Starfox 64

Merry welcomes and hellos to all! As for my last blog post, I bring you one of the most memorable games of my childhood. It is Starfox 64, a forward scrolling shooter game released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. The story is as follows. The peaceful Lylat System is under attack by the evil ruler Andross again, and the only hope is team Starfox. Team Starfox, now led by Fox McCloud, receives a distress signal from General Pepper asking them to come and help defend Corneria from the forces of Andross. When they arrive, the entire city is destroyed. After they clear out the enemies, the team decides to bring the battle straight to Andross himself, and begin their journey through the ruined Lylat System to meet him on planet Venom.

Game play is extraordinarily simple and extremely innovative. It's as simple as "Press A to Shoot!" (A quote from Peppy Hare, one of your comrades). There are a few easy to master fancy movements like loops and U-turns (in full range mode), but the ship in game moves one to one with your control stick. The levels and enemies can get pretty repetitive, as is the nature of all shooter games, but each level has different strategies of how you want or need to complete them. You can complete each level the easy way or the hard way, yielding a "Mission Complete" or a "Mission Accomplished" respectively. Completing levels in different ways chooses the next level that you do, like a fork in the road system. The image above shows the more you do the red line way, the harder the levels become, the yellow intermediately, and the blue being the easiest levels.

Starfox 64 is a classic. IGN praises it to the heavens in their article by Doug Perry saying, "An exceptional shooter that's only improved since its original 16-bit inception, Starfox 64 is deep with gameplay, strategy, and calculated level progression mechanics." Gamespot couldn't agree more in their review as well. Glenn Rubenstein tells us, "Star Fox 64 is the kind of game you will spend many sleepless nights with - even after you finish. The replay value will bring you back again and again." Along with providing many silly internet memes for us all, Starfox 64 is a simple, but phenomenal game that will be remembered forever by Nintendo fans alike. Now if you excuse me, I have to go and fire up the N64 to beat the giant floating monkey head once again.

Goof Troop

Good morrow, readers and gamers alike. I have another game to bring to attention today. This is a game based off the old television series known as Goof Troop. It was made way back when for the Super Nintendo. Popular Disney characters Goofy and his son Max are enjoying a relaxing day of fishing, when suddenly their friend Pete and his son P.J. are kidnapped by pirates. It is then that Goofy and Max set off on their adventure to rescue them.

Game play is more than simple when the main mechanic is picking things up, throwing, catching, and using various items with a simple button press. You can play as either Goofy or Max, or both using the 2 player mode. Goofy is stronger but slower, and Max is weaker but faster.

The story is very small, and hardly in depth. It's right in the beginning, and very straightforward. It's simple, though, and doesn't leave much to be desired, as the story itself isn't very big to begin with. Game play is very fun, though, especially with two players. It's not the easiest of game's either. In Video Game Reviews's review, the author writes, "Don't let the name fool you! This truly isn't a kiddies game and will be a challenge to advanced players. The puzzles in this game are the first to far surpass Lufia 2 in challenge and are puzzling difficult!" He has bad

grammar, yes, but he makes a point. the game is not easy. In

Associated Content's review, he states, "Each stage ends with a 

boss battle, and these fights involve having Goofy and Max throw items such as barrels, bones, and 

bombs at the bosses in order to defeat them. Some of these fights are quite difficult, especially the one 

that pits you against Keelhaul Pete himself." I, personally, have not completed this game, even with the help of

my friend. But nonetheless, the puzzles really made us think, and we had a blast playing it, even if we did keep

hitting each other with pots and coconuts.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Welcome readers of all ages and sizes. Your friendly neighborhood video game blogger has a treat for you today. It's called Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. Dark Alliance was a game that came out earlier in the decade for the Playstation 2, and was later ported onto the original Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. Dark Alliance is a hack and slash game with so much more. When you start the game, you choose from one of three classes, but no matter who you choose, the story remains the same. It starts out as you, a lone traveler, in the kingdom of Baldur's Gate. It is late into the night, and you are making your way into town, when suddenly you are mugged and beaten to near death. Everything is stolen from you, and it was only the city watch that saved you from the thieves finishing the job. They direct you to the Elfsong Tavern, where you learn of the Thieves' Guild, who are acting much more oddly than usual. Eventually, after a series of tasks, you infiltrate the Thieves' Guild, only to find that there is so much more behind the whole operation. It turns out to be an evil empress by the name of Eldrith is hell-bent on taking revenge on the Kingdom of Baldur's Gate for abandoning her at the battle for Onyx Tower. It is then up to you to make your way to Onyx Tower, and defeat Eldrith before it is too late.

The game play is based off the popular Role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, meaning you level up and gain new skills and abilities as you go on. Of the three characters you choose from, you can either be a fighter, who is adept at melee and close-combat, an archer, who focuses on taking down enemies from afar with powerful ranged combat, and a sorceress, whose arsenal of strong spells are a force to be reckoned with. Each character has their own unique fighting style, and are all strong in their own ways. The game takes on overhead point of view, making vision easy and strategy easy to think up. You progress through the game by hacking away at the enemies and traversing through the dungeons to beat the final boss, unravel the story, and make it one step further to the Onyx Tower.

