Poll
Question:
Which Ace Attorney lists should I do after ranking the cases?
Option 1: Rank the characters (or top 10/20 characters)
votes: 4
Option 2: Rank the breakdowns
votes: 3
Option 3: Top 10/20 songs
votes: 4
Option 4: Rank the villains/murderers
votes: 1
Option 5: Rank the character themes
votes: 2
Option 6: Don't do another Ace Attorney list
votes: 9
Table of Contents:Games:By Order Reviewed
1. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (Read Down!)
2. Portal 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg143783.reply#msg143783)
3. Mother 3 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg144030.reply#msg144030)
4. The Legend of Zelda (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg153758.reply#msg153758)
5. 10-Yard Fight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg156180.reply#msg156180)
6. Super Mario Kart (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg161459.reply#msg161459)
7. Super Mario World (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg173003.reply#msg173003)
8. Super Mario Galaxy (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg181701.reply#msg181701)
9. Contra (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg183704.reply#msg183704)
10. Balloon Fight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg183971.reply#msg183971)
11. Mega Man (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184112.reply#msg184112)
12. Kirby's Epic Yarn (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184262.reply#msg184262)
13. Age of Mythology (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184793.reply#msg184793)
14. Kirby's Dream Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184925.reply#msg184974)
15. EarthBound (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185246.reply#msg185256)
16. Pikmin (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185478.reply#msg185478)
17. Mario Party DS (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185922.reply#msg185922)
18. Pikmin 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg186130.reply#msg186130)
19. Mega Man 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg191259.reply#msg191259)
20. Nintendo Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg194442.reply#msg194442)
21. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg198372.reply#msg198372)
22. Super Mario Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg199784.reply#msg199784)
23. Mega Man 10 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg206836#msg206836)
24. Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg208282#msg208282)
25. Zero Escape 1: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg212463#msg212463)
26. Mega Man 9 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg213338#msg213338)
27. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg214947#msg214947)
28. Luigi's Mansion (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg218664#msg218664)
29. Team Fortress 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg219409#msg219409)
30. Cave Story (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg220450#msg220450)
31. Zero Escape 2: Virtue's Last Reward (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg222281#msg222281)
32. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg225090#msg225090)
33. Off (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg226017#msg226017)
34. Professor Layton and the Last Specter (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg229295#msg229295)
35. Pokemon X and Y (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235116#msg235116)
36. Mother 1 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235172#msg235172)
37. Animal Crossing New Leaf (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235448#msg235448)
38. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg238099#msg238099)
39. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg239763#msg239763)
40. Plants Vs. Zombies (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg244160#msg244160)
41. Plants Vs. Zombies 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg247764#msg247764)
42. The Stanley Parable (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg249420#msg249420)
43. Little Inferno (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg249990#msg249990)
44. Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg265873#msg265873)
45. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg266382#msg266382)
46. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's Path (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg267902#msg267902)
47. I Am An Air Traffic Controller Airport Hero Hawaii (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg273925#msg273925)
48. Shovel Knight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg295089#msg295089)
49. Mega Man 7 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg302771#msg302771)
50. Mega Man Zero Series (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg309513#msg309513)
51. Subarashiki Hibi/Wonderful Everyday (https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/index.php?topic=4306.msg406012#msg406012)
By Console
Nintendo Entertainment System:
The Legend of Zelda (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg153758.reply#msg153758)
10-Yard Fight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg156180.reply#msg156180)
Contra (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg183704.reply#msg183704)
Balloon Fight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg183971.reply#msg183971)
Mega Man (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184112.reply#msg184112)
Mega Man 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg191259.reply#msg191259)
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg214947#msg214947)
Mother 1 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235172#msg235172)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
Super Mario Kart (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg161459.reply#msg161459)
Super Mario World (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg173003.reply#msg173003)
EarthBound (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185246.reply#msg185256)
Mega Man 7 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg302771#msg302771)
Nintendo Gamecube:
Pikmin (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185478.reply#msg185478)
Pikmin 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg186130.reply#msg186130)
Luigi's Mansion (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg218664#msg218664)
Nintendo Gameboy:
Kirby's Dream Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184925.reply#msg184974)
Super Mario Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg199784.reply#msg199784)
Nintendo Gameboy Advance:
Mother 3 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg144030.reply#msg144030)
Nintendo DS:
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (Read Down!)
Mario Party DS (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg185922.reply#msg185922)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg198372.reply#msg198372)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg208282#msg208282)
Zero Escape 1: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg212463#msg212463)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg225090#msg225090)
Professor Layton and the Last Specter (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg229295#msg229295)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg238099#msg238099)
Plants Vs. Zombies (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg244160#msg244160)
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's Path (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg267902#msg267902)
Mega Man Zero Series (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg309513#msg309513)
Nintendo 3DS
Cave Story (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg220450#msg220450)
Zero Escape 2: Virtue's Last Reward (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg222281#msg222281)
Pokemon X and Y (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235116#msg235116)
Animal Crossing New Leaf (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235448#msg235448)
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg239763#msg239763)
Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg265873#msg265873)
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg266382#msg266382)
I Am An Air Traffic Controller Airport Hero Hawaii (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg273925#msg273925)
Shovel Knight (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg295089#msg295089)
Nintendo Wii:
Super Mario Galaxy (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg181701.reply#msg181701)
Kirby's Epic Yarn (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184262.reply#msg184262)
Mega Man 10 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg206836#msg206836)
Mega Man 9 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg213338#msg213338)
Nintendo Wii U:
Nintendo Land (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg194442.reply#msg194442)
Little Inferno (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg249990#msg249990)
Personal Computer:
Portal 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg143783.reply#msg143783)
Age of Mythology (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg184793.reply#msg184793)
Team Fortress 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg219409#msg219409)
Off (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg226017#msg226017)
The Stanley Parable (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg249420#msg249420)
Subarashiki Hibi/Wonderful Everyday (https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/index.php?topic=4306.msg406012#msg406012)
iOS:
Plants Vs. Zombies 2 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg247764#msg247764)
Lists (Top 10, Top 20, etc.)
1. Top 100 Video Game Songs, #100-91 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg226873#msg226873)
2. Top 100 Video Game Songs, #90-81 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg231039#msg231039)
3. Top 100 Video Game Songs, #80-71 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235210#msg235210)
4. Top 10 Normal Type Pokemon (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235087#msg235087)
5. Top 10 Fire Type Pokemon (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235409#msg235409)
6. Top 10 Fighting Type Pokémon (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235689#msg235689)
7. Top 34 Ace Attorney Cases (34-26) (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg253887#msg253887)
8. Top 10 Mega Man Robot Masters (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg306113#msg306113)
9. Top 10 Pikmin Series Bosses (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg313442#msg313442)
Game Analyses
1. EarthBound Vs. Mother 1 (http://forum.ninsheetmusic.org/index.php?topic=4306.msg235536#msg235536)
So my friends know me as a very opinionated person who easily forms a belief about something and sticks with it. But that's not going to stop me from doing what I love doing; rating things. I'm going to rate Nintendo video games in various areas and give them a score out of ten overall. If you have a suggestion for a game that I should play/review, please let me know. And remember that all this is just my opinion, and if you don't agree, please don't crucify me. I have a tenancy to be against the common beliefs.
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl:Because I don't want to start with my favorite game of all time, and I certainly don't want to start with my least favorite, I'll start with one that almost everyone should know: Pokemon Diamond/Pearl:
Gameplay: 7/10 Pretty good, I think. Kept me going until I beat the Elite Four, which gave a n00b Pokemon player like me quite some trouble in this game, even though I beat the Elite Four in Black and White on my first try.
Addictiveness: 6/10 Good enough to get me to finish it, not high enough to make me play it again. (I hate replaying games.) It's just another Pokemon game, and I would rather replay Black and White if I had to because of all the new features.
Story: Wasn't too original at most parts, but I did like the parts with Buck and Heatran, Team Galactic attacking the 3 lakes, and the Spear Pillar.
Music: 8/10 I liked the music in this game quite a lot. My favorites were the Wild Pokemon Battle, Sunnyshore City's theme, the Pokemon Evolution theme, the GTS theme, and especially Route 209, among others. Here are my top picks for this game:
Route 209
Dialga/Palkia's Battle Theme
Arceus Battle Theme
(Technically this song can't be accessed without cheating, but I love it anyway!)
Sunnyshore City Theme
Wild Pokemon Battle Theme
Character Design: 3/10 Other than the standard rival, there really weren't that many memorable characters in Diamond and Pearl for me, except for Team Galactic and Cyrus, who I hated. They were a good villain design, imo.
Humor: 3/10 Other than the Pokemon name puns, I didn't really find this game very funny.
Difficulty: 5/10 For a Pokemon game, it was somewhat challenging for me to beat. This may have been due to the fact that is was one of the first games I ever really played. I got stuck for a REALLY long time once, which I hated, and the Elite Four was a pain to beat, but it wasn't really that challenging otherwise.
Other Memorable Features: I loved the underground multi-player playing, and just digging underground in general. I also loved the GTS, the Battle Tower, and shining my badges with the stylus.
Overall: 8/10 All in all, a very good game, and probably the best traditional Pokemon game I've played. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to try out Pokemon for the first time, because it's a great intro to the series.
Good rating! I love reading other peoples' reviews, especially if they're well thought out. I probably would have given the game a bit higher, but I'm kind of a Pokemon fanboy. Diamond/Pearl are my least favorite games of the series, but I do love them.
E: Oh yeah and all the route music in this game is absolutely fantastic. As far as music goes, this game is pretty high on the Pokemon list.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on March 27, 2012, 05:18:50 PME: Oh yeah and all the route music in this game is absolutely fantastic. As far as music goes, this game is pretty high on the Pokemon list.
Exactly what I was thinking when I wrote this list. I had a lot more favorite songs, but I didn't want to add them to avoid making the review too long.
Nonono, your review was great. Not too long-winded is often a good thing. :P
Portal 2:For my second review, I'll review a game I just completed last week, Portal 2:
Gameplay: 6/10 I usually don't like puzzle games, but this one was very clever, always had unique ways of looking at the puzzle, and had many elements to the puzzles that made them fun to do; such as the Faith Plates and Conversion Gels.
Addictiveness: 7/10 While the puzzles weren't too addictive for me, the humor, creativity, and story kept me going until I beat it. I might play it again, someday. (If I can figure out why Steam kept crashing...)
Story: 9/10 For a puzzle game, Portal 2 had a VERY nice storyline with good twists at points. Considering there were really only 3 or 4 characters, it had a great plot.
Music: 5/10 Unfortunately, this game didn't really have any music during the actual game that caught my attention. However, the credits theme "Want You Gone" was outstanding, and it made me wish that the music writers would have put other catchy songs like it in the game. EDIT: I have discovered a song in the game that I like! The music in the final chapter, "The Part Where He Kills You", is very good and ominous. Here are my top picks:
Want You Gone (Credits)
Chapter 9
Cara Mia
Character Design: 9/10 The characters were awesome. Simply amazing. I'm sure many of you have heard of GLaDOS, who is, according to IGN, the #1 villain of all time, and after playing this game, I can see where they're coming from. She had a great sense of humor, especially for a robot. Wheatley and Cave Johnson had me rolling on the floor laughing as well. A few more characters would have been appreciated, but having only a few does indeed make it easier to keep track of all of them.
Humor: 10/10 As stated above, this game was simply hilarious. There are so many quotable things in this game that it would take me forever to list them.
Difficulty: 8/10 I stank at this game. It was nowhere near Battle Toads impossible, but I did have to use a walkthrough to beat it.
Other Memorable Features: SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE
Overall: 8/10 Very good game, would recommend it to anyone, especially if you're a fan of puzzle games, but even if you're not it's still worth to play it for the humor. The level design is ingenious, and the dialogue is hysterical. If only Valve could count to three...
I really do want to play this game! I have a friend who loves it.
REQUEST (if you want): Any Professor Layton game...some of them are quite cheap as they've been out for a while
Quote from: SlowPokemon on March 28, 2012, 02:42:21 PMREQUEST (if you want): Any Professor Layton game...some of them are quite cheap as they've been out for a while
They're puzzle, right? Do you have a particular one that you recommend? I have a Wii and a DS.
Hmm they're all so fantastic...
Unwound Future is probably the best, but I also recommend Diabolical Box and Last Specter (really whichever's cheapest, though Unwound Future probably has the best story)
Mother 3 FTW.
^I probably will review that sometime, I just didn't want to start with it because I'm easily biased. ;)
Mother 3:Because Shadowkirby asked for it, I'll do Mother 3. Probably my second favorite game of all time, this RPG combines humor and a saddening story to make for one of the most touching game ever. While I do love this game a lot, I will try my hardest not to give it 10/10 for everything, because it's not perfect, and I want to review with as little bias as possible.
Gameplay: 8/10 For an RPG, the actual gameplay is somewhat standard, with a few creative twists put in to make to more unique. For instance, when you attack enemies from the back, it results in you getting a surprise attack on them, and viewing a back sprite for a turn, until they turn around. Sound battles also make for a challenge. Tapping the A button to the beat of one of the many battle songs in the game allows for you to combo attack the enemy.
Addictiveness: 9/10 As described above, it's very fun just to practice combo-ing to enemies battle songs. The story and great music, as well as the humor, hooks people onto this game, and I have played it twice through already and am currently playing it a third time.
Story: 10/10 Probably this game's strongest point, the story in Mother 3 is absolutely phenominal. If someone hasn't already spoiled it to you, there is a very good chance that you will cry at the end. No spoilers, but it's a very sad and well thought out game that tugs at my emotions.
Music: 10/10 IMO, the music is this games second strongest point. From intense metal boss battle music to epic overworld themes, from sad elegies to common enemy battle songs, this game's music is very catchy and well composed. I'm upset that not very many people have arranged Mother 3 music for the main site. (Thank you Shadowkirby.) There are SO MANY amazing songs in this game, but here are just a few samples of Mother 3's musical greatness:
More Dangerous Guys (Enemy Battle Theme)
One Of The Final Battle Themes (Don't look if you haven't played the game!)
With My Father-In-Law
Fate (Battle Theme)
Natural Killer Cyborg Theme (Another Boss Theme)
Misplaced/Unfounded Revenge
Character Design: 9/10 When I mean good character design, it means that the game has villains that make you hate their guts and good characters that make you love them to pieces. That's what Mother 3 has in abundance. There are a few characters don't don't develop as much as I'd like, but that's OK.
Humor: 10/10 This game cracks me up. From hilarious pop-culture references to wacky NPC dialogue, this game is just as funny as Portal 2, if not funnier.
Difficulty: 7/10 Compared to Mother 2, which was a cake walk, I was surprised that Mother 3 was actually somewhat challenging. Not anywhere near what other RPG series are like, but it was fairly hard and I did lose many boss battles on my first try.
Other Memorable Features: Mr. Saturn and Dr. Andonuts return, which was a delight. The Cast Roll is as nostalgic as ever.
Overall: 10/10 An absolutely amazing game. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of the RPG. Then you simply must play it.
Quote from: blueflower999 on March 30, 2012, 07:57:56 AMBecause Shadowkirby asked for it, I'll do Mother 3, probably my second favorite game of all time, this RPG combines humor and a saddening story to make for one of the most touching game ever. While I do love this game a lot, I will try my hardest not to give it 10/10 for everything, because it's not perfect, and I want to review with as little bias as possible.
Gameplay: 8/10 For an RPG, the actual gameplay is somewhat standard, with a few creative twists put in to make to more unique. For instance, when you attack enemies from the back, it results in you getting a surprise attack on them, and viewing a back sprite for a turn, until they turn around. Sound battles also make for a challenge. Tapping the A button to the beat of one of the many battle songs in the game allows for you to combo attack the enemy.
Addictiveness: 9/10 As described above, it's very fun just to practice combo-ing to enemies battle songs. The story and great music, as well as the humor, hooks people onto this game, and I have played it twice through already and am currently playing it a third time.
Story: 10/10 Probably this game's strongest point, the story in Mother 3 is absolutely phenominal. If someone hasn't already spoiled it to you, there is a very good chance that you will cry at the end. No spoilers, but it's a very sad and well thought out game that tugs at my emotions.
Music: 10/10 IMO, the music is this games second strongest point. From intense metal boss battle music to epic overworld themes, from sad elegies to common enemy battle songs, this game's music is very catchy and well composed. I'm upset that not very many people have arranged Mother 3 music for the main site. (Thank you Shadowkirby.)
Character Design: 9/10 When I mean good character design, it means that the game has villains that make you hate their guts and good characters that make you love them to pieces. That's what Mother 3 has in abundance.
Humor: 9/10 This game cracks me up. From hilarious pop-culture references to wacky NPC dialogue, this game is just as funny as Portal 2, if not funnier.
Difficulty: 7/10 Compared to Mother 2, which was a cake walk, I was surprised that Mother 3 was actually somewhat challenging. Not anywhere near what other RPG series are like, but it was fairly hard and I did lose many boss battles on my first try.
Other Memorable Features: Mr. Saturn and Dr. Andonuts return, which was a delight. The Cast Roll is as nostalgic as ever.
Overall: 9/10 A very good game overall. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of the RPG. Then you simply must play it.
B @ 1 |\| G
XD
1 L@V3 |\/| R . 5 /\ T V R |\|
I'm starting to think he's not a bot.
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terrariaonline.com%2Fattachments%2Fowl-orly-jpg.32806%2F&hash=9c45e1fe58ac070fd81343ec575abd85b9d822c5)
Great reviews! I'm playing though Mother 3 for the first time right now (I'm on Chapter 7) and I love it! I wish I had played it sooner! I plan on playing both Portal games in the near future (maybe once I beat FE6, which I plan on starting after Mother), too. Too many games! :P
^Mother 3's a great game. I'm warning you though: Have a handkerchief near you at the end of Chapter 8. If you don't already know what's coming.
It's pretty sad, huh? That's good, I like it when I can get emotionally involved with the characters and the storyline. (And I haven't had any portions of the storyline spoiled yet, so I'm very happy about that!).
The Legend of Zelda:I made it up to Ganon, and I think that's enough to review it! The Legend of Zelda for the NES:
Gameplay: 8/10 At first, the gameplay is simple. You just walk into the nearest cave, take the sword, and go around beating the crap out of Octoroks, Levers, Tektites, Moblins, or whatever else you happen to find. It starts to get complicated, however, to find out where the heck to go. I admit, I used an online walkthrough. I'm not very good in figuring out where to go in games. But once I knew where to go, it was fun using different weapons, from 3 different sword of increasing power, to a bow and arrow, to a wand, and even a (surprisingly useless) boomerang to kill enemies, I was enjoying myself.
Addictiveness: 7/10 Kept me going until Ganon. Definitely addicting enough for me! I love the feel of going through a dungeon and not knowing what's coming next or what kind of creatures you're going to see. That's one of the reasons I love Pikmin 2 so much, and it was also one of the best parts of this game.
Story: 2/10 Eh, just sort of a generic story. But hey, it was an NES game. At least the other Zelda games have different storylines, (or so I hear. I'm going to play The Adventure of Link next) unlike many other big name Nintendo franchises.
Music: 4/10 The overworld theme was good enough to get on my MP3 and stuck in my head, but other than that, I don't really recall any other catchy tunes. Here are the overworld theme and the intro theme, both of which are just 2 different versions of the same song.
Overworld Theme
Intro Theme
Character Design: 2/10 Again, it was an NES game, so there's not a lot of room for improvement here. The Old Man made me laugh, though.
Humor: 4/10 The funniest things in this game were the mistranslated old man one-liners and the bizarre enemy names! Like, what the heck is a Like-Like? A Kesse? A Moblin? If someone could explain the logic behind the enemy names, that would be appreciated!
Difficulty:5/10 For an NES game, it wasn't really that hard. Still a challenge, I have to say, but compared to Battletoads or Contra, it was a cakewalk! There were some REALLY annoying enemies that drove me insane, (Wizzrobes and Darknuts were the WORST) but it had a save feature, so I could always continue from the start of the dungeon. Except it only gives me 3 hearts. What's up with that?! Well, whatever. I beat it, so that shows it's not too hard.
Other Memorable Features: The strange enemy names I mentioned. The cartridge is freakin' gold!
Overall: 8/10 Pretty good game. I was impressed. I'm planning to continue in playing the Zelda series.
Never played it that long because I never had the patience to figure out where to go either! XD
Also, in regards to the music, I have the soundtrack on my iPod, and it's only eight songs. And three or four of them are less than ten seconds. And the overworld and title use the same basic theme. So really there isn't that much diversity, as opposed to that other NES great, Super Mario Bros., which had several distinct, solid, catchy themes. TLOZ only really had the main overworld theme (which is admittedly great, but not a seller on its own).
I will say, Ocarina of Time's soundtrack REALLY made up for this. One of the best, biggest, diverse, catchy, beautiful video game soundtracks ever. Never got past the shadow temple (maybe I should go replay that game) but the soundtrack is brilliant.
Zelda stories pretty much took a huge step after A Link to the Past. Keep playing blueflower!
And Slow, if you think OoT's soundtrack is good, you should hear Majora's Mask or Spirit Tracks.
I love both of those too! :D But for me OOT really stood out. Idk why.
Yeah, I have a Super Nintendo as well, so I might get to A Link to the Past after The Adventure of Link. If I can find it that is. Is it easy to find in stores, or should I order it online?
10-Yard Fight:Time for more reviews! This game I have actually beaten, beginning to end. It's a little-known football game on the NES, known as 10-Yard Fight. I hadn't heard of it before: I only got it because it's the first game on the list of NES games alphabetically. However, I was surprised at how good it was considering that I picked virtually a random title and I'm not usually a big fan of sports games. So here it is, my review of 10-Yard Fight.
Gameplay: 7/10 For the NES, a sports game this good is quite amazing. It's simple, yet strangely addicting and satisfying. It plays just like normal football. (Although I never figured out how to kick a field goal...) You choose one of 2 players that it gives you the choice of on defense, and on offense you choose when the hike the ball and who to pass it to. Realistic and fun. Both good things.
Addictiveness: 7/10 It isn't Tetris, but it is certainly addicting. The game has 5 difficulty levels; High School, College, Professional, Playoff, and Superbowl. I beat all 5 on my first try, and wish they had more. Or a sequel.
Story: 1/10 It's a football game. What do you expect? The only story-esque aspect is that you're a football team that makes it to and wins the Superbowl. Nothing special.
Music: 3/10 This game has quite a few catchy jingles, such as the one it plays when you make a first down, or the beat it plays when you're running the ball. Other than short jingles though, there really aren't any full fledged songs in this game. But it makes do without. I have no music to post for this game.
Character Design: 0/10
QuoteIt's a football game. What do you expect?
Humor: 0/10 See above.
Difficulty: 2/10 I didn't lose a single game. In fact, I was only scored on twice, and that was by the playoff and Superbowl teams, which are the 2 hardest difficulties. I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of difficulty increase. But, it was a fun game nonetheless. Probably the easiest NES game I have XD
Other memorable features: I liked the choice of difficulty in the game. That made it more interesting to play. Tackling people is always fun. Occasionally the game glitches and a player goes flying across the field when he makes a tackle. The field has sort of a mini map on the side of the screen with a yellow line for the first down line. It flips depending on which team has the ball, so you're always running the same direction, which helps avoid confusion.
Overall: 6/10 This game showed me that sports games can be fun. I honestly didn't have high expectations, picking a title I've never heard of randomly and all, but considering that, this game blew me away. I'll have to try some other NES sports titles. Any suggestions?
