Earlier this week I ended up on the Mario wiki. I don't remember exactly what I was looking for, but due to link wandering and curiosity, I lost about three hours to the site, and 28 bucks when I noticed how cheap Amazon was selling a couple of Wii games, and it really donned on me just how big the Mario franchise is. The first games I ever played were Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, and the first one I bought (used, with trade in credit) was Super Mario 2. I've always been aware of Mario, and when I was younger, each game that came out that I couldn't afford or didn't own the console for hurt a little bit. But later I learned that Super Mario Bros. wasn't even technically the first Mario game, I'd miss Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong simply due to ignorance. I've been on a bit of a Mario binge lately, playing Mario Galaxy and Mario RPG, with Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii U and now its DLC Luigi U, Super Mario Sticker Star, and Super Mario 3d world all sitting on my stack to play next. Which got me wondering... just how many Mario games are there?
I've compiled a list below, divided into catagories of my own devising. This isn't comprehensive, I've left out Japan Only releases, as well as games that were released on the GB and NES or NES and SNES or 3DS and Wii at the same time. I've also more than likely missed a couple of games, due to the sheer number of games we're dealing with here. I've put the games I've played in italics, so you know how informed my opinions in each category are.
Early Games 5
Donkey Kong (Arcade)
Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade)
Mario Bros. (Arcade)
Wrecking Crew (Arcade)
Mario Clash (VB)
2/5
I've defined Mario's early games mostly as those predating Super Mario Bros. This is somewhat self-centric, as that's the first one I played, but it feels accurate since he was called "Jumpman" in the original, and there was no real unifying theme between them. Mario Clash is an enhanced remake or Mario Bros. for the Virtual Boy (remember that thing?) so I lumped it in here. While these games are aracdy and fun, they're pretty basic by most standards, luckily most of them are available for Virtual Console if you want to check them out.
Sidescrollers 14
Super Mario Bros. (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels (NES)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario Land (GB)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario Land 2 6 Golden Coins (GB)
Wario Land Super Mario Land 3 (GB)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
New Super Mario Brothers (DS)
Super Paper Mario (Wii)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
New Super Mario Bros. WiiU (WiiU)
7/14
Of the 14 games I put in the Sidescroller category, I've played half of them. This is the meat of the Mario franchise, both it's greatest strength and greatest weakness. On the one hand, they're a ton of fun. On the other, New Super Mario Bros. WiiU is pretty similar to Super Mario Bros. The graphics are way better, four player is fun, and there are some new powerups but you still run and jump and try to reach the end of the course. I having finished New Super Mario Bros. WiiU yet, but I plan to fairly soon, and having never played any of the Super Mario Land games makes me think perhaps we should have a Mobile Month here on LTOVG soon. I'll see what the other guys think.
Cameos 11
Pinball (NES)
F-1 Race (NES)
Tennis (NES)
Baseball (NES)
Golf (NES)
Punchout (NES)
Tetris (NES)
Alleyway (NES)
Qix (GBA)
NBA Street V3 (GCN)
SSX On Tour (GCN)
0/11
On our most recent episode, we talked about how marketable Mario has been for Nintendo. They frequently used him to add to the "feel" of Nintendo games, as a simple mascot in many of their sports games, often acting as referee or umpire. EA actually stuck Mario Peach and Luigi in a few of their Game Cube sports games as well. Part of me still wishes that every game on a Nintendo system had Mario somewhere, though that just wouldn't be practical these days.
Puzzle 11
Dr. Mario (NES)
Yoshi (NES)
Yoshi's Cookie (SNES)
Mario's Picross (GB)
Mario's Super Picross (SNES)
Dr. Mario 64 (N64)
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (DS)
Dr. Mario Express (DS)
Dr Mario Online RX (Wii)
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong Mini land Mayhem (DS)
2/11
In a similar fashion, puzzle games were pretty easy to make, but hard to market. Slapping Mario's name and iconography on them was an easy way to get people to buy them. Dr. Mario is still pretty good, but Yoshi is incredibly easy and bland. I've never played the Mario Vs. Donkey Kong games, which are far more complex then standard puzzle games, but I've always wanted to give them a try.
Educational 8
Mario Teaches Typing (PC)
Mario is Missing (PC)
Mario's Time Machine (PC)
Mario's Early Years: Fun With: Letters (PC)
Mario's Early Years: Fun With: Numbers (PC)
Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (PC)
Mario's Game Gallery (PC)
Mario Teaches Typing 2 (PC)
1/8
Mario was such a big deal, his likeness was even used for educational games, most of which were considered terrible. I put there here for two reasons, 1 completeness, but 2, I played Mario Is Missing on the NES. I never got far enough to realize how terrible it was, and didn't own it, I feel like I must have rented it, but I can't really remember. Anyway, again I wish Mario was big enough to be in more things like this, even if they sucked, just to spread the brand.
Sports 20
NES Open Tornument Golf (Mario Golf in Japan) (NES)
Mario Tennis (VB)
Mario Golf (N64)
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (N64)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Mario Golf Toadstool Tour (GCN)
Mario Power Tennis (GCN)
Mario Golf: Advance Tour (GBA)
Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN)
Super Mario Strikers (GCN)
Mario Tennis Power Tour (GBA)
Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (DS)
Super Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
Mario Super Sluggers (Wii)
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winger Games (Wii)
Mario Sports Mix (Wii)
Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (Wii)
Mario Tennis Open (3DS)
3/20
Some might say an obvious follow up to Mario's many cameos in in early NES sports games was to simply feature him as a character in them. Mario had a couple of scattered sports games early on, but it wasn't until the N64 and Nintendo's partnership with Camelot Software that things really took off. I loved Mario Tennis when it came out, and Hoops 3 on 3 was one of my favorite DS games, so going through the list of Mario Sports games, I was surprised how few of them I've really played. I really want to give Mario Sports Mix a try, as it was made by the same team as Hoops 3 on 3 and includes a dodgeball game, and one of the new Tennis games would probably be as fun as the old ones, but I've just never plunked down the cash. Perhaps it's due to my friends mostly preferring Fighters or First Person Shooters on the rare occasions we do hang out these days.
Racing 9
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Mario Kart Super Circuit (GBA)
Mario Kart Double Dash (GCN)
Mario Kart DS (DS)
Mario Kart Arcade GP (Arcade)
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (Arcade)
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
5/9
The Mario Kart series is odd, in that it's clearly its own seperate series, with completely different from any other Mario game, and yet the theme feels so close, and they're just so good, they're practically their own sub-genre of racing games. It's amazing to me that they're already on Mario Kart 7 with 8 set for release soon, especially when that doesn't count the arcade versions, both of which I've had to pleasure of playing, and recommend if you can find one nearby.
3d Platformers 5
Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Sunshine (GCN)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Super Mario 3d Land (3DS)
3/5
The 3d Platformers have been the "big" Mario game releases for the past 14 years or so, so it's interesting that there are only 5. Mario 64 is one of my favorite games, Sunshine one of my least favorite, certainly my least favorite in the Mario franchise, and Galaxy had some really cool controls and concepts but ended up sort of meh. Both Galaxy 2 and 3d land are at the top of my "to play" list right now, so I'm glad I can at least finish all of these before 3d world comes out.
RPGs 7
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)
Paper Mario (N64)
Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga (GBA)
Paper Mario The thousand Year Door (GCN)
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time (DS)
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
Paper Mario Sticker Star (3DS)
2/7
Paper Mario was a novel concept that I couldn't help but love when it was released, and as a big fan of Pokemon, but some one who didn't own a Super Nintendo, turn based combat was novel and interesting. I've heard that great things have been done with the franchise since, but I've never played any of the Mario and Luigi games, and I've only barely touched Sticker star. Still, that and Thousand Year Door are on my "to play" pile, and I'm very interested in finding a cheap copy of Super Star Saga.
Party 12
Mario Party (N64)
Mario Party 2 (N64)
Mario Party 3 (N64)
Mario Party 4 (GCN)
Mario Party 5 (GCN)
Mario Party 6 (GCN)
Mario Party 7 (GCN)
Mario Party Advance (GBA)
Mario Party 8 (Wii)
Mario Party DS (DS)
Fortune Street (Wii)
Mario Party 9 (Wii)
5/12
Man there have been a lot of Mario Party games. I remember renting the first one and loving the concept. I remember renting the second one and feeling they'd improved greatly, even if I missed some of the old maps. I remember loving the third one, thinking they'd added plenty of new features and hit the top. I remember buying the 4th and kind of hating it, it felt samey, and yet not as good as the third. I stopped following the series after that, but have played Mario Party 8 and am curious about what could be done with the WiiU. Fortune Street just arrived at my house today, it was only 11 bucks on amazon and I figured that made it worth trying, we'll see how I think it compares.
Other 6
Super Scope 6 (SNES)
Mario Paint (SNES)
Yoshi's Safari (SNES)
Hotel Mario (CD-i)
Mario Pinball Land (GBA)
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix (GCN)
0/6
Included for completeness, here are the Mario games that didn't fit anywhere else. I havn't actually played any of them, so I don't have much comentary.
Spin Offs
Yoshi Story (N64)
Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
Yoshi Touch and Go (DS)
Yoshi Topsey Turvey (GBA)
Super Princess Peach (DS)
Yoshi's Island DS (DS)
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
1/6
Again, for completeness, these aren't really Mario games, but clearly spun out of them, so I included them. Yoshi Story is the only one I played and it's a lot of fun. I hear great things about the new Luigi's Mansion as well, so it's probably worth a look.
