Ecco - Defender of the Future
This is the one Dreamcast game covered so far that I've never played. Always swam away from the opening tutorial and had me some nice mellow dolphin sim time. Using it to soothe the mind is so ingrained by this point I'm not entirely sure I could go save the world from aliens. Very nice to look at and not creepy even after reading all about dolphin sex.
Fighting Vipers 2
I fired up this fighter hoping for a 3D version of Tapeworm for the 2600. Instead, it turned out to be some sort of fighter. So I used my usual level of skill at character selection and went with the dude wearing aviator goggles. He turned out to dress as a car and bellow "VROOM" at a guy who strapped his 10 speed to his back. Then I pressed the same two buttons a lot and won 5 rounds. The game made me miss Bloody Roar on the PS1 a bit and ultimately came nowhere near replacing it.
Fire Pro-Wrestling D
Everytime I play a wrestling game, part of me hopes for those old Technos arcade games like Wrestlefest. The controls were simpler, things didn't get bogged down by brutally forced attempts at storytelling, and the character models didn't have polygon cut out problems. So naturally when I finally find something one could consider a descendant, it has to be very heavy on the Japanese text. Thing is even without instructions, I managed to start some matches and get the controls down. As a bonus, the roster is pretty ridiculous. If the person was remotely famous and active at that time, no matter the country, there's a good chance they'll be available. You can form that Austin/Goldberg tagteam you always wanted and have it beat the ever loving crap out of Kevin Nash. Good engine, very effective graphics, a wide array of options... my only real issue with the game stems from my own ignorance of the language and absolutely nothing on the part of the developer.
Super Floigan Bros. Episode I
I really wish they didn't use the words "super" and bros." in the title of this game. Creating the expectation of a Mario-clone never works out. That's especially true in a case like this where the game is actually fairly unique. It's got the look and humor of a classic MGM/WB animated short and is only a platformer sporadically. You're trying to help a big lunk assemble a special present for your character and guiding him along the way by solving puzzles, playing mini-games, and all things considered rarely jumping around a lot. I wished there was a jump button when it came time to try and shimmy along some thin pipes to hit a switch using the joystick but that's very typical of me. What is pretty universally annoying about the game is its length. For a moderately skilled gamer, it should take a bit over an hour. Seeing as it came out near the end of the system's life but was hyped in pre-release video, that is especially anti-climactic. Of course I am wondering if there were some big plans for it due to the whole "Episode 1" subtitle and the fact that one of the save files on my VMU featured the word "monthly." If this had been an early instance of an online serialized title, it could really have worked. As is, it's a decent engaging little bit of Of Mice and Men/Tex Avery love that ultimately feels incomplete.
Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
This one surprised me. I remember it being leprosy on plastic. Seems that with some distance from the near constant release of totally pointless compilations, ill-conceived franchise revials, Frogger 2 isn't half bad. The "plot" amounts to a gator being pissed at serving as a log and stealing some kids to get even. It's not belabored and adds some item hunting to the gameplay mix. At the core, it's fairly similar to the original but with revolutionary enhancements made since then such as jumping. This will probably get added to my list of enjoyable once in awhile titles which is more than I can say for Centipede.
Gauntlet Legends
Do you like Gauntlet? If so, this is the same basic thing but with much less stylish graphics and some pretense of a plot. I'd much rather play on the NES and drive my dad insane by informing him that red warrior is in fact "it" repeatedly.
Gigawing+Gigawing 2
Vertical scrolling shooter. Fun at parties. Easy to control. Enjoyable to play. Not much else to say really. Besides oooh pretty KABOOOOM! x2.
That's it for this week. Next on deck there's maximum boobage, some more shooters, METAL, and cel-shading.
Showing posts with label platformer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label platformer. Show all posts
Sunday, January 20, 2013
. . . and Then Some Dreamcast Happened Vol. V: I would rather pretend the 5th movie never happened, thanks.