Super Mario Kart:Time for a classic Super Nintendo review! Super Mario Kart:
Gameplay: 8/10 I'd say, for the Super Nintendo especially, the gameplay and controls are pretty good. It is very annoying when your kart skids out of control when you turn too sharp, but that's the only thing that really bothers me. There are some turns in the game that I just can't get right without skidding, and it really gets annoying that I can't and the CPUs can easily. But hey, it's infamous for being unfair.
Addictiveness: 7/10 While certainly not the best SNES game I've played, this game ticks you off a lot when you unfairly lose to a cheap CPU, but just enough to make you always go back and give it another go. (Although I have rage-quitted quite a few times.)
Story: 0/10 Nothing.
Music: 5/10 It's decent music. Not the best soundtrack on the SNES, but definitely not the worst either. Bowser's Castle is surprisingly epic, and the original Rainbow Road doesn't disappoint, although it is overshadowed by the 3DS, Wii, N64, and Gamecube counterparts in my mind.
Rainbow Road
Bowser's Castle
Character Design: 3/10 Mario and Luigi are clones, and so are a few other characters, but there is some variety, which I appreciate. Bowser and DK are extremely slow, so I usually pick Koopa, who's a lot faster and more agile. But, that's more of their attributes in the game, not the character's personalities.
Humor: 2/10 The only humor this game has is how it seems to laugh at me whenever I loose.
Difficulty: 7/10 This game is proving to be quite a challenge. I haven't even beaten the 100cc level yet, so I can't WAIT for the 150cc. [/sarcasm]
Other memorable features: This game has multiple layouts for the same course, if that makes sense. There are 3 or 4 different ways that Mario Circuit can look, but it's still the same general design and music. The Red Koopa Shell and Lightning Bolt are incredibly useful in this game, almost over powered.
Overall: 8/10 It's a good game, just pretty freaking frustrating. I would recommend it to most, but not if you get ticked off if you can't beat a game. This game takes luck, skill, and practice to be good at. None of which I have.
Super Mario Bros. 3. It's definitely the best of the old-school Mario games.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on August 02, 2012, 06:35:33 PMSuper Mario Bros. 3. It's definitely the best of the old-school Mario games.
I feel like such a sinner for having only Super Mario Bros. 2. :(
That game's good but Super Mario Bros. 3 is so much better.
Super Mario Bros 3 is great. I'm always stuck on the third world....
Double Dragon <3
Oh my gosh. I've almost finished Link to the Past, and I'm LOVING it. Thanks so much for recommending it, guys! I'm looking forward to reviewing it. :D
So I'm sort of thinking of changing this page up a little bit. Instead of just reviewing games, I'm going to be keeping track of all the retro games that I own, (NES, SNES, soon to be N64) and take requests at which games I should get in the future to review.
As for my playthrough of the Zelda series, I need to finish Zelda II before I finish Link to the Past. As tempted as I am to go and beat Ganon in LttP, I promised I would play them in "order", so I'm going to try really hard to finish Zelda II first. Unless it's so impossibly hard that I can't beat it. After that comes Link's Awakening, I believe, so that means I could do several things. I could buy a Gameboy, could buy a Gameboy attachment for my Super Nintendo, could dig out my old Gameboy Advance SP and get a new charger, or I could buy the DX version and do similar things. Whichever is easiest and cheapest I suppose. And then comes Ocarina of Time. Oooooh boy.
New reviews coming soon! I'll post my list of NES and SNES games soon so I can take suggests. And please, I need recommendations.
OK! Here are all the games in my NES library with the reason I bought them:
10-Yard Fight: First NES game alphabetically
Adventures of Lolo 2: The shopkeeper told me it was hard to find, and I couldn't pass it up. Plus, it came with the original box
Airwolf: It was 3 dollars
Balloon Fight: A friend of mine is addicted to it, and he recommended it
Battletoads: Shopkeeper told me it was hard. I had no idea...
Contra: Heard a lot of people online saying it was a good game. It did not disappoint
Dick Tracy: I watched the Angry Video Game Nerd episode, and then saw it in a store. I couldn't help myself
Donkey Kong 3: I bought the game on Wii Ware prior without really knowing what it was, so I felt obliged to get the real thing
Double Dragon 2: FSM recommended this. Thanks, dude! The game's great! :D
Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest: With the EarthBound series getting me into RPGs, I had to try one of the oldest and best on the NES
Dr. Mario: I heard it was addictive like Tetris, so I got it
Duck Hunt: I wanted to torture myself. I can't stand that dog...
Duck Tales: The Moon song was just too beautiful, I couldn't help but get the game
Excitebike: I saw this at a yard sale for pretty cheap, so I helped myself
Fester's Quest: Same reason as Dick Tracey
Golf: It was one of the original NES launch titles
Hoops: I like basketball, and I pawned it off of one of my teacher's sons
Ice Climber: Same reason as Donkey Kong 3, only this one wasn't an accident
Ice Hockey: Heard good things about it, and bought it at a yard sale
Jeopardy! Junior Edition: Got it for my birthday this year... what my family was high on, I do not know
Jaws: I watch AVGN a ton, and I saw this at a yard sale. I had to experience it for myself
The Karate Kid: Same as Jeopardy. Let me stress this a little more. WHAT WAS MY FAMILY THINKING
Kid Icarus: Well, why not? I was curious to see what it would be like. Pretty dang hard...
Kings of the Beach: Pawned it off of a teacher's son for really cheap
Kirby's Adventure: I wanted a retro Kirby game. One on the NES sounded good to me!
Kung Fu: Same as Battletoads. I heard in advance that it was hard, saw it in a store, and couldn't resist
The Legend of Zelda: I really shouldn't have to explain this. You guys practically forced me to buy a Zelda game ;)
Mario Bros.: The original arcade classic that started it all. Plus it was only 10 bucks. Gotta love a game with classical music ::)
Mega Man: Popo, if remember him, is a huge Mega Man fan, so when I saw it going for only 10 bucks, I quickly bought the stinker
Metroid: Really famous game, so why not? It's as cryptic as all crap, but fun nonetheless
Mickey Mousecape: See Kings of the Beach
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!: Saw it in a store and I'd heard great things about it. Plus there was a certain scene I wanted to see...
Miracle Piano Teaching System: See Kings of the Beach. Yes, there is a way to play piano on NES. Sadly, I do not own the piano yet
Millipede: I thought Centipede in the arcades was fun, so why not get a similar game on the NES? Besides, HAL made it
Mother: Yes, it's a pirated cartridge. Bought it in a store for 60 dollars. Don't really have to explain this. My first NES game
Monopoly: I wanted to see how playing Monopoly on the NES would work. Surprisingly well
Paperboy: Another one of my friend's favorite games. So I thought I'd give it a try
Pinball: I love pinball on older Windows computers, so on the NES sounded like fun
Rad Racer: Heard great things, saw it in a store, bam
R.B.I. Baseball: Saw it at a yard sale. Plus, I wanted an unliscenced game
R. C. Pro-Am: After watching Conker and playing Battletoads, I wanted to play the game that made Rare famous
Rolling Thunder: The arcade port was fun, and those Tengen cartridges are just eye-catchers...
Rush 'N' Attack: I love Konami's Contra, so getting this at a yard sale was a no-brainer for me
Solstice: See Kings of the Beach
Spot: Yo! Noid was interesting, I was curious to see how 7Up would handel an adver-game
Spy Hunter: Yard sales FTW!
Spy Vs. Spy: It had the original box
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt: I felt guilty for not having Super Mario Bros. So I got it
Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet: I... really don't know why I got this. Yard sale
Super Mario Bros. 2: Birthday gift from last year. A lot better choice than Karate Kid
Super Mario Bros. 3: Why the heck not? I've heard so many great things about this game that I couldn't resist when it was in stock
Super Pitfall: It... had the original box. I really don't know why else I would buy this crap
Super Sprint: See Rolling Thunder
Top Gun: I landed the plane. I am a better gamer than AVGN now ;)
Tetris: Bought it because my parents played it ages ago, but I quickly got addicted
Yo! Noid: It advertises Domino's Pizza, only cost 3 bucks, and I wanted to see how bad it could possibly be
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link: I had to get the sequel just because the original was so amazing
NES Games I am aware I need to get:
Megaman 2
Double Dragon 1
Original Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Junior
Maybe another Dragon Quest game
Final Fantasy?
Super C
Bubble Bobble
River City Ransom
Castlevania 1 or 2
SNES game library:
Donkey Kong Country
EarthBound
F-Zero
Illusion of Gaia
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Mario Paint
Paperboy 2
Street Fighter II: Turbo
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario World
Tetris 2
Yoshi's Cookie
Yoshi's Island
(Don't feel like any of these need explanations.)
Nintendo 64 Games Library:
Mario Kart 64
Mortal Kombat 4
Starfox 64
Superman 64 (Yes, I'm serious XD)
Yoshi's Story
Well Slow... I followed your advice. Again. I bought Super Mario Galaxy at Wal-Mart for only 20 bucks.
DANG, I have never played a Mario game this fun before. And the music is just phenomenal. I look forward to reviewing it after I... somehow... get all the stars... Might take a while.
Yeah, good luck with that. 100% completion is fairly difficult in this game.
Galaxy wasn't hard, I was able to beat it in about a few days, both play throughs at that.
It's the comets. I hated them.
Quote from: MaestroUGC on September 27, 2012, 07:09:53 PMGalaxy wasn't hard, I was able to beat it in about a few days, both play throughs at that.
I played it at a slower pace to enjoy it more iirc :D yeah it wasn't too hard to complete 100%, I really enjoyed it. The only level I had trouble with was the Dreadnought Ammo Depot *eye twitch* where you had to throw the Bob-ombs....
I think I went through the second one sooner. I liked the second one even better. I finished it but OMG the very last 242nd star took me so long....... don't get me started
Quote from: blueflower999 on September 27, 2012, 06:45:03 PMWell Slow... I followed your advice. Again. I bought Super Mario Galaxy at Wal-Mart for only 20 bucks.
DANG, I have never played a Mario game this fun before. And the music is just phenomenal. I look forward to reviewing it after I... somehow... get all the stars... Might take a while.
I'm definitely the best advice giver ;).... now let's see if you'll play 999 :o There's a fair bit of cursing, but it's such a great game. It's like reading a super complex, interactive mystery novel. It's more like watching a movie or reading a book than a game--the puzzles are only about 30% of the game.
Guys Galaxy isn't that great. I still don't get why people love it so much.
Quote from: Spyro on September 28, 2012, 02:01:02 PMGuys Galaxy isn't that great. I still don't get why people love it so much.
I enjoy the new enviornment. The sense of adventure. And most especially the music.
Quote from: Spyro on September 28, 2012, 02:01:02 PMGuys Galaxy isn't that great. I still don't get why people love it so much.
Actually, it is that great. :/
Quote from: blueflower999 on September 28, 2012, 02:09:42 PMI enjoy the new enviornment. The sense of adventure. And most especially the music.
I didn't even like the music.
And Sunshine and 64 had better music, adventure, and environment IMO.
Sunshine was a great game too.
Quote from: Spyro on September 28, 2012, 02:01:02 PMGuys Galaxy isn't that great. I still don't get why people love it so much.
*Not sure if trolling or not*
Quote from: Dude on September 29, 2012, 02:20:32 PM*Not sure if trolling or not*
Hey. Let him have his opinion.
wait why are you quoting me.
I never said he couldn't have an opinion, and I never said I agreed nor disagreed with him. I was just stating that his comment sounded like he was trolling everyone else.
I'm sure many of you have played this game. My review for Super Mario World: (which I just finished a few hours ago)
Gameplay: 9/10 Classic Super Mario platforming at its best. If you were a fan of Mario 1 or Mario 3, this is definitely the game for you. With the added ability for a save feature and the 16-bit graphics of the Super Nintendo, this game had a lot of potential, and it lives up to those expectations.
Addictiveness: 8/10 About as addicting as every Mario game, although this is the first one, to my knowledge, to support a save feature, which makes beating it in one sitting only necesarry if you want to. I'll probably go through it again someday, whenever I want a classic 16-bit platforming experience again.
Story: 3/10 It's your standard Mario story. You all know it. The only difference is that, this time, Yoshi is thrown into the mix.
Music: 8/10 Throughout the years, the Super Mario series has thrown out so many classic and catchy tunes that it's hard to count them all. From the bleeps and bloops of the original, to the orchestrated brilliance of Super Mario Galaxy, this one fits right in there between the two. While it does make the underground theme a remix of the main theme, the castle theme is awesome, and the final battle with Bowser has one of the best boss fight themes I've heard on the SNES since I bought EarthBound. Here are my recommendations:
Athletic Theme
Castle Theme
Bowser's Theme (Spoilers?)
Character Design: 4/10 I gave it a 4/10 just because it throws in my favorite Mario character, Yoshi, into it, even though Yoshi has about zero character. It's just your standard Italian plumber and Princess in distress here. Although I do like it how Peach kisses Mario on the nose at the end.
Humor: 3/10 Meh. Not every game has to have humor to be good, and not every game that has humor is a good game. It's just something that I look for when playing a new game. There's really not anything different from any other Mario game here, but it's still the jolly, happy Mario world that still brings a smile to my face, so I'll give it a 3.
Difficulty: 8/10 Don't be fooled; just because it has a save features does not, by any means, make this game easy. Oooh, no. The castles are a PAIN. Some of them took me days to beat and constant 1-Up grinding to get past. And did I mention that you can only save after you've beaten a casltle or ghost house?
Other memorable features: Some people criticize Super Mario World for not being as innovative as Mario 3 was. To be honest, I thought both were incredibly huge steps in bringing the Mario series to where it is today. Cape Mario is probably my favorite form of him to date, and the addition of Yoshi is an enormous step in the right direction. Also, I believe I read recently that Super Mario World has more secrets and hidden paths than any other Mario game to date, so if that's your thing, you must play it.
Overall: 8/10 An astounding game that must be owned by any retro mario or SNES lover. Just don't expect it to be beaten too easily.
That game is fun. I have the GBA re-release.
Updated my game library with all my new NES, SNES, and newly acquired N64 games!
As you can see, my collection is growing rapidly.
Only 9 stars left in Super Mario Galaxy! CAN I DO IT? :o
You can do it!!! If you can do the Dreadnought Ammo Depot, you can do anything.
(I'm assuming you beat the game with Mario and Luigi? Because if not, there's actually 122 more after the first 120)
Quote from: SlowPokemon on November 04, 2012, 07:39:14 PMYou can do it!!! If you can do the Dreadnought Ammo Depot, you can do anything.
(I'm assuming you beat the game with Mario and Luigi? Because if not, there's actually 122 more after the first 120)
I'm just talking about Mario. Is there any difference when playing it through with Luigi besides the obvious?
And... the Purple Coin mission on Dreadnought took me like 50 tries.
I was talking about the Bob-omb level with the trash @_@
No real difference with Luigi. He runs a little faster, is harder to stop, and jumps a little higher.
There's a very meh extra level after beating it with both bros.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on November 06, 2012, 03:59:58 AMI was talking about the Bob-omb level with the trash @_@
That took me like 2 tries :o
The one on Battlerock was harder for me.
lol Slow that was easy. It took me like 2-4 times.
Slow, you aren't alone. I kept missing the last two because the bombs wouldn't explode in time.
The purple comets are so terrible sometimes.
idk I haven't played the game since I 100% it not long after it came out, I just really remember having a lot of trouble with that level. Hm.
I do know that everybody always complained about the Luigi purple coin level, but that one didn't take me long at all compared to some of the horror stories I heard :/
That was the one that I hated for so long. Where you run around on 8-bit Luigi chased by those cosmic twin things. It took me forever.
Got 120 stars in Mario Galaxy! Oh yeah. 8)
I just went back and changed the overall scores for all the games I've reviewed, as well as fixed a few minor things that have changed since I have played the game, for instance, me finding more Portal 2 music that I like. The overall ratings now follow IGN's style:
0=Disaster
1=Unbearable
2=Painful
3=Awful
4=Bad
5=Mediocre
6=OK
7=Good
8=Great
9=Amazing
10=Masterpiece.
I did this so that Pikmin 2 isn't the only game that gets 10/10. In fact, Mario Galaxy probably will, when I get around to reviewing it.
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 04, 2012, 06:03:37 PMI did this so that Pikmin 2 isn't the only game that gets 10/10.
As it should be.
Other games can be good too. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily a 10/10 in my opinion....
Quote from: MaestroUGC on December 04, 2012, 06:15:41 PMAs it should be.
Yeah... that's why I changed it... ???
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 04, 2012, 06:26:02 PMOther games can be good too. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is easily a 10/10 in my opinion....
As is IGN's opinion.
Whoa, my topic....has changed drastically! :D
...huh?
And now, what you've all been waiting for,
Super Mario Galaxy:Gameplay: 8/10 It's your typical Mario platformer, but in 3D, and with a twist. Imagine Mario 64 or Sunshine thrown in a blender with better graphics, beautiful and diverse environments, and, most of all, a gravity based system. It works out quite nicely, despite having a few annoying camera angles, this only happens from time to time, and is in no way as bad as some past 3D Mario games.
Addictiveness: 9/10 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What I want from games is adventure. Mystery. Suspense. Not knowing what's around the corner. Not in a horror game type way, but in never knowing what stage or level you'll go to next. It's why I love Pikmin, and it's why I love this game, and why it got me hooked so quickly. The Galaxies are so diverse, with a few minor exceptions, that you'll never know what's coming up unless you use a walkthrough. It's not your typical 8 grass levels, 8 desert levels, 8 ice levels, 8 forest levels, etc. type game. It's like this: "Ooh, I'm in a rocky galaxy with some eggs and a giant sphere in the middle... Ooh! Now I'm in a beehive galaxy, and... Wow, now a lava and ice galaxy in one... Oh man, the floor disappears in this galaxy!"
Story: 5/10 Yes, yes, yes, it's your classic Mario story, but, this time, it suddenly feels more epic. More sincere. You'll think I'm crazy, and that's fine, but there's something different now that Bowser is taking over the entire universe, rather than just some small country that doesn't even exist.
Music: 10/10 The music is where this game really shines. My MP3 is slowly filling up with Mario Galaxy music. Buoy Base, Good Egg, Gusty Garden, Battlerock, Beach Bowl, Purple Coins, Space Junk, the final Bowser Battle, the song that plays when you're Flying Mario, Melty Molten, and the title theme, just to name a few. If you like video game music, like I do, you simply MUST play this game. This is literally the best soundtrack I've heard since MOTHER 3, which I played a year before Galaxy, so that's saying a lot. SO MUCH TO RECOMMEND HERE, but here are my picks:
Good Egg Galaxy
Gusty Garden Galaxy
Buoy Base Galaxy
Space Junk Galaxy
Final Bowser Battle (Spoilers?)
Battlerock Galaxy
Character Design: 5/10 Bowser's like he ever is, epic and scary, Bowser Jr. is still an annoying little brat, Mario doesn't talk very much, Luigi is hysterical, like he always is, and the Toads... are... surprisingly helpful. If you played Super Mario Bros. as a kid, (which I didn't, but hey) you'll remember the classic "You're Princess is in another castle" crap they give you SEVEN TIMES in the game. Well, not so much with this one. The toads are actually HELPFUL, by delivering mail from the princess, flying around in their own ship, etc. Rosalina, though, is definitely this game's most original character, because she has her own unique backstory. Some people didn't enjoy the story book scene, but I certainly did. I won't say what it is though, to avoid spoilers.
Humor: 6/10 Luigi is awesome in every game that he's in, but besides that, the dialogue was cute and charming for most of the game; Miyamoto's signature touch. Mario's "Thank you so much for playing my game!" after the credits made me lol.
Difficulty: 8/10 While a masterpiece of a game it may be, don't expect it to be a pushover. Remember, I'm rating this game based on its console. I'm not going to give an NES game 1/10 for music if it does have some catchy songs, but not many. Similarly, I'm not going to give every Wii game 2/10 for difficulty just because Wii games are no where near as hard as some NES games. Therefore, this game is incredibly tough for being a Wii game, but the sense of adventure and suspense just keeps pulling at you until you get all the stars.
Other Memorable Features: Being able to play as Luigi after you beat the game is a great feature that I'm glad they added. It takes forever to navigate the starship, but I enjoy it anyway because the music is great. Besides normal platforming, there's also a surfing game (which I hate), a ball rolling game (which I hate even more), and a game where Mario is in a bubble and you have to blow him around.
Overall: 10/10 The best Mario game that I've seen, ever. Period. Can't wait to get the sequel.
Excellent review--oh lord, wait until you hear the second game's soundtrack.
Also, you probably knew this, but most of those games' soundtracks was performed live by an orchestra.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 11, 2012, 07:12:48 PMExcellent review--oh lord, wait until you hear the second game's soundtrack.
Also, you probably knew this, but most of those games' soundtracks was performed live by an orchestra.
Yes, I did know that. I want to hear this orchestra preformed!
Also, some of the songs are proof that sometimes, when done right, orchestra + techno = goodness
Added a table of contents! Hopefully this will help people navigate, and will also allow me to remember what games I've already reviewed without having to scroll through so many pages of text. Also added big, bold titles to reviews, to help them stick out more.
Contra:Time for another review. Despite my family being EXTREMELY busy this holiday, I think I'm going to be trying to pump out a lot of reviews in my extremely limited free time. For those of you who play the NES, I'm sure you've heard of it. For those of you who haven't played the NES, but are fans of modern games like CoD, Medal of Honor, and pretty much any other first person shooter, you're looking at their granddaddy right here. You guessed it, (Or maybe the big bold letters at the beginning of this post gave it away... :-\) I'm talking about Contra.
Gameplay: 9/10 For the NES, this gameplay is addicting, varied, and simple, yet remains fun time and time again. With the inclusion of multiple weapons including a laser gun, a flame thrower, a shotgun, a machine gun, and a... spinning... ball... thing... gun, as well as a force field, a super bomb (to destroy everything on the screen), and rapid fire powerups, you'll have fun experimenting with all these weapons. (Although the shotgun is by far the best) The game starts with 3 lives, (30 with the Konami Code, but more on that later) and because it's one-hit KOs, this is no easy game at all, but it's not like other NES games with OHKOs like Yo! Noid in that it starts you back off where you got hit, not at the beginning of the level. And besides, most normal enemies die in one hit too, so it's pretty fair gameplay wise. There are 8 levels, each of which is pretty varied; the jungle, a base, (With a totally different 3D perspective, very impressive on the NES), the infamous waterfall stage, another base, a snowy mountain stage, an energy zone stage, a hanger stage, and finally, the alien's lair.
Addictiveness: 7/10 This game is short enough to take a good half hour or so to beat it, yet long enough to keep you coming back for more again and again. It's no Tetris, but me and my sister play through it from start to end every once in awhile, and it's new and fresh each time.
Story: 4/10 I think the story has something to do with 2 men being dispatched to destroy terrorists, which turn out to be aliens by the end. It's not the most cliche thing ever, but it isn't reflected in the gameplay very much. But hey, since when to shooters have good storylines? (With the exception of Halo and maybe a few others) The ending, however, was a little disappointing, I have to say. But I won't spoil that. ::)
Music: 8/10 The music in this game shines very brightly. Pretty much every stage theme is incredibly catchy, with the first 3 stages in particular being my favorite. There isn't a lot of variety in the songs, but every song is pumped full of SO MUCH INTENSENESS. It's like everyone could be the theme song for the final boss.
Stage 1/7
Stage 2/4
Stage 3
Stage 6
Character Design: 2/10 The final boss isn't really characterized in the game at all, but it is in the instruction manual, and so is the backstory and the main characters. But I'm not here to rate the instruction manual, I'm here to rate the game. And there isn't much character shown by the protagonists. However, I wouldn't be surprised in modern Contra games, like Contra 4 for the DS, that there is some depth to these guys.
