Fast Racing NEO - A Neon Blitzkrieg

Fast Racing NEO - Wii U

Fast Racing NEO is a futuristic racing game attempting to scratch the itch left by Nintendo's abstaining from developing a new entry in their F-Zero franchise. Trailers and promotional material suggested that Fast Racing NEO would have everything a hardcore racing fan would want, but skepticism is inevitable when an impressive-looking title bears a $15 price tag. HD graphics and lightening-fast races while playing are considerably awesome, but a slightly underwhelming lack of content in addition to unstable online servers (at time of writing), make a strong case to justify Fast Racing NEO's extremely reasonable cost. 

Fast Racing NEO offers absolutely stunning graphics, extremely responsive controls, 10 racers, 16 different tracks split across 4 cups, 3 difficulty settings and 5 game modes. Of course what matters most are the tracks, which are exceedingly beautiful and masterfully designed. While many tracks have themes and environments shared between them, such as airborne rain forests, stormy oceans, and port-side bays, the tracks themselves are entirely unique and seldom bore, especially since the short races coming as the result of high speeds don't last long enough for you to get tired of any track. Moreover, an inspired color-based mechanic allows you to gain an advantage over your opponents while you race. At all times, each car glows either orange or cyan; certain boost-pads and ramps can only be utilized if your car's color matches that of the boost-pad and ramps. It is up to you to toggle the color of your car while you race in order to take advantage of each of the color boosts, resulting not only in beautiful displays of the game's visual style, but rapid inputs and easily punishable errors in timing. Mastering the toggling of your car's color and the layout of the tracks themselves is no easy task, but doing so will be necessary for victory rewarded by unlocking additional racers or circuits.

Even the most conditioned futuristic racing fanatic may want to begin their Fast Racing NEO career on Subsonic speed, before working their way through Supersonic and Hypersonic. Fast Racing NEO offers a challenging experience but much like F-Zero, is rarely unfair. This is said not to discourage those curious about NEO, but to make clear the fact that Fast Racing NEO is not a casual, fun-for-the-whole-family kind of game. While Fast Racing NEO is perfect for those seeking a challenge, it certainly occupies an area of the racing-game spectrum opposite of more casual racers, such as Mario Kart 8 or Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, both also found on the Wii U.

Though Fast Racing NEO contains both single player circuits, online multiplayer, and 4-way local multiplayer (with the multiplayer modes running acceptably well, albeit not perfectly), the real criticism comes from the dearth of content. F-Zero GX, released 13 years ago featured both single player circuits and an entirely separate story mode containing exclusive tracks and missions. This story mode in F-Zero GX made the game feel complete, instead of just a collection of tracks to play with. Fast Racing NEO feels incomplete with only its 16 tracks to be played at least 3 times each (once on each difficulty). Repetition plagues Fast Racing NEO, and those looking for an endless stream of new courses and content will be disappointed. Unstable servers also result in an inconsistent online multiplayer experience,  essentially eliminating the easiest way to extend Fast Racing NEO's life. 

The most important elements of a wonderful racing title are easily found in Fast Racing NEO. Spellbinding graphics, thrilling track design, and both local and online multiplayer definitely make this game worth $15, even $25, but not any more than that. Fast Racing NEO is sincerely excellent, but not quite perfect. That which is offered in F.R.N. is crafted with originality and inspiration, but it's small size leaves more to be desired. While Fast Racing NEO does very little badly, compared to F-Zero GX, it feels more like a large appetizer- not quite a full meal.  

Gunman Clive

My experience with Gunman Clive started as one of those rare times when I actually purchase a game on a friend's recommendation. Shout out to my friend Andrew for suggesting this one to me. The game's price of $2 on the Nintendo 3DS E-shop was also a large contributor of why I went ahead and bought it. Turns out it was worth all 200 pennies, because Gunman Clive is actually pretty damn great, so let's talk about it.

Gunman Clive - Nintendo 3DS

Intro / Summary
     Gunman Clive is a side-scrolling shooter platformer that combines the best platforming elements from Rayman Origins with the best shooting elements from Mega Man II. You move from the left side of the screen to the right side of the screen shooting anything that is A) alive, and B) isn't you. Complete each level by jumping on platforms, climbing ladders and trying not to die as much as you are totally going to die. There are 20 levels each taking about 75 seconds to complete if you don't die, and something around 3 minutes each if you die as often as I did. All together I beat the game in about 65 minutes on a long car ride my band and I took from Long Island to Washington D.C. last week, and I did continue to play it on a harder difficulty once the game was beaten which believe it or not is something I don't normally do. The fact that I took the time to replay this game immediately after having beaten it means the game was either too short, or the game was really fun to play; I am going with the latter on the grounds that I feel a game can really only be too short if you paid $20+ for it, and beat it in 65 minutes- Once again, this game cost me $2, so I consider myself to have gotten exactly what I paid for, and I was pretty down with it.

Good Things: Also the title of a great Reel Big Fish song
     One of the first things to be noticed about Gunman Clive is the visual style and the musical score; both are beautiful. The game employs a visual effect that makes it appear to have been hand-drawn frame by frame, complimenting the game's ol' western style. Gunman Clive looks like the music video for A-ha's Take On Me meets an old western film. Swag-tastic.
    Gunman Clive prizes itself on the classic easy-to-play, hard-to-master technique. All you are able to do in the game is jump, walk, and shoot, but the level design is so clever that even these old-school moves won't get boring before you finish the game. The game is pretty tough, being at about "diamond" on a hard-scale from Vanilla pudding to Dwayne "the rock" Johnson, but it is never frustrating because of a combination of different video game staples being removed from Gunman Clive. First, there are no lives in the game, which means no Game Overs. Live are outdated and dumb for reasons that have been discussed infinitely by gamers who aren't me, so if you need an explanation on that, go somewhere else and come back. No lives in Gunman Clive. Without any lives, checkpoints aren't really necessary either, because the threat of being thrown back to the start of a 55 second level in which dying has no penalty really isn't that scary, so those are removed as well, which would only be frustrating if the levels were long, but they are not. The game presents a challenge intense enough to make sure that it won't be completed in 20 minutes, but it is not so unfair that it frustrates the player. I believe "sweet-spot" is the proper term here, but I've always found that term to be suggestive (made worse by the pink-colored text), much like how utilization of the word "moist" suddenly begins to make me feel sticky out o....sorry, lost my train of thought there. Difficulty curve is just right.


The game has a very modest length. Games these days (or at least the ones I have been playing) have the most aggravating tendency to last about 6 hours longer than the amount of time for which I care to play them. I always think it is rather cocky of a game to assume that I will refuse to quit playing if it gets boring just because I'm already 10 hours in and I might as well finish it. Well, those games are fucking wrong, and they're the games out of which I take the most pleasure in ripping apart. Gunman Clive, like I said, is only about an hour long if you only play through it once. Honestly, the fact that this game is so good, while being so short makes me fear that the developers lost confidence during development and in the voice of an insecure 13 year old mumbled at some point "aw shucks, no one is gonna wanna play this game!", so they made the game an hour long assuming that no one would ever want to play it for more than an hour any way. Now don't get me wrong, I am glad that the game was only an hour long because it means I have more time to play other games, but honestly, this may be the first time ever where I wish a game was longer, but perhaps only by or hour or so. Also, you can play as a duck after beating the game once. This mode is called "Duck Mode" and it makes me giggle.