Godzilla Generations 2: Maximum Impact
I guess this is one of those on the rail shooters? Godzilla lumbers forward through a city very slowly. Things attack him. You try to stop them with your magical fire breath, get a whole bunch of confirmed targets, then shoot wherever anyhow. Then there's a boss battle against one his foes from a movie. It all looks quite nice. Plays a bit like the controller is encased in cement and you're trying to mash buttons with a chisel. Fairly vile gaming experience, all things considered.
Gunbird 2
Nice to see classic sprites represented in a scrolling shooter. Nothing too innovative here but it's got all the ease of play and fun the genre tends to represent. As a bonus, it features multiple display modes to allow for slight changes to your gameplay experience. And you can play as Alucard, gather a bunch of elements, and make for the North Pole like Santa Claus has challenged you to a duel or something.
Heavy Metal Geomatrix
Sometimes, I feel the ESRB M: for Mature Players rating isn't clear. This game absolutely deserved it for deplorable (if slightly green-blooded) violence and acts kids absolutely should not duplicate. However, one really cannot be "mature" and enjoy a game where men on steroids and women whose backs would shatter from boob weight if they ever actually jumped run around and attack one another with huge, phallic weapons to Heavy Metal music. It's as over the top as one would want something bearing the franchise's name to be and just pure freaking fun. oh and i was able to choose a comically overbusted Aeryn Sun lookalike with a chainsaw as my character so I'll break my rules and rate this one A++++++++++++++ for the teenager within.
Ikagura
There are tons of scrolling shooters on the Dreamcast and this seems to be the best reviewed of them. It's stunning to look at, well balanced, and has some gameplay innovations to boot. First off, there's the dark/light polarity swap mechanic. Instead of collecting bombs, you change colors to absorb energy from enemy weapons and build up a meter. Then there are boss battles which they can walk away from if you're not skilled enough to destroy them. It all makes the game feel fresh a decade+ after initial release. That said, I shall now bash it to increase blog hits as this one is very much subject to the Cult of Treasure Games. LOLZ DIS GAYME HAZ LAYME GRAFIX WHERE DA 3D AT YO AN IT NO CALL OF DUTY HUR DUR DUR!
Jet Grind Radio
I remember being absolutely blown away by this game. Part of it was the then-novel usage of cel-shaded graphics. Then there was the well-selected soundtrack. Could do without the Rob Zombie remix but that goes with gaming in this territory. A decade or so later what still resonates with me, however, is the gameplay experience. The camera can be annoying at times but otherwise it just doesn't get old.
Kao the Kangaroo
The best part of inheriting game libraries are the WTF titles like this one. You play as this rat in yellow, long underwear with apples on its hands and bounce over pits then convulse at some enemies. Oh wait... that's a kangaroo! The apples are boxing gloves! Those convulsions are rapid fire punching; or maybe some sort of statement about long term effects of circus-type abuses on animals. Honestly it plays like an inebriated Crash Bandicoot and I don't really care about any aspect of the thing after a few levels.
Karous
This one is significant largely because it was the last officially released Sega Dreamcast game. It may honestly be the weakest of the scrolling shooters on the system I've played so far. My skills at this style of game are severely rusty. Me beating one without dying suggests something is amiss. My weapons were too powerful and blocked too high a percentage of enemy fire for one thing. That combined with the fact that pretty much everything but backgrounds and the final boxx were monochromatic made for one dull game. Yes, I suck at Ikagura and all the others. However, I'm okay with that as it just provides inventive to improve. With Karous, my only motivation is to use a wider array of the angel-type characters moves in order to avoid being overwhelmed by repetition.
Next week I'm going to drop entirely too much knowledge of Twilight plot points for someone my age, reach a new low in revival of classic franchises. finally mention a FPS, and post a rant so bad that content isn't mentioned even once (and yes... that is entirely fixable but then the blog becomes work and it can't do that unless it gets monetized which it probably won't barring a change in terms of service).