The simple story leaves something to be desired, but it isn't bad. The plot goes in an episode basis, making things easier to digest. The game play is where it shines the most, though, not only because it is fun and simple, but you can also play it with your friends in co-op mode, hacking and slashing away at monsters with your buddy by your side. With that, the game becomes much more fun, since you have an ally to help you through the game, as it does get more difficult as you progress. CNET's review of Dark Alliance states "Beyond the visuals, you'll find that the gameplay of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is pretty simple but purely fun and addictive." As with that, IGN agrees with the review by David Smith, "At first glance, it's easy to say 'Oh, that's Diablo,' but it's worth noting that the console port of the first Diablo played very poorly, while Dark Alliance controls as smoothly as you please with the interface provided by the Dual Shock 2. The inventory subscreens are very straightforward, there are hot buttons for things like the important potion-quaffing commands (healing and mana rejuvenation), and magic spell selection is handled with a nice Metal Gear-style inventory overlay in one corner." Not only is the game easy, but it's incredibly fun. I've played this game, and it is good. I've played this game with a friend, and it was one of the best times I've had playing a multiplayer game in my life.

Dead Space

Hello and welcome to another blog post. Today's topic is the game Dead Space for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a survival-horror game that is, though scary at times, a blast to play and a great game to play with your friends, since you're probably going to be too scared to play it by yourself anyway. The story sets itself far into the future, where our protagonist Isaac Clarke is on his way with co-workers Zack Hammond and Kendra Daniels in order to repair communications with the mining ship, the USG Ishimura. Isaac's girlfriend, Nicole Brennan, is a medical officer on the ship, as well. It doesn't take long for them to realize that something is deathly wrong. After the crew was somehow sucked in by dysfunctional gravity panels, they are attacked by the former crew of the Ishimura, who have been transformed into hideous creatures known as Necromorphs. It is then that the remaining survivors of the repair crew, Isaac, Zack, and Kendra, set out to find out what happened and fix the problem... if they can.

Dead Space takes a turn from other survival-horror games and actually has you playing in third person view, with you looking over Isaac's shoulder's in order to shoot and other such nonsense. Instead of traditional weapons such as guns and knives, you sport an arsenal of mining tools, which is silly, but effective. The main gimmick of this game is instead of just shooting wildly, you aim for the limbs. You end up wasting a lot more ammo shooting it in the face, than if you were to just cut off the arms. It's a very nice game play mechanic, because it makes you think and gives you an actually strategy than just praying and spraying.

The story in Dead Space is effective and a driving force for the game. You are stranded on a mining ship, all communications are severed, your significant other is somewhere on board, and all hell has broken loose. In Gamespot's review of Dead Space, Lark Anderson writes, "With its disturbingly twisted visuals, its deeply engrossing story, and innovative strategic dismemberment combat system, Dead Space is a best-in-its-class game that surpasses other entries in its venerable genre in nearly every way and will be the standard by which they are judged for years to come." Branching off of that, IGN's review by Jeff Haynes states "Dead Space is a great example of the genre and is an awesome way to launch a franchise that could continue for many years to come." Dead Space hits top marks for gamers everywhere, and fortunately for us all, a sequel is due within the year. Until next time, happy hunting.

Wario World

Hello again, readers! If you couldn't already tell by the image above, I'll be observing the story and game structure of Wario World. In this game, you play as Wario, a greedy, selfish, treasure-hunter in search for nothing else but more treasure. The story starts with Wario sitting in his castle, the room filled with piles, over hoards, over hills of gold, gems, and royal items. Wario is sitting on his throne, laughing in victory, and having a grand old time. But deep in the catacombs of his royal keep lies an evil black jewel. It awakens and begins to destroy his castle from the inside out, and transform his whole treasure load into monsters! The jewel changes his castle into four different worlds and hides Wario's treasure in each one. Wario, angry and bent on revenge, springs into action to save his stolen loot.

In Wario World, you traverse through each level with an onslaught of powerful, and simple to use, abilities. You navigate around by running, jumping, and dashing, and you defeat enemies in close combat with strong fighting moves. The game requires you to platform around to get through the linear areas and every so often there are trap doors. These lead to special puzzle-based rooms that give you treasure as a reward.

Wario World's story leaves much to be desired, as it doesn't explain much at all. In a GameSpot review, he says "You won't find a lot of story sequences driving Wario's adventure. The game gives you a brief text explanation at the outset, claiming that Wario stole an evil black jewel that transformed his treasure horde into monsters." It doesn't say where he gets the evil black jewel, or how it came to be, or any other important clues as to how Wario found himself in that mess. But that doesn't stop it from being a fun game. Taken from a Game Revolution review, "Wario World rises above those past foibles with a simple but fun trek through weird worlds, plenty of bosses and old-school fighting action. A mesh of beat-em up button-mashing and typical action-adventure gameplay, Wario World is a decent if short jaunt through the anti-Mario's wacky life." Wario World is a short game, but big surprises come in small packages. Given its length, Wario World contains more fun in it than most games have to offer, regardless if the plot isn't as deep as it could be. With quirky charm, and memorable phrases like "Have a rotten day", Wario World takes a place in my game shelf for years to come. 