Short-Comings: "Homecoming" is a great Green Day song that sounds similar to "Short-Comings".
          Hmm...the game is short...but like...that is a good thing when playing simple games...I mean, Pac-Man is a great game, but does anyone want to play that for more than 20 minutes? I got nothing for short-comings. Gunman Clive is a great game, and it is so short that it ends before fucking anything up. So I am going to use this space to quote something profound I read on Kotaku: "The longer a game is, the more it has to justify its length." OR a different quote by Ben Yahtzee Croshaw of Zero Puntuation: "Madworld is a 6-8 hour game with enough unique ideas to fill a 3 hour game." I isolate these points because they have to do with length, which is a HUGE fucking problem with games nowadays. To all game developers everywhere: If you only have enough good ideas to keep me entertained for 5 hours, then your game should be 5 hours long. BAM. That's all folks. Gunman Clive has enough unique ideas to keep me REALLY satisfied (another sticky phrase) for 1 hour, and so the game is 1 hour long. And for that, Gunman Clive, you get my virtual glad-hand.

                                                                                                 Conclusion:

This game is $2 and is one of the best games I have played in a long time. You can beat it in a single lunch break and get right back to playing Super Smash Bros. afterwards, so just do it. I'm serious. I know I am just a computer, but seriously, buy this game and play it. Recommended to everyone.

Another Essay: Incentive

I've noticed that it has become more difficult for video games to capture my attention lately. I blame growing up. But actually, I blame only myself and my personal need for video games to offer me something profound. In fact, I think the only reason anyone would ever play a video game is to gain something spiritually satisfying. Yes, we play video games for fun, but the question I intend to answer is the following: what makes certain video games fun for some people and not fun for other people? Why do we personally choose to play the games we choose to play? I've been dwelling on both the question and its answer for a long time, and I believe the answer is "incentive".

       INCENTIVE FOR THE PLAYER                                     INCENTIVE FOR THE AVATAR

These are the two categories under which every single video game ever created falls.
So let's discuss each form of incentive separately:

       Incentive for the player - "If you play this game, you will gain skill".
We know that there are some video games out there that require skill, practice, and repetition. We know there are games that are designed to force the player to improve their skills in order to overcome challenges. We know there are games that require us to become better at its end than we were at its beginning. If you, as a gamer, are drawn to these types of games, then you prefer games where the incentive is for the player. A game where the incentive is for the player is a game designed with the progression and fluency of the "player" in mind. These games can be identified as having minimal or no story, a multiplayer mode(s), a scoring/ranking system, or a competitive push.
Still don't get it?
Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat, Guitar Hero, Bejeweled, Flappy Bird, and Angry Birds are all games where the incentive is "if you play this game, you will become better at it/ you will become better than your friends/ you will achieve a higher score than other players/ you will be the best player". The magic behind these games is that when they're being developed, game developers can devote more time to the game's ability to entertain instead of the game's cinematic appeal. The games mentioned above are all examples that are simple in concept, but are played aggressively and religiously. The best games where the incentive is for the player has players playing for dozens, sometimes even hundreds of hours as they each compete and practice and train in order to become the "best". The end goal of these games is determined by the player, not the game. Do you want to be the best Tetris player? If you do, that's awesome, but remember, no one told you that you had to - you set that goal on your own. The problem with these games though is that if the gameplay doesn't compel people to play, then nothing else will. No one will bother competing at a game liked by 0 people- a game that simply isn't fun. Why would anyone want to waste their time becoming good at a game about which no one cares?

      Incentive for the avatar- "If you play this game, your avatar will gain skill".
Then there are some games where we fall in love with a character, or grow to loathe an enemy, or decide that we want what our avatar wants. If you are drawn to these games, then you prefer games where the incentive is for the avatar. The avatar is the character you play as on the screen, and these games involve the gamer pushing the character around from place to place witnessing what he/she witnesses and feeling what he/she feels. These games can be identified as having a deep story, deep characters, motives, and choices with an emphasis on progression or working from a beginning to an end. It is important to note that it may not be necessary for the player to gain any skill at all while playing these types of games. To elaborate, I am borrowing the term "avatar strength" from youtuber Egoraptor, which he describes as a technique used by game developers in order to create the illusion of progression- a game that becomes easier not because the player is becoming more competent, but because his avatar is becoming more capable (stronger, faster, etc.). For example, imagine you're playing a game where your character wields a sword that can kill a given enemy in 4 hits. You then reach a certain point in the game where the sword gets upgraded as a part of the story, and now you can kill that same enemy in 2 hits. YOU did not become better at the game, but your avatar did. Because you played the game, the avatar gained skill. The magic behind these games is that you get the chance to relate to a character in a world to which you would never ordinarily be exposed, you get to watch a story unfold, you get to feel empathy and patience and attachment to characters for a short while, which are all profound feelings! The problem with these games though, is that if the developers fail to create an avatar worth caring about, then the game probably won't be very good. I recently played Tales of the Abyss, a game where the incentive to play was exclusively for the avatar Luke whose purpose in the game was to fulfill his destiny as the chosen hero. Luke, though, was an asshole, refused to develop as a character, and was an absolute displeasure for me to have spent 12 hours with. Why the fuck would I want Luke to gain anything? I didn't care about my avatar, so I didn't like the game. Tales of Symphonia, Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil, and the Paper Mario games, however, are all games in this category that established more likable characters, and were more popular because of it.

Now for the surprise category: the games that consider both types of incentive, games that emphasize the progression of the story AND the acquisition of skill to the player. Examples? Some of the best games out there: The Halo games, Legend of Zelda games, The Last of Us, Resident Evil 4, the Metroid games, Pokemon, and the Final Fantasy games. These are all examples of games where the skills acquired by the player contribute just as much to the gaming experience as the game's characters do. I care about Link in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess because he is a good guy, looking after the children of his village while harboring affection for the mayor's daughter. At the same time, though, I feel personally empowered as the player when I find the double claw shot item and am able to spend hours zipping around Hyrule as a character who at that point becomes essentially Spider-Man with a sword. Both Link and I experience the same thrill by riding Epona the horse through the open fields of Hyrule, and we both feel the same grief when our partner Midna has to return to the Twilight Realm at the game's end (SPOILER HAHAHA). The perfect video games consider incentive for both the player and the avatar.

So why did I write this essay? I don't know. To arrogantly exhibit my comprehension of the video game world? I suppose. But really, I hope that someone finds this essay and it makes them realize that the formula for what definitely makes the perfect video game will become cracked soon enough as long as we keep asking the right questions. At the very least, I hope it gets you guys to consider what you love most about your favorite video games and learn to appreciate them for things you never saw before. And maybe, just maybe, reading this essay has helped you guys realize your own gaming preferences and in the future will now have a better understanding of what you look for in a video game. Time for me to get back to Smash Bros. Thank you!





     

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS

I've been writing on this blog for over a year now and I'm sure that all 6 people who actually read it have been beginning to wonder when I was going to get around to reviewing a game about which people actually care. Well, today is that day, because this is my review of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS.

I have to admit, I am a veteran in the world of Super Smash Bros. I understand the game, and I understand that those who don't play competitively see the game differently than those who do. I am on the edge of both worlds, so I will try to see this game with no preference to either perspective. Instead, I will take you through a journey of what my Smash Bros. 3DS experience has been like for the last week.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is the first entry in the legendary Smash Bros. series to appear on a handheld, and if you ask me, it's a pretty fucking good idea partially because no one owns a Wii U right now, but mostly because Nintendo has spent the last year upgrading the 3DS via all sorts of hardware and software improvements from system updates to the release of new limited edition consoles BUT has completely forgotten to release any fucking games for the damn thing. I was looking forward to Smash Bros. on a handheld because of the convenience of being able to play anywhere I go. My parents still live in the same hometown I graduated High School in, but now I am in college and most of my friends live in different states than I do, so being able to not only bring the game back and forth from home to school but being able to bring the multiplayer experience anywhere I go was something I originally found to be extremely appealing, but not so much anymore because the online is complete and utter shit. Many, nay, all people who owned Super Smash Bros. Brawl agreed on two things: Final smashes were horse shit, and the online was embarrassing and irresponsible. 6 years later, we are still faced with the later issue. Out of my 20 attempts made JUST NOW to play a 1 on 1 online match against a random opponent also using the online features, want to guess how many of them were successful? 0. 0 times. I was kicked to the start screen before the match had even begun, with the furthest I ever got being gaining access to a training area which I can only guess comes right before a match- I wouldn't know, because I never got to play one.