Now it's time for metrics. By this count, Mario has been in 114 games. As I said, the count is not complete, as I left off stuff like Mario 64 DS and some Japan only releases. Of those I've played 31, or about 27% If we remove the Spin Offs, Cameos and Educational games, the number drops to 89, of which I've played 29, or about 33% or a third of the games. That means I have a ton to go, and in particular, I really want to track down some of the RPGs and Sports Titles from a few years back. If we really drill down and only take the "core" games, that is the 2d sidescrollers and 3d platformers, the plumber has been in 19 games, of which I've played 10, which means I've played a little over half of them. While it's a little depressing that I've left so many of my favorite characters games on the shelf, I'm really excited to try and make that number go up, especially with so many of the games available via things like Virtual Console.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Episode 19: Mario for the Money [Super Mario RPG]
Crazy antics ensue when you press the right button to really whack that guy with a hammer. This week, we tackle the RPG classic that spawned a whole mess of odd titles featuring the mustachioed plumber. It's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Yes, that subtitle is super necessary.
Press A to right before downloading for extra damage!
(02:30) Potato burgers! They're magically potato. Also, the current state of lab grown meat.
(05:00) Man of Steel, a movie with Superman!
(08:50) Not corrupt leaders! Charlemagne was awesome. I may have talked up Sukarno a bit, but he wasn't terrible.
(14:30) Pandora's Tower for the Wii! Looks pretty decent. Couldn't find the review I originally read for it, though.
(15:00) JRPGs and turn-based combat. Characterization is cool! We get a bit distracted on other games here.
(23:00) Back to turn-based combat. Star Ocean is pretty cool. If you've never played FFX, it's pretty decent. For the combat system thing, check out the right side of this image I found on Shamus Young's site. Another pretty decent TBC system, Wild Arms!
(28:20) Kind of a tangent, but here's a good description of how it feels to be shot. On a lighter note, levels of abstraction in games! Dwarf Fortress!
(31:30) We actually get to the game. It's Mariorriffic. Geno and Mallow are... not super setting appropriate. Geno for Smash, btw. The timed hits make the combat more engaging than Final Fantasy and the endless battles.
(38:00) The visual style is mostly this the entire game. Neutrality!
(40:00) The weird design choices Square made with the setting.
(44:00) Better engagement through environmental interaction? Golden Sun!
(47:20) Do you make up stories for plotless games? Let us know!
(52:30) SLAP!
Next time on Last Time, it's Bases Loaded. Batter up!
Catch a slow ball at
Press A to right before downloading for extra damage!
(02:30) Potato burgers! They're magically potato. Also, the current state of lab grown meat.
(05:00) Man of Steel, a movie with Superman!
(08:50) Not corrupt leaders! Charlemagne was awesome. I may have talked up Sukarno a bit, but he wasn't terrible.
(14:30) Pandora's Tower for the Wii! Looks pretty decent. Couldn't find the review I originally read for it, though.
(15:00) JRPGs and turn-based combat. Characterization is cool! We get a bit distracted on other games here.
(23:00) Back to turn-based combat. Star Ocean is pretty cool. If you've never played FFX, it's pretty decent. For the combat system thing, check out the right side of this image I found on Shamus Young's site. Another pretty decent TBC system, Wild Arms!
(28:20) Kind of a tangent, but here's a good description of how it feels to be shot. On a lighter note, levels of abstraction in games! Dwarf Fortress!
(31:30) We actually get to the game. It's Mariorriffic. Geno and Mallow are... not super setting appropriate. Geno for Smash, btw. The timed hits make the combat more engaging than Final Fantasy and the endless battles.
(38:00) The visual style is mostly this the entire game. Neutrality!
(40:00) The weird design choices Square made with the setting.
(44:00) Better engagement through environmental interaction? Golden Sun!
(47:20) Do you make up stories for plotless games? Let us know!
(52:30) SLAP!
Next time on Last Time, it's Bases Loaded. Batter up!
Catch a slow ball at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Categories:
Episodes,
Geremy,
JRPG,
Mario,
RPG,
Square Enix,
Super Nintendo Entertainment System,
Tyler,
Zach
No comments:
No comments:
Monday, June 24, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: You are The Dedz
As always, I'm a little late to the party. I was an early installer of the now fairly well publicized DayZ mod for Arma II. However, due to my computer being barely able to run the thing, I mostly let it sit for a while. However, I actually played it after a while. This mostly involved me waiting for my character to turn while each leaf on each tree was lovingly rendered in the light breeze. As has generally been the problem with anything more processor intense than Terraria, my computer can only barely run any given game at its lowest settings.
This article's not really about DayZ, though.
The moral of this story is that even though I could only just manage to walk around, my first few experiences with the game were quite fun. The first time I lived quite a while. I wandered around the wilderness, avoided zombies, and saw another player get totally destroyed. Sadly, that incarnation ate it when I decided I was probably far enough away from the remnants of a town to start sprinting. Those zombies have unfortunately good eyesight.
My second time through, I managed to find some food, in addition to the bandages and painkillers you spawn into most servers with. I had managed to go half an hour without even being attacked, which is remarkable as I was walking normally most of the time.
Sprinting in this game, by the way, makes you incredibly obvious to lurking undead, so you had best get used to a leisurely pace. It's quite nice, actually. The game is generally so tense when you're doing anything meaningful that just walking between locations or exploring the vast island is pleasant. If you have the computing power for it, it's also gorgeous.
Anyway, I ended up walking past what I thought was a corpse but was instead a zombie in repose. He chased me along the shoreline for a some time. I was mostly busy listening to the crashing of the waves while sprinting away from my predators, but he was apparently busy gathering a posse. By the time I bothered to look around again, about 5 minutes into my attempted escape, there were seven of the things behind me.
Ahead, though, was salvation! A lighthouse! I had no idea at this point whether they could follow me in, but I decided it was better than being eaten alive. I managed to maneuver by laggy avatar into the structure and found that the door was simply a texture rather than an interactive object. This is, sadly, a rather common problem in this game. However, there existed a ladder, which I dashed up as fast as I could.
Once there, the zombies just gathered at the base of the lighthouse. I hunkered down, munching on one of the cans of beans I had salvaged from a conspicuously empty town. Eventually, some of them got bored and wandered off. One of them just stood in the same spot the entire time. The one that first chased me, however, would not give up, and decided to take a nap. Upon returning to his prone position, his remaining cohort followed suit. I tried to sneak off of the lighthouse, but was gunshy. I woke them up the first time and had to wait for them to slumber once more.
This continued for a bit, and eventually I was ready to make a break for it. However, I failed a bit at interacting with the ladder and just fell down it instead. Humans apparently have bones made of sugar cubes in this world, and both tibias shattered on impact. Bleeding, crippled, and running low on supplies, I bade farewell to the cruel island and clicked "Respawn."
My third adventure went much better but ended similarly. Damnable weak legs. At least that time I managed to find both a gun and some ammo. Also a truck. Another player tried to steal said vehicle while running from a horde of zombies, but ended up failing and stumbling past me. He didn't last long.
While these were certainly enjoyable experiences, they couldn't have taken place over the course of the same life. Each one was unique from the perspective of my character, and each one was unique to me. Certainly I went into each subsequent one with more experience, a better plan, and more knowledge of the terrain. However, knowledge that my death was permanent made each attempted life more important.
I'm some sort of masochist when it comes to games. In large world games, with a focus on exploration and survival, I'm a huge fan of permanent death. I play Minecraft on Hardcore when I'm not online. DayZ enforces permanent character death, and feels much more coherent for it.
I'm certainly not qualified to talk at length about the psychology and ideology surrounding death. It's a vast subject. However, in games, permanent death tends to make people play more cautiously. Resources are limited and each dangerous action is a calculated risk.
How close should you stand to the lava? Can I sneak through that many zombies for a can of beans? Do I have time to take the shot before that guy sees me?
Normally, these questions are brushed aside. Lack of permanence means that death is only a minor inconvenience. I like the way games feel when players take risks seriously, though. Maybe I just like overthinking things, but it lends a different flavor to any game within which it is present.
While I wish there was more of it, I don't think popular demand exists. Some people seem to love the brutality of DayZ, but most people prefer to go on shooting sprees in CoD every 30 seconds.
It's interesting to imagine how the scope of games would change if virtual lives are ephemeral.
This article's not really about DayZ, though.
The moral of this story is that even though I could only just manage to walk around, my first few experiences with the game were quite fun. The first time I lived quite a while. I wandered around the wilderness, avoided zombies, and saw another player get totally destroyed. Sadly, that incarnation ate it when I decided I was probably far enough away from the remnants of a town to start sprinting. Those zombies have unfortunately good eyesight.
My second time through, I managed to find some food, in addition to the bandages and painkillers you spawn into most servers with. I had managed to go half an hour without even being attacked, which is remarkable as I was walking normally most of the time.
Sprinting in this game, by the way, makes you incredibly obvious to lurking undead, so you had best get used to a leisurely pace. It's quite nice, actually. The game is generally so tense when you're doing anything meaningful that just walking between locations or exploring the vast island is pleasant. If you have the computing power for it, it's also gorgeous.
Anyway, I ended up walking past what I thought was a corpse but was instead a zombie in repose. He chased me along the shoreline for a some time. I was mostly busy listening to the crashing of the waves while sprinting away from my predators, but he was apparently busy gathering a posse. By the time I bothered to look around again, about 5 minutes into my attempted escape, there were seven of the things behind me.
Ahead, though, was salvation! A lighthouse! I had no idea at this point whether they could follow me in, but I decided it was better than being eaten alive. I managed to maneuver by laggy avatar into the structure and found that the door was simply a texture rather than an interactive object. This is, sadly, a rather common problem in this game. However, there existed a ladder, which I dashed up as fast as I could.
Once there, the zombies just gathered at the base of the lighthouse. I hunkered down, munching on one of the cans of beans I had salvaged from a conspicuously empty town. Eventually, some of them got bored and wandered off. One of them just stood in the same spot the entire time. The one that first chased me, however, would not give up, and decided to take a nap. Upon returning to his prone position, his remaining cohort followed suit. I tried to sneak off of the lighthouse, but was gunshy. I woke them up the first time and had to wait for them to slumber once more.