Humor: 0/10 This game has a sick sense of humor in its difficulty.
Difficulty: 7/10, or 9/10 What I mean by that is this: there is a code in the game that has grown quite famous since the game's release. It's the Konami Code: Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START. (For those of you that saw Wreck-It Ralph!, this should sound familiar) When entered correctly on the title screen, both players get 30 lives, instead of three. Playing like this makes the game a lot easier. Still hard, but easier. However, playing with only 3 lives is insanely difficult, so that's the 9/10.
Other Memorable Features: The Konami Code was really popularized by this game, and is actually referenced and used in several other games by Konami, and other developers, Plants Vs. Zombies as well. This game sort of revolutionized the shooter industry because of the variety in levels: not just side scrolling levels, but vertical levels, 3D levels, and ones where you're shooting up at something.
Overall: 8/10 An extremely good game, and probably my favorite shooter yet. If you have an NES, pick one up. You won't regret it.
Another day, another NES review.
Balloon Fight:Gameplay: 8/10 Alright, let's get this out of the way first and foremost; yes, I realize that Balloon Fight is very similar to Joust. But, there's just something about Nintendo that makes this game so much better. It's given so much more character and replayability. For those who don't know, your character has 2 balloons, and must pop the balloons of enemy birds by hitting them from the top, while at the same time dodging obstacles like lightning, an evil fish, and protecting your own balloons. The game also comes with a 2 player mode, and a bonus balloon trip mode, which features you flying on into infinity, seeing how many balloons you can get before dying. For the NES, this amount of options was quite impressive, and the fact that every few stages in the normal mode, you're presented with a bonus stage.
Addictiveness: 8/10 Like many NES arcade style classics, this game is quite addicting. Trying to beat your high score is fun enough, but you can always invite over a friend and play co-op. And then when that's done, you can do the balloon trip mode. This game has had me hooked since the day I got it.
Story: 0/10 No story whatsoever, but that's fine. The "Story" category is only a plus. If a game doesn't have a good story, (and especially if it's an NES game) then I won't take off for it, but if it does, then I'll add.
Music: 7/10 The Balloon Trip theme in this game is GREAT, and the only "real" song in it, but regarding that, the game is a master of jingles. A catchy jingle plays when the fish eats an enemy, one plays when you pop a bubble for bonus points, one plays when you kill an enemy, another when you beat the stage, etc.
Balloon Trip
Character Design: 2/10 The Balloon Fight guy (I don't know if he has a name or not...) is quite adorable, and so are the birds, but there really is no character to them. Like the story, though, I'm not going to take off.
Humor: 3/10 This game is funny just for the sole fact that the "game over" music theme has a fart noise at the end of it.
Difficulty: 5/10 Being an NES arcade game that never ends, it, like you would expect, gets gradually more difficult as it goes along. But that's totally what you would imagine, so it doesn't make it any harder to pick up and play.
Other Memorable Features: Like I said earlier, the jingles in the game are great. The "Bumper" item in SSBM comes from this game, as does the Nintendo Land game "Balloon Trip Breeze". I'm glad that this once-underrated game is finally getting some well deserved recognition.
Overall: 8/10 If you're a fan of addicting arcade games, pick this one up for your NES. Or, if you're lucky, you already have it for your 3DS.
You forgot to rate Balloon Trip's music. :P
Quote from: Dudeman on December 24, 2012, 09:28:51 AMYou forgot to rate Balloon Trip's music. :P
Fixed. And thank you! It makes me glad that someone is reading my reviews! :D
Just keep reviewing old classics. :)
^That gives me an idea... you're a Megaman fan, right?
OMG YESYESYESYESYESYES
*ahem*...maybe...
Well then you get a treat! And yes, I realize that I've been doing quite a few NES reviews, but this system really is my specialty, and I
promise I'll do something different next time.
Mega Man:Gameplay: 8/10 While the side-scrolling element of Mega Man was pretty standard to the NES (It is what the NES does best, after all), this game is far from the ordinary in terms of gameplay. This was one of the first games that allowed players to play stages in the desired order. Not only that, but because each stage ended with a different Robot Master, and each Robot Master is weak to another's power, and each power is stolen from every Robot Master defeated, this added a lot of strategy in which stages were done in what order. The 6 stages are Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man. I prefer to go in the order 1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 3. The variety of weapons obtained from the bosses also adds more strategy to how different enemies are defeated, and which levels are easier and harder. For example, Ice Man's stage is a whole lot easier if you have Cut Man's weapon. Also, after all 6 Robot Masters are defeated, the Dr. Wily's stage is unlocked. (This is the part of the game I can't beat; it's insanely hard.)
Addictiveness: 7/10 Much like Contra, this is another classic on the Nintendo Entertainment System that I'll pick up and play anytime. Even though it's not 2 player, the fact that you can do stages in any order you want adds much more replayability for me than, say, Super Mario Brothers, because in there you're just doing the stages in the same order every time, while in Mega Man, there are multiple different strategies to try.
Story: 8/10 For the NES, the backstory of this game is pretty in-depth. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily create 6 Robot Masters (Listed above) in order to help society. However, Dr. Wily back-stabs Dr. Light, and reprograms all the robots to take over the world with him. Dr. Light quickly re-fits another robot creation, named Rock, to have a laser gun, and also gives him the ability to steal the other Robot Master's powers. Rock is renamed Mega Man, and is sent out to stop Dr. Wily. While this story is used over and over in modern Mega Man games, for the first of its kind, I enjoy this concept quite a bit.
Music: 9/10 This is another area where Mega Man really shines. EVERY SINGLE SONG in this game is fantastic, with the stage themes in particular. Cut Man's theme is catchy, and epic. Guts Man is awesome as well. Ice Man's is relaxing and calm. Bomb Man's is intense and scenic. Fire Man's perfectly sets the mood for his stage. Finally, Elec Man's, which is my favorite, is so beautifully composed that words cannot describe it. Seriously, give this soundtrack a listen. This is about as good as it can get on the NES.
Cut Man's Theme
Guts Man's Theme
Ice Man's Theme
Bomb Man's Theme
Fire Man's Theme
Elec Man's Theme <3
Character Design: 7/10 While not too much character is shown in the game itself, the instruction booklets and future games clarifies, and shows Dr. Wily to be an incredibly annoying an obnoxious villain (My favorite kind), and Dr. Light to be a loving and awesome creator. Not much of this is shown in the actual game, but this game paved the path for some classic video game faces in the future.
Humor: 0/10 Not a game I would recommend for laughs.
Difficulty: 9/10 While the first 6 stages aren't hard, with a lot of practice, Dr. Wily's stage is IMPOSSIBLE. I'm not even going to try to beat it. I made it to the Yellow Devil, and I can tell that there's no way I'm beating him anytime soon, at least without my Game Genie.
Other Memorable Features: This game revolutionized the gaming industry, and I hear that Mega Man 2 is even better, so I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on it.
Overall: 9.2/10 One of the best NES games. Ever. And this is coming from a guy who has like 80 of the things. So that's saying a lot. Get it. If you happen to have a PSP, you can get a remake of this game called "Mega Man Powered Up", which is a remake with better graphics and 2 new Robot Masters.
Hey. Hey. Hey.
You know what NES game you should play next?
ABOBO'S BIG ADVENTURE (http://www.kongregate.com/games/pestoforce/abobos-big-adventure)
You think I haven't heard of that? :P
I might give it a try...
My nightly review! I promised I wouldn't do another NES game, so I'll mix it up a little and do a Wii one. Those of you who watch Chuggaaconroy should be familiar with this game by now:
Kirby's Epic Yarn:Gameplay: 8/10 This game plays somewhat like your classic Kirby game, but with a lot of change and twists incorporated. Unfortunately, Kirby cannot inhale enemies or copy powers due to him being made out of yarn. However, he turns into a weight when ground pounding, a car when running, a submarine when swimming, a parachute to fall slower, and more. He can also transform into different vehicles in certain levels. There are so many mechanics in this game that it's hard to summarize them all in one paragraph, but there are also side mini games, a room decorating scenario, and 7 worlds to explore, each packed with levels. It's quite a long game, for the Kirby series, and it doesn't get boring fast at all. Each level has 3 treasures, and it's also a challenge to get gold rank on every level.
Addictiveness: 7/10 It's as addicting as any other platformer. If you're a fan of Mario, Mega Man, or other Kirby games, I'd definitely give this one a go. The side games and room decorating functions also give this game much more longevity than most Kirby titles.
Story: 7/10 Not too bad, actually. Yin-Yarn takes over Dream Land and turns it into yarn land. Meanwhile, Kirby is sucked into the destroyed Patch Land, where he meets Prince Fluff, and the 2 set out to literally stitch the kingdom back together. King Dedede, and Meta Knight as well, are also sucked into the kingdom, and after the world is sewn back together, they exit back to Dream Land to stop Yin-Yarn. I like this plot a lot because it's just so bizarre. I mean, seriously! YARN! Where does Hal Laboratory come up with this crap!?
Music: 9/10 Kirby games are known in my mind for having a few, excellent motifs in their games: Green Greens, Meta Knight's Revenge, Gourmet Race, KING DEDEDE'S THEME, and more, but this game is different, and still manages to contain all the songs I just listed, while introducing plenty of beautiful and original songs. Some great songs in this game are Rainbow Falls, Snowy Fields, Fangora's Theme, Mole Hole, and more. If you're a Kirby fan, give this soundtrack a listen.
King Dedede's Theme
Rainbow Falls
Snowy Fields
Fangora (Boss)
Mole Hole
Character Design: 7/10 While Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight are all their old, awesome selves, Prince Fluff is shown to be a likable character from the cutscenes, while Yin-Yarn is shown to be a quirky and hysterical villain as well. I would personally love to see more of these characters in future games. The enemy design is great, too. While Epic Yarn does have classics like Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, Gordos, SCARFIES, and the lot, it brings a whole new slush of enemies into the mixer to keep things fresh.
Humor: 8/10 This game all has a child-like atmosphere around it, but it does so without being immature. Some of the fabric puns in the game are downright hysterical, and some of the levels have hidden jokes in them, for instance, healing a Teddy Bear's torn leg by pulling a string, and then having a lollipop of gems appear in his hand.
Difficulty: 8/10 While the actual game itself is fairly easy to beat (You can't die, after all) getting gold rank on every level, and getting all the treasures, as well as completing all the mini games is quite difficult. The mini games get hard very fast, and a few of them are incredibly irritating.
Other Memorable Features: The reason I got this game was because of its 2-player function, and boy, did me and my friend have fun with it! If you're a Kirby fan with some brothers or sisters that like to play with you, and you've already gone through Return to Dreamland, give this one a try.
Overall: 8/10 A very, very underrated Kirby game and Wii game in general. Definitely one of my favorites.
This review feels like pants.
Couldn't get that into epic yarn, but then I've always preferred Mario platformers to Kirby platformers. I think Kirby works better on handheld systems (but even then I'd rather play Mario lol)
The while thing about it being difficult or impossible to die in Kirby games takes a lot of the fun out of it, and it feels a lot less organized than Mario (although epic yarn was definitely an improvement on that).
Quote from: FSM-Reapr on December 25, 2012, 11:27:07 PMThis review feels like pants.
Win
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 26, 2012, 08:16:41 AMCouldn't get that into epic yarn, but then I've always preferred Mario platformers to Kirby platformers. I think Kirby works better on handheld systems (but even then I'd rather play Mario lol)
The while thing about it being difficult or impossible to die in Kirby games takes a lot of the fun out of it, and it feels a lot less organized than Mario (although epic yarn was definitely an improvement on that).
I do see your argument. While Mario games and Kirby games are both amazing in my view, I play them both for different reasons. Mario games are often more challenging and hardcore than Kirby games, but playing hardcore games all the time gets boring. I play Kirby games because it's a nice way to just skim through an easy game and still have fun doing it. While Super Star is probably my favorite Kirby, Epic Yarn is probably my second. Also, not how I said that being unable to die only makes it easy to
finish the game. If you want to get 100%, dying makes you lose a lot of beads if you're over a gap or lava, and because you need every bead you can get if you want gold rank (which is required for 100%), then you can't go around dying all the time either.
Once you do get 100%, though, there's nothing really left to do...(except do Dusk Dunes again lol)
Quote from: Dudeman on December 26, 2012, 10:49:10 AMOnce you do get 100%, though, there's nothing really left to do...(except do Dusk Dunes again lol)
Well... yeah, I guess you're right. But Mario platforming games don't really have much to do afterwards either... :P
Also, new poll! Please vote, everyone!
Well, you guys seem to want a Link to the Past review. I'll get right on that. (I still need to beat Ganon, and I'm moving, so I need to get all my retro games packed up and put in my new house.) Also, I apologize of the lack of review last night. I was out late to see a musical, and didn't have enough time to write one.
In the meantime, though, I'll review another underrated childhood classic of mine for the PC. If anyone's actually played it before, speak up! I'll be impressed.
Age of Mythology:Gameplay: 10/10 If you're a fan of other command-and-conquer RTSs, (I.e., StarCraft,) then you'll know what this game is like in a nutshell. Gather resources, (Food, Wood, Gold, and Favor from the gods) and use these to build an army and a city to crush your opponents. Standard stuff, it's been done before after all, but what I really love about this game, and what really suckered me into buying it, was that it has loads of mythology (hence the name) from 3 different historical cultures; (4, with the Titans expansion pack) Greek, Egyptian, and Norse. Each culture controls and plays remarkably different. If that weren't enough, each of the 3, or 4, cultures has 3 major gods to chose to worship at the beginning of the game. (For instance, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades for the Greeks) And then, after aging up in the game, you can chose to worship even MORE minor gods. These 3 levels of classification add TONS of replayability and strategy to every match, as each choice unlocks different upgrades, units, and monsters. There is a skirmish mode, a very well designed campaign, a level creator, and a very good multiplayer server (in its prime). All of this added up to a game that I played for HOURS and HOURS on end for multiple summers in a row.
Addictiveness: 9/10 As a little kid, this was the first video game I ever remember buying, and boy, did it get me hooked fast. For days, this was literally the only thing I'd play for hours and days and weeks on end! There's just so much to do, experiment with, and accomplish.
Story: 10/10 Like Mother 3, AoM is another game that deserves its own novel written about this game's story. I'm not going to spoil the whole thing, (there are some GREAT plot twists that you don't want ruined!) but to be frank, it's great, and is a great way to keep the player glued to the screen during the campaign to see what will happen next. For me, the AoM story has always been like another Greek myth that never made it to the history books, because it's just that good.
Music: 8/10 While it's no Super Mario Galaxy, after playing this game for so long, I've pretty much memorized every song in the game, and there are some great underrated hits here. Many of them reflect the different cultures that you're playing as in the tones of the instruments and overall style of music.
Greek Theme
Egyptian Theme
Norse Theme
Character Design: 10/10 This game has some of the best characters I've ever seen in a game. The main characters are lovable, and humorous at times. The villains are... my favorite kind. The kind that make you want to stab them in the chest every minute of the game! That's why I don't think GLaDOS is deserving of IGN's #1 villain spot; because I don't HATE GLaDOS, I LOVE GLaDOS. So she's not a good villain, but a good overall CHARACTER. The opposite is true of Gargarensis, Kemsyt, and Kamos, the trio of baddies in AoM; I hate every single one of them. And that's great.
Humor: 9/10 Many of the lines in the cutscenes of AoM and clever, memorable, and hilarious. While it's no Portal 2, there are some great one liners and lol worthy quotes. Also, some bonus characters that you can acquire with cheat codes have very frivolous descriptions in them.
Difficulty: 7/10 While there definitely are some challenging missions in AoM, (One in particular is a pain in my butt...) on the easy difficulty, I can usually beat the campaign in a day or two. However, that's why there's a moderate, hard, and titan setting of difficulty. So, if challenge is your thing, you've got it here if you want it, but if it's not, you don't have to.
Other Memorable Features: The characters all speak in their native languages in actual gameplay, and the monsters all make amusing noises. Some examples of monsters you get to control are Sphinxes if you're Egyptian, Cyclopses and Medusas if you're Greek, and Giants if you're Norse.
Overall: 10/10 A true masterpiece of gaming programming. AND BY THE WAY. I know some of you guys know this, but I hate the Xbox. A lot. I'll never get one. And there are a million and one reasons why. Guess who made this game? Ensemble Studios. (If you've played Halo Wars, it's the same guys.) Guess who bought them and shut them down? Microsoft. I will never forgive you.
This game was great, I think I might replay it during the semester in the spring now that you reminded me of it.
I loved that game! I wonder if we still have it...
Ahhh... AoM. I didn't play it more than a couple of times, and I must say I prefer the game it was a spin-off of:
Age of Empires II.
AoE II was awesome. It practically defined the RTS genre for years to come. And the expansion pack was even better, adding a few crucial things that made you wonder how you managed to play the base game at all (-- Farm Expired). I remember playing it daily for more than a year back in grade four.
I picked it up again during my time in the military. The game was easy to get into, had so little system requirements it could be run smoothly from a memory stick, and the LAN mode made it a superior multi-player game for bored soldiers in the long Arctic winter evenings.
I'd probably rank it second or third in terms of "most nostalgic childhood game" for me. I install it on every computer I own, and even now pick it up from time to time. The menu music is pretty sweet too.
In hindsight, I see now that AoE I was deeply flawed, and AoE III was complete balls. But the second installment of the series will live long in my heart.
^Thanks for commenting, guys! Wow, I guess I'm not the only one who likes the Age of series! I thought I would be.
Anyway, I have to go to bed very soon, so I'll try to make my nightly review quick. I just did an Epic Yarn review, so why not try another good Kirby game?
Kirby's Dream Land:That's right, folks, I'm going to review the original Kirby game for the Gameboy. While you couldn't copy powers, it's still the greatest game I have for the system as of yet.
Gameplay: 8/10 Like I said above, you can't copy powers in this game. But remember, this is the GAMEBOY. This game was released about 5 or 6 years before Pokemon, so people didn't take advantage of the Gameboy's full potential until then. However, this game is still fantastic. Even though your only attack is inhaling, or an occasional powerup, you can still swallow and spit out enemies like in any other Kirby game. The main mechanic that sets this apart from the other rubbish platformers if the ability to fly around, which is another trademark of the Kirby series. The game only has 5 levels, but they're nice lengths and all have a boss or two.
Addictiveness: 8/10 It's no Tetris, I'll say that, but I beat this game 4 times in one day once. FOUR FREAKING TIMES. Once on the bus to school, once in homeroom, once during lunch, and once on the way back home. And it didn't get boring. At all.
Story: 7/10 It doesn't make it clear in the game at all, and I don't really feel like researching this game's story, so I'll just take a guess; King Dedede steals sometime, (perhaps food?) and Kirby travels through different levels to find him, face him, and defeat him. Not a bad story, especially for Gameboy, but it could have had a little more clarity and detail.
Music: 9/10 I know I keep saying "For Gameboy it's not that bad", "This was really impressive on Gameboy!", and "I've never seen anything like this on Gameboy before!". I apologize for saying it yet again, but for the Gameboy, the soundtrack is great. You got your Green Greens, your Castle Lolo, and my personal favorite, Dedede's theme. Every song in this game is now a Kirby classic.
Green Greens
Bubbly Clouds
Castle Lololo (You all should know this from Superstar!)
King Dedede's Theme <3
Character Design: 6/10 No Meta Knight. Just Kirby, and Dedede. Not much to say, but they did change and become awesome characters throughout the series, as did some of the enemies.
Humor: 4/10 This game does have your signature Hal Laboratory touch, but it's not laugh out loud hysterical. Except when King Dedede goes flying outside his castle. That's awesome.
Difficulty: 6/10 This game's as easy as cake the first time... until you unlock the harder difficulty. Then I can't beat the first level. ::)
Other Memorable Features: Like I said above, you can unlock harder difficulties by putting in a code (Not the Konami Code!) on the menu. Also, you can unlock a soundplayer and a feature that can change your lifecount as well. All nice surprises and rewards.
Overall: 8/10 For the first Kirby game, it had its flaws, but it's still great.
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 28, 2012, 07:48:09 PMStory: 7/10 It doesn't make it clear in the game at all, and I don't really feel like researching this game's story, so I'll just take a guess; King Dedede steals sometime, (perhaps food?) and Kirby travels through different levels to find him, face him, and defeat him. Not a bad story, especially for Gameboy, but it could have had a little more clarity and detail.
I disagree, Dedede stole all the food from the people of Dream Land, making Kirby go on a RAAMPAGE to get all the food back.
"King Dedede and his followers have stolen all of Dream Land's food as well as the Sparkling Star used to harvest them. Kirby sets off to reclaim both the food and the Sparkling Stars and teach the king a lesson." This was in the game manual or something. :/ Basically anyone who read the manual before playing, knows the story.
Oh, and btw, the official name is "Kirby's Dream Land"
How do you unlock the sound test?
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 29, 2012, 08:18:14 AMHow do you unlock the sound test?
The game tells you when you beat it on hard mode.
Here's how:
*SPOILER*
You hold down, B, and Select on the main menu, I believe.Quote from: FSM-Reapr on December 29, 2012, 02:42:22 AMI disagree, Dedede stole all the food from the people of Dream Land, making Kirby go on a RAAMPAGE to get all the food back.
"King Dedede and his followers have stolen all of Dream Land's food as well as the Sparkling Star used to harvest them. Kirby sets off to reclaim both the food and the Sparkling Stars and teach the king a lesson." This was in the game manual or something. :/ Basically anyone who read the manual before playing, knows the story.
Oh, and btw, the official name is "Kirby's Dream Land"
Thank you, I fixed the name. I don't have access to most instruction booklets for games, and I try to review the game ITSELF, not the information in the instructions.
That isn't a spoiler because nobody would ever figure it out on their own :3
^I'm pretty sure it tells you when you beat the game on hard difficulty. And you unlock hard difficulty when you beat the game normally.
*SPOILER* You play hard difficulty by holding up, A, and select on the main menu
FINALLY ordered Mega Man 2 today. I've been waiting quite a while to get my hands on that one. Probably won't come before I have to go back to school on the 3rd, but at least I got it.
Also ordered Donkey Kong, Bubble Bobble, and Super C. (That last one is Contra 2, for those who don't know)
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 29, 2012, 10:20:02 AMFINALLY ordered Mega Man 2 today. I've been waiting quite a while to get my hands on that one. Probably won't come before I have to go back to school on the 3rd, but at least I got it.
Well done, blueflower, I am anxiously awaiting your review.
Quote from: Dudeman on December 29, 2012, 07:08:49 PMWell done, blueflower, I am anxiously awaiting your review.
I'm already addicted to the music. :o
I'm in for one heck of a ride, aren't I. My goal is to at least make it to Dr. Wily's stage before I review it. So that will take some practice. (I got Mega Man 1 in like August, and didn't get to that stage until this week XD) Quick Man I hear is the hardest.
Hint against Flash man: SPAM METAL BLADES.
Quote from: SocialFox on December 29, 2012, 07:17:30 PMHint against Flash man: SPAM METAL BLADES.
Isn't that what you do for all the remaining Robot Masters? ::)
OK, I've waited long enough. Time to review a game that you should all know what its final review score will be considering that I'm reviewing it. The big fat mamma of neglected game franchises, it's time for me to review
EarthBound:But seriously. If you haven't played it, DO SO. NOW. You don't know what you're missing. Like Final Fantasy? PLAY EARTHBOUND. Like Dragon Quest? PLAY EARTHBOUND. Even if it's not your favorite, you'll still find it amusing how it parodies the traditional RPG formula. But anyway, on to the review.