My next thought was then "okay whatever". I'll just play some single player. The main excitement that comes with any new entry in the Smash Bros. series is the thrill of both unlocking and using new characters or old characters with new abilities, and in this department, Smash Bros. 3DS really excels. Out of the 49 characters, not even the 2 or 3 sets of clones feel exactly identical, with the exception of Pit and Dark Pit, which I let slide because I loved Kid Icarus: Uprising. However, with the multiplayer options being limited to local multiplayer, an issue I plan on discussing in just a hot second, the player is forced to experience the thrill of new characters by playing single player modes in the game. Classic mode is the main single player mode mostly because it is the only single player mode that can be used to unlock characters. Once you play classic mode with the appropriate characters, you'll unlock every hidden character, of which there are only like, 10, and once you have unlocked every hidden character, you'll want to try them out in more single player modes, once again because multiplayer is hardly an option. Classic mode, however, is not the most suitable testing grounds because, in it, you can't turn the items off, this only being a problem because of the fact that almost every single item in the game just kills you. Blue Shell, The Beetle from Skyward Sword, every Assist Trophy, the Smash Ball, almost every Pokemon, every Bomb-omb, Gooey Bomb, Exploding X bomb thing, every capsule which is ALWAYS a bomb in disguise, and a properly placed bumper all really don't do anything more than just kill you, which believe it or not, reduces the fun of actually becoming good with a character by about 1 fuckton.

So what else is there? There is no online, and classic mode isn't any fun, so what I decided to do was try out a bunch of characters by playing against level 9 CPUs in Smash mode with, of course, the items turned the fuck off. Playing against random CPUs with 3 stock as I attempt to beat the shit out of them with my favorite Nintendo characters of new and old is actually the most fun I get out of the game, but like everything else in it, I am beginning to see how short-lived this is going to be as something about the CPU's tendency to spam both counter-attacks and shield has me convinced that the AI isn't actually very good in the game. In fact, there have been an unacceptable amount of times where I decided that instead of fighting in the fighting game, I thought that it would be more fun to wait in a corner and see how long it would take the CPU to notice that I am preparing to kill it. In the end, the CPU struggled desperately to convince me that my hacking away at it with a sword was something it preferred for me not to do. Instead, the characters against whom I played seemed much more concerned about their health as mostly all they ever did was run around or jump a bit, as opposed to hitting me back, even on the highest difficulty setting.

And so finally, we reach the last selling point of this game, the local multiplayer. Traditionally, local Smash Bros. took place on the living room sofa with 13 of your closest friends and 1 kind of smelly friend who heard you got the newest flavor of Mountain Dew and invited himself over. You'd all gather around the TV for better or for worse and enjoyed the $50 dollar investment made by one friend as you played his game with his controllers on his console in his house. Now, in order for even the most casual collection of players to indulge in the joy of local Smash multiplayer on the 3DS, each participant must own not only the $40 game, but the $200 system. Now I admit, this shouldn't be a problem for children who plan on spending study hall trying to escape from a hard day at middle school with a round or two of Smash Bros, but I am in college, a place where people come to study and learn, not fuck around with video games all day like how I do. I do have a few friends on campus who own the game, but because those who don't play Smash Bros. understand that we no longer need a TV to play, we are often kicked out of common rooms and forced to squeeze 4 dudes into my small bedroom, which I dislike not because of the small size of my room, but because the small size of my bed ill-suited to seat 4 grown men in a fashion that can be described in a manner other than "really gay".

Despite all of my bitching, Smash Bros for 3DS is an excellent entry to the series. In fact, I'd say it's second best with Melee being the first best and Brawl being the worst. There are advantages to having it on a handheld, but I don't really think anyone would argue the fact that the game is supposed to be played on a console with 6 bowls of chips, 14 friends, and 2 girl friends who would prefer to be doing anything besides play video games all night. As an entry in the Smash series, Smash Bros. 3DS is impressive to say the least, but as a game, it just can't be considered as good as people want it to be. The online doesn't work, the single player options are limited unless you are a masochist or a completionist as the collectibles are nearly endless, and the salvageable modes in the game are only fun for a short while due to mediocre AI. If you have the game, I am SO excited to play with you next time we are all home and have the game on us, but if you were one of the more skeptical players who decided to wait and see if this game was going to be executed properly on the 3DS, I declare that you don't have to get it if you don't want to. It's not a "must-play" for the console.

**EDIT** I have friends at home and in other parts of the state who have assured me that my poor experience with the online in this game may be the fault of my school having bad internet service, and not because Nintendo likes online multiplayer as much as I like eating glass. Fine. They are probably right, although I have heard about other players and professional gaming companies complaining about having as much trouble as I had. If your online mode works, ignore what I had to say about my experience, and go play it because it is probably awesome. I, on the other hand, will sit here in my bedroom and whine on the internet like a normal Nintendo fan.

Why I Don't Like Open World Games

A year ago, I watched my friends foam at the mouth as they murdered thousands of innocent, hard-working, married pedestrians on the streets of "Grand Theft Auto Anything Goes Who Cares It's Just A Video Game City 5: About 3 Games Too Many". Conversation eventually led to the declaration by one of my friends that no person ever has been disappointed to hear that a game was to be made "open-world". I secretly disagreed with him but couldn't figure out why. Turns out the only thing that would render me sedimentary enough to sit down and develop my thoughts on the topic would be eating two colossal pieces of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory back-to-back, then sitting down to finally catch up on the internet's newest series "Selena Gomez Has More Nude Pictures: About 3 Galleries Too Many".

I don't like open world games because I think they are hardly ever done right. Open world games only ever do 1 thing in a variety of different ways: provide the illusion of choice- essentially a lie that the game is giving you "choices" when really, it is not. Let's examine each variation of the deception separately:

The first variation of the illusion of choice gives players the following two options:
A) Complete missions necessary to beat the story
B) Complete missions NOT necessary to beat the story

So let's begin. You are given a game with an open world. Right off the bat this means one of two things: You will be given permission to do things you are not required to OR it is a bad game.
You are free to abandon what the game demands you to do, granting you permission to do almost whatever you want. Let's assume though that what you want is to complete the story. Open-worldedness is a liberating freedom, but how much this freedom contributes to the game has yet to be determined (as far as this article goes). Think about this: Let's say that the developers of a game take their time to write out a story with great characters, twists, growth, and plot BUT they give you side missions that are completely optional. Why? Why give players the option to NOT play content that you spent valuable time creating? This is the same as having them tell you that you only need to play 60% (or whatever percent of the game is required) of the missions to experience 100% of the game. VALIDATION YOU ASK FOR: If you complete Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time but you don't get the Biggoron's Sword (an optional mission), can anyone tell you fairly that you HAVEN'T played OoT? No. Giving players optional missions is the same thing as me telling you that I have written an incredible book and it's fine if you skip 40% of the pages, as long as you get to the end. Having optional missions, even creating parts of the world that don't NEED to be seen, is the developer's way of admitting that they know not every player will want to play everything on the disc, instead of insisting that every player should. I wouldn't be very convinced by Nintendo that some Super Mario game is worth playing if they gave me the option to not play half of it. The way I look at it, open worlds are the developers admitting that at least some of the game is not worth playing. And also, if you have an open world game WITHOUT optional missions, then why have an open world at all?