This continued for a bit, and eventually I was ready to make a break for it. However, I failed a bit at interacting with the ladder and just fell down it instead. Humans apparently have bones made of sugar cubes in this world, and both tibias shattered on impact. Bleeding, crippled, and running low on supplies, I bade farewell to the cruel island and clicked "Respawn."
My third adventure went much better but ended similarly. Damnable weak legs. At least that time I managed to find both a gun and some ammo. Also a truck. Another player tried to steal said vehicle while running from a horde of zombies, but ended up failing and stumbling past me. He didn't last long.
While these were certainly enjoyable experiences, they couldn't have taken place over the course of the same life. Each one was unique from the perspective of my character, and each one was unique to me. Certainly I went into each subsequent one with more experience, a better plan, and more knowledge of the terrain. However, knowledge that my death was permanent made each attempted life more important.
I'm some sort of masochist when it comes to games. In large world games, with a focus on exploration and survival, I'm a huge fan of permanent death. I play Minecraft on Hardcore when I'm not online. DayZ enforces permanent character death, and feels much more coherent for it.
I'm certainly not qualified to talk at length about the psychology and ideology surrounding death. It's a vast subject. However, in games, permanent death tends to make people play more cautiously. Resources are limited and each dangerous action is a calculated risk.
How close should you stand to the lava? Can I sneak through that many zombies for a can of beans? Do I have time to take the shot before that guy sees me?
Normally, these questions are brushed aside. Lack of permanence means that death is only a minor inconvenience. I like the way games feel when players take risks seriously, though. Maybe I just like overthinking things, but it lends a different flavor to any game within which it is present.
While I wish there was more of it, I don't think popular demand exists. Some people seem to love the brutality of DayZ, but most people prefer to go on shooting sprees in CoD every 30 seconds.
It's interesting to imagine how the scope of games would change if virtual lives are ephemeral.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Episode 18: Finishing Faster than the Obligatory Falcon Punch Joke [F-Zero]
Faster than a Golden Fox! More slippery than a Fire Stingray! Diving farther than a Blue Falcon! More inane than chasing a Wild Goose!
This week we race on into F-Zero, the futuristic game of driving hover cars around acid trip environments. Does it cross the finish line?
Falcon pick up this download!
(04:20) What we've been up to. Zach hasn't played a real game on the 360 for a week! Burnout 3!
Also, a better game than Yoshi, Yoshi's Island!
(13:30) Kenichi! It's... cheesecake, really. I don't know why I'm still watching it.
(14:15) E3! New Smash, among other things. In response to the XBox One fiasco, they've apparently done away with some of their restrictions.
(17:30) We get sidetracked on Elder Scrolls for a bit.
(22:40) F-Zero! Finally! Pretty!(?) The concept's not bad, but it's a bit bare.
(34:30) Goroh!
Next time on Last Time, it's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars! It's on the Wii and Wii U. Pick it up!
We're not Smiths, but we know some! Find out at
This week we race on into F-Zero, the futuristic game of driving hover cars around acid trip environments. Does it cross the finish line?
Falcon pick up this download!
(04:20) What we've been up to. Zach hasn't played a real game on the 360 for a week! Burnout 3!
Also, a better game than Yoshi, Yoshi's Island!
(13:30) Kenichi! It's... cheesecake, really. I don't know why I'm still watching it.
(14:15) E3! New Smash, among other things. In response to the XBox One fiasco, they've apparently done away with some of their restrictions.
(17:30) We get sidetracked on Elder Scrolls for a bit.
(22:40) F-Zero! Finally! Pretty!(?) The concept's not bad, but it's a bit bare.
(34:30) Goroh!
Next time on Last Time, it's Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars! It's on the Wii and Wii U. Pick it up!
We're not Smiths, but we know some! Find out at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Categories:
Episodes,
Geremy,
Nintendo,
Racing,
Super Nintendo Entertainment System,
Tyler,
Zach
No comments:
No comments:
Monday, June 17, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: The Selling Point
With all the E3 commotion dying down, at least for a moment, I've been thinking a bit about what it is that makes a person actually want to buy a game machine at a fairly heavy cost. Barring the Wii, which I bought only slightly before the Wii U was announced, I haven't really owned a modern console for a long time. Thinking on it, the last time I had one that was really part of the current generation was probably during the GameCube's run, or possibly the PS2.
Ideally, I would want all the major consoles during any generation. I seem to be a bit of an aberration in that I like almost all games. I have a preference for particular genres, but most everything amuses me, setting the bar pretty low, or at least fairly wide, for games that I want to play. While I fully understand the reasoning behind exclusive titles, ever since the PSX I've felt like I've missed out on some sort of cultural phenomenon every time there's a decent game on a console I don't own. Unfortunately, prohibitive costs prevent me from owning three $300-$500 machines for the express purpose of playing games.
When it comes down to it, I'm cheap. I have an inordinately hard time spending money on myself, which makes it hard to justify spending so much money on a machine I won't use all the time. Because i have no particular need to own any current generation consoles but still want to play games that I haven't yet conquered, I do a lot of PC gaming. At some level, spending over $1000 on a computer seems much more reasonable to me.
Now, you may be wondering why I wouldn't just cough up $400 for a console rather than $1600 on the gaming computer whose parts I'm scavenging from NewEgg. While monetarily it may seem the wiser move, I'm under the impression that I, and most other people, use their computers quite a bit. Having a machine that can run multiple programs and be useful in both my productive and leisure endeavors is incredibly useful. I may be able to play some awesome games on the XBox, but I can't write an essay on it, nor can I do my programming from it.
Really, having a computer powerful enough to run a cadre of decent games is a convenient side effect of having a machine that can easily handle my daily computing needs. Since I've started buying my own consoles, I've had a hard time seeing why I should get a new console when I can run almost everything published up that that point on my computer hooked up to my TV via HDMI. Steam certainly doesn't make the decision to by a new console any easier. Given that a large number of the games I would want to play are usually ported to or from PC, I can snag them over Steam, and usually at a cheaper price than for a console due to their rotating sales.
I'm not necessarily advocating that everyone switch to PC gaming. Buying a machine that can easily crunch current games at their highest settings is rather expensive, and will need to be replaced within 6 years. If anything, that gap is getting shorter.
However, there just haven't been enough new games on any console to really keep my interest. It doesn't help that I also enjoy tight 2D platformers over many other genres, and developers for modern consoles don't think anyone is willing to buy them any longer. I continue to buy Nintendo consoles only because I love Zelda and there's usually a handful of other games I'm willing to get on the system over its life cycle.
Handhelds, though. I'm all over that. Except the Vita. Poor thing doesn't get any love.
Ideally, I would want all the major consoles during any generation. I seem to be a bit of an aberration in that I like almost all games. I have a preference for particular genres, but most everything amuses me, setting the bar pretty low, or at least fairly wide, for games that I want to play. While I fully understand the reasoning behind exclusive titles, ever since the PSX I've felt like I've missed out on some sort of cultural phenomenon every time there's a decent game on a console I don't own. Unfortunately, prohibitive costs prevent me from owning three $300-$500 machines for the express purpose of playing games.
When it comes down to it, I'm cheap. I have an inordinately hard time spending money on myself, which makes it hard to justify spending so much money on a machine I won't use all the time. Because i have no particular need to own any current generation consoles but still want to play games that I haven't yet conquered, I do a lot of PC gaming. At some level, spending over $1000 on a computer seems much more reasonable to me.
Now, you may be wondering why I wouldn't just cough up $400 for a console rather than $1600 on the gaming computer whose parts I'm scavenging from NewEgg. While monetarily it may seem the wiser move, I'm under the impression that I, and most other people, use their computers quite a bit. Having a machine that can run multiple programs and be useful in both my productive and leisure endeavors is incredibly useful. I may be able to play some awesome games on the XBox, but I can't write an essay on it, nor can I do my programming from it.
Really, having a computer powerful enough to run a cadre of decent games is a convenient side effect of having a machine that can easily handle my daily computing needs. Since I've started buying my own consoles, I've had a hard time seeing why I should get a new console when I can run almost everything published up that that point on my computer hooked up to my TV via HDMI. Steam certainly doesn't make the decision to by a new console any easier. Given that a large number of the games I would want to play are usually ported to or from PC, I can snag them over Steam, and usually at a cheaper price than for a console due to their rotating sales.
I'm not necessarily advocating that everyone switch to PC gaming. Buying a machine that can easily crunch current games at their highest settings is rather expensive, and will need to be replaced within 6 years. If anything, that gap is getting shorter.
However, there just haven't been enough new games on any console to really keep my interest. It doesn't help that I also enjoy tight 2D platformers over many other genres, and developers for modern consoles don't think anyone is willing to buy them any longer. I continue to buy Nintendo consoles only because I love Zelda and there's usually a handful of other games I'm willing to get on the system over its life cycle.
Handhelds, though. I'm all over that. Except the Vita. Poor thing doesn't get any love.
Friday, June 14, 2013
The Series: Pokemon
Seems like I've been talking about Pokemon a lot lately. "Pokemania" came at a very formative time for me. I'd given up on Power Rangers and Super Hero cartoons and other things that were "for kids" and was trying to get into the things that were popular with my peers. I had a very very sports focused group of peers from kindergarten to 6th grade, many of which ended up being on the varsity teams when I got to high school, and very few who were willing to talk about Batman or Spider-Man since they were for nerds. But when Pokemon hit it was all encompassing, and I was right at the forefront of it, with the cards the cartoon and everything. After a year or two though, Pokemania started to die down. The cartoon was always stupid, but I realized how stupid as I got older, and Wizard of the Coast, responsible for publishing the Pokemon Card Game, hit a bit of a snag with the Japanese publisher, causing the 4th set to be long delayed. The huge fad that was Pokemon slowly started to die, and it took me with it. However, there is one part of Pokemon that has always been near and dear to my heart. The games.