Gameplay: 9/10 This was the first true RPG that I ever really played, discounting Pokemon, and I got hooked, quick. There are 4 main party members; Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo. Everyone except for Jeff can learn different PSI moves after leveling up, while Jeff specializes in fixing items that are broken. They all use unique weapons and are also differentiated so much more than I can describe quickly. The enemies are BIZARRE, as you will quickly learn. The boss battles are also unique, quirky, and enjoyable, just like the game itself.
Addictiveness: 8/10 If you've enjoyed RPGs in the past, you will love this stinker. Porky (known as Pokey in this game) is such a butthole that you'll want to just keep playing in the hopes that you'll be able to shove your baseball bat up his rear-end at the end of the game. You'll also be laughing so hard from the obscurity that you'll want to see more.
Story: 9/10 I like this game's story, a lot. Not because the general framework is 100% unique (You must find 8 melodies and defeat Giygas), but that I love all the quirky and unusual things that happen along the way. I mean seriously, how many games do you have that let you defeat a giant talking pile of puke? Twice!
Music: 10/10 A very diverse and unique soundtrack makes it the best retro soundtrack to any game, with Mega Man probably being my 2nd favorite. This game has everything in terms of music; catchy enemy battle and route tunes, beautiful town themes, and a hard core metal boss song. With everything in between.
Sunrise and Onett
Twoson
Fourside
Your Name Please
Final Boss *SPOILERS*
Kraken of the Sea
Summers
Winters
Good Friends/Bad Friends
Character Design: 10/10 You'll remember so many characters from this game. Not just the main party members, but the NPCs (Mr. Saturn in particular!) are all quirky, unique, and downright hilarious!
Humor: 10/10 Like stated many times above, this is the weirdest game that I've ever played, that's weird in a good way. (The Attack of the Mutant Penguins for Atari Jaguar doesn't count) Seriously, just look at some of these enemy names: "Demonic Petunia", "Putrid Moldyman", "French Kiss of Death", "Manly Fish's Brother", and "Plague Rat of Doom".
Difficulty: 4/10 Mother 3 is hard, but this game is a cakewalk. You won't have to grind that much at all because the experience you get from enemies doubles so much between areas that you'll have no problem with most of the bosses.
Other Memorable Features: This game has so many that I don't have time to write all of its features down.
Overall: 10/10 Best retro video game I've ever played. (Mother 3 is superior, but I don't consider GBA to be retro yet) Get it. Now.
I would get it if It was not for NES.
And if it was in English.
it's for Snes, and it's in English. -_-
Quote from: shadowkirby on December 29, 2012, 09:28:27 PMit's for Snes, and it's in English. -_-
I feel like an idiot now.
Got the game.
...Really? Like an actual copy of the game, or a ROM on an emulator?
If he found the actual game you have a right to bash his face in I think.
Quote from: Zunawe on December 30, 2012, 03:01:18 PMIf he found the actual game you have a right to bash his face in I think.
Why? I have the actual game.
Did you find it difficult to get? If not, then never mind.
I'm lucky enough to live near a store that sells older video games. While I haven't seen it in that store in awhile, I did run into it several times there before deciding to buy it. It was the first game I ever got that was older than the Gamecube, so I had to buy the SNES as well. It cost 90 dollars, which is a real bargain considering what they've been going for on eBay.
But yeah. If you live near a store that sells old video games, it's not THAT hard to find, but if you don't, then it is. And it'll still run you at least 100 bucks today either way.
Ah. Not many stores do sell games like that anymore.
I think it's safe to say that if I didn't buy EarthBound, I might not be on this forum today.
OK, I'll admit, I'm starting to run out of ideas. But I want this Christmas marathon to continue until I go back to school. So I'll start reviewing more obvious games. Like this one.
Pikmin:Gameplay: 9/10 Like many of you know, Pikmin 2 is my favorite game of all time. But this is one, not two. While 2 is far superior in every way to the original, there obviously would not be a sequel without the original. Pikmin 1's gameplay was incredibly original. I've never seen any game like it before, and I haven't seen any since, except for that shameless ripoff on the Playstation Vita (http://www.ign.com/games/army-corps-of-hell/vita-117882). You command your Pikmin, and salvage 30 ship parts in 30 in game time days, with each day lasting approximately 15 minutes, and the 30 parts scattered throughout 5 areas; one of which being only for the final boss. While I do love this game and consider it to be much overshadowed by other Gamecube games, it did have its flaws. For instance, there are TONS of glitches in both this and its sequel. But really, could you blame them? There's just so many ways to screw with a game of this complexity. The areas are so elaborately and intricately designed that it would be impossible to make this game glitch-free. Also, the fact that this game has to be completed in exactly 30 days or less, or you get the bad ending, does add a very unique atmosphere to this game, (it's like Majora's Mask) it is a little annoying not to be able to explore the entire environment and enjoy yourself. However, there is some great variety in enemies. Nothing in comparison to the sequel, but it still adds a sense of adventure and mystery that's just a foreshadowing of what's to come from this series.
Addictiveness: 8/10 I actually put this game down. Yes, I'm a die hard fan of the series, and I put down this game. For like a month or two. And then I saw the sequel in stores. I think God just spoke to me. "Blueflower, buy this game", because I still don't know why I did. But I did it! And almost immediately, I was hooked. After beating the SECOND game, then I found true value in the FIRST. So... play them in whatever order you want, (I'm still waiting to see if 3 will be better than 2) but if you don't like #1, try playing #2 to get used to the series with easier controls and no time limit, and then try #1 again. I guarantee you'll like it more.
Story: 9/10 I do like this story a lot. Olimar gets hit by an asteroid while going on a vacation, and gets wrecked on this... mysterious planet. he only survives one night with the aid of the Pikmin he discovers, who help him locate his ship's engine. This allows him to blast off at night to save himself from the indigenous nocturnal creatures. After this, he proceeds to collect ship parts until he finally recovers all 30, and then blasts off to his home planet of Hocotate. The ending is touching, and epic. It's great. If you've played it and only got the bad or average ending, play through it again and try to get the good one. It's worth it, I promise.
Music: 9/10 Every song in this game is fantastic... except for the theme of The Distant Spring. It's just too environmental, and I never liked it. The Impact Site is awesome, Forest of Hope is beautiful, Forest Navel is my favorite area in the Pikmin series and has one of the best songs, and the Final Trial is also outstandingly epic.
Map Theme
The Impact Site
The Forest of Hope
The Foest Navel
The Final Trial
*SPOILERS* Final Battle
Character Design: 8/10 The only character that ever talks is Olimar, but he has a lot of character development in his dialogues. Much like Portal and Portal 2, the Pikmin franchise thus far focuses only on a few number of characters. It's not like Final Fantasy where there are enough characters to make a periodic table of them (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://geekadelphia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/periodic_final_fantasy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://geekadelphia.com/2009/03/27/periodic-table-of-final-fantasy-characters/&h=374&w=580&sz=351&tbnid=_53B324be2IqOM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=140&zoom=1&usg=__nKL9cwI0aFv976l-zlN3kcnuk9I=&docid=go4s4WETNl74IM&sa=X&ei=AhPhUNHXHYzV0gGx84HwBg&ved=0CD8Q9QEwAQ&dur=288). Rather, the only real "character" in Pikmin 1 is Olimar. There are 2 more in the sequel, but Olimar's going solo in the first. However, the enemies display tons of character in themselves without actually speaking, and the Pikmin are ADORABLE. Don't even get me started there.
Humor: 8/10 Many of Olimar's dialogues are witty or humorous. How he names the enemies is also always entertaining. (I know Pikmin enemies like the back of my hand. Well, better, actually. I couldn't draw the back of my hand. Well, I couldn't draw a Bulborb either. You get the point.) Some of his descriptions for bizarre ship parts are also comedic. Who ever thought that a giant canon capable of destroying an entire star isn't necessary for his ship to fly, but a little cushion for his seat will cause his ship to crash if he doesn't have it?
Difficulty: 8/10 If you stink at Pikmin 1, here's my advise to you; play the sequel and get better, then come back to the first. If you're anything like me, you'll stink at Pikmin when you first pik up a controller. However, the sequel controls much more smoothly, and the first game will get a lot easier with practice in the later game. However, it's still far from easy. The final boss is RIDICULOUS, and there's a hidden boss in The Distant Spring that is insane.
Other Memorable Features: There is an enemy reel at the end of the game, which reminds me a lot of the cast roll at the end of Mother series games. Did you know that in Japanese, Olimar is pronounced Oh-ri-mah, which backwards is Mah-ri-oh, or Mario? Also, Pikmin is supposed to mean "pick me".
Overall: 9.8/10 I would have given this a 7 or 8 out of ten before playing the sequel, but now I see what potential this game has.
This game has a lot of replay value, which I think you forgot to mention. Each time you play you can improve your routes, strategies, and place challenges on yourself (the 9 day run and 50 Pikmin challenge are ones I usually attempt). This is probably the only RTS I've seen on a console that got the managment elements right, since you've got limited input with a controller. The Sequel is a better game, in regards to control and gameplay, but not as challenging as the first (Purples really break it).
Hopefully no one will be too terribly mad at me, but I'm taking tonight off. I wanna watch the ball drop!
Superman 64:
Gameplay: 0/10
Addictiveness: 0/10
Story: 0/10
Music: 0/10
Character Design: 0/10
Humor: 0/10
Difficulty: 10/10
Other Memorable Features: It sucks
Overall: 0/10
yay i'm done
OK, for real this time. I think you all know what I have saved for the end of my Christmas bonanza, but for now, let's review a different type of game.
Mario Party DS:
Gameplay: 8/10 I realize that the Mario Party series has been criticized over, and over, and over for this; it's really mostly luck. However, while there is the fair share of games that require luck to win, (with Cheep Cheep Chance being the most prominent) there are plenty of skill games, like seeing how fast you can tap a button, (I know how much some of you love button mashers ;)) or how hard you can blow into the microphone, or how fast you can make swiping motions with the stylus. While it is fun for a while, it does get boring. I can only usually do one or two rounds of party mode before wanting to pop in Pokemon or Yoshi's Island DS. Granted, it is a good party game, but I would still prefer Nintendo Land over this one because of the repetition of the minigames. However, there are 5 stages to chose from, which are pretty unique and characterized, which is a plus. There are also 8, I believe, characters to play as. There are also 5 boss battles at the end of stages in the single player mode. A few other mini games here and there, with the options to select mini games just for singular play makes it a little big more fun for longer.
Addictiveness: 7/10 Like I said above, it's fun, but it doesn't last lost. I play it with my sisters and with friends, (it's great that DS download play works without the other people having the game!) but really it is just the same thing over and over.
Story: 5/10 The Mario gang gets shrunk down and has to go defeat Bowser. While challenging other members to Mario Parties at every opportunity to see who can be the "Super Star". Really, it's kinda lame. I prefer the traditional Bowser-kidnaps-Peach scenario.
Music: 6/10 The songs aren't BAD, but none of them really catch my ear either. And that's surprising. Mario games are known in my head for having great music! I have no songs to post.
Character Design: 4/10 It's all the same Mario characters you know and love, with surprisingly even less character development. Besides Bowser and Bowser Jr., every character is literally exactly the same in the story mode.
Humor: 7/10 Some of the mini games are clever and humorous, while the stages have the signature Mario touch. However, the game never really goes out of its way to be funny.
Diffiiculty: 6/10 Due to the luck-based nature of this game, it's hard to rate its difficulty. You can make the CPUs harder, if you want, which is cool, but if you keep losing, the only help that makes sense is to keep trying and hope for the best.
Other Memorable Features: My sisters love this game, but I'm sure there has to be a more enjoyable Mario Party somewhere.
Overall: 7/10 It's a good game, but like I said, there has to be better, right?
It's weird, but I prefer Mario Party Advance to Mario Party DS. I had a lot of fun with Mario Party DS when it first came out, though. My siblings and I would always play on road trips. XD
I remember liking the themes to Toadette's Music Room and Kamek's Library.
I have the ultimate medal in Mario Party DS, unlocked by a shitload of those Party Points! :3
That should tell you that the game is addictive as Pokemon!!!
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 01, 2013, 06:52:09 PMSuperman 64:
Gameplay: 0/10
Addictiveness: 0/10
Story: 0/10
Music: 0/10
Character Design: 0/10
Humor: 0/10
Difficulty: 10/10
Other Memorable Features: It sucks
Overall: 0/10
yay i'm done
Lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
Way to go, blueflower.
i never actually had MP:DS but i played it and it was ok. the mario party i prefer is mario party 7.
^OK, I'll look into that.
And now what (I) have been watching for!
Pikmin 2:Gameplay: 10/10 Flawless. I have never seen a sequel improve so much over its predecessor. This game has everything you expect, and more. In fact, that's the key word here: more. More fluent controls. More enemies. More areas (mainly in the form of caves). More things to collect. More Pikmin types. More game mechanics. More of everything you love. (I sound like the Super Mario World commercial!) And less of the bad things. Less glitches. No time limit. It's perfect, and addicting as freak.
Addictiveness: 9/10 It's hard for a game to get 10/10 in the addictiveness category unless I played it for so long that my eyes started to turn to mush, or it's Tetris. Or Dr. Mario. But Pikmin 2 is about as close as you can get. It always keeps you guessing things like "What's around this corner?", "What will I find on the next floor?", "If the next boss a giant frog? A walking loaf of bread? A bird-snake hybrid?", and "What new varieties of treasure will I find in this area?"
Story: 9/10 Short and sweet: Olimar escapes from the Pikmin planet only to find his company in an ENORMOUS debt of over 10,100 Pokos. For comparison, 100 Pokos is more than Olimar makes in a year, so that is a lot of money! After having his ship, the S. S. Dolphin sold by his boss to replay the debt, hope looked grim. Thankfully, a souvenir that Olimar brought back from the Pikmin Planet (which is, in fact, a bottle-cap) is analyzed by a nearby, unnamed ship. (Known as the "Hocotate Ship" in Brawl) The soda cap was worth 100 Pokos, so, conveniently, the debt is lowered to exactly 10,000, and the President sends Olimar, with a new sidekick Louie, back to the Pikmin Planet to discover more treasure and repay the debt! The plot thickens after this (as you who have played the game know!), but I'm not going to spoil what makes the ending so great...! :D
Music: 9/10 Much like the first game, the area themes are all wonderfully composed... except for one. This time, it's the Valley of Repose, and again, it's just not catchy enough for me to like it. Others like it, but I don't. However, the Awakening Wood, Perplexing Pool, and Wistful Wild themes are all amazing. The boss battle theme is UNBELIEVABLE epic, almost too much so, and whenever a boss has its own separate, unique theme song, that's always great too. This includes the final boss, which is one of the most epic final boss battles I've ever heard, only taking competition from EarthBound's and maybe a few others.
Awakening Wood
Perplexing Pool
Wistful Wild
Boss Battle
*SPOILERS* Final Boss
Bulblax Kingdom
Character Design: 10/10 Again, it's just what I want. Instead of flooding you with hundreds of characters that never see much development, this game gives you just a few. Olimar, Louie, and the President (I call him Shacho), who all receive beyond substantial character development throughout the events of Pikmin 2. The President sends you an email and the end of every in-game day, and if he doesn't, someone else like Olimar's Wife or Son, or even Louie's Grandmother does, so that brings even more characters into the game. Even though they aren't physically present in the game, THE MAIL STILL GIVES THEM LOTS OF CHARACTER. Which is awesome.
Humor: 9/10 This game has an outstanding, yet subtle sense of humor. Some of the lines that you get in emails are downright hysterical, my personal favorite being from Shacho: "Olimar! Terrible news! I thought I went to Happy Hocotate Savings & Loan, but it seems my loan came from the shop next door: All-Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks! Oops!" YEAH, OOPS. Miyamoto is one riot of a guy! And if you don't know who Miyamoto is... then... why are you on this site? :P
Difficulty: 5/10 Much like Pikmin 1, this game is easy if you're practiced, but hard if you're new. However, this one is MUCH more forgiving than the sequel, so if you mess up, it's no big deal because there's no time limit! Most of the enemies are easier, (WITH A FEW SMALL EXCEPTIONS (http://pikmin.wikia.com/wiki/Spotty_Bulbear) ;)) and being able to take your time is awesome
Other Memorable Features: Many of the treasures are based on real world things. R.O.B.'s head and his Gyro Blocks, an NES D-Pad, a Ragu lid, various brand-specified soda caps, Duracell batteries, and many others are just a small sampling of all the crazy objects you'll find in this game. For every treasure you find, it goes into the "Treasure Hoard", where you can read Olimar's humorous notes about it. When you complete a series, you can read the Ship's humorous sales pitch for the item. Similarly, when you find a new enemy, you can read Olimar's notes on it, and when you beat the game, you can read Louie's notes on how to... cook... the enemy... Have you ever wanted to eat a Bulborb? Well now you can!
Overall: 10/10 Best. Game. Ever. IMO. Get it. Now.
OK, so I hope you all enjoyed my Christmas marathon, but to be honest, I'm kind of running out of games to review! Therefore, my next game review will most likely be Mega Man 2. Unless I think of something better to review prior. However, I'll only review MM2 when I get to Dr. Wily's stage, so that might take a while.
And oh yeah, Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong, and Super C all game so far, but no Mega Man 2. To quote a character from my favorite series of books, "Isn't fate artistic?"
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 30, 2012, 07:02:12 AM...Really? Like an actual copy of the game, or a ROM on an emulator?
I heard of what happens if You Pirate the game.
I have a Rom.
Technically downloading ROMs is considered pirating unless you own a copy of the real game. I don't even know if there are flash carts for the SNES to pirate it in the way I think you were thinking.
There are, however, fake copies floating around. However, these are usually tried to pass off as the real thing. So it's no deal.
And they crush the soul of whoever tries to pirate them.
I still don't know what you're talking about. When you say "pirate" what do you mean?
http://starmen.net/mother2/gameinfo/antipiracy/
A clean, un-hacked copy of the game has some functions like this in it, while there are some ROMs on the internet that do not have this due to them being removed by hackers.
To buy an illegal copy of the game.
Look it up and see what happens.
Ah. Now I get it. I kinda like that.
Well. I'm glad we're getting some EarthBound discussion! A little weird topic to be discussing, but hey, it's something.
UPDATE: Still no Mega Man 2. Will hopefully check the mailbox again tomorrow.
My favourite anti pirate measure is this measure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZwFxAi76iI
Vuvuzelas.
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FSnapshot_20130111_zps0939e3b6.jpg&hash=70b47a5399a4feb41435c8e5243e4ec89851bfca)
YES. IT'S HERE. FINALLY. MWAHAHAHA!
And it's in perfect condition to boot! Let's pop this sucker in...
YESSSSSSSS
Can't wait!
Current agenda:
1. Mega Man 2 (I made it to Dr. Wily's stage! love the game, BTW. Just need to get a little farther before the review)
2. Maybe something to tide you guys over (This may or may not be a surprise)
3. Professor Layton and the Curious Village!
Yeah, I'm going to do it! Slow, you asked for me to review a Layton game a long time ago after I asked for requests, so I am so sorry that it took me this long to want to get one! I'll try my best to get the game and a review done in maybe a month or so.
Good! Best to start with the first game for two reasons:
1. Properly introduces you to the style of Layton games
2. Each game improved upon the last in its gameplay, so you'll appreciate it more. In addition, if you played the more recent ones then went back to Curious Village, it'll feel more unpolished and clunky.
And for the story too?
The stories are pretty much self contained, though there is enough continuity that its's better to play them in order
Dr. Wily's transport machine is making me deaf.
"EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE" SHUT UP
Prepare for a Mega Man 2 review either later today, or this weekend sometime. Gosh, I love this game.
OK! Here we go. First review since Christmas break, actually:
Mega Man 2:Gameplay: 9/10 This game takes the already innovative and fun gameplay of the first Mega Man, and just improves upon it immensely. Many of the old flaws and glitches have been fixed, and it's overall much more enjoyable to play. The same basic formula has been improved upon; now there are 8 robot masters instead of 6, and once again, each has their own unique power and a weakness to one or more of the other powers, so strategy is also at use here. Air Man, Quick Man, Wood Man, Crash Man (My favorite), Flash Man (My second favorite), Metal Man (the best power), Heat Man, and Bubble Man (The worst power). Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think the chances of an enemy dropping a 1-up in this game is way, way less than in the prequel, but the chances of an enemy dropping HP-refilling items is much, much higher, making killing weak enemies worth your time if you're in a pinch.
Addictiveness: 8/10 Just adding 2 more Robot Masters to the table ups the addictiveness and replayability of this game quite a bit. And Dr. Wily's stage is also longer. Oh, and did I mention that there are also 3 items that you can get in addition to the 8 powers from the Robot Masters. This makes trying different experiments with all the powers loads of fun.
Story: 8/10 It's a similar story to the sequel, only now Dr. Wily hasn't reprogrammed Dr. Light's robots. Instead. he made 8 of his own Robot Masters, which is cool in itself. The end is also interesting, but I'm not going to spoil that. (And I haven't gotten to the end. I think I've made it to like the 4th Dr. Wily stage. Which is pretty good. I just looked up the rest.)
Music: 10/10 Amazing. Remember, this is for the NES, so don't think that these soundtracks are as good as Super Mario Galaxy, because they're not. But, the sheer quantity and quality of great songs in this game is unbelievable for the time. With the exception of Heat Man, every Robot Master theme deserves a spot on my MP3. And they all have them! And really, you can't beat the Dr. Wily stage 1 and 2 theme. You just can't! It's hands-down the most famous Mega Man song, and one of the most famous songs of the 8-bit era in gaming.
Air Man's Theme
Quick Man's Theme
Wood Man's Theme
Crash Man's Theme <3
Flash Man's Theme
Metal Man's Theme
Bubble Man's Theme
Dr. Wily Stage 1+2
Title Theme
Character Design: 8/10 This game goes a tad bit farther in character design than its prequel by actually showing Dr. Light in the game! He presents item #1, 2, and 3 to Mega Man after beating specific stages. The first item is just a platform that hovers. The second is a surfboard that shoots forward. The third is an elevator that can go up walls. All the Robot Masters are colorful, original, and creative, and Dr. Wily is annoying once again.
Humor: 2/10 EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE EE
Difficulty: 8/10 Am I a bad person for finding this game to be... easier than the original? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's still a challenging game, but this one is more challenging in a good way. It's far less frustrating, and I'd recommend this one if the first is too tough for you. I actually made it to Dr. Wily's stage in ONE NIGHT, when in the first game, it took me MONTHS. Still, it there is some classic Nintendo hard crap in this game, and it can be pretty unforgiving at times. But there's no Yellow Devil. THANK GOD.
Other Memorable Features: Bubble Man's power is absolutely useless! Even more so than Bomb Man's in Mega Man 1. Oh well, at least I use it for Heat Man's battle this time. And you do have to use it against the final boss, so I guess there are times that I use it. Oh, I forgot to mention; this game has Energy Tanks scattered across the levels. If you find one, it goes to your inventory, and you can use it at any time to completely restore your health! Yeah, they're pretty awesome. Tend to be a little difficult to get, though.
Overall: 9.4/10 Such a great game. Just as good, if not better, than the original. Will 3 improve more, or will it get suckier? I'll find out later. But for now, let's play some Professor Layton!
Well the first one is ridiculously hard so it probably is easier @_@ I have never listened to Mega Man music, but based on your comments I want to check it out now.
Looking forward to your Layton review. I'm excited to hear what you think of the music alone! One of the bonus features in every game after you complete the story is a sound test, so you can listen to the soundtrack by itself.