The second variation of the illusion of choice is giving the player the next duo of options:
A) Explore the World
B) Don't Explore the World

Now this is a good one that basically boils down to a simple question - Do you HAVE to explore the world in order to beat the game? We have to discuss incentive for a second - Question 2: WHY would I want to explore a world? Well there are a lot of reasons! Let's start with a good one - In order to find optional weapons. Optional weapons or items are usually things that make the game either easier or funny. They, however, seldom make the game more fun. Think about this: If a weapon existed in the game that made the game generally more fun, why would the developers make that weapon optional? Wouldn't developers want something that makes the game more fun to be experienced by everyone playing it? But I digress (not really). Optional weapons are things that make the game either easier or funny but do you need them? Can you complete the game without them? If you CAN complete the game without them, then it would seem that developers wasted time designing items that some people will never see, and (**this is important**) if you CAN'T, or it would be extremely difficult to, complete the game without them, then they aren't optional! The whole idea behind the illusion of "choice" is that you really never have one, and if you never have any real choice, then what the fuck is the point of an open-world?

The second incentive to explore a world is to find Side-quests. These are popular in RPGs and I can already hear my friends yelling at me, justifying the inclusion of side-quests in RPGs. Often, in RPGs, you need to complete optional side-quests in order to gain experience to level-up your character so that you can more easily defeat certain bosses. But that's the thing- if you NEED to complete optional side-quests in order to make progress, then they aren't optional! You are once again being tricked into thinking that you have a choice, when really, you don't. The residents of open-worlds are always the providers of optional side-quests, but if you MUST complete the side-quests in order to increase the strength of your character in order to progress, then all the open-world does is trick you into thinking that you've accepted a task you didn't have to, when really, you did, and the only real option you have is to accept the mission, or use an avatar that cannot ever win ever. All I ask is that the game doesn't lie to me! Don't tell me I have a choice not to do a certain side-quest if I am going to undoubtedly regret it later! Game devs could alternatively distribute appropriate amounts of EXP during the main story so that side-quests become redundant and obsolesced, or just include the side-quests as part of the main story, eliminating the "option" entirely. Now I can certainly think of linear games with optional side-quests, Sonic Unleashed and Lost Kingdoms II come to mind, but the optional missions in those games are once again hardly optional, and now that I think about it, I don't remember the game ever telling me that they were. There is something to be noted about the difference between additional levels that help you progress and side-quests that compensate for what the main story could not provide.

Finally, we have to discuss The Legend of Zelda. Do I mean to suggest the Legend of Zelda should be linear, and relieved of its open world? Well...let's think about this. The game Dark Siders II was essentially an angry, M-rated LoZ game. Exactly the same way Legend of Zelda is, it has a nonlinear (open) world, but a linear story, so all you ever did in the impressively enormous open world was move from point A to B to C to D, etc. until you beat the game. There was about as much incentive to explore as there was in a Legend of Zelda game (not much), so I ask the following: If you're spending an entire game moving in a straight line through an open world, then WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF THE OPEN WORLD?? Having an open world is certainly more impressive to look at and experience, but it's all for nothing if it doesn't add anything to the game. As a side-note, this issue is actually addressed 100% perfectly by a game called The Last Story on the Wii. I'll talk about it some other time.

It would seem that I've spent this entire article writing objectively, assuming that everyone plays games for the same reason I do, but remember, this article is about why I, James, don't like open-world games. Now there are some that I like, even love. Pokemon works because the game functions around the idea of exploring a world, and the game just literally wouldn't work without it. Zelda: Twilight Princess is another that just works well, mostly because despite it being an open world, it is small and doesn't overwhelm the player. I am brutally aware that giving the player an option, even if it is a sham, creates a more personal connection between the player and his/her avatar, resulting in a greater sense of immersion, which is the very state that powers the video game industry itself. Open world games can be fun just because they create a greater sense of control, but it should be noted that the only aspect of a game controlled by the player in an open-world game is the pacing of progress, NOT what is required of them. A Sonic the Hedgehog game (not open world) can only be played by either making progress or losing. Open world games are unique in that they can be played without making progress or losing. They allow the player to complete the missions (over which they, once again, have no control) whenever they want. But honestly, I think you get it. Open-world games don't do it for me, except for Spider-Man 2, which is essentially the only reason why I bothered to use the words "mostly, often, and seldom" in this article, as opposed to "always, never, and never", which would have forced me to title this article "An Abundance of Words That Make Me Sound Ignorant: About 3 Adjectives Too Many".

Sequels

I've been listening to a band called Autopilot Off recently. They fucking rock and they entered my life the same way some of my all time favorite bands did in the past. Goldfinger, System of a Down, Less Than Jake, Bodyjar, Cauterize, Crush 40, and Autopilot Off were all introduced to me via the video game. When ever I think about certain bands, such as the bands I listed above, sometimes I get brought back to the game that exposed me to that music. In which game did I really learn about Autopilot Off? SSX 3.

So I turned on SSX 3 again for the first time since the middle of the summer today because I wanted to listen to some Autopilot Off and maybe because it just snowed the other day and it was appropriate. After a whole bunch of racing and freestyle runs, I started thinking something rather treasonous:

SSX Tricky or SSX 3?

I think SSX 3 is a better game than SSX Tricky. There. I won't be clever and wait until the end of the whole fucking post before I come out and say it. I love both SSX Tricky and SSX 3, but I prefer SSX 3 over the former. The main question that I ask myself is the following: Why is it that SSX Tricky is the game that I find more people talking about when I feel that SSX 3 is a better game? Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to actually determine the answer to that question, but what I can do is compare the two games so you guys can decide for yourselves. SSX Tricky or SSX 3?

So here we go. The SSX series is a series of snowboarding racing games made by EA Big. There are several installments in the series, including 3 for the Nintendo Gamecube and at least 1 for the Wii (I don't claim to be an expert on Wii....yet). Based on the conversations I have with my friends both at home and at college (so you can tell I am getting a really wide range of people here), it would seem that SSX Tricky is the more popular game. For that reason, it must be the better game! SSX Tricky is an AMAZING game that kept my younger self entertained for weeks and weeks and weeks at a time, but I am not certain if it matches up with SSX 3, personally. I suppose I'll start off by discussing the features both games have in common.

SSX Tricky and SSX 3 both offer 2 main types of single and multiplayer player modes: Race and Showoff/Freestyle (Showoff  in Tricky and Freestyle in 3. They're the same thing.) Race mode has you blasting down huge snowy mountains as fast as you can in an attempt to get from the beginning of the course to the end of the course in less time than it takes your opponent. That's how a race works. Showoff/Freestyle is a mode where you basically have the entire course as your own personal skatepark. You start at the top of whatever course you want, and try to score as many points as you can by doing all sorts of different crazy tricks before you cross the finish line. Each game has several different courses to board on. Each game has an upgrading system where you will get to choose which of your rider's stats you wish to increase, and the abundance of these opportunities increases depending on how brutally you kick your opponent's ass during the race. There are many different boards with all different stats for you to unlock AND there are different clothing options for each character that are purely cosmetic.

So both games have the same basic formula. And I'm not kidding, like, they are pretty much the same idea. Same equation and formula. No risk taken from Tricky to 3. This presents us with a unique opportunity where we can just literally compare the two games track by track, move by move. It's not like comparing Super Smash Bros. Melee's Adventure Mode to Brawl's Subspace Emissary, where they are completely different but are forced to be compared. SSX Tricky and SSX 3 have so much in common that it is incredibly easy and natural feeling to compare the two. It is a case like Minute Maid lemonade vs. Country Time lemonade where we can just say "This is better because I like it more." So. Obviously the games aren't EXACTLY the same, they just function the same. They look different, feel different, and play differently despite their concepts being akin. So we only have a couple of different things to compare, and a side by side comparison would be most efficient.