The video I've spoken of that got me into Pokemon in the first place was sure to extol every virtue the series had. Including of course, the games that started the franchise in the first place. I was so hooked I started saving up for a Gameboy right away. Luckily for me, one of my neighbors was selling his old beat up brick of a Gameboy at a garage sale, and after some more saving, Pokemon Red and Blue were mine. I had the Blue version, but for Christmas that year my brother got a Gameboy Pocket and Red.
I talk about my own experience a lot on this blog, but I find with the Pokemon games, its hard to say what's great about them that I haven't talked about in my bigger posts about Pokemon already. It appeals to gamers that want to collect, to gamers that want to level up, and to gamers that just want to complete a game. The combat if incredibly slow by modern standards, and the user interface has issues, but both are still serviceable today. It's very important to note how much what makes the Pokemon games what they are was there at the beginning, learning new moves as you level up, items that let a Pokemon learn new moves, moves that can be used both in combat and to interact with the environment, an "evil" team of Pokemon trainers to serve as antagonists, very powerful Pokemon that are unique in the game and must be found by solving some sort of puzzle, it's all there. That they fit all of that on a single little Gameboy cart still astounds me, but it couldn't be done perfectly, and one of the most interesting parts of Red/Blue to me is the number of glitches.
For those of you that never played the original Pokemon games, there were a huge number of glitches, some of which were only discovered years after the games were released and people had moved on. Two things stand out about these glitches. First of all, they were relatively benign. While reports exist of Save Files being deleted by them, that never happened to me or anyone I knew, and some minor data did get corrupted, but nothing useful, just some of the records. Second, you had to go out of your way to encounter them. Most of them were easy to replicate, but the steps required would almost never be taken by mistake. They were more like complicated cheat codes than real glitches in some cases, allowing for infinite items and to copy Pokemon and they added some mystery to the game. Something you could share with friends that might not know, to give them a little edge.
It was a mere two years before Pokemon got a proper sequel in Pokemon Gold and Silver. Today that might actually seem like a short time frame, but as a kid, seeing little things leaked like Togepi on the cartoon and "Pikablue" sometimes made it seem like the game was in development for decades. When it finally did come out though, it was the perfect sequel. 100 new Pokemon, most of which were designed just as well as the originals, two new types of Pokemon to help reign in the dominance of the psychic type, tons of new moves, gender, breeding, the list of features added was huge. The glitches were tightened as well, though a couple still existed, they were much harder to preform, and caused no problems with data loss. I think the most impressive thing however was the games reverse compatibility. You could trade your old Pokemon from the older games forward to the new version, and in fact some Pokemon could only be obtained in this way, adding to their uniqueness. In addition, once the first part of the game was complete, you unlocked the old island of Pokemon Red and Blue, which had advanced in interesting ways, and made the game more than twice as long as the older version. Pokemon Gold held the distinction of the game I'd spent the most time in from the time I was 12 until I was 17, and I still don't feel like I got everything I could out of it. It's a rare example of a sequel that added everything you could want and more, without messing anything up.
While people were clamoring for a "real" console release from Pokemon, Nintendo didn't go that way for their next release, deciding to keep Pokemon where it had always been successful, on their handheld consoles. So with the Game Boy Advance came two more Pokemon games Ruby and Sapphire. Unfortunately, these games had a huge hill to climb. Gold and Silver had perfected the User Interface, added more features then anyone could have expected and doubled the length of the game. Ruby and Sapphire took advantage of the GBA's greater power to improve the graphics quite a bit, but Nintendo games and Pokemon have always been about game play. Pokemon Contests were added as an alternate way to compete in the games, but they were optional and battles were still the game's center point.
So what did they add besides pretty graphics? Well, they completely redid the way Pokemon are coded. This let them add in things like "natures" personalities for Pokemon that effected their stats, as well as adding "Abilities" passive powers individual Pokemon had to give them a bit more personality. While a neat idea this came at a cost, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were not compatible with previous versions. In addition, in order to spotlight the new Pokemon, the developers decided not to include the majority of the older Pokemon, introducing only a handful. While it was a bold idea, it made the game feel smaller over all. They only had one are to explore and a fraction of the Pokemon. While Ruby and Sapphire are great games, they don't have the grandeur of Pokemon Gold and Silver, and I can't help but feel it was a step back. While I've said I still feel there's plenty for me to find in Pokemon Gold, I've completed Sapphire twice and I pretty much feel done with it.
If Ruby and Sapphire were a step back, then the next installment was a step to the side. With a huge number of beloved Pokemon removed from the games and the catch phrase "Gotta Catch 'em All" made impossible rumors began to circulate about remade versions of the classic games. Rumors that proved true when Fire Red and Leaf Green were announced. Remakes of Red and Blue, FR and LG had the various glitches removed, the Pokemon reworked to match those in Ruby and Sapphire, and some new content added to go through after the game was completed, along with the much needed User Interface improvements that Gold and Silver got and a spattering of new Pokemon from the games released sense. While it's easy to critique anything for being a simple remake, Red and Blue really show their age, and I'm quite glad to have updated versions. If you've never played a Pokemon game, I sincerely recommend you start here, the games have everything that made Pokemon great with most of what made it frustrating stripped out.
They couldn't do simple remakes forever however, and soon after the Nintendo DS was released, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl followed. To be honest however, I've never completed either game, never even got more than about half way through before completing one of them. They continue to be great games, and I like to think I'm saving Pearl, Black, and Black 2 for a rainy day when I've got nothing to do, a treat on the horizon. However, new Pokemon have seem a little uninspired since Ruby and Sapphire. That's not universally true, every generation has a couple of standouts, but most animals and legends have already been adapted at least once. The first 151 Pokemon all seemed unique and interesting, and the next 100 were a great expansion upon them, but every gen since has had filler, and Pokemon that seem to just be there to feel roles like "Bird" or "Vermin" or "Starters". At the same time, no Pokemon game has seen the shear number of improvements that Pokemon Gold and Silver saw, and the series has stagnated a bit.
One of Nintendo's big upcoming games for the year is Pokemon X and Y. I havn't been paying too much attention to it, since I still have three generations of Pokemon games to go through first, but what do they need to do in order to recapture my interest? I think going to 3d environments is actually a big step forward. People have always wanted a "true console Pokemon game" and that's a big part of what they want. I think the two major keys however are in the Pokemon and the singe player experience. I've only seen the three starters so far, which look passable, the fox starter stands out, since there are plenty of kitsune legends to draw inspiration from. Sure, Ninetails fills that already, but that's a Pokemon from the original days and there's plenty of room for a new spin on that theme. Time will tell if the new Pokemon can capture the imagination the same way the originals did. Second, they need to take a page from Pokemon Gold and add more to do in the single player stuff. Optional stuff like contests are cool, but they're nothing compared to the whole extra world that Gold let you explore. Something beyond battling Gym Leaders and gangsters is what the game really needs.
Still, despite my advice, I think the biggest problem with new Pokemon games is how great the old ones still are. Every time I go to play my copy of Pearl, I ask myself why I don't just fire up Fire Red or Heart Gold instead. It's always a question I have trouble answering, not because Pearl is worse then those old games, but because they've truly stood the test of time. If I have kids, there are certain things important enough to me that I want them shared with him, and Pokemon Fire Red is at the top of the list, as far as video games are concerned.
The video I've spoken of that got me into Pokemon in the first place was sure to extol every virtue the series had. Including of course, the games that started the franchise in the first place. I was so hooked I started saving up for a Gameboy right away. Luckily for me, one of my neighbors was selling his old beat up brick of a Gameboy at a garage sale, and after some more saving, Pokemon Red and Blue were mine. I had the Blue version, but for Christmas that year my brother got a Gameboy Pocket and Red.
I talk about my own experience a lot on this blog, but I find with the Pokemon games, its hard to say what's great about them that I haven't talked about in my bigger posts about Pokemon already. It appeals to gamers that want to collect, to gamers that want to level up, and to gamers that just want to complete a game. The combat if incredibly slow by modern standards, and the user interface has issues, but both are still serviceable today. It's very important to note how much what makes the Pokemon games what they are was there at the beginning, learning new moves as you level up, items that let a Pokemon learn new moves, moves that can be used both in combat and to interact with the environment, an "evil" team of Pokemon trainers to serve as antagonists, very powerful Pokemon that are unique in the game and must be found by solving some sort of puzzle, it's all there. That they fit all of that on a single little Gameboy cart still astounds me, but it couldn't be done perfectly, and one of the most interesting parts of Red/Blue to me is the number of glitches.
For those of you that never played the original Pokemon games, there were a huge number of glitches, some of which were only discovered years after the games were released and people had moved on. Two things stand out about these glitches. First of all, they were relatively benign. While reports exist of Save Files being deleted by them, that never happened to me or anyone I knew, and some minor data did get corrupted, but nothing useful, just some of the records. Second, you had to go out of your way to encounter them. Most of them were easy to replicate, but the steps required would almost never be taken by mistake. They were more like complicated cheat codes than real glitches in some cases, allowing for infinite items and to copy Pokemon and they added some mystery to the game. Something you could share with friends that might not know, to give them a little edge.