I guess this is one of those on the rail shooters? Godzilla lumbers forward through a city very slowly. Things attack him. You try to stop them with your magical fire breath, get a whole bunch of confirmed targets, then shoot wherever anyhow. Then there's a boss battle against one his foes from a movie. It all looks quite nice. Plays a bit like the controller is encased in cement and you're trying to mash buttons with a chisel. Fairly vile gaming experience, all things considered.
Gunbird 2
Nice to see classic sprites represented in a scrolling shooter. Nothing too innovative here but it's got all the ease of play and fun the genre tends to represent. As a bonus, it features multiple display modes to allow for slight changes to your gameplay experience. And you can play as Alucard, gather a bunch of elements, and make for the North Pole like Santa Claus has challenged you to a duel or something.
Heavy Metal Geomatrix
Sometimes, I feel the ESRB M: for Mature Players rating isn't clear. This game absolutely deserved it for deplorable (if slightly green-blooded) violence and acts kids absolutely should not duplicate. However, one really cannot be "mature" and enjoy a game where men on steroids and women whose backs would shatter from boob weight if they ever actually jumped run around and attack one another with huge, phallic weapons to Heavy Metal music. It's as over the top as one would want something bearing the franchise's name to be and just pure freaking fun. oh and i was able to choose a comically overbusted Aeryn Sun lookalike with a chainsaw as my character so I'll break my rules and rate this one A++++++++++++++ for the teenager within.
Ikagura
There are tons of scrolling shooters on the Dreamcast and this seems to be the best reviewed of them. It's stunning to look at, well balanced, and has some gameplay innovations to boot. First off, there's the dark/light polarity swap mechanic. Instead of collecting bombs, you change colors to absorb energy from enemy weapons and build up a meter. Then there are boss battles which they can walk away from if you're not skilled enough to destroy them. It all makes the game feel fresh a decade+ after initial release. That said, I shall now bash it to increase blog hits as this one is very much subject to the Cult of Treasure Games. LOLZ DIS GAYME HAZ LAYME GRAFIX WHERE DA 3D AT YO AN IT NO CALL OF DUTY HUR DUR DUR!
Jet Grind Radio
I remember being absolutely blown away by this game. Part of it was the then-novel usage of cel-shaded graphics. Then there was the well-selected soundtrack. Could do without the Rob Zombie remix but that goes with gaming in this territory. A decade or so later what still resonates with me, however, is the gameplay experience. The camera can be annoying at times but otherwise it just doesn't get old.
Kao the Kangaroo
The best part of inheriting game libraries are the WTF titles like this one. You play as this rat in yellow, long underwear with apples on its hands and bounce over pits then convulse at some enemies. Oh wait... that's a kangaroo! The apples are boxing gloves! Those convulsions are rapid fire punching; or maybe some sort of statement about long term effects of circus-type abuses on animals. Honestly it plays like an inebriated Crash Bandicoot and I don't really care about any aspect of the thing after a few levels.
Karous
This one is significant largely because it was the last officially released Sega Dreamcast game. It may honestly be the weakest of the scrolling shooters on the system I've played so far. My skills at this style of game are severely rusty. Me beating one without dying suggests something is amiss. My weapons were too powerful and blocked too high a percentage of enemy fire for one thing. That combined with the fact that pretty much everything but backgrounds and the final boxx were monochromatic made for one dull game. Yes, I suck at Ikagura and all the others. However, I'm okay with that as it just provides inventive to improve. With Karous, my only motivation is to use a wider array of the angel-type characters moves in order to avoid being overwhelmed by repetition.
Next week I'm going to drop entirely too much knowledge of Twilight plot points for someone my age, reach a new low in revival of classic franchises. finally mention a FPS, and post a rant so bad that content isn't mentioned even once (and yes... that is entirely fixable but then the blog becomes work and it can't do that unless it gets monetized which it probably won't barring a change in terms of service).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)