Let's start with the characters. Pretty much the same characters give or take a few newbies added to SSX 3 from SSX Tricky. Personally, I feel that the updated graphics that come with a game being newer does wonders for the SSX 3 character roster. It looks better since it is the same art style, and because it is newer. Visual appeal goes to SSX 3. Also, IM SORRY, but as much as everyone loved the announcer (Rozell?) in Tricky, SSX 3 has a real soundtrack complete with the auto-synching feature. Which means like, if in these rock songs, normally, there is a quiet section, then that quiet section is going to be played while you're in a dark cave. Then once you come shooting out of that cave, the chorus of that song is going to slam through the TV speakers, and the best part of the song is going to be pumping through while you're high in the air about to land and shit all over your opponents. Like how music is in a cheesy summer-movie made in the 90s? That's what SSX 3 does. Sound goes to SSX 3 as well.

Courses. Perhaps the tracks in SSX Tricky are more memorable. Maybe this is the result of nostalgia or because I've spent more hours total playing Tricky when compared to 3. I do feel that there was less emphasis on the course designs in 3. They don't feel lazy, in fact, they really are awesome. But, like, for example, the name of each course in SSX Tricky is blown thrown the TV speakers every time you select one. In SSX 3, they are not. And because in SSX 3, you can technically access a majority of the courses from an open-world-ish hub, you may play many courses without even knowing their names. Perhaps what I am trying to avoid saying is that even though the courses in SSX 3 are really damn fun, they do all kind of look the same - just a bunch of snow and a bunch of ramps. Fun, but I mean, Tricky has Tokyo Megaplex on its side....courses go to Tricky.

Finally, with a 1 to 1 score, we have how the game feels. Tricky does an amazing job of incorporating the element of doing tricks with the controls that can feel button-mashy but work, into a game that is not necessarily always about doing tricks. Maybe you'll want to tone the showoff inside of you down while you're ripping through tougher courses in SSX Tricky. This is because in Tricky, accidentally performing tricks you never wanted to do happens often and can REALLY fuck you up. It is very easy to accidentally stop performing your front flips (for example) while you're upside down. So like, you're blasting through a course, and a surprise ramp pops up from out of no where. Because you didn't see the ramp until it was too late, you're still holding up on the control stick, because holding up on the control stick makes you accelerate when you're on the ground. BUT in the air, holding up makes you flip, kinda. So before you know it, you're upside down, you're in the air, and you're about to eat shit and once you do, it's over. Time to press Restart. SSX 3 completely fixed this problem. In SSX 3, you automatically complete your flips every time they are executed. It's like the bottom of your board is magnetized to the snow. It makes doing double front flips on flat ground possible, but who cares how unrealistic that is? If you're going to spam tricks all day during the race, you're going to lose anyway. The point is that SSX 3 has solved the one problem SSX Tricky had with its trick system- you pretty much automatically land them every time. You still have to avoid hitting trees and stuff, but there is no bullshit when doing the tricks; each one can be performed with confidence. With the installation of SSX 3, the SSX series has finally worked out every kink in the system that links doing tricks to going fast, and for that, SSX 3 takes the best-feeling trophy.

Looks like SSX 3 wins 2 to 1. Of course, this is all just my opinion. I cannot discredit the volunteer opinions of my friends - SSX Tricky MUST be an awesome game since so many people always want to play it when they see that it is in my library. I couldn't resist getting the sequel because I was curious, but perhaps some of you may join my side one day. SSX 3 I do believe is only 5 or so dollars on Amazon. Enjoy, and don't forget that whether it is in a game or in real life, yellow snow is piss. Don't eat it.

I Put This Down: Tales of Symphonia

Mkay so as you all know, I acquired about 20-22 new Gamecube games over the summer. God damn. I haven't even opened all of them yet. I had to develop a strategy in order to quickly play and/or beat all of these games so that I could talk about them here. Typically, I would figure out which games were short, and I tried to blast through them, while allowing myself to spend weeks on longer games, such as Metroid or Wind Waker. Among these longer games was, and still is, one REALLY damn long game. With a typical playthrough occupying at least 80 hours of your life, this next title really had me baffled as far as how I was going to go about playing it quickly. Do I play it every day for a month until it's done? Do I allow myself to take 1000000000 years on it while playing other games in between sessions? Well Ill tell you, what wound up happening was me putting this game down. "Ill play it later" I would tell myself. But days, weeks, maybe a month went by before I finally picked this game up again; this is where our story begins.

Tales of Symphonia

Recently, I've been going around saying "Most of Gamecube's best games came from Dreamcast." It's a hyperbole, not a lie. Tales of Symphonia is a JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) that came out for the Sega Dreamcast maaaaany many years ago. Despite it's age, it has made a pretty remarkable impression on Gamecube and RPG fans alike. There are many notable qualities this game has. From it's adorable graphics, to it's deep story, this game really kicks ass from beginning until...you put it down. Notice I didn't say "end". It's true- I haven't finished this game yet, but I will. Don't worry. The question today is the same as it always is with I Put This Down:
Why did I put it down?  Why did I pick it up again? What do I think of it now?

Why did I put this game down? Well let's see. I suppose the answer is that I simply didn't have time to play this game. Believe it or not, between my band, school, sleep, friends, working out, getting mad chicks, getting beefy, buying Red Bull, and donating large sums of money to charity, I didn't have a spare 80 hours of my awesome life to designate to this game. It is a shame too because I really do enjoy this game. Tales of Symphonia is the first real RPG I've ever played, so the new gaming experience was very exciting. This game is often praised for it's amazing character development, graphics, fighting style, and soundtrack. The dungeons are fun because the 1 item you have that pertains only to dungeon exploration changes with every dungeon, affectively creating as many different puzzles as there are dungeons. These are all claims that I found too awesome to be true while reading about the game, but it turns out that they are, in fact, true. Those were just a few reasons why the game was all the more difficult to pause. Unfortunately, in the end, the amount of fun the game was to me was not enough to keep me going for more than 20 hours at a time. Ultimately, I put this game down.

 

But then I picked it up again! I think I just missed playing it. The thing about Tales of Symphonia is that the story makes you want to play the game. It's like reading a good book - you may not love reading in general, but what the hell, are you just going to put down the damn book without fucking finishing it? You're already 20 damn hours into it you scumbag! Just finish it and learn what happens. The game is fun to play and the ever-growing story counteracts the sometimes repetitive gameplay. Maybe you find yourself pressing the same buttons over and over, but the reason WHY you're pressing those buttons changes, and so does too your feelings towards the repetition. Considering the game has 80 hours to god damn do it, the character development IS really flawless. You got some dudes betraying you, some people dying, some friends destined to become enemies, some unlikely alliances, all while optional cut scenes take the development one step further by providing you with windows into the personal lives of each of your team members. Is the viewing of these scenes essential for the understand of the story? Not at all, but they are a good example of the steps game designers can take in order to ensure that those who may put this game down pick it up again. As you guys know, this isn't a review, so I can't talk about gameplay that much, but I will say that the fighting is fun as hell, as it takes place in real-time akin to Viewtiful Joe or even Super Smash Bros., and navigating the open hub world is very fun and rewarding. When a developers give you a big map, they want you to get lost. They want you to appreciate what they have created, and I do. I so do, Namco.