It was a mere two years before Pokemon got a proper sequel in Pokemon Gold and Silver. Today that might actually seem like a short time frame, but as a kid, seeing little things leaked like Togepi on the cartoon and "Pikablue" sometimes made it seem like the game was in development for decades. When it finally did come out though, it was the perfect sequel. 100 new Pokemon, most of which were designed just as well as the originals, two new types of Pokemon to help reign in the dominance of the psychic type, tons of new moves, gender, breeding, the list of features added was huge. The glitches were tightened as well, though a couple still existed, they were much harder to preform, and caused no problems with data loss. I think the most impressive thing however was the games reverse compatibility. You could trade your old Pokemon from the older games forward to the new version, and in fact some Pokemon could only be obtained in this way, adding to their uniqueness. In addition, once the first part of the game was complete, you unlocked the old island of Pokemon Red and Blue, which had advanced in interesting ways, and made the game more than twice as long as the older version. Pokemon Gold held the distinction of the game I'd spent the most time in from the time I was 12 until I was 17, and I still don't feel like I got everything I could out of it. It's a rare example of a sequel that added everything you could want and more, without messing anything up.
While people were clamoring for a "real" console release from Pokemon, Nintendo didn't go that way for their next release, deciding to keep Pokemon where it had always been successful, on their handheld consoles. So with the Game Boy Advance came two more Pokemon games Ruby and Sapphire. Unfortunately, these games had a huge hill to climb. Gold and Silver had perfected the User Interface, added more features then anyone could have expected and doubled the length of the game. Ruby and Sapphire took advantage of the GBA's greater power to improve the graphics quite a bit, but Nintendo games and Pokemon have always been about game play. Pokemon Contests were added as an alternate way to compete in the games, but they were optional and battles were still the game's center point.
So what did they add besides pretty graphics? Well, they completely redid the way Pokemon are coded. This let them add in things like "natures" personalities for Pokemon that effected their stats, as well as adding "Abilities" passive powers individual Pokemon had to give them a bit more personality. While a neat idea this came at a cost, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire were not compatible with previous versions. In addition, in order to spotlight the new Pokemon, the developers decided not to include the majority of the older Pokemon, introducing only a handful. While it was a bold idea, it made the game feel smaller over all. They only had one are to explore and a fraction of the Pokemon. While Ruby and Sapphire are great games, they don't have the grandeur of Pokemon Gold and Silver, and I can't help but feel it was a step back. While I've said I still feel there's plenty for me to find in Pokemon Gold, I've completed Sapphire twice and I pretty much feel done with it.
If Ruby and Sapphire were a step back, then the next installment was a step to the side. With a huge number of beloved Pokemon removed from the games and the catch phrase "Gotta Catch 'em All" made impossible rumors began to circulate about remade versions of the classic games. Rumors that proved true when Fire Red and Leaf Green were announced. Remakes of Red and Blue, FR and LG had the various glitches removed, the Pokemon reworked to match those in Ruby and Sapphire, and some new content added to go through after the game was completed, along with the much needed User Interface improvements that Gold and Silver got and a spattering of new Pokemon from the games released sense. While it's easy to critique anything for being a simple remake, Red and Blue really show their age, and I'm quite glad to have updated versions. If you've never played a Pokemon game, I sincerely recommend you start here, the games have everything that made Pokemon great with most of what made it frustrating stripped out.
They couldn't do simple remakes forever however, and soon after the Nintendo DS was released, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl followed. To be honest however, I've never completed either game, never even got more than about half way through before completing one of them. They continue to be great games, and I like to think I'm saving Pearl, Black, and Black 2 for a rainy day when I've got nothing to do, a treat on the horizon. However, new Pokemon have seem a little uninspired since Ruby and Sapphire. That's not universally true, every generation has a couple of standouts, but most animals and legends have already been adapted at least once. The first 151 Pokemon all seemed unique and interesting, and the next 100 were a great expansion upon them, but every gen since has had filler, and Pokemon that seem to just be there to feel roles like "Bird" or "Vermin" or "Starters". At the same time, no Pokemon game has seen the shear number of improvements that Pokemon Gold and Silver saw, and the series has stagnated a bit.
One of Nintendo's big upcoming games for the year is Pokemon X and Y. I havn't been paying too much attention to it, since I still have three generations of Pokemon games to go through first, but what do they need to do in order to recapture my interest? I think going to 3d environments is actually a big step forward. People have always wanted a "true console Pokemon game" and that's a big part of what they want. I think the two major keys however are in the Pokemon and the singe player experience. I've only seen the three starters so far, which look passable, the fox starter stands out, since there are plenty of kitsune legends to draw inspiration from. Sure, Ninetails fills that already, but that's a Pokemon from the original days and there's plenty of room for a new spin on that theme. Time will tell if the new Pokemon can capture the imagination the same way the originals did. Second, they need to take a page from Pokemon Gold and add more to do in the single player stuff. Optional stuff like contests are cool, but they're nothing compared to the whole extra world that Gold let you explore. Something beyond battling Gym Leaders and gangsters is what the game really needs.
Still, despite my advice, I think the biggest problem with new Pokemon games is how great the old ones still are. Every time I go to play my copy of Pearl, I ask myself why I don't just fire up Fire Red or Heart Gold instead. It's always a question I have trouble answering, not because Pearl is worse then those old games, but because they've truly stood the test of time. If I have kids, there are certain things important enough to me that I want them shared with him, and Pokemon Fire Red is at the top of the list, as far as video games are concerned.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Episode 17: At Least the Art is Pretty [Comix Zone]
If you were a kid in the 90s, you probably wanted to be sucked into your favorite videogame or comic book and be the hero. You could fight off the ravening hordes, have fun with your favorite characters, and generally be awesome. Sounds fantastic, right? Well, they made a game of that. Unfortunately, I think we've learned that such daydreams are usually best left in the mind of the creator.
Get sucked into our crazy Download world!
(03:10) We talk about sweet games we've been playing. Sweet! You can check out the Bronze League Heroes channel and see some SC2 shenanigans. Chameleons are weak to boomerangs.
(10:30) Tyler's hardcore Minecraft server. Not really worth mentioning, but as of this episode dropping, it's already gone due to stealth zombies. Also, I recommend Terranigma.
(12:00) The problems with brawlers.
(14:20) Watch this until about the 16s mark. Pretty much the entirety of Zach's Deadpool strategy. Also, CVS2.
(20:20) Comix Zone! It... has multiple endings? I feel like we've shot the Liefeld target a couple times, but here's a reminder.
(28:00) Inconsistent themes are inconsistent. Also, I like wasting your time, and so does this game. Luke Skywalker is a good example of many tropes. Aerith and Bob!
(35:00) End bosses and disappointment.
(42:00) Why Viewtiful Joe is way better than Comix Zone.
Next week, it's F-Zero. You can get it on the Wii things and race your Falcon heart out!
Text is an excellent medium for communication. Send us some at
Get sucked into our crazy Download world!
(03:10) We talk about sweet games we've been playing. Sweet! You can check out the Bronze League Heroes channel and see some SC2 shenanigans. Chameleons are weak to boomerangs.
(10:30) Tyler's hardcore Minecraft server. Not really worth mentioning, but as of this episode dropping, it's already gone due to stealth zombies. Also, I recommend Terranigma.
(12:00) The problems with brawlers.
(14:20) Watch this until about the 16s mark. Pretty much the entirety of Zach's Deadpool strategy. Also, CVS2.
(20:20) Comix Zone! It... has multiple endings? I feel like we've shot the Liefeld target a couple times, but here's a reminder.
(28:00) Inconsistent themes are inconsistent. Also, I like wasting your time, and so does this game. Luke Skywalker is a good example of many tropes. Aerith and Bob!
(35:00) End bosses and disappointment.
(42:00) Why Viewtiful Joe is way better than Comix Zone.
Next week, it's F-Zero. You can get it on the Wii things and race your Falcon heart out!
Text is an excellent medium for communication. Send us some at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
PSA: Zelda on the 3DS
So, Ed told me about this just a minute ago. Apparently, if you own a 3DS, each of the two games in the Oracle series are only $5 right now. Oracle of Ages and Oracle of seasons were GBC games that linked to each other via password or cable, and were generally awesome. It's a steal at $10 for the series.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: Inside the Cylinder [Terranigma]
The recent subject of my gaming focus in the last weeks, aside from copious copying con Kirby, has been a game I've never heard of outside of randomly finding and playing it years ago. Given its pedigree, I have no idea how it flew under the radar. While it definitely has its flaws, this is an Enix title from back in that company's reign over stat heavy games. It's bizarre, frantic, funny, and provokes a bit of introspection.
The game is Terranigma. I've put off playing it for some time because I wanted to do it for the show, but it doesn't seem that it's ever been republished in any form. What's more, this title never got an official North American release. The only official English version was the European release. This is mildly disappointing, since this is one of the most memorable games from my early teenage years. Along with Soul Blazer and the mechanically similar Illusion of Gaia, the game's thematic focus is on reincarnation and the protection of the world from dark deities bent on dominating creation.
To be honest, I had misgivings about the fond memories I had of this game when I started playing again. You start in a calm village during the presence of what the villagers call "crystal blue." Basically, they're soap bubbles that fly overhead. The town is peaceful and everyone seems to be getting along fine. Ark, your character, is being woken by his childhood friend and unofficial girlfriend after sleeping in for too long. Being the town hooligan, Ark sets off to cause trouble and, with varying amounts of sincerity, apologize for the last week's misdeeds. Eventually, he is goaded into breaking down a door in the village Elder's house that was never supposed to be entered. Upon doing so, your peers bail with excuses of mild maladies, leaving you alone to explore the old man's basement.
At the bottom, you find the game's menu. Seriously. It's actually an interesting concept. The basement contains a small box, which in turn contains a pocket dimension that has acted as the prison of a small pink winged... bat thing named Yomi. Yomi bequeaths the box and his dubious quality as a servant to Ark. The menu in this game is contained within the box. When you access it, Ark wriggles inside and navigates the contents through Yomi as a cursor. Instead of a list of text, there are objects in various rooms that serve various functions. There are instructions on the various techniques you can perform, game settings, rooms full of your arms and armor, and a tiled room full of miscellaneous items. You can't actually walk around it aside from the introduction, but it's a neat way to do a menu.