You'll only like it if you have an appreciation for 8-bit theme songs. If you do, then check these songs out:
Elec Man, Mega Man 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjnnxsWIA_0)
Cut Man, Mega Man 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAeIMQierX4)
Crash Man, Mega Man 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxXHVNIwGSw)
Pharaoh Man, Mega Man 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJHbLGMza6E)
Hornet Man, Mega Man 9 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OMF8Yknu3w)
These are some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy!
As for Professor Layton, I LOVE games that have sound tests in them that allow me to listen to their music. Heck, Mother 3 has it, so of course I love it! Looking forward to trying out this new series.
Overall the perfect amount of simple nostalgia, reminds me a LOT of Cave Story music (which is also 8-bit). I like Cave Story's music better than those pieces, though, Cave Story is more melodically driven.
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 19, 2013, 11:26:24 AMBut there's no Yellow Devil. THANK GOD.
Don't worry. He comes back in MM3. :P
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :'(
Oh. And guess what.
...I got it. Curious Village. Let's pop this sucker in.
:DDDDDDDDDDDDD
Woodman is very hard.
SEX PUN NO.1
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 19, 2013, 03:30:58 PMNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :'(
Oh. And guess what.
...I got it. Curious Village. Let's pop this sucker in.
A+++++++++
This game has some of the weirdest looking characters I have ever seen.
water u talkin about
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages4.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20110630020317%2Flayton%2Fimages%2F0%2F04%2FStachen.png&hash=02459f73c1b46be9240f2a3a14cd263245c0e4b8)
The townsfolk always look funny. They don't look THAT weird though, just very cartoony. IGN always describes the Layton art style as "charming," and I think that's a good word for it.
Oh by the way, I'm going to replay this as well because it's been a while since I've played it.
EDIT: Wooooow this game looks so unpolished compared to Miracle Mask
Woodman is the hardest boss of all
SEX PUN NO.2
...not really necessary, Social. If you're going to make a Mega Man sex joke, it has to be about Hard Man.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on January 19, 2013, 05:35:19 PMOh by the way, I'm going to replay this as well because it's been a while since I've played it.
EDIT: Wooooow this game looks so unpolished compared to Miracle Mask
So, Diabolical Box is after Curious Village, if I remember correctly. Is that good?
The comes Unwound Future, and I already know what you think of that. Then Last Specter? And then Miracle Mask for 3DS?
Yep that order is correct. My favorite is Diabolical Box but the most popular tends to be unwound future.
DANG WHY IS THIS GAME SO MUCH FUN. :o
And plot twists FTW! I'm nearing the end of the story. Then I'll have to try for 100%.
If you're stuck, professorlaytonwalkthrough.blogspot.com is very helpful and has no spoilers, as well as a puzzle index on the side of the page for easy access.
But only after you've finished the storyline :P
Which I have. JSLADFKJALIW THAT WAS AWESOME :o
Can't wait for the review! How long?
What, the wait for the review, the game, or something... else? :P
Probably tomorrow, or maybe later tonight. I just got wi-fi at my new house.
The real question for me, though, is HOW LONG UNTIL I CAN GET DIABOLICAL BOX?!
I don't know man, but it's even better than the first.
...could a later game in the series possibly warrant a 10/10?! Will I cry at the end of Unwound Future?! Will Gilligan ever get off the island?!
Stay tuned to find out!
I feel like though they are all amazing, they just get better and better every game
Ninja'd: Yes, yes, and possibly
One of the biggest reasons I kept playing the series was to find out more about the only unresolved thread from the first game--who the heck is Don Paolo, and why does he hate Layton?
That's what I want to know, too! I assume you find out eventually... right? :P
Eh... you don't have to answer that. He is mah favorite kind of villain though. Gah, reminds me Alvin the Treacherous. My childhood villain.
Seriously, though, how could anyone possibly hate Layton? He's uber coll.
What are your favorite music pieces? (Assuming you've unlocked the soundtrack)
Haven't yet. D:
Should I do that before I review it?
I don't know, I looked up the soundtrack after I beat the game.
And yes, Don Paolo is one of my favorite characters. Actually, all the characters with voice actors are my favorite characters, them and Pavel
And I just officially completed the game last night except for the very last princess puzzle >.< its unbelievably hard
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 23, 2013, 02:32:32 PMHaven't yet. D:
Should I do that before I review it?
Yep, do you know how?
I'm guessing either beat all the puzzles, finish the robot dog, finish the painting, or finish decorating the rooms. I'll try to do all 4 just to see what happens...
No. Have you gone in "bonuses" then "top secret?" The third box on the top row should tell how many picarats you need.
Oh, OK. Will try that when I have a chance.
Right now my DS has been stolen by my parents. >:(
I mean, really. I haven't played a game on my DS since Pokemon Black and White, and that was well over a year ago. I pick it up for 2 days to play a new game I bought, and you take it away.
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 23, 2013, 02:45:24 PMOh, OK. Will try that when I have a chance.
Right now my DS has been stolen by my parents. >:(
I mean, really. I haven't played a game on my DS since Pokemon Black and White, and that was well over a year ago. I pick it up for 2 days to play a new game I bought, and you take it away.
Were you grounded?
No. Just my DS stolen.
Stolen because they want to use it?
No. Never. Stolen because they think video games are evil and taking over my mind. Which is ironic, because I'm playing a puzzle game.
I just posted my re-review of the soundtrack; check it out if you want!
So out of curiosity, is there any chance you'll ever get 999? It is rated M, but I can assure you the main reason for that is swearing, which is fairly common. There is no violence shown, only described-- and the art is very cartoonish. Other than the swearing it could be rated T. The story is mind bending, complex, and brilliant, exactly the kind of thing you'd like, and the puzzles are rewarding and not overly challenging. I guarantee you wouldn't be disappointed if you decided to get it.
Just a suggestion; with the amount you seem to have liked Curious Village, you can't afford to miss this game and especially its sequel.
I don't usually do M-rated games, with the exception of Mortal Kombat. Sorry.
I'll think about it.
I don't do M rated games at all. :o I had to make an exception for this game though. Again though, it's just a suggestion, I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position.
How bad is the swearing? Mother 3 has a few d's and ba's, but no f's or s's.
Fairly frequent use of "dammit," occasional "sh*t" or "bastard," infrequent use of "f*ck" but it is there.
*Sigh...*
Probably not. :P
I've heard great things about that game, I've been considering checking it out.
It's not like it's resident evil where you have zombies getting sliced in half and dissolving into pools of blood. This is more like a mystery novel.
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 26, 2013, 12:06:51 PM*Sigh...*
Probably not. :P
Do you not like to watch movies/play games with swearing in them?
Quote from: MaestroUGC on January 26, 2013, 12:07:39 PMI've heard great things about that game, I've been considering checking it out.
Do it. It's like $20 on amazon currently.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on January 26, 2013, 12:10:27 PMDo you not like to watch movies/play games with swearing in them?
That, and I would be worried about my parents.
Oh and it's made by the company who made Pokemon mystery dungeon.
Ah, ninjad. well just keep it in mind. Maybe discuss it with them first? That's what I did with my parents.
What did your parents think?
See, this is one on the benefits of being over 18.
That and I don't mind rough language as long as it's not needlessly excessive.
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 26, 2013, 12:15:46 PMWhat did your parents think?
Well basically I showed my mom the ESRB rating and made sure she was okay with me ordering it. Same procedure as the first time I watched a rated R movie she hadn't seen (Sweeney Todd incidentally). Of course, I'm 16 (15 with the movie) so there might be a little more leeway (I can't remember how old you are) and then my parents have always kind of trusted me to make the right decisions in those departments. Maybe try highlighting the fact that it's a novel, and a lot like a mystery novel.
So because a game swears, you have to wait until you're over 18 to buy it?
and 999 is only PG here.
I think they should just rate it T and put like a warning sticker of very strong language on the package.
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 15, 2013, 06:32:39 PM2. Maybe something to tide you guys over (This may or may not be a surprise)
I bet you're all...
dying to know what your big surprise is! Well, only 2 more pages!
...
...
...
...
SURPRISE! We're doing it now.
Nintendo Land:Gameplay: 10/10 The gameplay is really what this game is all about. It's one of the most varied and fun games I've ever played, and if you're a fan of games that you can invite 4 other friends over, (Yes, this game has a FIVE player max) then this is the game for you. I really can't speak of it all in one section, so I'm going to look at every mini-game separately in one massive section:
Mario Chase (Hot Pursuit): Competitive Attraction. While this game is very fun, it's definitely one of the simplest games in Nintendo Land. Simplicity isn't always a bad thing, though. The person with the Gamepad is Mario, and the rest are toads. Mario can see the entire map, but the toads can only see what's in front of them. Mario runs away from the Toads, and if he can outrun or outhide them for the time limit, he wins. If a Toad catches him, they win. Once per game, a Starman (The powerup, not the kind from EarthBound) will appear in the center, which, if Mario can catch it, will grant him invincibility from attackers and increased speed for a time. The 3 stages are varied as well, which adds to the strategy. One is relatively normal, the 2nd is filled with mud, and the 3rd has slides that can only be slid down. All the songs that play are classic Mario themes that you should recognize, including ones from Mario 3, World, 64, and the original. The stages also change depending on how many players are playing. Overall, it's very fun and can be hectic if your friends are as crazy as my sisters and I.
Donkey Kong Crash Course (Full Tilt Obstacle Course): Solo Attraction. In this game, your Mii gets turned into a rolling thingamajigger which must make it to Pauline at the end of each stage. There are only 3 of them, but they are each very long and get incredibly difficult. The player moves by tilting the Gamepad left and right to move in the required direction. Too fast, and you die. You'll also have to use the ZL, ZR, and the left and right Glee Spinners to activate clear other obstacles on the course. It's pretty fun, and is probably one of the hardest attractions in the game.
Metroid Blast (Deep Space Shootout): Cooperative Attraction. My families favorite and most played attraction. Wow, Nintendo makes a shooter that I actually like? Of course! Metroid Prime proved to me that not all shooters are cliche and sucky. This one features heaps of Nestalgia (get it?) for those of you that have played the classic Metroid games like the one for the NES, and Super Metroid for the SNES. Bosses like Kraid return that I believe haven't been in a Metroid game in the longest time. Ridley, of course, is quite a challenge, and he also has an ice counterpart that makes him even tougher. There's some nice enemies in the main game, but what's just as fun after you beat all the missions is going head-to-head in battle mode. The players with the Wii Remotes and Nunchuks (as well at the Motion Pluses) are controlled like most Wii first person shooters. However, the one on the Gamepad flies in Samus's gunship. The 2 battle modes are everyone vs. everyone else on the ground, or the ones on the ground vs. the airship. It's quite crazy and fun, and will almost certainly be one of your favorite attractions.
Octopus Dance (Undersea Party Grooves!): Solo Attraction. This attraction I feel suffers from too much negative criticism. It's a dancing game that I actually LIKE. And I'm not really sure why! Maybe because the songs that you dance to are original and don't have annoying lyrics. Anyway, though, you control a person who is dancing. The SCUBA diver does 3 moves to 3 beats. You must then repeat those moves perfectly and in time with how he did it. It sounds simple, but it gets really complex when you have to start moving both arms in 2 different directions, tilting, jumping, and not being able to see when the Octopus sprays ink on the screen, kind of like the Blooper in Mario Kart Wii. Once you beat the first 5 levels, the game gets even harder by doing 3, 2, or even 1 move, so you have to stay on your toes to make sure you don't mess up.
Pikmin Adventure (Tame the Wilderness): Cooperative Attraction. AWWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAH, you guys know how much of a sucker I am for Pikmin! I could have bought this game for just this attraction alone, it's just that good. I don't know if I'd call it my favorite attraction, because if you're expecting it to be like another Pikmin game, think again. This one is based way more on action, rather than the strategy of the main series. Still, the visuals are beautiful, you get to fight some of your favorite (sarcasm) enemies like Wollywogs and Blowhogs, as well as some new ones, like Beebs or Pinchipedes. It doesn't really feel like a Pikmin game, but that doesn't make it bad, does it? The person with the Gamepad is Olimar, who can't attack very much on his own, but throws Pikmin at enemies. The other people control Pikmin with Wii Remotes. They attack enemies directly. Has some of your favorite Pikmin tunes as well, like the final boss theme from Pikmin 2, The Forest Navel theme, the Valley of Repose theme, The Impact Site Theme, and some new original songs that are also pretty good.
Yoshi's Fruit Cart (On the Snack Trail): Solo Attraction. This is probably my least favorite Nintendo Land game, but it's still awesome. On the Gamepad, you can't see anything except for Yoshi, and the exit door, but on the TV, you see all the fruits that you need to nab. You must draw a line on the Gamepad and make Yoshi eat all of the fruits, then go to the door. It starts off fairly easy, but it gets harder when they start throwing in pitfalls and making the fruits move. It's casual, yes, but it's still fun.
The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest (Archery and Swordplay): Cooperative Attraction. Oh yeah, you knew this one was going to be awesome. Nintendo just doesn't slack off on Zelda. The Gamepad person is an archer, who snipes enemies from afar. The Wii Remote people have swords, and hack at enemies from up close. The game is long, fun, and if you've played Ocarina of Time and Link to the Past, you'll get a blast of nostalgia from the amazing music. The boss battles are good, the enemies are creative and plentiful in variety, and there's also a 2nd Time Trials mode.
Balloon Trip Breeze (Float with the Wind!): Solo Attraction. Ah, you also should know how much I love me some Balloon Fight. And Nintendo has brought the series back! Hooray! This is probably my favorite Solo Attraction as well. It's very similar to the NES Balloon Trip game, but with so much more depth. There are enemies along the way, mines to avoid, islands to stop at, powerups to get, and, of course, balloons to pop. You control the Balloon Fight guy by making strokes on the Gamepad with the stylus, and he moves in that direction. I haven't gotten to the definite end yet, but I'll say, it's pretty dang fun.
Animal Crossing Sweet Day (Eat and Run): Competitive Attraction. I have to wrap this up, because this is still just the first section! Thank you to everyone who is actually reading this. Anyway, in this game, the person with the Gamepad controls 2 gatekeepers, one with each Glee Spinner. The others run around the town eating candy that is found on the ground. With each bite, they get slower and slower, but they can also drop them and run. Once a certain total amount of candy is possessed by the animals, they win, but if the gatekeepers catch them 3 times, the animals lose. It's a lot of fun, just like all these games.
Captain Falcon's Twister Race (Race Against Time): Solo Attraction. This one I haven't had too much experience with, but it's still pretty good. You control the Blue Falcon by tiling the Gamepad, and you have to avoid obstacles like mines (Ugh), tacks, air vents, and other cars, while still making it to the goal. Simple, but racing gamers will be happy. The music is also reminiscent of past F-Zero games, and is well done.
Luigi's Ghost Mansion (Haunting Hijinks): Competitive Attraction. Ooooh, boy. This one is INSANE. The person with the Gamepad controls the ghost, which the others can't see on the TV. The ghost tries to scare the hunters by sneaking up on them, but the hunters have flash lights that they can use to catch the ghost. The ghost's HP is lowered whenever a flashlight is shined on him, but the lights have batteries, so they can't stay on all the time. If the ghost runs out of HP, the hunters win. If all of them faint, the ghost wins.
Takamaru's Ninja Castle (Throwing Star Showdown): Solo Attraction. This one I also haven't had a lot of experience with. You swipe the Gamepad and throw stars at the TV screen to hit enemies. It's cool, but it's also hard. There are numerous awesome abilities you can get along to way.
Addictiveness: 9/10 Like I said, this is the best party game I've ever played. It'll keep you hooked for quite a while. You have hundreds of collectibles you can get from playing pachinko with the coins you win from minigames, and all of these decorate the park beautifully. I still don't have all the possible prizes yet, and it's really nice that they took the time to add all of them.
Story: 0/10
Music: 9/10 Like I said above, this game is full of remixes of your favorite Nintendo songs. Brinstar, Big Blue, the City Theme from Animal Crossing, Dark World from Link to the Past, Mario 3's theme, and so much more. The game also gives you a jukebox as one of your prizes so that you can play tunes that you unlock. The remixes are done well, and there are also a few original songs in there that are decent as well.
Balloon Trip Breeze (Evening)
Dark World Theme
"Invastion", but a remix of Brinstar
Nintendo Land Plaza Theme (My favorite original song)
Character Design: 5/10 The only real character in this game is Monita, but she is pretty awesome. She acts as the tutorial of the game, but she does have a very subtle sense of humor, and overall is a likable character. Oh, and did I mention that the main villain of the game is Dark Monita? Yeah, Nintendo is poking fun at themselves a little by this point.
Humor: 7/10 This game doesn't always go out of its way to be funny, but it does have its funny moments. Just the fact that Dark Monita exists is pretty hysterical, but if you go around the plaza and read Monita's notes on the prizes you win, some of them can be pretty comical.
Difficulty: 7/10 Some of the missions in games like Metroid Blast and Pikmin Adventure can be challenging, but the game helps you beat them if you fail enough times. A few of the solo games can get pretty hard too, but it's usually a gradual increase, and won't frustrate you so much as to stop playing.
Other Memorable Features: Dark Monita is the best villain of any game ever.
Overall: 9.5/10 Such a great game. Seriously. If Pikmin 3 wasn't coming out on the Wii U, this alone would be good enough for me to buy one. If you're considering buying a Wii U, get the black version because it comes with this game. You won't regret it, I promise.
I refer to Pikmin Adventure as Pikmin 2.5.
But it's more like a spinoff of the series, so I don't really count it.
Oh of course, but with the real sequel being delayed I needed my Pikmin.
I know the feeling. ::)
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 27, 2013, 10:24:32 AMI bet you're all... dying to know what your big surprise is! Well, only 2 more pages!
...
...
...
...
SURPRISE! We're doing it now.
Oh, Blueflower, will you ever resist the chance to throw in a Portal 2 quote wherever you can? That in itself made me read the review (that and it was Nintendo Land, after all...). Does Dark Monita (or Monita, for that matter) share any similarities with GLaDOS?
Quote from: Dudeman on January 27, 2013, 01:27:52 PMOh, Blueflower, will you ever resist the chance to throw in a Portal 2 quote wherever you can? That in itself made me read the review (that and it was Nintendo Land, after all...). Does Dark Monita (or Monita, for that matter) share any similarities with GLaDOS?
Lol, yes. Portal 2 is probably my favorite game of all time to quote. ::)
Dark Monita doesn't really remind me of GLaDOS at all, despite the fact that they are both female robot villains.
Thanks so much for reading!
I continue to work on beating Curious Village 100%. In the meantime, I checked out the soundtrack and some of the bonus content, and I'll say, I am impressed that they took the time to add this stuff.
Level-5 isn't a company for slacking off, are they?
It's my favorite gaming company, just based off of Layton. Lol.
Be sure to check out the live and high quality arrangements on the album release! (They're all over YouTube I'm sure).
Lol, that's one of my favorite pieces of video game music ever. I can't wait till you get to the live version on the soundtrack (not included in the game, only the album release). It's FANTASTIC (though I probably prefer the original just because).
First Layton songs added to MP3.
First of many, no doubt (?)
Well, while I'm still working to prepare my Layton review, it's time for a little showing off! My current, up-to-date, retro Nintendo collection as of February 4th, 2013:
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090845_zpsee5198bb.jpg&hash=dc20f761d87e709b24b15860b5a5702e26e58a5e)
From left to right, top to bottom:
10-Yard Fight, 720(insert degree symbol here), The Adventures of Bayou Billy, The Adventures of Lolo 2, Airwolf, Balloon Fight, Battletoads, Barbie ( ::))
Bubble Bobble, Contra, Dick Tracy (-_-), Donkey Kong Classics (This includes the original Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.), Donkey Kong 3, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest, Dr. Mario
Duck Hunt, DuckTales, Excitebike, Fester's Quest, Golf, Hogan's Alley, Hoops, Ice Climber
Ice Hockey, Jaws, Jeopardy! Junior Edition, John Elway's Quarterback, The Legend of Zelda (;D), The Karate Kid (...), Kid Icarus, Kings of the Beach
Kirby's Adventure, Kung Fu, Mario Bros., Mega Man, Mega Man 2, Metal Gear, Metroid, Mickey Mousecapade
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Millipede, The Miracle Piano Teaching System (I don't have the piano D:), Monopoly, Mother (I realize it says "EARTHBOUND", but it's a pirated copy of Mother 1), NES Play Action Football, Ninja Gaiden (HEIIIIIIIIIIIII), Paperboy
Pinball, Rad Racer, R.B.I. Baseball, R.C. Pro-Am, Rolling Thunder, Rush 'N Attack, Silent Service, Slalom
Solstice, SPOT: The Video Game, Spy Hunter, Spy Vs. Spy, Super C (That's Contra 2 for those that don't know), Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet, Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Bros 3, Super Pitfall (-________-), Super Sprint, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, Tetris, Top Gun, Track & Field II
Yo! Noid, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Now on to SNES!
Castlevania IV, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Donkey Kong Country, EarthBound (The jewel of my collection, and the best game out of all of them), F-Zero
Illusion of Gaia, Killer Instinct, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mario Paint, Mortal Kombat, Paperboy 2, Street Fighter II: Turbo
Super Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Tetris 2, Yoshi's Cookie, Yoshi's Island
Nintendo 64!
Donkey Kong 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Haven't played yet), Mario Kart 64 (The most expensive N64 game of the lot), Mortal Kombat 4, Namco Museum 64 (Let's me play games like Dig Dug and Pac Man), Rayman 2: The Great Escape, StarFox 64 (It says Ben on it. I'm not kidding), Superman 64 (I had to...), Yoshi's Story
And finally, consoles and accessories!
NES, SNES, N64. Each has 2 controllers.
NES Zapper (For Duck Hunt, Bayou Billy, and Hogan's Alley), Game Genie (For Battletoads), SNES Mouse (For Mario Paint)
Now for some closeups!
The best and most expensive game of them all:
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090853_zps6e7550fa.jpg&hash=22e1a562b49125968b586b6859bc123ee172a802)
My most expensive NES game, but it really shouldn't be because it's a pirated cart:
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090854_zpsd4df6e54.jpg&hash=e54e6473468eb1fba7d626e79bc2cae89d2a556f)
Buying this game last June just sealed my fate as an NES fanatic. It's just so dang good!
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090855_zps4b9be875.jpg&hash=6850a8351d974e8d767be66536213fceb4b769ef)
My favorite series of NES games musically. Oh, and the first one is the most expensive NES game I have if you don't count Mother 1. I got it for 10 at a yard sale, but on Amazon it's like 50 last time I checked.
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090856_zpsa7ea7cf7.jpg&hash=3cf08d5aa1bc1539a53f50efc5c060a98f798004)
Oh, and you know that I HAD to get the greatest game ever made!
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1273.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy404%2Fblueflower999%2FP1090857_zps83c70d15.jpg&hash=1dca7e1d5c2d45a737d1473ef1267e1324ae85bc)
Oh, and I just realized this: they don't even have "Superman" written on the cover. Just his signature "S". What a bunch of idiots XD
Well, there you go! I'll probably post an update once my collection has grown substantially bigger again, which may be in a couple months or so considering how fast it's growing.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 04, 2013, 04:06:15 PMMike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
REVIEW WANT (in case my avatar doesn't give it away...)
Impressive. Most impressive.
Quote from: Dudeman on February 04, 2013, 04:14:09 PMREVIEW WANT (in case my avatar doesn't give it away...)
I would be GLaD to. It's such a great game!
And yes, I can make it to Tyson. Can't beat him, though.
Quote from: BlackDragonSlayer on February 04, 2013, 04:14:25 PMImpressive. Most impressive.
谢谢你
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 04, 2013, 04:27:03 PMAnd yes, I can make it to Tyson. Can't beat him, though.