So what do I think of it now? I love it. In the end, Tales of Symphonia offers an exceptional gaming experience. Nothing is too challenging, nothing is too annoying. Everything is perfect as far as I am concerned. The idea of playing an 80 hour game is daunting to me, as, like I've said, I've never played an RPG before (I know this isn't even the longest RPG out there, dickhead, so don't yell at me), but I anticipate feeling really good when I beat it. It will be rewarding and I look forward to it. I do feel like I will wind up putting it down in increments of 20 or so hours, but that's fine by me. If spending 80 hours on this game is inevitable, then I might as well enjoy every last second of it. Seashells. Forever.

Playground Series Number 4: "Hmph"

Originally, this post was going to be named "Hidden Gem" but I realized that a lot of you who will read about this next game will probably be sitting at your computer at 3a.m. with the potato chips in hand thinking only "hmph". Not in a bad way at all, I just imagine that very little people have played this game. Admittedly, this is a little bit more of an obscure title. Not obscure like P.N.03 where it is at least interesting, but obscure because it is very easy to overlook. With no immediate indications of what the game has in store, I can imagine someone looking at the rack of Gamecube games at your nearest Play N Trade and not even giving this game a first thought, let alone a second one. Despite that, this is truly one of the best racing games I've ever played, and to be honest, this is my god damn blog - I can write whatever I want.

ATV: Quad Power Racing 2

First of all, I am aware that there is an ATV: Quad Power Racing for the Playstation, but I never played it, so I can't and won't compare the two. Let's move the hell on.

ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 is an ATV racing game that features a myriad of different game modes, great graphics, great music and sound effects, and an incredibly not obtrusive upgrading system. The controls are passible (usually pretty tight) and the difficulty is fair for a racing game. Racing games are an interesting realm of video games. Often, hardcore gamers pass over racing titles because the gameplay can be predictable. What do these gamers predict? That in order to complete the game, you will race over many different tracks and come in first. When you beat one track, you will unlock the next one until you have beaten them all. That's how a race works. You dumb animal.
Well certainly, there is no arguing there. In ATV:QPR2, you will race across many different tracks with the goal to come in first in order to advance to the next track. It is however, the numerous different ways to play this title via the different game modes that make this game's replay value shoot through the ceiling more than the Koolaid guy with walls. So let's discuss them at least briefly. First off is Career mode, pretty typical to any racing game. Oh yeah, I guess the point of this post is to convince you how ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 is different/better than other racers. Okay Career mode. The object of this mode is to race and perform well enough on each track to advance to the next track. Simple. Notably, the Career mode is a very decent length that already earns this game a plus over other racers, but that's not all that's going on here. The first thing you do when you turn on this game is name your own character. The customizability is virtually non-existent which blows, but you learn to love what you have. This character you name is your character during Career mode, and is available to play as in other game modes. The point of having your own personal character is that it gives you the almost necessary opportunity to upgrade your racer as you play. Throughout every game mode, you can perform tricks - 20 (or something) total not including flips and spins. When a trick is landed, your boost meter fills. Using boost during a race increases
your speed temporarily, and in a racing game, it is always necessary to go fast. Why am I telling you this? Because the entire idea behind upgrading your character is not only increasing his racing stats, but increasing his knowledge of tricks. As your character ranks up from Newbie to Master, he learns new tricks that can be performed during a race. If a more difficult trick is landed, you will be rewarded with a larger amount of boost, and a greater amount of points compared to that yielded by a more basic trick. Basically, the more your character is upgraded, the better your tricks are. The better your tricks are, the more boost you have, and the faster you go. I mentioned before that the upgrading was non-obtrusive. What I mean by this is that the upgrading system feels very synergistic with the gameplay.  Usually, upgrading is associated with games that use swords or strength or magic or skills that should be improves over time. It seems odd for a racing game to use concepts that are atypical to it's genre, but ATV:QPR 2 really threads the two ideas together seamlessly. If you perform well during a race, your character will upgrade. If you kick your opponents off of their rides, your character's Strength ability will increase, the game way slaying a dragon in other games will increase your sword's power.

I am not going through every damn game mode, but I will mention them briefly:
*Arcade Mode - Race through every track one after another (15 total) without loosing. It is a simplified Career Mode
*Single Race - Choose to play 1 track 1 time
*Freestyle - Compete on a separate Arena-like stage and perform as many tricks as you can in order to achieve the highest score within a certain amount of time
*Challenge - Drive through various obstacle courses and complete them all within a certain amount of time. Don't mistake this for some kiddie bullshit - these jungle-gym stages will make you rip your fingers off.
*Time Trial - Complete each track as fast as you can. Your time is recorded for later reference
*Custom - Select up to 5 tracks in order to create your own personal Grand Prix
*Multiplayer - Race with up to 4 of ya friends
*Academy - the tutorial levels

After Career, the game modes are pretty straight forward, but are all rewarding. You see, my little blog fans, unlike lazy games, there is quite the incentive to complete every game mode. Even if it's not difficult, every game mode, yes even the tutorial, must be completed in order to 100% the game. Most of the unlockables are additional ATVs with different stats affecting their ability to race, but they are all good, and worth having. This kind of game forces you to squeeze every bit of life out of it. There are no modes that you can neglect if you really wish to unlock every ATV, and complete the game. The point is that although the main focal point of this game is the racing, as it is a racing game, there are so many more ways to play it if you get bored of racing before you get bored of the sound of a revving engine.

Speaking of sound, this is something worth a brief mention. This game's music and sound effects will make your ears leap off of your head and hug the T.V. Yes, I am being dramatic, but alas, I have almost 1000 views on this blog. How many do you have? That's right, eat shit. Moving on. Ironically to my previous comments regarding the sound, the soundtrack of this game is small. Like, REALLY small. There are only 6 songs in the whole thing. However, you have to realize that it's not a Tony Hawk game. You will only listen to about 75% of a song per race and you will only play about, I don't know, 6 races before you turn off the game for the night. So really, although it may seem like you will get sick of hearing the same songs over and over, you won't unless you don't like the music. To be frank, I learned about some of my favorite bands from this game. Tom Delonge's Boxcar Racer is featured in this game, as well as punk rock's very own The Reunion Show and Midtown. Complementary to the great tunes, is a bangin' engine sound effect. I will admit, I didn't learn to appreciate it until my Dad started to play and fucked with my sound effects, but eventually, I grew some balls and learned to love the sound of a great engine. Aurally, this game is an absolute pleasure.

To wrap it up, this ATV racing game does a great job of extending it's own life in a refreshing splash of off roading goodness. It does lack the customizability of other ATV racing games, but I found that it didn't affect the gameplay, although I will penalize for that offense. The large collection of game modes keeps you coming back for more, even if you don't feel like racing, and the fact that there are unlockables around every corner ensures your playing of every mode this game has to offer. And finally, I forgot to mention explicitly that you can kick other riders off of their ATVs during a race. Multiplayer perfection.

Score: 79/10
+30 points for just being a damn fun racing game
+30 points for all of the different game modes that are not "basically the same thing as the main game" *coughSoulCalibur4cough*
+10 points for the innovative upgrading systems during the Career mode
+9   points for the great audio/visual appeal
- 15 points for the absence of customizability throughout the game
- 5   points for some repetitive courses/gameplay during the Career/Arcade modes
- 1   points for slightly sloppy controls regarding the execution of tricks

Playground Series 3: Most Overlooked Gamecube Game

Overlooking something. It's like assuming, but makes less of an ass out of everyone involved. It is definitely understandable why this next title would be overlooked. This game may be a little off the beaten trail for a lot of gamers, but it goes to show that if you exclude any genre of game, you will probably miss at least a few great titles. Play every game you can - it doesn't matter if it is the most popular game ever, or completely underground.

Tony Hawk's Underground
did anyone miss the puns?