At this point, however, the world start falling apart, and it's all your fault. With the exception of the elder, all the townsfolk, your friends and family, are frozen in some sort of crystalline state. The old guy sets you off on a journey to return their souls to their bodies by conquering several towers across the land. Ark is now the first person living in the village, with the implied exception of the elder, to set foot outside. This is where it started to get a little less amazing. Outside has a weird fishbowl lens effect that's quite distracting while walking around. The underground is a barren wasteland filled with lava and strange crystals. The towers are externally identical, though contents may vary. This section basically serves as a tutorial for the game, though it starts to get monotonous rather quickly.
The combat is a lot of fun, however. There are a fairly wide variety of moves available, and different moves are more effective against various enemies. Combine this with the fact that our hero's favored weapon is a spear, one of my favorite and seldom used fantasy weapons, exploring dungeons is pretty entertaining. The world maps throughout the game are SNES era FF-esque. It's a big, roughly 40 degree from perpendicular view of the landscape. I do rather like Ark's little traveling ensemble.
After returning everyone to normal and getting a sweet cape from your sweetheart, you find that you must resurrect the entire planet. All life is gone, and it is up to Ark to play god and bring everything back to life. Yeah. Things just got really heavy. Ark proceeds to play god and resurrect all life on the planet. There's a lot of implied incarnation going on here. What's more, it's actually an acknowledged fact that this happens, as there are people later who have the ability to remember stuff between lives. This isn't just a bunch of charlatans, either. One guy uses his keen memory to help guide entire societies to betterment.
It was about the point that I was wandering around the first topside dungeon (you live underground, it seems) and I was having doubts about continuing the game. It was fun, but the plot seemed to be going nowhere. I stuck with it, however, and I was treated to some amazing things. I said earlier that this game has a rocky start. That's only because you're seeing the side of the cliff you jumped off of to get to the sea of awesome. There are many wonderful scenes in this game. You help manage economies, meet alternate reality versions of people you know, get killed by yourself in a manner that doesn't constitute suicide, wake up in after a nice night in the inn to a completely destroyed zombie town, and have super fun time adventures with a lion cub. There's a particularly dramatic scene with a mountain goat. This makes more sense knowing you can talk to animals for a while.
The combat never really changes, but the enemies do, so your tactics may vary a bit over the course of the game. Honestly, I use the rushing-jumping attack 90% of the time, and that seems to suit me well enough. There's a lot of stuff to collect and a fair amount of flavor in the world that could go unnoticed if you're not into looking for that kind of thing. Basically, it's a combat-heavy LttP style game with some decent puzzles and super heavy themes. You're basically god. Except for the two things that are more godly, but you stab them in the face eventually, so it's all good.
This game continues to stand out as a rather enjoyable romp with a light to medium treatment of some heavy topics. The experience is fun and engaging, and the ambiance is palpable at times. If you happen to have some sort of Super Nintendo device, or a close facsimile, I recommend trying to find a cart. Or do what I do. Not that that's an endorsement of any kind.
The game is Terranigma. I've put off playing it for some time because I wanted to do it for the show, but it doesn't seem that it's ever been republished in any form. What's more, this title never got an official North American release. The only official English version was the European release. This is mildly disappointing, since this is one of the most memorable games from my early teenage years. Along with Soul Blazer and the mechanically similar Illusion of Gaia, the game's thematic focus is on reincarnation and the protection of the world from dark deities bent on dominating creation.
To be honest, I had misgivings about the fond memories I had of this game when I started playing again. You start in a calm village during the presence of what the villagers call "crystal blue." Basically, they're soap bubbles that fly overhead. The town is peaceful and everyone seems to be getting along fine. Ark, your character, is being woken by his childhood friend and unofficial girlfriend after sleeping in for too long. Being the town hooligan, Ark sets off to cause trouble and, with varying amounts of sincerity, apologize for the last week's misdeeds. Eventually, he is goaded into breaking down a door in the village Elder's house that was never supposed to be entered. Upon doing so, your peers bail with excuses of mild maladies, leaving you alone to explore the old man's basement.
At the bottom, you find the game's menu. Seriously. It's actually an interesting concept. The basement contains a small box, which in turn contains a pocket dimension that has acted as the prison of a small pink winged... bat thing named Yomi. Yomi bequeaths the box and his dubious quality as a servant to Ark. The menu in this game is contained within the box. When you access it, Ark wriggles inside and navigates the contents through Yomi as a cursor. Instead of a list of text, there are objects in various rooms that serve various functions. There are instructions on the various techniques you can perform, game settings, rooms full of your arms and armor, and a tiled room full of miscellaneous items. You can't actually walk around it aside from the introduction, but it's a neat way to do a menu.
At this point, however, the world start falling apart, and it's all your fault. With the exception of the elder, all the townsfolk, your friends and family, are frozen in some sort of crystalline state. The old guy sets you off on a journey to return their souls to their bodies by conquering several towers across the land. Ark is now the first person living in the village, with the implied exception of the elder, to set foot outside. This is where it started to get a little less amazing. Outside has a weird fishbowl lens effect that's quite distracting while walking around. The underground is a barren wasteland filled with lava and strange crystals. The towers are externally identical, though contents may vary. This section basically serves as a tutorial for the game, though it starts to get monotonous rather quickly.
The combat is a lot of fun, however. There are a fairly wide variety of moves available, and different moves are more effective against various enemies. Combine this with the fact that our hero's favored weapon is a spear, one of my favorite and seldom used fantasy weapons, exploring dungeons is pretty entertaining. The world maps throughout the game are SNES era FF-esque. It's a big, roughly 40 degree from perpendicular view of the landscape. I do rather like Ark's little traveling ensemble.
After returning everyone to normal and getting a sweet cape from your sweetheart, you find that you must resurrect the entire planet. All life is gone, and it is up to Ark to play god and bring everything back to life. Yeah. Things just got really heavy. Ark proceeds to play god and resurrect all life on the planet. There's a lot of implied incarnation going on here. What's more, it's actually an acknowledged fact that this happens, as there are people later who have the ability to remember stuff between lives. This isn't just a bunch of charlatans, either. One guy uses his keen memory to help guide entire societies to betterment.
It was about the point that I was wandering around the first topside dungeon (you live underground, it seems) and I was having doubts about continuing the game. It was fun, but the plot seemed to be going nowhere. I stuck with it, however, and I was treated to some amazing things. I said earlier that this game has a rocky start. That's only because you're seeing the side of the cliff you jumped off of to get to the sea of awesome. There are many wonderful scenes in this game. You help manage economies, meet alternate reality versions of people you know, get killed by yourself in a manner that doesn't constitute suicide, wake up in after a nice night in the inn to a completely destroyed zombie town, and have super fun time adventures with a lion cub. There's a particularly dramatic scene with a mountain goat. This makes more sense knowing you can talk to animals for a while.
The combat never really changes, but the enemies do, so your tactics may vary a bit over the course of the game. Honestly, I use the rushing-jumping attack 90% of the time, and that seems to suit me well enough. There's a lot of stuff to collect and a fair amount of flavor in the world that could go unnoticed if you're not into looking for that kind of thing. Basically, it's a combat-heavy LttP style game with some decent puzzles and super heavy themes. You're basically god. Except for the two things that are more godly, but you stab them in the face eventually, so it's all good.
This game continues to stand out as a rather enjoyable romp with a light to medium treatment of some heavy topics. The experience is fun and engaging, and the ambiance is palpable at times. If you happen to have some sort of Super Nintendo device, or a close facsimile, I recommend trying to find a cart. Or do what I do. Not that that's an endorsement of any kind.
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Ratings: May
It's time for my easy cop-out column where I hopefully say something new and insightful. How much do I love Mega Man? How low did I rank Phantasy Star? Can anything stop the pure awesome that is Castlevainia? I answer all this and more after the cut.
Phantasy Star 1/10
And the bottom of the heap. Phantasy Star. Where do I begin? Every bad trope of RPGs is here. Turn based combat (which I normally enjoy) grinding, moon logic puzzles, poor plot... the list goes on and on. Some cool features like a talk command are hinted at, but the first few hours doesn't reveal them. The setting is this blend of Sci-fi and fantasy that could have been really cool, but instead feels half finished, like the level designers and writers never told the monster designers it was a sci-fi game. This is the game I least wish to return to of all the ones we've played thus far. I hope we never play worse.
Castlevainia 10/10
Of course not. Castlevainia is reaching this legendary status in my head, where no matter how good a game is, I can't help but feel that it's not quite so good as Castlevainia. So I replayed it again really quick, and it's still a damn good game. Good enough to be king of what we've played so far for another month.
MegaMan 9/10
Speaking of replaying games, giving MegaMan another go really improved my opinions of it as well. In fact, I played it a third time after the Bonus Episode we did on it. I feel we didn't do such a good job of explaining just why the game is so great but it's not just one thing. The theme of all the levels is so strong, the music is great on every stage, the controls are incredibly tight. Most of the power ups aren't really worth it and the game suffers from some minor technical errors, but that never takes away from the frantic action, and it's just the right amount of challenge. It's a solid number two.
The Legend of Zelda 9/10
I havn't given Zelda another shake, but despite my co-hosts' problems with it, I still think it was a great game. It doesn't hold up as well as some others, but it's very different and interesting for its time, and of course gave us a ton of great games later down the road, not just limited to the Zelda series.
I havn't given Zelda another shake, but despite my co-hosts' problems with it, I still think it was a great game. It doesn't hold up as well as some others, but it's very different and interesting for its time, and of course gave us a ton of great games later down the road, not just limited to the Zelda series.