 

Mischief Makers

Good day, all! More video game content for you readers today. This game is called Mischief Makers. As a side-scrolling Platformer, it was released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64, and with it, it carries some of my most treasured memories. The story takes place on the planet Clancer where Cybernetic Robot - G Marina Liteyears and her creator, Professor Theo call home. It was a normal afternoon when suddenly, the normally peaceful and loving Clancer inhabitants kidnapped the Professor! Marina quickly goes off in search to find him. She soon finds out that a lot of the Clancer have been recruited by a so called "Evil Empire" led by none other then the Professor's evil (and jealous) twin brother. Marina then sets out on her quest, along with some of the still good Clancer helping her along the way, to save Prof. Theo, and defeat the Evil Empire.

Mischief Makers doesn't have the deepest plot ever written, but it gets the job done. Even though Mischief Makers is weak in the story department, gameplay is where this game really stands out. The main mechanic of this game is grabbing. You can grab just about anything. Once you've grabbed something, you can use it, throw it, or shake it. The only bad thing I have to say about this game is the controls. They are simple, but can be very confusing in the beginning, and annoying in the future, but you get used to it.

What sets Mischief Makers apart from other games is its unique charm and humor. With that said, I think that makes it okay for the story not to be as deep and compelling as some others are. But that annoys some people. In a GameFAQs review of Mischief Makers, the review states "it's the 'damsel gets kidnapped' scenario that Super Mario has been doing for ages," and goes on to say "while there is a subplot or two it's nothing worth caring for, either." He implies that the game is unoriginal due to its similarities with other existing games, but the "damsel in distress" archetype has existed since the dawn of time, so that is hardly something to be complaining about. About the subplots, though, he makes a valid point. There are times in the game where characters and enemies are introduced, but they are never explained and leaves you wondering, as stated in the review "why on earth am I even fighting this boss?" In IGN's review of Mischief Makers, the reviewer tells us "Gameplay is where Mischief Makers really shines. Unlike many other action/platform titles, the game challenges players to use their heads to overcome the stages' various obstacles." He goes on to say "While some stages focus on straightforward action, others present the player with puzzle elements that must be overcome in order to make it to each stages goal." Variety is one of the most important things in not only games, but all media. Mischief Makers certainly has not introduced any groundbreaking ideas. It walks on familiar grounds but still presents something altogether unique and definitive that sets it apart from other games.

Ikaruga

Hello! Today I will be talking about the story and gameplay structure in a game called Ikaruga. Ikaruga is a shooter arcade game that came out for the Sega Dreamcast and was later ported onto the Nintendo Gamecube. In Ikaruga, the story is about the sole survivor of a freedom organization known as the Tenkaku. Tenkaku was made in order to defeat "The Divine Ones." Led by Tenro Horai, these people from the Horai nation began to take over the other nations one by one. Unfortunately, Tenkaku was completely overpowered by their enemies' onslaught, and only a young man named Shinra survived. He was shot down near a small village named Ikaruga. The elderly people there helped him back onto his feet and they entrusted him with a sacred ship in order to defeat "The Divine Ones." The ship is able to use the two different energy polarities and switch between the two successfully. With this ship, Shinra delves straight into the armada and fights with renewed courage and boundless fury.

Shinra was shot down, and he was brought back from the ashes in order to deliver the final blow against "The Divine Ones." In the game you see Shinra and his entire body is covered with bullet holes and his clothes are tattered. Shinra states in the Japanese version of the game "I will not die until I achieve something. Even though the ideal is high, I never give in. Therefore, I never die with regrets." All this shows that he is willing to give it all in order to save his people, regardless of what happens to him, a true hero's thinking. At the final boss, you find yourself switching polarities so incredibly fast, but perfectly. You reach a state of zen and perfect balance, and nothing else in the world matters.

In my opinion, Ikaruga is a beautifully constructed game with a deep storyline and fantastic gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, others would disagree with me and say that it is too boring. In a YouTube video (Click here to view) the reviewer states that the game is boring because you don't have to worry about anything since you can "absorb just about everything" and "the enemies are as dumb as a doorknob." Through personal experience, you have to worry about a lot of things such as physical obstructions like walls that fly in and rotate at high speeds, as well as switching polarities at the right time. As for the enemies, they are supposed to be dumb. That is the basic formula for every shooter ever made, otherwise it'd be way too hard. In another review, though, this person says quite the contrary. In this review by Screw Attack, the person states that Ikaruga is "notorious for being incredibly challenging and insanely fun." I couldn't agree with him more, and I hope to see more games with a deep story and phenomenal gameplay such as Ikaruga's in the future.