I play a game together (Champions of Norrath is a pretty fun one for us). If I have friends over, we talk, or play PnP RPGs - videogames just never enters into the equation.

So when I listen to podcasts or whatnot and hear "It's always better online" I just scoff.

And that is one of the reasons I started this blog. As a voice from a video gamer who doesn't follow the norm. Other differences in later posts.

But now back to games - Gotta go shoot some bugs in Earth Defence Force 2017. :)