Doom 8/10
I'm not a big fan of the First Person Shooter genre and when Zach suggested Doom, I sort of rolled my eyes, but had to admit it was an important part of game history. I had a ton of fun with it though, and while I only played about half way through, I have gone back to the first level a few times to hear the music and just kill some demons for fun. And while it demonstrates a lot of the problem with early 3d games, in particular how much easier it is to get lost in a virtual space than a real one, it has a lot of charm modern shooters have lost. If you're a fan of the genre, check this one out for sure.
I'm not a big fan of the First Person Shooter genre and when Zach suggested Doom, I sort of rolled my eyes, but had to admit it was an important part of game history. I had a ton of fun with it though, and while I only played about half way through, I have gone back to the first level a few times to hear the music and just kill some demons for fun. And while it demonstrates a lot of the problem with early 3d games, in particular how much easier it is to get lost in a virtual space than a real one, it has a lot of charm modern shooters have lost. If you're a fan of the genre, check this one out for sure.
Gradius 8/10
While I havn't given it a replay like Tyler has, I almost certainly will once it hits Wii U Virtual Console and a I can play it anywhere in the house on a screen inches from my face.
While I havn't given it a replay like Tyler has, I almost certainly will once it hits Wii U Virtual Console and a I can play it anywhere in the house on a screen inches from my face.
Metroid 7/10
I honestly didn't expect to hold Metroid in such a high regard after so long, but the game is quite inventive and fun in its own way, not quite as influential as Zelda but clearly similar ideas were at play.
I honestly didn't expect to hold Metroid in such a high regard after so long, but the game is quite inventive and fun in its own way, not quite as influential as Zelda but clearly similar ideas were at play.
Super Mario Bros. 7/10
I really wanted Super Mario Bros. to be a base line, it's such a generic videogame to me, I figured lots would be better. Given the state of the review industry, perhaps it's best that the game I consider to be "just fine" hold steady at a 7/10, but it does mean this podcast hasn't turned up nearly as many diamonds in the rough as I'd hoped it might.
I really wanted Super Mario Bros. to be a base line, it's such a generic videogame to me, I figured lots would be better. Given the state of the review industry, perhaps it's best that the game I consider to be "just fine" hold steady at a 7/10, but it does mean this podcast hasn't turned up nearly as many diamonds in the rough as I'd hoped it might.
Final Fantasy 6/10
Speaking of my expectations for games, I still play Final Fantasy every once in a while, but the combat is just so laggy, after one or two fights I give it up, and I'm pretty lost in the dungeon I'm in. Here's hoping the WiiU port is better than the Wii one in that regard.
Speaking of my expectations for games, I still play Final Fantasy every once in a while, but the combat is just so laggy, after one or two fights I give it up, and I'm pretty lost in the dungeon I'm in. Here's hoping the WiiU port is better than the Wii one in that regard.
Gunstar Heroes 6/10
Gunstar Heroes is just... fine. I feel awkward saying anything bad about it, because Tyler and Alex like it so much and I had fun playing it but... it doesn't seem very deep. It still makes the top half of games we've played thus far easily though, since it is fun.
Gunstar Heroes is just... fine. I feel awkward saying anything bad about it, because Tyler and Alex like it so much and I had fun playing it but... it doesn't seem very deep. It still makes the top half of games we've played thus far easily though, since it is fun.
Kirby’s Adventure 5/10
And now we reach the midstream. Kirby is actually a pretty good game for the mid way point, it's more complex than Mario with brighter colors and a whole lot more power ups, but it's just not as fun. A 5 year old could beat it, and that's kind of the point, but it doesn't hold my interest. Still there's a lot worse... though of the games we played this month, two made it above the 5 point mark and two below, a pretty decent spread.
And now we reach the midstream. Kirby is actually a pretty good game for the mid way point, it's more complex than Mario with brighter colors and a whole lot more power ups, but it's just not as fun. A 5 year old could beat it, and that's kind of the point, but it doesn't hold my interest. Still there's a lot worse... though of the games we played this month, two made it above the 5 point mark and two below, a pretty decent spread.
Harvest Moon 5/10
The second game at the 5 point mark isn't quite as good, and we get the ball rolling into bad games sort of quickly. Harvest Moon is fun, as I've said before, just avoid it like the plague if you have any sort of completionist streak.
The second game at the 5 point mark isn't quite as good, and we get the ball rolling into bad games sort of quickly. Harvest Moon is fun, as I've said before, just avoid it like the plague if you have any sort of completionist streak.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4/10
Sonic is where we hit games that have major failings. We discuss Sonic's heavily in that episode. That said, it's a decent platformer with really pretty graphics, provided you go in without expectations.
Sonic is where we hit games that have major failings. We discuss Sonic's heavily in that episode. That said, it's a decent platformer with really pretty graphics, provided you go in without expectations.
Act Raiser 4/10
Act Raiser was full of potential, which gets it a spot up here, but it wasn't really fun, a trait pretty much all games below this point can "claim."
Act Raiser was full of potential, which gets it a spot up here, but it wasn't really fun, a trait pretty much all games below this point can "claim."
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja 4/10
Mystical Ninja is just a solid "meh" The theme is quite strong in the visuals, but the translation rather "mucks up" the feel of things. The combat is generic, the platforming not much better, and co-op seems almost like a desperate attempt to give the game something to buy it for. Skip this one.
Double Dragon II The Revenge 3/10
Mystical Ninja is bad, but it definately improves on the Co-Op formula from Double Dragon II, adding a lot more that can be done between the players, much much better platforming, and a whole lot more fun.
Mystical Ninja is just a solid "meh" The theme is quite strong in the visuals, but the translation rather "mucks up" the feel of things. The combat is generic, the platforming not much better, and co-op seems almost like a desperate attempt to give the game something to buy it for. Skip this one.
Double Dragon II The Revenge 3/10
Mystical Ninja is bad, but it definately improves on the Co-Op formula from Double Dragon II, adding a lot more that can be done between the players, much much better platforming, and a whole lot more fun.
Ogre Battle
3/10
And now we're to the point where the games just aren't fun. Ogre Battle is at the top of that heap for the same reason as Act Raiser, it tries a lot, it has an interesting (if generic) setting, and it's very different. It would be much much higher if they'd managed to make that fun as well.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins 2/10
Infamously hard, Ghosts 'n Goblins deserves that reputation. Unlike Castlevainia however, which has meticulously planned difficulty that's fun to overcome and master, Ghosts 'n Goblins is a hair tearingly frustrating game with random enemy movement. Random movement that makes the game impossible to predict and learn. Every failure feels more like the game is cheating then like it's hard, and while being one of the hardest games of all time gives it a place in gaming history, I recommend everyone stay far far away. It was recently released on the WiiU Virtual Console, so I may give the game another go with save states, but I don't expect to be converted.
And now we're to the point where the games just aren't fun. Ogre Battle is at the top of that heap for the same reason as Act Raiser, it tries a lot, it has an interesting (if generic) setting, and it's very different. It would be much much higher if they'd managed to make that fun as well.
Ghosts ‘n Goblins 2/10
Infamously hard, Ghosts 'n Goblins deserves that reputation. Unlike Castlevainia however, which has meticulously planned difficulty that's fun to overcome and master, Ghosts 'n Goblins is a hair tearingly frustrating game with random enemy movement. Random movement that makes the game impossible to predict and learn. Every failure feels more like the game is cheating then like it's hard, and while being one of the hardest games of all time gives it a place in gaming history, I recommend everyone stay far far away. It was recently released on the WiiU Virtual Console, so I may give the game another go with save states, but I don't expect to be converted.
Double Dragon 2/10
Take the poor control and bland setting of Double Dragon remove the co-op fun the amusing cut scenes and add terrible terrible music and this is what you get. The difference between this and Ghosts 'n Goblins is that I'd at least get a sense of achievment out of that.
Take the poor control and bland setting of Double Dragon remove the co-op fun the amusing cut scenes and add terrible terrible music and this is what you get. The difference between this and Ghosts 'n Goblins is that I'd at least get a sense of achievment out of that.
Phantasy Star 1/10
And the bottom of the heap. Phantasy Star. Where do I begin? Every bad trope of RPGs is here. Turn based combat (which I normally enjoy) grinding, moon logic puzzles, poor plot... the list goes on and on. Some cool features like a talk command are hinted at, but the first few hours doesn't reveal them. The setting is this blend of Sci-fi and fantasy that could have been really cool, but instead feels half finished, like the level designers and writers never told the monster designers it was a sci-fi game. This is the game I least wish to return to of all the ones we've played thus far. I hope we never play worse.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Episode 16: Yay Bikes [Excitebike]
It's our oldest game yet, NES launch title Excitebike. Is a simple game about trying to beat the fastest times on a number of similar dirt bike tracks enough to hold the interest of our Podcasting heroes? Or will they just talk about a bunch of other stuff instead? Find out!
Yay Download Link!
(1:06) We havn't recorded an episode in over three weeks! This leads to an extra long what we've been playing segment.
(2:00) Zach babbles about... something? You should totally side with either Zach or Tyler in the comments at Lasttimeonvideogames.com.
(3:40) Tyler's gamer confession and spoilers for Final Fantasy III/VI.
(5:30) Then we add on with spoilers about Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.
(8:00) We talk a bit about esports, if watching some pro League of Legends appeals to you, here's the first game of the All Star Game.
(16:45) Simple and casual games. What makes a game simple? Why do we play them?
(25:40) Simple games as related to abnegation. Also we define abnegation.
(28:30) My exciting Excitebike story. Also the WiiU is really exciting. This leads to a discussion about the upcoming console generation, and us bitching about the Xbox One like everyone else.
(32:00) We finally talk about Excitebike! It only took 2/3 of the podcast.
(35:00) We mention Excitebike's sweet victory theme. We also talk about what could have made this game better, mostly things that later racing games came up with.