The Tony Hawk skateboarding games kind of lost their balance towards the end of their 50,000 point tailslide, finishing it up shamefully with Tony Hawk Ride and Tony Hawk's Project 8. It is still uncertain if the successful Skate. games were to blame for the fall of Tony Hawk, or if the games simply plummeted to the ground after trying the nail that famous 900 for the thousandth time. Despite the disappointing end of the Tony Hawk series, there is no doubt that they left a mark on gamers forever. Anyone who has ever played a Tony Hawk game instantly became the witness of the most vulgar humor, strangest Easter eggs, and ridiculous physics, but it is important to know that the game that REALLY cashed in on all of the wacky antics, and really set the Tony Hawk games off in a new direction, was Tony Hawk's Underground.

Tony Hawk's Underground was the 5th installment of the Tony Hawk skateboarding video game series. The original games, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1-4, spawned your favorite pro skater into a small level where you would have to complete different random goals within a certain amount of time. Once you completed enough goals, you would unlock the following level until you essentially beat every goal, and there was nothing left for you to do in the game. What was so impressive and refreshing about Tony Hawk's Underground (T.H.U.G.) is that it changed up the formula for these errand-boy games forever. T.H.U.G was the first ever Tony Hawk game to ever feature an actual story. Your custom-made skater and your best friend Eric are trying to make it big by becoming pro skaters. You start off the game by skating around your hometown of New Jersey, and you spend the game progressively getting sponsored, making team films, winning amateur and pro skateboarding contests, and of course, watching Bam Margera be a dick. The new concept to the Tony Hawk series, a story, really made the game more enjoyable the same way adding a story to any list of tasks would. The characters are relatable, the antagonist makes you angry, and watching the thrill of your pro-to-be makes you proud to be a player. Suddenly, right before your very eyes, a Tony Hawk skateboarding game becomes an emotional experience.

What I was trying to allude to in the prologue of this post is that the reason why this game is overlooked, is because anyone not interested in skateboarding would never be interested in a skateboarding game. It seems that with all of the shooting games, driving games, action games, why would anyone want to live out a fantasy of skateboarding, instead of one of the aforementioned? Really, you might not, but you should. T.H.U.G. is the perfect place for new fans of the Tony Hawk series to jump onboard. With every addition to the Tony Hawk series, new tricks and features are added. T.H.U.G. is not only the first Hawk game to include a story, but it is the first to include the ability to "get off your board" and walk around on foot AND include the ability to drive cars and busses (this was the only Tony Hawk game that included the ability to drive). T.H.U.G. is the perfect game to get an authentic and modern feel for the Tony Hawk franchise. Some of the older titles might feel a little bit dated at this point in time, some of them being well over 10 years old, and a lot of the newer titles (T.H.U.G. 2 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland) are better enjoyed after playing different Tony Hawk games first.

The soundtrack and gameplay of this game are both amazing, typical to Tony Hawk titles in the past,
and I won't give any secrets away, but if you plan to play this game, keep an eye out for various references to the greatest Hair Metal band of all time throughout the game. For anyone ignorant in the topic of heavy metal, the references will become more than apparent during the game's final unlockable stage....YEAH IT'S FUCKING GENE SIMMONS.

In conclusion, I understand that it may be very likely that you have overlooked Tony Hawk's Underground, especially if you don't care for skateboarding in real life. That being said, I insist that you try this game. The fact that it is literally less than 2 dollars on amazon, combined with the fact that it is just a great game not only within the Tony Hawk series, but as a stand-alone game gives you not a single excuse to avoid picking up your own copy, and start shredding. This game shines within the Tony hawk series, and as a stand-alone game. Fans of Tony Hawk games will be treated to the best Tony Hawk experience to date, and gamers looking for something new to play will not be hindered by the age of the game, or their disconnection to skateboarding. Play. This. Game.
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0000A0834/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1375039026&sr=8-1&keywords=tony+hawks+underground+gamecube&condition=used

To Hold You Over

I can't believe I forgot to mention this.
http://www.gametrailers.com/shows/pop-fiction/videos-clips
http://www.gametrailers.com/shows/pop-fiction

Gametrailers.com features a show called Pop Fiction. I've tried to tell my friends about it but I remembered today that I could also use the good ol' reality to advertise. Pop Fiction, the way I describe it, is essentially Myth Busters, but for video games. The show's team of gamers investigates rumors or secrets within video games to find the truth about their existence. Gametrailers also has a much younger sub-series called Pop Facts. Pop Facts is basically the same thing, but the episodes are much shorter. I HIGHLY recommend these shows. A new episode of Pop Fiction is released monthly, and Pop Facts are released weekly. Enjoy!

The Next Big Step

So because I feel so bad for blue-balling you guys when it came to my list of Gamecube games, I decided I am simply going to build a playground out of this blog. This time next week, I am going to upload at least 5 new reviews of games that each fit a certain qualification. These 8 topics are, in my opinion:
Most Overrated Gamecube Game
Most Underrated Gamecube Game
Overlooked Gamecube Game
Hidden Gem
Best Game Under 10 Dollars
Best Game Still Over 40 Dollars
...What The Fuck?
Wild Card

I am truly excited (and this time, capable) when it comes to approaching these topics. Keep in mind, the Wild Card will be one game that I choose from my collection at random. It could be anything from Super Smash Bros. Melee, to Mary Kate and Ashley, so brace yourselves.

Also remember that I will from now on be using a grading system, and a pros and cons list when discussing each game. I feel like this will contribute to a more accurate description of my feelings of each game. Remember to click that shit this time next week.

Finally, I've decided to occasionally post other relevant video game things among the archives of my blog in addition to my reviews. In case you missed it, I highly recommend a website I discovered recently. Be sure to check out http://www.howlongtobeat.com/ in order to figure out where your money is best spent.

Scroll down to see if you've missed anything, and of course, contact me to recommend a review or game. PEACE.

Recap

Okay guys like I said in my last post, we are officially half way through my list of top ten favorite Gamecube games. I must admit, there is a problem with how I am going about this list. The fact that I recently just purchased a bunch of Gamecube games that are new to me in addition to the games I plan on obtaining in the near future is very much making me reconsider my list. Perhaps I will post a revised list later in the year, once I have completed each of my new games entirely. Just to establish some relatability, here are the games that I just got recently and the games I will try to pick up by the end of the summer:
Mary Kate and Ashley 16 Licensed to Drive                                              -Plan on Getting-
Starfox Adventures                                                                                   Super Monkey Ball 2
Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker                                                                   Metroid Prime
Legend of Zelda: Collector's Disc                                                           Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Tales of Symphonia                                                                                            Pikmin 2
Luigi's Mansion

So far I've spent my posts discussing extensively the pros of each of the titles on my list, but I haven't touched the cons. There are reasons why I like certain games more than others, but I've neglected to reveal those reasons until now. This will be brief, but interesting. We will start at number 10:

1080: Avalanche - The game wasn't short, because there was actually a lot to do once you really
started looking at all of the unlockables. All different boards and such were unlocked by playing game modes that are typically overlooked in video games (time trial), but really, a lot of the unlockables don't affect gameplay enough for you to have a real desire to get them. There are definitely some cool prizes in the game, but by the time you get them, there is pretty much nothing left for you to do in the game. For this reason, despite how fun the game is, you do eventually lose motivation to really go the extra mile as far as 100percenting the game. Moreover, this game is WAY more fun when you race your friends, but no one plays this game...so good luck...

Mario Kart: Double Dash - I understand that number 9 might be a little low for this game, but really,
I feel pretty good about this. Despite how fun this game is, actually playing single player is a little but of a drag, but 100% necessary. Unlocking every character and track is kind of boring because it involves you playing the same track 4+ times (once on every difficulty). This game is fun for the MULTIPLAYER. But the multiplayer is only fun once you have your friend take one for the team, and unlock everything via single player.