Just follow the winks. And be awesome.
thank god 4 3ds quicksave thingy
I wonder if Crash Man uses Google Chrome in the Tinychat.
Had a very interesting night at the retro game store tonight! Let's see...
Good things:
6 new NES games, and one new Gameboy Game, all of which are functional: Castlevania <3, Ninja Gaiden 2, Adventure Island, Mach Rider (bought it because it came with a dust cover), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game (MUCH better than 1, not as good as 3), and the original Batman. Also, Super Mario Land for GB.
Interesting/Bad things:
A guy bought a BROKEN COPY OF CHRONO TRIGGER earlier that day, and brought it in to return it, only to find that it couldn't be fixed. It cost 80 bucks though, so I probably wouldn't have gotten it earlier if I had been there.
Speaking of expensive RPGs, they had Final Fantasy 2/4 there! Didn't get that, though. I'm out of room on my SNES game shelf, and I don't have 40 bucks lying around for a game I don't even want that badly.
Super Mario 3 was in the box, but I didn't get it because it wasn't in very good shape and I already have Mario 3...
I saw an Atari 5200 for the first time! Also, it costs $100 O_O That's even more than the IntelleVision they had a couple months ago that was going for 80!
Oh, and here's the worst thing that happened:
I walk into the store, and see Diabolical Box right on the shelf for only $10! so I take it over, and guess what. The box was there, but the GAME WASN'T.
God is real, and he's laughing at me.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 09, 2013, 05:36:32 PMI walk into the store, and see Diabolical Box right on the shelf for only $10! so I take it over, and guess what. The box was there, but the GAME WASN'T.
God is real, and he's laughing at me.
Ah haha; yep, I know what it's like! We bought a copy of the Original Trilogy on VHS (the silver one), and Empire Strikes Back was replaced by some Beethoven movie (it was either Beethoven's 2nd or 5th :P)...
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 09, 2013, 05:36:32 PMI walk into the store, and see Diabolical Box right on the shelf for only $10! so I take it over, and guess what. The box was there, but the GAME WASN'T.
God is real, and he's laughing at me.
AAAUGH THAT IS HORRIFYING
WHO WOULD SELL DIABOLICAL BOX FOR $10?!
I'm kidding, don't worry. That is really annoying, hopefully you'll find it soon!
Eh, it was just the retro store. They'll have it at Gamestop almost certainly.
But really. Who turns in just the box?!
Jeez, that box was....
DIABOLICAL
Pfft.
Hahahahahahahahaha.
I get it.
psst maestro
get it
because diabolical box is the name of the video game
teehee
*snicker*
I know! It's works on one level!
Quote from: MaestroUGC on February 09, 2013, 09:50:04 PM*snicker*
I know! It's works on one level!
BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Here's something unrelated that I've been thinking about recently:
A "Star Man" or "Starman" is:
An enemy in the Kirby series
The most common henchman of Giygas in Mother 1 and 2
A Robot Master in Mega Man 5
And a powerup in the Mario series
Pretty odd coincidence, is it not?
Thought I would have enough time tonight to review Curious Village, but unfortunately, I did not. Will hopefully get that up tomorrow!
*Drumroll*
Professor Layton and the Curious Village:Gameplay: 8/10 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Puzzle games like this were never really my thing for the gameplay, and they never really will be. However, unlike Portal 2 where it's just puzzles over and over again with different mechanics thrown in here and there, pretty much every Layton puzzle is different from every other Layton puzzle. There are a few obvious exceptions that build on the same idea, but these generally only have 2-4 or 5 times, not the entire game. Now, I don't want to bash on Portal 2, because I freaking love that game, but Layton's variety just strikes me as so much more fun. And also, if you're stuck, you can buy HINTS with HINT COINS. So most puzzles, again, unlike in Portal 2, can be done without a walkthrough. That's not saying that this game is easy, oh no. But we'll get into that later.
Addictiveness: 8/10 This game's main source of addictiveness comes from the plot. However, that's not really addictiveness in its traditional sense, but rather suspense that keeps the player playing the game to find out what happens next. It's a really clever tool on the part of Level-5, and it makes this game more fun for non-puzzle fans like myself!
Story: 10... or...9(?)/10 The game's strong point. I can't spoil anything, and I won't discuss the plot itself here at all, actually. Play the game for yourself! Here's my main problem with the plot. Yes, it's brilliantly written. Yes, it keeps you in suspense for the entire game. But here's the thing; unlike what I would consider to be a good mystery novel (which this plot in a sense is), it doesn't reveal the info about the plot slowly and steadily. It sort of blurts everything out after one event, where the pieces come together. Now, this is fine, but I would rather have it come together slowly. Yes, there were some clues to the main plot twist (No spoilers without tagging them, please!), but I don't know anyone who could have picked up on them, and personally I think that they could have added a few more obvious ones as the game went along, and not just told me everything at one point. So, 10 for the idea, 9 for the execution.
Music: 8/10 The tunes in this game were pretty good. Pretty dang good, actually. I already have 2 songs from Curious Village on my MP3, with the intention of getting more in the future. Here's my main complaint about the soundtrack, though: (I realize I'm being pretty critical, but that's what a reviewer does, right?) a lot of it sounds the same. Now, don't get me wrong, having a similar theme or motif in a game's soundtrack is fine. Heck, you know me. How many times in Mother 3 does it remix Porky's Theme in a song? A lot. But that's not by itself a bad thing. It would be bad if every single song in Mother 3 sounded like Porky's Theme, which it doesn't. However, almost every single song in Layton sounds like it was made in the same style. Which is fine, and it's still great music, but it does get a little old after awhile. One praise that I have to give to a few of these songs is that they really set the tone for the town or the moment, which is well done. All in all, it's a very good soundtrack, but I would have liked a bit more variety.
Professor Layton's Theme
"The Village Awakens"
"The Veil of Night"
Character Design: 10/10 Oh boy, here we go. This game had, absolutely the weirdest crowd of NPCs I have ever seen in a video game. Not necessarily funny "Haha" weird, but just... "What the heck" weird. And I'm not talking about how they speak or act or anything like that. It's how they LOOK. Now, thank God, Layton and Luke look perfectly normal. In fact, Layton is one of my new favorite video game protagonists ever now! He's everything you want in a perfect video game hero! Incredibly smart and perceptive, always putting other people first, always doing the right thing! He may be the only person I've seen in a video game yet that actually resembles a perfect image of a human being. Luke, however, has a lot to learn. He's a bit harsh sometimes, kind of quick to angry too, but he is also the voice of what most human beings will do in a situation. While Layton remains calm and collected, Luke sometimes get infuriated! However, this doesn't mean that he isn't adorable, which he definitely is, and he's a very likable character when all is said and done.
Humor: 6/10 Most of the laughs I got out of this game were from looking at the townspeople. They just look so bizarre! A few of the puzzles were quirky, but this game never really went out of its way to crack a lot of jokes. However, this is understandable considering the extremely serious environment that the story sets.
Difficulty: 9/10 It starts off fairly easy, like most games, but I almost garuntee you'll be stuck on a puzzle or two at some point. And then there are 99 Picrat puzzles at the end. *Whew!* Some puzzles aren't exactly hard, per se, but they take so freaking long to do that they might as well be impossible!
Other Memorable Features: The game has PLENTY of memorable things that they added. Character bios, an option to listen to the soundtrack, plenty of bonus puzzles after the game is completed, puzzles you can get over wi-fi (which I am unable to do), and tons more. Well done, Level-5. Very well done.
Overall: 9.3/10 Despite all the mean things I've said about it, this game rocks. Period. Go out and buy it if you have a DS, you like puzzle games, or you like games with good stories. Or any combination of those! Diabolical Box, here I come!
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMBut here's the thing; unlike what I would consider to be a good mystery novel (which this plot in a sense is), it doesn't reveal the info about the plot slowly and steadily. It sort of blurts everything out after one event, where the pieces come together. Now, this is fine, but I would rather have it come together slowly. Yes, there were some clues to the main plot twist (No spoilers without tagging them, please!), but I don't know anyone who could have picked up on them, and personally I think that they could have added a few more obvious ones as the game went along, and not just told me everything at one point.
Yeahhh this series tends to do that. Only Miracle Mask, I think, is even remotely guessable. There are definitely a TON of clues in every game that are obvious in hindsight, but I don't think anyone could figure out the mystery the first time they play it. The plot is too all over the place. And yeah in the
Spoiler
tower sequence
they reveal all the mysteries at once, like you said, rather than spacing them out.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMHowever, almost every single song in Layton sounds like it was made in the same style. Which is fine, and it's still great music, but it does get a little old after awhile. One praise that I have to give to a few of these songs is that they really set the tone for the town or the moment, which is well done. All in all, it's a very good soundtrack, but I would have liked a bit more variety.
Yep, there's another common complaint. ACCORDION. SO MUCH ACCORDION. Literally, in Curious Village, the only pieces that don't have accordion in them are "The Adventure Begins" and "Puzzles." Everything else has the accordion. I think it's great because it gives the game a very European style, simultaneously nostalgic and modern/contemporary. It does tend to get old though when you hear the same sort of thing the entire game, like "The Village Awakens" or "Crumm's Cafe" tend not to be very effective. (See my review of the soundtrack for the full rant, lol)
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMCharacter Design: 10/10 Oh boy, here we go. This game had, absolutely the weirdest crowd of NPCs I have ever seen in a video game. Not necessarily funny "Haha" weird, but just... "What the heck" weird. And I'm not talking about how they speak or act or anything like that. It's how they LOOK. Now, thank God, Layton and Luke look perfectly normal. In fact, Layton is one of my new favorite video game protagonists ever now! He's everything you want in a perfect video game hero! Incredibly smart and perceptive, always putting other people first, always doing the right thing! He may be the only person I've seen in a video game yet that actually resembles a perfect image of a human being. Luke, however, has a lot to learn. He's a bit harsh sometimes, kind of quick to angry too, but he is also the voice of what most human beings will do in a situation. While Layton remains calm and collected, Luke sometimes get infuriated! However, this doesn't mean that he isn't adorable, which he definitely is, and he's a very likable character when all is said and done.
On the NPCs.... XD they're so great. Townsfolk are always--ALWAYS--eccentric in the Layton series. Part of the game's charm is seeing the bizarre characters and their quirky personalities interact (usually a bit rudely) with Layton, who by the way is indeed the embodiment of the perfect gentleman. Luke is bit harsh sometimes, but hey. Any thirteen-year-old boy will act rashly (well, most of them will). He's outspoken and definitely aspires to be like the Professor.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMMost of the laughs I got out of this game were from looking at the townspeople. They just look so bizarre! A few of the puzzles were quirky, but this game never really went out of its way to crack a lot of jokes. However, this is understandable considering the extremely serious environment that the story sets.
Yeah the townspeople are really creative in their designs, lol. And sometimes the humor is unintentional, like "This empty jar on the ground reminds me of a puzzle..." is just so ridiculous after a while.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMDifficulty: 9/10 It starts off fairly easy, like most games, but I almost garuntee you'll be stuck on a puzzle or two at some point. And then there are 99 Picrat puzzles at the end. *Whew!* Some puzzles aren't exactly hard, per se, but they take so freaking long to do that they might as well be impossible!
Yep, it does a nice job of easing the player into the game and gradually increasing the difficulty. Also it's nice that only certain puzzles are required--if you get stuck on one you can always continue with the story and come back to it later.
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 12, 2013, 06:49:28 PMOther Memorable Features: The game has PLENTY of memorable things that they added. Character bios, an option to listen to the soundtrack, plenty of bonus puzzles after the game is completed, puzzles you can get over wi-fi (which I am unable to do), and tons more. Well done, Level-5. Very well done.
Overall: 9/10 Despite all the mean things I've said about it, this game rocks. Period. Go out and buy it if you have a DS, you like puzzle games, or you like games with good stories. Or any combination of those! Diabolical Box, here I come!
Yeah I like the features! It's great to hear the soundtrack and view all the cutscenes and stuff.
I'm glad you liked it so much! Diabolical Box actually is my favorite of the games, as I've no doubt told you by now, so I'm excited for you to play it. :)
A+++++++++
Thanks for the positive feedback! Slow, I'm really appreciative of your support in me doing these reviews! :D
Also, I have a new idea for a review. Expect it later this week. (My weekend is pretty packed out, so it may or may not come soon. If you've been watching some of my posts, you may be able to guess it!)
Here we go!
Super Mario Land:Gameplay: 8/10 It's your classic Mario gameplay on a Gameboy. Not really much to say. Instead of a Fire Flower, they give you this bizarre flower that bounces balls all over the place. It's kinda useful because it can pick up coins for you, but it kinda sucks because it bounces all around and you can only have one on the screen at a time, making it much less useful for offensive purposes. This game really gives you tons of coins. You can ALMOST get a 1-Up on the very first level just from coins! Some of the underground areas have TONS of coins. Also, if you jump to the top of the... thing... at the end of the level, you get a chance to win either 1, 2, or 3, 1-Ups, or a flower powerup. And you need all those 1-Ups for later, trust me. So, then, Blueflower, why only a 8 out of 10? Well, here's the thing; Mario is very hard to see. Yeah, I'm playing this on a Gameboy Color with no option to change the contrast, but still! They made him blend in with the background too much. That, and the controls can be kinda finicky... It's really fun though, regardless. Just make sure you're in a well-lit environment! Oh, and being that I beat this game on the bus, the VERY, VERY ROCKY BUS, I had a lot of ragequits. A LOT of ragequits. Being that this was made to be one of the launch titles for the Gameboy, and almost 10 years before Pokemon, I really can't harp on this game too badly. Each world is only 3 levels long, and there only 4 worlds, but that doesn't mean it's completely without variety! Level 2-3 is in a submarine, and level 4-3 is in a plane, so it turns into more of a space shooter than a Mario game, but it's still fun!
Addictiveness: 8/10 I guess you could say it's as addicting as any other Mario game! Once you beat it, there really isn't much to go back to, but it sure is fun while it lasts! If you're a fan of the original Super Mario Brothers, this is like that on the go! While there are fewer levels, they have more variety and are longer.
Story: 2/10 Yeah yeah yeah Daisy got kidnapped by some alien creep... let's move on.
Music: 8/10 Now here's what I'm talking about! It's on the Gameboy, and for the time, the songs were pretty good! It actually has more and, dare I say, better songs than the original Super Mario Bros! It's actually pretty good. I wouldn't put it past Super Mario World's soundtrack, and it's nowhere NEAR Galaxy's, but for the time, it was pretty sweet! Note that this game came out BEFORE Mario 3, and that's the game that really wowed everyone in terms of gameplay and music.
Main Athletic Theme
Underground Theme
Muda Kingdom (Another Overworld Theme)
Chai Kingdom
Character Design: 2/10 It introduces Daisy. I HATE DAISY. Moving on.
...
Oh, and did I mention the Koopas explode? THE KOOPS FREAKING EXPLODE. WHAT WHERE THEY THINKING?!
Humor: 0/10 This game laughs at me, not the other way around.
Difficultly: 8/10 The fact that I can beat it shows it's not impossible, but dang! This game is freaking relentless! Worlds 1 and 2 are pretty easy, but dang! 3 and 4 have jerkish enemy places, and BARELY ANY POWERUPS in the entire level! It basically says this: "OK, if you want powerups, you have to get them at the end of the level roulette. Oh, but you can't get extra lives then. So it's a lose-lose for you!" The bosses are all fairly easy when you know what to do, but the final boss can be a real pain and really gets your blood pumping hoping that you can finally beat this jerk of a game! Oh, and the Koopas explode. Wonderful. A lot of it also involves precision jumps over gaps, and like I mentioned above, if you can't SEE MARIO, the jumps are almost impossible to make all of them. It's really hard and requires intense focus if you're PLAYING THIS GAME ON A ROCKY BUS.
But if you're not on a bus, it's not that hard.
Other Memorable Features: I hear the sequels are better, but I certainly liked this game, despite how much it pissed me off. The Starman theme is the Can-Can music! Aw yeah!
Overall: 8/10 Pretty good of a game, but doesn't beat Super Mario World as my favorite 2D Mario game!
Where's the typo? Can you give me the whole sentence, please? I really don't feel like reading through the whole review to see it. :P
I find this review to be quite droll.
I liked Super Mario Land, haha. It was one of the first games I downloaded onto my 3DS when the eShop opened, and I had a lot of fun with it. The first overworld theme is my favorite piece of the game, but the underground theme is cool and egyptian too. I'd probably give it a 7/10.
Have you played any of the Mario & Luigi RPG games? They're a personal favorite of mine in the RPG genre. The writing is so brilliant. The humor would get like a 20/10. If you haven't played any, I'd get on that pretty soon.
Superstar Saga, the first one, is for GBA and is the hardest, but if you stick it out the story is hilarious and rewarding.
Partners in Time is my personal favorite--Mario and Luigi fighting an alien invasion is just too awesome to miss.
Bowser's Inside Story is probably the best one quality-wise, and features amazing writing, particularly for Bowser and Fawful.
But yeah those games are all awesome and you won't forget them easily. That's my recommendation of the week.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on February 18, 2013, 06:41:02 PMHave you played any of the Mario & Luigi RPG games? They're a personal favorite of mine in the RPG genre. The writing is so brilliant. The humor would get like a 20/10. If you haven't played any, I'd get on that pretty soon.
I have to agree. The M&L series is amazing not only in gameplay but in story and humor as well. If you don't play it at some point you are going to miss out.
I've played only a little bit of Bowser's Inside Story, and liked what I saw. But I don't own any of the games themselves. I'm not a huge portable game player unless I really know I want it.
But I'll look into it now. After Mega Man and Layton are done. :P
Aha. I remember when I finally found Superstar Saga used in...2010 I think. I was so excited, because I had previously played Partners in Time and Bowser's Inside Story and knew it would be epic and HILARIOUS. And of course it was.
That's why I can't wait for Dream Team this summer! :O
M&L are games.
True fact.
Oh, a side note--if you decide to get a Mario & Luigi game (I'd recommend Partners in Time first), be sure not to look too much up about it! There are plenty of spoilers you could stumble upon, and the game's twists and shock moments are much better when experienced blind.
Not as bad as Layton, though, right?
No I suppose not. But be sure not to look up anything about the stories, particularly ANYTHING about the end of Partners in Time in particular. There's something there that's pretty unpredictable and is probably all over the Internet, so just be careful.
I really think it's a great series to play blind though, as I did--the plots are just so all over the place you have no idea what's going to happen next.
I remember in that game Mario is perfectly able to use fire underwater.
FINALLY made it to the second level of Super C. (Contra 2) DANG THIS IS FREAKING INSANE
Hey Blue, do yo want to borrow my PS2 and play Shadow of The Colossus and maybe write a review on it. If you can, well... er... You know where I live.
He loves when people do that!
Quote from: SlowPokemon on February 24, 2013, 12:03:52 PMHe loves when people do that!
I love you Slow.
Popo, something tells me that you are forgetting my hatred of the PlayStation.
Then you really should review it. I won't stop bugging you until you do!
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 24, 2013, 12:46:15 PMI love you Slow.
Popo, something tells me that you are forgetting my hatred of the PlayStation.
You are missing out on some of the greatest games ever.
As long as you aren't talking about Kingdom Hearts
Quote from: Yugi on February 24, 2013, 03:38:56 PMYou are missing out on some of the greatest games ever.
If it's not on a Nintendo/Atari/Sega console, I don't want it. Sorry!
Hey, Blue, You should review Spyro.
Gimme a Spyro game on a Nintendo console.
My brother has a spyro game for gcn
There's like 2 or 3 Spyro games on GBA. I have one if you want to borrow it.
Gee guys, thanks for swamping me with things to do. :P
Not to turn your swamp into quicksand or anything, but have you considered doing an original StarCraft review? Man I love that game!
I have. Ssssshhhh!
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.memegenerator.net%2Finstances%2F400x%2F31467088.jpg&hash=652d6c99185ec7704b7cf8b379971c7e30d79ede)
Quote from: blueflower999 on December 11, 2012, 06:50:18 PMAnd now, what you've all been waiting for,
Super Mario Galaxy:
Gameplay: 8/10 It's your typical Mario platformer, but in 3D, and with a twist. Imagine Mario 64 or Sunshine thrown in a blender with better graphics, beautiful and diverse environments, and, most of all, a gravity based system. It works out quite nicely, despite having a few annoying camera angles, this only happens from time to time, and is in no way as bad as some past 3D Mario games.
Addictiveness: 9/10 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What I want from games is adventure. Mystery. Suspense. Not knowing what's around the corner. Not in a horror game type way, but in never knowing what stage or level you'll go to next. It's why I love Pikmin, and it's why I love this game, and why it got me hooked so quickly. The Galaxies are so diverse, with a few minor exceptions, that you'll never know what's coming up unless you use a walkthrough. It's not your typical 8 grass levels, 8 desert levels, 8 ice levels, 8 forest levels, etc. type game. It's like this: "Ooh, I'm in a rocky galaxy with some eggs and a giant sphere in the middle... Ooh! Now I'm in a beehive galaxy, and... Wow, now a lava and ice galaxy in one... Oh man, the floor disappears in this galaxy!"
Story: 5/10 Yes, yes, yes, it's your classic Mario story, but, this time, it suddenly feels more epic. More sincere. You'll think I'm crazy, and that's fine, but there's something different now that Bowser is taking over the entire universe, rather than just some small country that doesn't even exist.
Music: 10/10 The music is where this game really shines. My MP3 is slowly filling up with Mario Galaxy music. Buoy Base, Good Egg, Gusty Garden, Battlerock, Beach Bowl, Purple Coins, Space Junk, the final Bowser Battle, the song that plays when you're Flying Mario, Melty Molten, and the title theme, just to name a few. If you like video game music, like I do, you simply MUST play this game. This is literally the best soundtrack I've heard since MOTHER 3, which I played a year before Galaxy, so that's saying a lot.
Character Design: 5/10 Bowser's like he ever is, epic and scary, Bowser Jr. is still an annoying little brat, Mario doesn't talk very much, Luigi is hysterical, like he always is, and the Toads... are... surprisingly helpful. If you played Super Mario Bros. as a kid, (which I didn't, but hey) you'll remember the classic "You're Princess is in another castle" crap they give you SEVEN TIMES in the game. Well, not so much with this one. The toads are actually HELPFUL, by delivering mail from the princess, flying around in their own ship, etc. Rosalina, though, is definitely this game's most original character, because she has her own unique backstory. Some people didn't enjoy the story book scene, but I certainly did. I won't say what it is though, to avoid spoilers.
Humor: 6/10 Luigi is awesome in every game that he's in, but besides that, the dialogue was cute and charming for most of the game; Miyamoto's signature touch. Mario's "Thank you so much for playing my game!" after the credits made me lol.
Difficulty: 8/10 While a masterpiece of a game it may be, don't expect it to be a pushover. Remember, I'm rating this game based on its console. I'm not going to give an NES game 1/10 for music if it does have some catchy songs, but not many. Similarly, I'm not going to give every Wii game 2/10 for difficulty just because Wii games are no where near as hard as some NES games. Therefore, this game is incredibly tough for being a Wii game, but the sense of adventure and suspense just keeps pulling at you until you get all the stars.
Other Memorable Features: Being able to play as Luigi after you beat the game is a great feature that I'm glad they added. It takes forever to navigate the starship, but I enjoy it anyway because the music is great. Besides normal platforming, there's also a surfing game (which I hate), a ball rolling game (which I hate even more), and a game where Mario is in a bubble and you have to blow him around.
Overall: 10/10 The best Mario game that I've seen, ever. Period. Can't wait to get the sequel.
I agree the music is AWESOME!!!