(37:00) The wonderful time we live in, with all sorts of cheap videogames and how great games aren't as valuable as they used to be... basically we just complain about how awesome the time we live in is.
Next week, we return to the pretty but flighty console known as the Sega Genesis to play Comix Zone. Same Videogames time, same videogames channel.
Get inked at
Yay Download Link!
(1:06) We havn't recorded an episode in over three weeks! This leads to an extra long what we've been playing segment.
(2:00) Zach babbles about... something? You should totally side with either Zach or Tyler in the comments at Lasttimeonvideogames.com.
(3:40) Tyler's gamer confession and spoilers for Final Fantasy III/VI.
(5:30) Then we add on with spoilers about Professor Layton and the Unwound Future.
(8:00) We talk a bit about esports, if watching some pro League of Legends appeals to you, here's the first game of the All Star Game.
(16:45) Simple and casual games. What makes a game simple? Why do we play them?
(25:40) Simple games as related to abnegation. Also we define abnegation.
(28:30) My exciting Excitebike story. Also the WiiU is really exciting. This leads to a discussion about the upcoming console generation, and us bitching about the Xbox One like everyone else.
(32:00) We finally talk about Excitebike! It only took 2/3 of the podcast.
(35:00) We mention Excitebike's sweet victory theme. We also talk about what could have made this game better, mostly things that later racing games came up with.
(37:00) The wonderful time we live in, with all sorts of cheap videogames and how great games aren't as valuable as they used to be... basically we just complain about how awesome the time we live in is.
Next week, we return to the pretty but flighty console known as the Sega Genesis to play Comix Zone. Same Videogames time, same videogames channel.
Get inked at
Geremy@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Tyler@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
Zach@lasttimeonvideogames.com,
or LTOVG@lasttimeonvideogames.com.
You can also go to the show page at plus.google.com/+LastTimeOnVideogames or comment on the site at www.lasttimeonvideogames.com.
Also, you can follow our tweets @LTOVG.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Last Rant on Videogames: Riddle Me This
I talked recently about the Phoenix Wright series and how amazing it was. Additionally, I was left in some state of awe as to how few people had actually played it. I realize there are a lot of people who won't touch Nintendo products with a 10 foot pole, but there are, contrary to popular opinion, some pretty good third party games on their systems. As part of advocating awareness of such games, let's talk about puzzles!
If you don't know what I'm going to be talking about after that, congratulations! You're my target audience today. Professor Layton is a wonderful little game series for the DS and 3DS. The premise is thus: you take on the role of the professor as he and his companions, usually Layton's ward, Luke, as he sets about unraveling massive conspiracies and the causes of apparently supernatural events. The professor, tenured at Gressenheller University teaching archaeology and helping the befuddled dean exist on a daily basis, is a man after my own heart. With the mindset that no puzzle is without an answer, he thwarts all adversaries and obstacles by sheer logic and a bit of trickery. Really, he's the Doctor without a second heart. I'm pretty sure he regenerates, too.
The plot is generally incredibly grandiose, though rather short. The only reason the games last a reasonable amount of time is because Layton has a serious problem. You see, our poor boy here has a serious puzzle addiction. Unfortunately, everyone he meets is an enabler, throwing puzzles at him for little to no reason, and without provocation. You chased a cat? That reminded this old man of a puzzle! You wear a hat? Puzzle time! Now, when I mentioned this to Zach, he seemed rather nonplussed at the idea. I should point out that this game uses the word "puzzle" quite loosely. Really, it's taken to mean any logic problem possible. Some are, in fact, jigsaw puzzles. More often than not, they're riddles. A number of them are word problems, some are MindTrapian in nature, and some give you copious opportunities to try solutions until you find the correct one.
The game gives incentive for a thoughtful and thorough approach rather than brute force. Every time you get a wrong answer, you lose a portion of the Picarats a puzzle is worth. Picarats are the imaginary currency of the game, used to unlock more stuff after the main game has been conquered. For the completionists out there, it's definitely a motivation to get it right the first time.
If you're stuck on a puzzle, you can expend a hint coin to help you out. In later games, you can have up to 4 hints, usually in increasing order of helpfulness. The first three cost one coin and the last costs two, but will generally give the answer away. Most of the games have a cap of 200 coins. Collecting coins is similar to navigation and interaction with NPCs. In the style of old point n' click games, you navigate colorful scenes and memorable caricatures of people by tapping the lower screen with the stylus. You can move from scene to scene by tapping arrows around the scene, and talk to people by poking them. There aren't really dialogue trees, so if you're out puzzle hunting, you're likely to hear the same comments multiple times. Hint coins are found by prodding interesting features of the environment. At one point, the developers lampshade this by having one of the professor's companions ask him why he always taps light fixtures upon entering a room. Additional puzzles and some niftiness associated with each individual game can be found in this manner as well.
The stories follow the same general route, though the scenery varies dramatically. Layton receives some call to action and sets out, followed closely by at least one of the companions he'll pick up that game. The plot thickens as strange events occur, and Layton quickly finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue. More often than not, the current catastrophe is paranormal, and Layton, while not immediately disbelieving the evidence, is skeptical of the true nature of events. In all the games I've played so far, there's nothing more supernatural than Luke's oddly specific affinity for animals, a near empathic bond used as a plot device for no real reason other than to have some more side games. Oh, yeah. There are quite a few side games, usually 3 different ones per title.
In the end, the events are totally explainable and founded in the real world.
While the now 6 games in the series might not be enough to run out and get a 3DS, 4 of them are on the DS and prices on that are coming down. If you really like logic puzzles and would like a story for them to be framed in, it might be enough to make you get the console. The newer games are still $40, but the entire series can be found on the Amazons for under $100. Given that each game is probably about a 10 hour endeavor, I'd say that's a pretty good use of your money.
The stories follow the same general route, though the scenery varies dramatically. Layton receives some call to action and sets out, followed closely by at least one of the companions he'll pick up that game. The plot thickens as strange events occur, and Layton quickly finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue. More often than not, the current catastrophe is paranormal, and Layton, while not immediately disbelieving the evidence, is skeptical of the true nature of events. In all the games I've played so far, there's nothing more supernatural than Luke's oddly specific affinity for animals, a near empathic bond used as a plot device for no real reason other than to have some more side games. Oh, yeah. There are quite a few side games, usually 3 different ones per title.
In the end, the events are totally explainable and founded in the real world.
However, feasibility is not really an issue, as the explanations have ranged from hallucinogenic dust to building a steampunk replica of London under the Thames that's also a giant spider robot.
Super realistic, guys. Layton proves, at the end of the day, that logic triumphs and archaeologists are awesome. The games are so ridiculous, it's amusing. While there's always a bit of peril, it's obviously intended to be camp, and it comes across wonderfully. Full of quirky humor and mind boggling puzzles, these games are great fun. Additionally, they have such a simple formula that it's hard to see it ending. While the now 6 games in the series might not be enough to run out and get a 3DS, 4 of them are on the DS and prices on that are coming down. If you really like logic puzzles and would like a story for them to be framed in, it might be enough to make you get the console. The newer games are still $40, but the entire series can be found on the Amazons for under $100. Given that each game is probably about a 10 hour endeavor, I'd say that's a pretty good use of your money.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
If you own a Wii U
So while I don't normally like to advertise for any particular company, especially not on a blog that's supposed to contain thought provoking and well written content, I am a bit of a Nintendo Fanboy. I early adopted a Wii U, and honestly I can't recommend you do the same if you have a working Wii. The library just isn't there yet, and while the touch pad is great and Nintendo Land is a lot of fun, it's not quite worth the cost of the console yet.
That said, the Virtual Console for the Wii U is amazing and the library is rapidly growing. At least for the time being, they're also doing Steam style sales with old game, rotating out about once a week. I've taken advantage of lots of these, but if you own a Wii U, there are two you need to look into right now.
First, Super Metroid is only $0.30. For the price of a stick of bubblegum you can get one of the best Super Nintendo games of all time. It's not worth rushing out and grabbing a Wii U for it granted, but if you have one or are getting one soon, it's a steal even if you don't play the game for years. The deal is good until 6/11/13 so there's plenty of time to capitalize.
Second is one that feels a little vindicating to me. Mega Man X, a game I've been waiting for just hit the Wii Virtual console. Until 6/6/13, anyone who buys or owns Ghosts 'n Goblins on the VC gets Mega Man X for half off. If you bought the game on our behalf especially, take advantage of this, Mega Man X is a serious contender for the best videogames of all time, and is worth the hell of Ghosts 'n Goblins.
I'm super excited guys, a crappy day just got amazing for me thanks to idle curiosity about current details, and I hope you guys can take advantage too. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog/podcast.
That said, the Virtual Console for the Wii U is amazing and the library is rapidly growing. At least for the time being, they're also doing Steam style sales with old game, rotating out about once a week. I've taken advantage of lots of these, but if you own a Wii U, there are two you need to look into right now.
First, Super Metroid is only $0.30. For the price of a stick of bubblegum you can get one of the best Super Nintendo games of all time. It's not worth rushing out and grabbing a Wii U for it granted, but if you have one or are getting one soon, it's a steal even if you don't play the game for years. The deal is good until 6/11/13 so there's plenty of time to capitalize.
Second is one that feels a little vindicating to me. Mega Man X, a game I've been waiting for just hit the Wii Virtual console. Until 6/6/13, anyone who buys or owns Ghosts 'n Goblins on the VC gets Mega Man X for half off. If you bought the game on our behalf especially, take advantage of this, Mega Man X is a serious contender for the best videogames of all time, and is worth the hell of Ghosts 'n Goblins.
I'm super excited guys, a crappy day just got amazing for me thanks to idle curiosity about current details, and I hope you guys can take advantage too. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog/podcast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (RSS)