 

Spiderman 2 - This game is awesome, but it is repetitive. Although swinging around and fighting people is SO fun, it really is all you do. It shares the same problem with the Prince of Persia titles in my opinion: they are fun, but too much of a good thing is never good. It simply looses it's flavor after a little while of chewing

Super Mario Sunshine - Definitely another awesome game, but ultimately, it is not Super Mario 64.
The game is also inconsistent in that some levels are really easy, and other levels are TV-smashingly difficult. It can be a little short and some levels can be a little not-as-fun as they could be. There really are no major faults with this game, but the little things add up. I mean, it's still my 7th favorite Gamecube game, so don't think I am trying to hate on this game; it is really good, but not number 1.

Lost Kingdoms 2 - Ehh this one is tough. Sometimes you face a game with no big problems, no major flaws, but simply is just not your favorite game ever. Honestly, this game needs a little bit of a better soundtrack. There are certainly moments when the soundtrack hits you in the best of ways, but usually it is pretty bland. I never go on an epic quest without some epic tunes, but apparently Activision does not agree with me. The graphics were also pretty laughable and even though the actual story was good, the characters didn't draw me into it. The gameplay was really REALLY fun and refreshing, but I think the story could have been emphasized more by some good voice acting and cut scenes. It is something I never thought I cared about until just now...

Soul Calibur 2- This fighting game is perfect. But that is just it- it's a fighting game. The gameplay is
repetitive at times simply because fighting games don't rely on story and characters and cut scenes to help you through the games. If you get bored during an adventure game, you can usually last a couple more hours or so by paying attention to the music or graphics or something, but fighting games are typically 100% fighting, 0% everything else. So if you get bored of fighting, then you change your game, because there is just nothing else to them.

So I hope that cleared some shit up for y'all. Please tell me if I've inspired any of you to bust out your old Gamecubes because I'd be honored to hear about it. Also, feel free to ask me about any game at all. I will review any game I have played and I love talking about games so if you ever wanna talk, find a way to let me know. Stay tuned, because I plan on posting a list of ALL of my 56 Gamecube games soon.

Top Ten Favorite Gamecube Games Countdown: Number 8

Yup. It's finally here. Looks like I've been caught stalling and I must apologize to that. I'm going to make the pre-ambling shorter this time because I am very excited about this next game, so allow me to just swing right into it.

8) Spiderman 2   

....what?

Okay so Spiderman is like, my favorite super hero ever. I think his powers are balanced and his style is cool. Excuse me? Balanced powers and a stylish attitude? Remind you of any (every)  other perfect video game protagonist??
Anyway Spiderman 2 was a fantastic game and there are really several reasons for why it is an awesome title, but really only a couple of reasons why it made my top ten list, the most important reason being replay value.

I LOVE a long game. I love love love a game that keeps me entertained for hours and hours without me getting bored or stuck. No walkthroughs, no yelling at the TV, no bullshit. It wasn't an easy game, but it wasn't too difficult. It was long, but not frustrating. It was just fun. The game kept me playing for hours at a time just swinging around New York City without even doing anything really important or relevant to the game's storyline. THIS is really the appeal of the game, but I definitely have some explaining to do before I try to convince you of how fun NOT doing missions is. And before I start, please forget the gamepoop that was the first Spiderman video game. Just forget about it.


GAMEPLAY. Spiderman 2 was open-world. What does that mean? It means that no matter what you had to do, where you had to go, who was dying in the game, who was dying on the sofa next to you, NO MATTER WHAT, you could pretty much go anywhere at anytime you want. And how would you get there? Well think about it...you're Spiderman....THAT'S RIGHT whenever you got bored, you could literally just swing around the entire city of New York jumping off walls, dangling from street signs, and even kicking the crap out of thugs trying to mug a helpless old lady. And believe me, following the missions was fun, but just swinging around was so chill. See really during the entire game, you can do anything Spiderman can do in the movie, but the skill necessary to swing around without bumping into walls every 2 seconds is never something that any tutorial hands to you on a silver platter. The means to swing around stylishly, chaining together the ability to swing, run on a wall, jump off the wall, swing off a flag pole, etc, is something you have to develop and learn how to do as you play the game. As the enemies of the game increase in difficulty, the more essential it is for you to harness the real capabilities of the in-game Spiderman. This game will force you to gradually get better at playing as the story demands it. You will have to get better at swinging and fighting as the game progresses and the better you become, the more fun it is. If you don't get better over time, you simply won't win.

Now we will discuss the pacing of the game. This is the first time I have ever discussed this topic, but it is vital to the understanding of the gameplay of Spiderman 2. So the game is split up into "chapters". With each chapter comes different objectives that you must satisfy in order to advance to the next chapter. The point of the entire game is to complete every chapter and when you do, you just have the entirety of The Big Apple as your playground. Typically, a chapter will have 3 or 4 objectives. Usually, one is "Earn 500 hero points" and one is "Meet with MaryJane". The other two are less consistent and may be something like "Go to the Daily Bugle" or "Check Your Answering Machine". For each of these missions, a pin-point marker will appear on your screen. They appear in the distance and display how far you are from the location it is representing. Once you reach the marker, the mission it represents will commence. Unless you are timed, however, you can pretty much do any mission whenever you want in any order you desire. This creates a very stress-free environment as  you can literally turn the game on, not progress in the storyline at all, and still have a lot of fun.

I mentioned "Hero Points" before. They are simple to understand, but will wind up being very important to the progression of the game with every chapter you complete. Green markers appear above the heads of pedestrians who either need help or witnessed a crime. Once you talk to someone with a marker above their head, you become responsible to handle whatever they are freaking out about. If you fail to assist properly, then you lose Hero Points, but if you succeed (not difficult) then you are awarded many more. The collecting of Hero Points is absolutely necessary in order to complete each chapter. They also function secondarily as currency in the game. One can spend Hero Points in the store in order to purchase upgrades for Spiderman such as different moves in combat, or an increased swinging speed, as if Spiderman needed to be upgraded.

Lastly we will talk about the combat. Although swinging around is just the most entertaining thing
ever, what would be the point of Spiderman's super strength if he couldn't take it to the streets? A lot of the game involves the utilization of Spiderman's fighting abilities, and in the game, that super strength is just a couple of buttons away. B is punch. B, in fact, is the only button designated to attacking. That being said, when Spiderman fights, he does a lot more than simply wail on an opponent. For example, the B button makes Spiderman punch, the Y button makes Spiderman shoot web, and the A button makes Spiderman jump. So what happens when you press B,B,A,Y,B when fighting en enemy? Well, Spiderman punches the enemy in a two-punch combo, jumps up, wraps the criminal in web, and then punches them again. In addition to standard moves that can be used at anytime, there are certain moves that involve Spiderman interacting with his surroundings. Anyone who has played the game knows what I'm talking about....that one move where you tie an enemy to a traffic light and leave him dangling by his ankle? Yeah, that move definitely contributed to this game's existence on my list, not to mention Spider Sense Mode which makes the entire world slow down allowing for you to completely gain total advantage during combat.

Spiderman 2 is definitely not an ordinary superhero game. It provides a relaxing environment where you can either swing around aimlessly for hours or complete missions battling some of Spiderman's toughest friends and foes and have a great time regardless. Upgrading Spiderman's powers and your own skills, along with numerous mini-games and wonderful voice acting from Toby McGuire, Alfred Malone, and the rest of the Spiderman 2 cast will surely motivate you to harness every bit of responsibility that comes with your great power.