You know that you can snip down posts to just show an individual part of a post, rather than quoting the entire post and leaving us all confused on what you're talking about.
Also, blueflower, have you heard of a game called Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, it's a rather good game, and it's possibly one of the hardest Castlevania Games.
Google doesn't recognise Ecclesia as a word, WHY DO YOU NOT KNOW LATIN.
Becuase "Ecclesia" isn't Latin, it's Greek that's been Latinized
What console is it, Yugi?
Nintendo DS.
In honor of the Ear of Luigi, I'll be playing through Super Luigi Galaxy! Obviously I'm not going to review it again, but I thought it would be fun to play through one of my new favorite games of all time with slightly different controls and cutscenes.
Quote from: blueflower999 on March 10, 2013, 10:24:24 AMIn honor of the Ear of Luigi...
What's so honorable about his ear?
Loljk, I love playing as Luigi!
Quote from: blueflower999 on March 10, 2013, 10:24:24 AMIn honor of the Ear of Luigi, I'll be playing through Super Luigi Galaxy! Obviously I'm not going to review it again, but I thought it would be fun to play through one of my new favorite games of all time with slightly different controls and cutscenes.
That is one of the most hilarious typos I've ever seen. Unless you did it on purpose. I'd replay a game based on someone's ear too.
I did to it on purpose. Iwata isn't the best at pronouncing y's. ;)
Quote from: blueflower999 on March 10, 2013, 11:42:40 AMI did to it on purpose. Iwata isn't the best at pronouncing y's. ;)
I figured.
When is the next review coming? I'm so excited! ;D
Quote from: popo447 on March 14, 2013, 10:37:40 AMWhen is the next review coming? I'm so excited! ;D
How can you be excited if you don't know what it's going to be? And have you read all the previous ones? ;)
DIABOLICAL BOX, MEGA MAN 9 AND 10, AND BIBLE ADVENTURES GET. AIEWOFHEWOFHEWIOFWH
Y U NO ECCLESIA
Cuz I didn't see it!
Quote from: blueflower999 on March 16, 2013, 04:17:23 PMDIABOLICAL BOX, MEGA MAN 9 AND 10, AND BIBLE ADVENTURES GET. AIEWOFHEWOFHEWIOFWH
WHICH ONE FIRST?!?!?!?
I tried 9 first, but I think I'm already addicted to Layton. Would you mind if I asked you a question about it, Slow?
HOLY MOTHER OF HARD MAN, MEGA MAN 9 IS REDICULOUS!
Seriously! I thought 1 and 2 were pretty challenging, but this one is insane! The stages are incredibly long, there's very few check points, they have bosses in the middle of the stages that stop me, and I can't beat a SINGLE STAGE, so all I have is the Mega Buster and this Rush ability that lets you jump higher. HOW DO I DO THIS
Solution: play Layton.
expected/10
I think I will, actually.
Oh, and I made it to Splash Woman.
...and died. >:(
Oh man, I made the mistake of starting Mega Man 10 on easy mode, and it's TOO FREAKING EASY. I only died at one part in the game. ONE PART IN THE GAME THAT'S THE LEAST BIT CHALLENGING. Not even that. I'm already on the Wily stage, and I've been playing for like an hour. Whereas Mega Man 9 I've been trying all weekend and have only gotten 4 of the 8 Robot Masters after hours of sweat and tears. You'll probably get the 10 review first, but I'm going to beat it on Normal because I can't possibly butcher it like this.
Finished Diabolical Box. Review hopefully later this week; I'll be busy.
That was quick.
I am most definitely one
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Oh, you.
Currently adding Youtube videos to my reviews of the games' best songs, in my opinion of course.
Done. Expect a review tomorrow or later this spring break.
Nice Curious Village picks for pieces (besides the obligatory Layton's Theme, I probably would have included Don Paolo's Theme and End Theme, but the two you picked are great examples of things the soundtrack does well); also, this is a great way to make your reviews more entertaining.
Which review is this going to be?
I hope he's reviewing Bible Adventures, I love reviews of crappy games!
Quote from: SlowPokemon on March 25, 2013, 06:46:22 PMWhich review is this going to be?
Seekrit
Quote from: popo447 on March 25, 2013, 08:35:25 PMI hope he's reviewing Bible Adventures, I love reviews of crappy games!
Nevar!!
Surprised about the lack of Kamek's Library or Toadette's Music Room on Mario Party DS music.
Here we go!
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box:
Gameplay: 8/10 If you're reading this and don't know how this game plays, go back and read my other reviews! There's not that much different in the gameplay of this game, but if anything, it's slightly less polished than the game that came before it. I feel like the developers just exerted too much energy in the prequel and couldn't do nearly as well this time around. It's still a lot of fun, but it's nothing compared to what we've already seen.
Addivtiveness: 7/10 The addictiveness has dropped off a little too. Nothing is really there to keep you playing, the enviornments are kinda cliche, and aside from a few throwbacks in the later parts of the game, there really isn't anything in this game that I find special at all. I beat it fairly quickly and don't really feel like ever going back to it any time soon.
Story: 3/10 My word, the story was lame with this game. This game had some of the worst plot twists in video game history and was also completely predictable.
Music: 7/10 The music was good, but yet again is nothing compared to what I've already seen. There are only 2 or 3 songs that are good enough to make it onto my MP3, which is entirely unacceptable for the series. The music designers got a few things right, but far too many of the songs are uninspired and totally boring to listen to. I don't really feel like posting any of it because it'll just damage your ears.
Character Design: 4/10 Same old same old. The previous game had adorable characters and some that looked so stupid that they were awesome. This game.... just had characters that looked plain old stupid. Very few are memorable at all, and the only good characters are the ones that traveled over from the previous game to this one.
Humor: 1/10 Barely any humor at all in this game. All the joy was taken out of it and turned to serious crap that's very uninteresting and makes me want to punch a wall. What were they thinking?!
Difficulty: 4/10 Far too easy. The difficulty dropped off like a rock. If you want a challenge, the previous game is so much more challenging and rewarding as well. This one is just a walk through a park. What, did people complain of the difficulty or something?
Other Memorable Features: Barely any. The game has a few nostalgic moments, but that's about it. Lame.
Overall: 7/10 It's good, but a major let down. Mega Man 9 was just so much better. Now, this begs the question; will Mega Man 11 be more like 9, or more like this 10? We shall see.
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 01, 2013, 11:14:50 AMStory: 3/10 My word, the story was lame with this game. This game had some of the worst plot twists in video game history and was also completely predictable.
*points at calendar*
Spoiler
because you definitely predicted hallucinogenic gas
A---------
Jk, you're allowed to have an opinion but I can't say I agree with you on anything here. I hope you decide to continue with the series because Unwound Future is the best, but seriously, these scores are really low in my opinion. 3/10 for story? 4/10 character design?
I mean like how did you love Curious Village so much and then dislike a sequel that's an improvement in almost every way? XD I don't get it. But I'm glad you feel like you can post your opinions.
You guys seriously don't get it? It was an April Fools Day Joke. That was my review for Mega Man 10. Mega Man 9 is by far superior to Mega Man 10, so that's what I was playing off of all along. Real review for Diabolical Box to come soon!
*points at calandar again*
and I have absolutely no knowledge of mega man :P
Guys are you just fucking stupid or did you not read the "Overall" section ::)
Quote from: FSM-Reapr on April 01, 2013, 12:52:45 PMGuys are you just fucking stupid or did you not read the "Overall" section ::)
qft
XDDDDDDD I decided to keep quiet to see who would fall for it. Slow, I can't believe you did.
A+++++++++
BEST THING EVER AND YOU LEFT IT PURPOSELY VAGUE AND THAT'S AWESOME
/stupid
:)
You know, I've always kinda wanted to review the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, but it's been so long since I've played them! Maybe one day I'll revisit them and review one. Or maybe I'll review the newest one when I get my hands on a 3DS.
A Nintendo fan as big as yourself can't pass up the 3DS. There are so many great games you'd love.
Super Mario 3D Land (mix of Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros.)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Pretty much a sequel to the Wii version)
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (duh)
Virtue's Last Reward (not giving up on that one--still my favorite plot ever in a game!)
Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon (this game was excellent and possibly the best game on the 3DS!)
And if you liked the other PMD games, well this is more of the same so you can't go wrong there. Get a 3DS when you have the money -- and do yourself a favor by getting the XL. It's worth the extra cash.
It's your favorite plot in a game because you haven't played Mother 3
Why should I pay extra money for just a slightly bigger console? What's different about it?
The problem is that I'm spending all my money on Nintendo games that are older than I am. XD
It's just much much nicer. I upgraded and I don't regret it at all. That's just my advice.
And...don't take this the wrong way...whatever Mother 3's plot is, there is no chance it could be as great as VLR's. I'm not doubting it has a great plot. I'm just saying VLR's has to be better. And certainly more convoluted ._.
One of these days I'm going to have to watch a playthrough of that game though.
Nah, get it yourself. It's worth using an emulator. One of these days I'm going to force you to play it. ;)
Oh, and did I mention that I have a Wii U? How can you pester me to get a 3DS when I have a console that costs more than twice as much? I'm not that much of a handheld person to begin with. :P
I know you have a Wii U. It's just that the 3DS is much better. XD
I'm not emulating a game. XD bluflowerrrr we've gone over this.
Slowwwwww it's the only game I emulate and you have to because if you don't it's in Japanese!
And I'd probably bet that after some more games come out, the Wii U will be amazing. Just you wait.
Oh I'd believe it. But I'm speaking for right now ;P Although you can't deny the DS had much better games than the Wii.
The thing is, games like Luigi's Mansion feel more like home console games than handhelds in my opinion.
Actually, I could deny that. The Wii has Super Mario Galaxy, Pikmin 1 and 2, SSBB, Mario Kart, Mega Man 9 and 10, NSMBW, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime, some great DBZ games, Animal Crossing, and tons of other stuff that I don't have yet like Zelda.
DS has Layton.... Pokemon.... NSMB... Yeah.
Everything pales before the would be Pikmin 3.
Off the top of my head:
NDS:
Super Mario 64 DS
New Super Mario Bros.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Mario Kart DS
Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum
Pokemon HeartGold, SoulSilver
Pokemon Black, White
Pokemon Black 2, White 2
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time, Darkness, Sky
Pokemon Conquest
Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Diabolical Box, Unwound Future, Last Specter
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (and the sequels which I have not played so I can't vouch firsthand for them)
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks
Animal Crossing Wild World
999
More, but I don't think I need to continue
Wii:
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Twlight Princess
Animal Crossing City Folk
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Mario Kart Wii
(You can't count virtual console, nor the Pikmin games as they are direct ports of the original GameCube games with motion controls)
Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 02, 2013, 07:07:21 PMLegend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Twlight Princess
I am proud of you for acknowledging their existence, Slow.
I didn't say anything from Virtual Console. And I see your point, I'm just not a handheld kind of person. :P
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 02, 2013, 07:15:02 PMI didn't say anything from Virtual Console. And I see your point, I'm just not a handheld kind of person. :P
....which goes to show you don't know it well enough. There are so many good games on 3DS right now, there's just no reason you shouldn't try it. Even if you're not that kind of person. Which you are, self-proclaimed avid Nintendo junkie.
Geez, quit picking on me. There are so many games that I need right now that aren't on the 3DS before I get it! I'll probably have one before the year is over for Layton and Pokemon X/Y.
Oh, and I finally got my last prize in Nintendo Land. DANG they didn't slack off on that game.
Hey no one's picking on you! I respect whatever opinion you have.
As a fellow Game Reviewer, I am obligated to ignore and invalidate any opinion you have regarding video games. You are wrong and your opinions are more wrong.
The problem is that I became a Nintendo fan too late in life and I have soooo much catching up to do.
Buy a 3DS, buy a Gamecube, get a Mario and Luigi game, complete my NES collection, finish Zelda, finish Layton, get new Pokemon, finish my SNES collection, expand my N64 collection, get 999 (when I'm older), get Mario Galaxy 2, and on and on.
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 02, 2013, 07:25:52 PMThe problem is that I became a Nintendo fan too late in life and I have soooo much catching up to do.
Buy a 3DS, buy a Gamecube, get a Mario and Luigi game, complete my NES collection, finish Zelda, finish Layton, get new Pokemon, finish my SNES collection, expand my N64 collection, get 999 (when I'm older), get Mario Galaxy 2, and on and on.
Have fun with that. How old are you, anyway? Or is it a secret to everybody?
I wonder about my kids and if they'll even appreciate N64 games XD
My niece and nephew do, and they're 7 and 6, respectively. I make it a point to introduce them to the older stuff so they can better appreciate the new.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 02, 2013, 07:28:09 PMI wonder about my kids and if they'll even appreciate N64 games XD
O_o How can you say that?!? You'd have to screw up pretty bad to make them not like SM64.
Why is the N64 my least favorite Nintendo console?
Quote from: MaestroUGC on April 02, 2013, 07:21:49 PMAs a fellow Game Reviewer, I am obligated to ignore and invalidate any opinion you have regarding video games. You are wrong and your opinions are more wrong.
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 02, 2013, 07:31:45 PMWhy is the N64 my least favorite Nintendo console?
Superman 64.
But I like Superman 64!
Mega Man 10 with vagueness and prankiness removed:
Mega Man 10:Gameplay: 8/10 Mega Man plays like Mega Man plays like Mega Man. This is the 10th game in the classic series, so if you haven't caught on by now, then what are you waiting for? Go play some Mega Man! 8 Robot Masters, each of which is weak to another's weapon. You steal the Robot Masters' weapons as you beat their stages. After all 8 Masters are down, it's time for the Dr. Wily stage. Because this game is built like an NES game but comes with more modern technology, you can do things like buy 1-ups and Energy Tanks in exchange for screws, which are dropped at random by enemies. This can really help you if you're stuck on a level! I skipped right from MM2 to MM9 and 10, so this game also introduces the Rush abilities, namely Coil, which is a spring, and Jet, which is basically item #2 from Mega Man 2. The levels are kinda plain though, and the Robot Master fights not too exiting, making it the least fun to play out of all the Mega Man games I own.
Addivtiveness: 7/10 The addictiveness has dropped off a little too. Nothing is really there to keep you playing, the environments are kinda cliche, and aside from a few throwbacks in the later parts of the game, there really isn't anything in this game that I find special at all. I beat it fairly quickly and don't really feel like ever going back to it any time soon.
Story: 3/10 My word, the story was lame with this game. This game had some of the worst plot twists in video game history and was also completely predictable. Dogtah Wahwee infects Robots with "Roboenza" (seriously?) and pretends to be good and then betrays Mega Man and yadayada. Boring.
Music: 7/10 The music was good, but yet again is nothing compared to what I've already seen. There are only 2 or 3 songs that are good enough to make it onto my MP3, which is entirely unacceptable for the series. The music designers got a few things right, but far too many of the songs are uninspired and totally boring to listen to.
Solar Man's Theme (SO FREAKING EPIC)
Dogtah Wahwee's stage (EPIIIIC)
Seriously, how could they do so well on these two songs and so piss poor on all the other ones? Oh well.
Character Design: 4/10 Same old same old. The previous game had adorable characters and some that looked so stupid that they were awesome. This game.... just had characters that looked plain old stupid. Very few are memorable at all, and the only good characters are the ones that traveled over from the previous game to this one, namely Auto, Roll, Mega Man, Dr. Light, and Doctah Wahwee.
Humor: 1/10 Barely any humor at all in this game. All the joy was taken out of it and turned to serious crap that's very uninteresting and makes me want to punch a wall. What were they thinking?! The game just isn't the "so bad it's good" like Mega Man 9 was. It's just lame and needs to be reworked.
Difficulty: 4/10 Far too easy. The difficulty dropped off like a rock. If you want a challenge, the previous game is so much more challenging and rewarding as well. This one is just a walk through a park. What, did people complain of the difficulty or something? Well, that's on the easy mode, so excuse me! But really, is this necessary? Mega Man is supposed to be hard! On the NES, the easy mode was still as hard as heck! I can't beat a single level on Capcom's DuckTales on easy, so why is Mega Man 10 TOO FREAKING EASY on easy mode?
Other Memorable Features: Downloadable content. Blah. Proto Man comes with the game, and he can slide, charge, and block missiles, but he takes TOO MUCH DAMAGE! There's no point in using him! There are some missions and achievements, but those really aren't that much fun either. Bass can be unlocked, but who's going to pay for that?
Overall: 7/10 It's good, but a major let down. Mega Man 9 was just so much better. Now, this begs the question; will Mega Man 11 be more like 9, or more like this 10? We shall see.
I love the live version of the End Theme from that soundtrack. Have you read my review? :o I read yours!
But anyway when can we expect the review of diabolical box?
The other day I was inquiring about having a friend over who lives about an hour away and how we would get him over here, and my Mom said "Ooh! Maybe he can take the train!" My response: "NO. NO MORE TRAINS."
Expect the review later this week.
Oh, I just got Pokemon Snap.
That's cool.
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 07, 2013, 01:12:00 PMOh, I just got Pokemon Snap.
Watch out, Prof. Oak is pretty sketchy in that game, letting you use the so called "Pester Ball" to "Pester" the Pokemon into letting you take pictures of them.
It sounds like a recipe for evil... Or I just have my paranoia knob set unbearably high...
Nice avatar, Popo XD
And yeah, Oak's voice is creeping me out.
I brought Diabolical Box with me on the plane ride, and I finally feel like I've done it justice in terms of gameplay.
I'm looking forward to your review. ^^
But really, who the freak is Pavel. And why is he in both games. AND HOW DID HE GET TO
Spoiler
FOLSENSE
?!?
His thing is basically that he shows up in places that are impossible to get to--he's a terrible explorer, yet somehow gets into places that should be impossible. To use the first two games as examples:
Spoiler
Curious Village - first of all, he somehow makes it into a hidden mechanical town whose bridge crank has been stolen, blocking all access. Secondly, you find him in the TOWER which is totally inaccessible without the key, which you have XD
Diabolical Box - you find him in the phantom town only accessible via the Molentary Express, which he was not riding as far as we know, and what's more he is in the abandoned mine XD
It's one of those things like how Stachenscarfen just appears and vanishes to be mysterious. There's a set of characters in the first and second trilogies who appear in every game within those trilogies.
So I haven't seen the last of them?
No, not quite XD
Are you still planning on reviewing Diabolical Box soon?
So would that mean that
Spoiler
Stachenscarfen isn't a robot?
And yes
Spoiler
No--he isn't. And neither is Granny Riddleton or Pavel.
The one thing I don't quite understand is how Granny R.'s character profile in Curious Village says she's proof of "Bruno's sense of humor" implying she's a robot. But she appears in every other game in the series. ??? I'm guessing the English translators just didn't know she would be in future games and rewrote the profile or something.
I'm bored. Let's get this over with!
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box of Doom and Sadness:Gameplay: 9/10 Similar to Curious Village, but so much more polished. I really don't know how to describe this feeling, actually. You just sort of have to experience both games (in order) by yourself, you know? The vast majority of puzzles in Curious Village were just thrown in there randomly. "Oh look! It's a cat eating a mouse! That reminds me of a 3rd puzzle from this same situation!" None of that crap is in Diabolical Box, and it makes it so much more enjoyable and worthwhile to play. With Curious Village as practice, I only struggled on a handful of puzzles in this game, so unlike the predecessor, it didn't cause weeping and gnashing of teeth. Great job, Level-5. You improved an already great formula! These games are challenging to review for me because there's so much I can talk about, but 80% of it would be considered a spoiler! You really just have to take my word for this if you haven't played the game. If you have, you should know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't, you must! Anyway, back to the gameplay. Curious Village literally takes place in a, *shocker*, village. Literally the entire game is spent in St. Mystere. It's fun, and more areas open up as the game goes along, but Diabolical Box is so much broader. I can think of at least 4 major areas in the game, maybe 5 or 6 if you can break them down farther, but AT LEAST 4 areas that a good portion of the game is spent in. Yeah, it means you need to look for Hint Coins while you can, but the change in characters and scenery really helps keep the game flowing and the plot progressing.
Addictiveness: 9/10 This game, if you can believe it, does an even BETTER job of keeping you on your toes than the predecessor. My word, this is a difficult game to put down once you start! Just the fact that it's rated E10 rather than E like Curious Village should be a sign that some crazy crap happens in this sucker! I'm even starting to like the puzzle gameplay a little... wait, did I just say that?!
Story: 10/10 No 9/10 crap like before, this story is pure genius. GENIUS. Literally! I have never actually had an experience with a game like this before! When all the pieces were finally put together, I literally said outloud "brilliant!". My mouth was on the floor at this game's moments. And I was actually... I'll admit it.... close to tears at the end. I DIDN'T CRY, but I was sort of crying on the inside. You'll understand when you play the game. Bravo. This may be my favorite DS series here, folks.
Music: 8/10 Once again, the music isn't exactly the series' strong point in my opinion, but there definitely are some good tunes! Layton's theme is probably still my favorite, but there are some fairly good new ones here. I'll share a couple, but remember that the titles to these songs could give away some spoilers, so don't look if you haven't played the game!
A beautiful song from later in the game *SPOILERS*
An area in the beginning of the game.
Again, I haven't listened to all of this game's soundtrack, so I would appreciate some more recommendations! Oh, and the accordion is still there, but that's fine! I'm starting to adjust to it. One question though; why are songs so long in these games?! The first song I posted above is so long that if you actually hear all of it while trying to figure out what to do, you SUCK at the game! It's great that they made the song so awesome, but it really doesn't need to be this long!
Character Design: 10/10 If there's anything this game didn't improve, it was the character design. I'm being honest here, so don't kill me! And don't get me wrong either, the characters are great! Well, the main characters that is. I just didn't find the townsfolk to be that wacky like before. So, why 10/10 then? Because the game introduced some GREAT new characters! I wish I could talk about them here, but I really can't, so I'll put it this way; any new major character in Diabolical Box is outstanding. Maybe the townsfolks aren't as funny anymore because I'm used to the art design now. Wait, now that I think about it, there was ONE NPC that made me laugh out loud. I think Slow knows who I'm talking about.
Humor: 8/10 Another improvement, but this is what I want from the Layton series in the future. This may be a bit difficult to explain, but I want Level-5 to try and have more fun while making these games! Yes, the series parts of the game probably are the best, but I want more humor! I want to be able to connect with the characters more on comedic level! With Nintendo, I expect a lot of humor! One of the things that makes me such a huge Nintendo fanboy is that they put so much style and lol-worthy moments into so many of their games! Maybe I'm being too critical. Maybe Layton is meant to be a series franchise. But I just can see such possibility here! Both of my favorite gaming franchises are packed full of comic relief that it shapes the game series as a whole, and that's not what I'm expecting. I just want a few legitimately humorous moments in the game. Some comic relief, if you will. And not from just looking at the NPCs. The closest thing I've gotten to that so far is this:
Spoiler
"A true gentlemen never takes off his hat. And that's all I have to say on the matter."
Oh, and I guess Pavel is pretty funny too. But that's like a "Heh! That's interesting!" kind of humor. I want a "HAHA WOWWWWW" kind of pun or something. IDK, maybe I'm just used to it and don't know what makes a serious series good. Anyway, moving on.
Difficulty: 8/10 A few puzzles did drive me a little bonkers, and I haven't nearly completed all of them, but I found it much easier to get through this game than Curious Village. However, this time I failed to meet at least 2 of the puzzle cut offs, so either they were more strict or I didn't talk to enough people in the areas before that! The final puzzles are freaking difficult, but to get through the story mode wasn't too bad. Either I'm getting better, or this game was slightly easier.
Other Memorable Features: The minigames are improved TREMENDOUSLY. I'm really not sure how to do one of them yet, but the other two are pretty stinkin' enjoyable! If you thought Curious Village's "games" were good, you have another thing coming! Oh, the cutscenes are GORGEOUS. I don't know if I've seen cutscenes on the DS this good before! Maybe I need to play more cinematic games, but wow! They're used a lot more in this game too. And there's a lot more voice acting during the text conversations as well. All fantastic stuff.
Overall: 9.8/10. It's SO close, but there are a handful of things that I want to see from the series before I give a Layton game a 10/10. Sorry! I'm being overly critical on purpose, by the way.
Next up: I'm planning a few surprises. Like, legitimate surprises this time. Some of you guys are going to be really happy.
Excellent review! Oh my gosh I cannot wait to see your reaction to Unwound Future if you liked Diabolical Box that much XD Most of it I agree with so I'll just comment on the music section:
Quote from: blueflower999 on April 14, 2013, 04:53:40 PMMusic: 8/10 Once again, the music isn't exactly the series' strong point in my opinion, but there definitely are some good tunes! Layton's theme is probably still my favorite, but there are some fairly good new ones here. I'll share a couple, but remember that the titles to these songs could give away some spoilers, so don't look if you haven't played the game!
Again, I haven't listened to all of this game's soundtrack, so I would appreciate some more recommendations! Oh, and the accordion is still there, but that's fine! I'm starting to adjust to it. One question though; why are songs so long in these games?! The first song I posted above is so long that if you actually hear all of it while trying to figure out what to do, you SUCK at the game! It's great that they made the song so awesome, but it really doesn't need to be this long!
Yeahh there isn't much that's as good as Professor Layton's Theme from the first game. They sort of did a "new version" of his theme with "The Elysian Box Theme" but it wasn't quite as good, it was too ominous in my opinion. It was still really good and better for the game though.
And I don't think that the pieces are too long. :P The first one you posted
Spoiler
Folsense
is only 2 minutes and 40 seconds before it repeats, and you definitely spend more than 2 minutes and 40 seconds wandering around that place, particularly at the quest with the
Spoiler
stolen photograph.
And the second one
Spoiler
The Molentary Express
is only 1 minute and 30 seconds before it repeats, and you definitely have at least a few times where you do nothing but talk to people or wander around that area for longer than 1 minute and 30 seconds.
I mean, I suppose 2:40 could be seen as long for a video game piece, but I don't think that one in particular could be any shorter--the progression is very cool and it couldn't do without any part, in my opinion.
Also I was a little surprised you didn't list the ending theme ("Iris")--that one is one of my favorite Layton pieces of all time, though it wasn't actually composed by Nishiura.
Thanks for the review, even if I'm the only one who appreciated it! XD Looking forward to "surprises" and your playthrough of Unwound Future.
Dang, my reviews are getting longer. I don't know if that's good or bad. :o
Thanks for the feedback! I'll get Unwound Future as soon as I see it.
I saw it last time I was at Target of all places :o they didn't have any of the other ones for the DS, just Miracle Mask and Unwound Future.
Last time I went to target I saw all of them there too. They were really overpriced for being as old and underplayed as they are though
....I was at Target last week and saw Unwound Future for $14.99. Not a bad price at all
It was $30 at mine :/ I cant remember if it was Target or Walmart though
I'm going to raise the "Humor" score up a point because I forgot of all the hilarious tea moments. "Professor! This tea is... foaming!" XDDD
I'll admit, I got a lot of enjoyment out of those!
Proof that EarthBound has the best fanbase of any game ever.
I've been making a Pokemon PowerPoint guide for myself so that I'll have access to statistics when I don't have internet and/or when I need to look up something quickly and don't have time to scroll through endless walls of text on Serebii or Bulbapedia. I'm currently just finished Machoke, and I'm trying to get all the way through to Genesect before Generation 6 is released. Each slide contains the National Pokedex #, the type, generation, species, height, weight, abilities, base stats (HP, Offense, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed), Evolutions, Weaknesses, and Resistances. Do you think I can make it?
you should probably add in EV points and exp. values too
and lolnope do you know how many times ive tried this? I never got farther than Krabby
What happens? Do you delete it?
I'm kinda experienced at this because I've made PowerPoint guides to several games before (Including EarthBound, Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, and DragonCave), although this is by far the biggest one I've ever done.
And I'm pretty sure that EVs and Experience Values would make things way too complicated.
Experience values mainly because Ill be training a Pokemon then get frustrated when its not leveling up fast enough :P
And I would write them in little notebooks. After I'd give up, Id find a cuter notebook and start that one XD
I'm actually currently in the process of writing a program to keep track of my pokemon. It'll ask for the name, level, and pokemon number, then ask for base stats, nature, EVs, and IV's, and then calculate the stats. Finally it'll list it in a file by number. Eventually I hope to add a database for it to take from and all you have to do is enter the number and it'll bring up the name and base stats.
I suppose it's not the same thing, but it's something along the same lines.
What I'm about to play right now is what I presume to be as close to a horror game as I have ever come. And I'm scared crazy.
I don't like horror games, but there's no turning back now...
Whoaaaaa, this isn't 999 is it?!
Don't be too worried if it is! It's the type of game that's only scary if you psych yourself up. There aren't any "jump scares" or whatever they're called, but there are a few novel passages toward the beginning of the game that describe gore with a fair amount of detail. I will say that for a lot of the time, the game does have you feeling pretty uneasy.
Unless it's a totally different game, then ignore me.
You are correct. How you guessed that is beyond me.
Also, it amazes me that this game manages to be hysterical at parts in a completely haunting life-or-death situation, and Layton can't in its more peaceful environment.
Yeah, I'm psyched up.
I love how they have those random bits of hilarious comedy in be middle of the escape sequences. The pipe cheer comes to mind.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 25, 2013, 03:36:09 PMWhoaaaaa, this isn't 999 is it?!
Don't be too worried if it is! It's the type of game that's only scary if you psych yourself up. There aren't any "jump scares" or whatever they're called, but there are a few novel passages toward the beginning of the game that describe gore with a fair amount of detail. I will say that for a lot of the time, the game does have you feeling pretty uneasy.
Unless it's a totally different game, then ignore me.
Spoiler
Axe ending.
Quote from: Yugi on April 25, 2013, 05:30:11 PMSpoiler.
Will you kindly shut up or put your comment in a spoiler tag? It's outrageously rude to spoil a game for someone.
Good thing I didn't read...
Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 25, 2013, 05:48:29 PMWill you kindly shut up or put your comment in a spoiler tag? It's outrageously rude to spoil a game for someone.
or bothI'm sorry I couldn't resist.....
I'm going to go back and change all my 9/10s to include decimals just because 9/10 is such a broad category.
And speaking of 9s, expect two game reviews soon, both of which have a 9 in their title.
Mega Man 9?
Touhou 9 ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View?
You should totally review that one.
Quote from: Dude on May 16, 2013, 07:26:38 AMTouhou 9 ~ Phantasmagoria of Flower View?
You should totally review that one.
This.
Which Touhou games are free? (If any)
I'm going to try one just so you guys can shut up about them. ;)
Quote from: blueflower999 on May 16, 2013, 12:42:09 PMWhich Touhou games are free? (If any)
Weeeeell, you can't buy them in America unless you want to pay shipping soooo.
www.doujinstyle.com is your best friend.
I prefer not to pirate. That's what this is, right?
Also, added the decimals to all the 9/10s.
And hey, why didn't anyone remind me that back in March was my 1 year anniversary of doing this?! Thanks for all the support!
540 Minutes, 9 Homo Sapiens Sapiens, 9 个门:OK, I'm done copying Maestro's elaborate titles. For realz now.
Zero Escape Volume 1: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors:WARNING: The following review is for an M-rated DS game. I do not normally endorse playing games of this nature, but this one I feel is worth the trouble. If you are sensitive to what the rating is for, I would recommend not playing to game, as fantastic and awesome as it is. This includes bloods and gory scenes, drug use, extremely strong language including plenty of uncensored f-bombs, suggestive and sexual scenes, including partial nudity, and an atmosphere that will make your blood curdle. Viewer discretion is advised.Gameplay: 9/10 Oh boy, this game is a doozy! I honestly cannot believe this exists. But, let's get to the gameplay. For starters, if you think that this game is all story with no solid gameplay to back it up, think again. Likewise, if you're planning on playing this game expecting the gameplay to be your favorite part of the game and completely steal the show, also reexamine your thoughts. After beating the game, I can tell that the gameplay is a lot of fun, and the puzzles are very unique and well-thought out. It's not like Layton (and I'm going to compare these two a lot because they're both excellent DS puzzle based games with great stories that Slow has introduced to me in the past half-year) in that people just present puzzles to you that only sometimes have to be actually solved to continue the story. No sir! This game is a click escape, but it's so much fun that if you don't like the genre, give it a try anyway. The atmosphere is flawless and makes the escapes seem vital to the continuation of the story, although there are times where you have to do escapes more than once, which the sequel fixes. The first escape has to be done all 5 times to get every ending, but it's not that bad if you know what to do. And now, I present to you some of the true brilliance of this game, which there is a lot of: you can fast-forward through text that you've read already. This makes playing the game to get all 5 endings soooo much easier. Oh, and believe me. This isn't a game like Shadow the Hedgehog where if you see one ending you've pretty much seen everything in the game. HECK NO. You NEED to see all 4 of the "fake" endings in order to see the "real" ending. To avoid spoilers, I'm going to call these endings 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the order that I did them. But, that's more story material. I would say that this game is about 70-80% text reading and 20-30% escapes (the gameplay portion). DON'T LET THIS STOP YOU FROM GETTING THE GAME THOUGH. You'll see what I mean later. Let's move on.
Addictiveness: 10/10 Oh man, this game is one addictive sucker! Seriously, this is the most addictive and life-consuming game I have ever played. I couldn't stop thinking about it! Let me reiterate: I COULD NOT STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS GAME. I know I'm using caps a lot, but that's just how good this game is! I lost so much sleep over this game that I had to bring it to school several times so I could play it in my free periods and figure out what happens! It does a better job than even the best adventure-action books of immersing you into an environment. If you've ever had this feeling with a book, you know what I'm talking about.
Story: 10/10 With the story, we have another perfect score. With all honesty, if I could give this game an 11/10 for story, I would, simply because it's fantastic. Yes, it's better than Mother 3's storyline, making it the best game story wise that I have ever played, ever. Just in case you want to play the game knowing NOTHING about the storyline, I'm going to put my synopsis in spoilers here. I promise, I'm not going to actually spoil anything, so you can read it if you're the kind of person who reads the backs of books before you start. This is pretty much the info that you'll get from reading the back and in the first 10 minutes of playing the game:
999's basic story as of the first 10 minutes
There are 9 people trapped on a sinking ship. The water is rising, and within 9 hours, the entire ship will be submerged, killing all 9 of them. Junpei (you) is one of the contestants, with the others bearing code-names. Each of which has a bracelet with a number spanning from 1-9, with Junpei being #5. There are also 9 Doors hidden about the ship with numbers on them. There is a door for each number from 1-9, with the 9th door being the exit. Using the digital roots of your bracelets, you (Junpei) must escape with as many other people as possible and uncover who abducted you and for what purpose, while at the same time trying to prevent war and savagery from breaking out among the fellow contestants...
And that's all that can be said. Wonderful. WONDERFUL. It's so amazing.
Music: 9/10 Like any good game, 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors does a fantastic job of using music to support the mood of the game. Because this game has an enormous fear factor to it, despite there being little to no jump scares, calls for very intense and ominous music. Some tracks I cannot post because their names contain spoilers, but just listen to this one extremely scary song that plays whenever you see something that makes your blood curdle. It's probably my favorite song in the game because of how much it scared me the first time I heard it. The other songs at the end of the game are outstanding, but I can't post them. Sorry!
Trepidation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ZBoqbupyc
Character Design: 10/10 And yet another perfect score! Are you guys getting the sense for how outstanding this game is?! I really can't talk about the characters very much for this reason; not much is known in the beginning of the game about them (most of their real names are mysteries, after all), and trying to piece together the puzzle of why you're all doing this "Nonary Game", as it is called, is quite the challenge. It'll hurt your brain trying to come up with all sorts of theories about who did what and what everyone's individual intentions are. The characters are all loaded with personality, and you get attached to them quickly... which isn't exactly the best thing to do in some circumstances, as you might guess!
Humor: 9/10 Here's a good question: why is this game so funny? Here's my answer: I have no idea! But it is! And it's awesome! Layton finds difficulty bringing comic relief in his cartoony world where no-one's life is really in immediate danger for 98% of the two games that I've played. So why, then, are 9 people trapped on a ship fighting for their lives cracking so many jokes that it makes me rofl?! I mean, this game says "Excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess"! How awesome is that?! There are all kinds of sexual innuendos and popular culture references in this game that it's incredibly funny. Like Mother 3, even when the situation is as stressful as can be, someone's always there to make you laugh. And that's awesome.
Difficulty: 4/10 This game... really isn't that bad. The puzzles are all possible and fairly simple until the end of the game. Slow was guiding me (and doing a great job of it too, thanks!) through it and showing me walkthroughs when needed, but it really isn't that hard to figure stuff out if you don't want to use one for potential spoiler reasons. Finding the "true" ending and not getting ending 1, 2, 3, or 4 instead can be challenging as there are many conditions that you need to fulfill, but overall, how can a game mostly about plot be too hard?
Other Memorable Features: There's not really much else to say! The puzzles involve the usage of things like music, Morse code, chemistry (<3!), math, hexadecimal, and much more. There are plenty of escape rooms in the game, probably like 15 or so? I didn't really count. You have to do about like 4-5 per ending for the first four and then a few extra are only in the 5th and "true" ending.
Overall: 10/10 This is the best game I've played in years. It's in my top 5 favorite games of all time, and I need a freaking 3DS.
Blueflower, this review is wonderful. Also it's very careful about spoilers which is a great thing. I agree with you about pretty much everything you said. It's just a great game, there isn't much else to be said.
Anyone who considers plot an important element in video games, this game is not even an option. It's a requirement.
I am so looking forward to you getting Zero Escape Volume 2. I think that Virtue's Last Reward is my favorite game on the 3DS, even over Professor Layton and Luigi's Mansion. It's simply that good.
Also, for readers, what Blue said is so true: you'll lose sleep over this game, whether it's because you can't put it down long enough to go to sleep or because you're lying awake thinking about it.
I don't like how you're copying my Review titles.
Score: 6/No
End of school year review special!
Mega Man 9:Gameplay: 9/10 I've discussed it before. 8-bit Mega Man. And yet, this game improves on the formula even more than 2 did. The controls are smooth, and EVERY SINGLE WEAPON in this game is incredibly useful. Every Mega Man game I've played to date has weapon that you only really use during the boss that's weak to it, or even not at all. (I'm looking at you Bomb Man, and Sheep Man) Not this game. It's amazing how amazing the weapons are. Concrete Man's weapon is probably the least useful, but it does have potential, I just don't find myself needing to use it. (It can create temporary platforms) The Jewel Satellite is by far the best shield weapon I've had in the series so far. It decimates pretty much everything it touches, which actually makes it somewhat useful! Hornet Man's weapon is freaking amazing. Ever have an item fall out of reach on the screen? Just fire a Hornet and it'll bring it right to you! Galaxy's weapon is genius: it literally creates a black hole that sucks in everything around it, items included. Plug Man's weapon is similar to Bubble Man's, but it travels so fast and is so powerful that it's actually pretty useful! Tornado Man's destroys everything on the screen, so obviously that's handy. Magma Man's fires 3 blasts at one time, which is incredibly handy on this annoying boss in Hornet Man's stage. Finally, Splash Woman's weapon makes enemies with shields, such as Sniper Joes, look like jokes because it cuts right through it. It has the power of the Metal Blade from Mega Man 2, but it's not cheap. Rush is in this game in the forms of Jet and Coil, but that was added in Mega Man 3, so give your praise to that. You can also use Screws to buy items from a store, similarly to Mega Man 10. This can be INCREDIBLY helpful because it pretty much insures that with enough Screw grinding you can always beat the level. (And yes, I just used two sexual terms in a row. Deal with it.)
Addictiveness: 9/10 This game is sooooo difficult, yet you just have to beat it because it's so much fun. The powers are, like I mentioned above, so amazing that it's difficult to not mess around with them. Because this game has a save feature rather than a password, you won't have to enter something every time, which is so much better. Besides that, though, it is just has hard as an NES game is, so be prepared!
Story: 4/10
Spoiler
DR. WILY'S THE BAD GUY
In all seriousness, this game takes itself seriously in no way, shape, or form. The opening cinematic is so intentionally corny that you can tell Capcom knows that it's bad! It's so bad, that it's AWESOME, and that's why it's not entirely cliche.
Music: 10/10 Best music in the Mega Man series as of yet and tied for Super Mario Galaxy for my favorite Wii soundtrack. Seriously, just listen to this.
Jewel Man's Theme
Plug Man's Theme
Tornado Man's Theme
Magma Man's Theme
Hornet Man's Theme <3
Splash Woman's Theme
Concrete Man's Theme
Galaxy Man's Theme
Wily Machine Theme
Character Design: 8/10 Like I said above, the Robot Masters in this game are phenomenal. While some like Magma Man and Splash Woman aren't too original (besides the fact that we now have a female Robot Master!), they be unoriginal in a goofy and corny way that makes me love all of them regardless. Personally, I like Splash Woman better than every other aquatic Robot Master I've seen so far, and the same would go for most of them. Outside of Robot Masters, it's the same old Mega Man, Roll, Dr. Wily, Dr. Light, Rush, Beat, Auto, etc.
Humor: 7/10 This game is actually fairly funny because of how cheesy it is. Seriously, watch the opening cutscene and tell me that's not hilariously bad!
Difficulty: 10/10 OH MAN, this is where it's at! You thought Mega Man 1 and 2 were hard?
HA! This game is AMAZINGLY HARD. If you're not used to NES game difficulty like I am, don't even bother. This game goes out of its way to make things nearly impossible to beat without trial and error over and over. Every single stage in this game requires loads of practice, and this is why you absolutely need a save feature! The Wily stage is just too difficult for me to even both with, so I don't think I'll ever beat it. By far the most difficult Wii game I've played, but also among the best.
Other Memorable Features: There's some Downloadable Content, but I haven't really looked into it yet. You can also have like a billion save files, which is handy, I suppose. But anyone crazy enough to beat this game that many times must have too much time to waste!
Overall: 9.6/10 Best Mega Man game I've played to date, and from what I can tell by watching videos, this will probably remain my favorite Mega Man. Just don't expect it to be even remotely close to simple to beat.
I'm honestly going to disagree with you on the Bubble Lead being useless.
- Useful for defeating Heat Man.
- And the final boss.
- And for detecting the fake floor traps in Wily Stage 4.
- And defeating Robbids
- And Springers
- And for defeating most enemies generally below you.
Truth be told, the Bubble Lead isn't a terrible weapon. It just suffers from the same issues that most of the weapons in MM 2 do: whatever it can do, the Metal Blade can usually do better.
I agree that it's good against Heat Man and the final boss, but like I said, if it's not used outside of boss battles, I don't consider it a good weapon. Using it in Wily Stage 4 is the only other time I've ever used it. Taking out Robbids is a lot easier with the Metal Blade, and Springers are easy as heck if you use the Quick Boomerang.
apparently just reading the word "bubble" really draws my attention
Just for clarification purposes, I'm going to make a list of all the games that I've reviewed so far in order of best-to-worst, with best being at the top:
- Mother 3
- EarthBound
- Pikmin 2
- Zero Escape 1: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
- Age of Mythology
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Pikmin 1
- Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
- Mega Man 9
- Nintendo Land
- Mega Man 2
- Professor Layton and the Curious Village
- Mega Man 1
- Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
- Portal 2
- Kirby's Epic Yarn
- Super Mario World
- Contra
- Balloon Fight
- Super Mario Kart
- The Legend of Zelda
- Super Mario Land
- Kirby's Dream Land
- Mega Man 10
- Mario Party DS
- Ten-Yard Fight
Wow, you put an RTS at your number five spot, that's impressive. I should dust off my copy and give AoM another whirl.
I also put an RTS at the number 3 spot and the number 7 spot. I love me a good RTS.
That's not to say that the list above is of my top 26 games of all time, oh no. There are still plenty of games that I need to review. One or more of which may or may not be an RTS. *Hint hint*
I too love me a good RTS. I didn't even notice you had Pikmin 1 and 2 up there as well.
Blueflower, do you and popo live in the same area?
I do not see the relevance of this question. :P
I was going to make popo kidnap you and make you play the Wandar that is Shadow of the Colossus.
I would rather die slowly and painfully.
Professor Layton once again escaped my grasp today, and at the same store to boot. Unwound Future was there, and I had just barely enough money to get it because I got a 10% off all games.
But wait. I only get 10% off used games, and somehow this game was new. So I didn't have enough.
Oh well, at least that means that I can spend my money on Virtue's Last Reward instead. Whatever, it's like choosing between 2 of the best portable games ever.
A+++++++++ on your statement, even though you missed Professor Layton.
I'm surprised they had it new. It was like 28 dollars, and that's more than 999 was. Unwound Future was released back in 2010, right?
Why blueflower, I didn't know you played TF2.
What does me playing Team Fortress have to do with Professor Layton? :P
It has nothing to do with it. I just saw your steam account.
Why not a quick review before I go to bed tonight?
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!Gameplay: 9/10 This is a very fun NES game. In fact, it's probably in my top 10 NES games of all time! That's just how good it is. It's so simple, yet so complex at the same time. Here's what I mean: you can learn how to play in a minute, but getting to Tyson takes days or weeks of practice, and beating him is near impossible. Your reflexes must be sharp to dodge the most insanely fast punches and special moves, and then you have to be ready to counter-attack at just the right moment. You can punch to the head and stomach with both the left and right hand, so looking for the right opening is crucial. One false move and you'll be hit. Getting your punches blocked enough times will cause Little Mac to become tired, and you'll have to go on the defensive for a while and dodge. The characters in this game are so complex that it takes numerous tries to master how to beat each one. It's really a wonder of NES programming how they made it so intricate. Occasionally when you punch each enemy in a certain way at a certain time, you'll get a star. This will allow you to uppercut them for a huge amount of damage, and can be a game changer. Like real-world boxing, ten seconds down gives you a KO, whereas three knock downs gives you a TKO. And, of course, this is in effect for both you and your opponent.
Addictiveness: 7/10 This game's not going to keep you up all night playing it, but it causes such an adrenaline rush later on that you'll come back to it time and time again. The farther you get, the farther you'll want to go, and that's what's so great about the NES.
Story: 3/10 Little Mac is trying to raise his rank in the boxing world. Meh. NES games aren't about storylines.
Music: 7/10 The music we got in this game isn't that many tracks, but what we got is pretty good. About half of the characters have their own theme songs that play when they enter the ring, which consist of popular songs that 90% of people know, but nobody knows what they're actually called! The Bout Theme is the masterpiece of this game and is incredibly intense.
Bout Theme
Training Theme (Also a popular internet meme)
Character Design: 9/10 The character design is another one of this game's many strong points. While the characters aren't given a huge amount of depth, you get strangely attached to them by the weird crap that they say between rounds and by their intros and attack methods. The Wii remake gives each of them the personality that they deserve, but the NES one is better gameplay wise in my opinion. (This is from watching videos, I haven't played the Wii one yet) Almost all of the characters are stereotypes, which makes it even more hilarious. Von Kaiser represents Germany, Piston Honda is Japan, Don Flamenco is Spain, Great Tiger is India, Soda Popinski is Russia (Or the U.S.S.R. at the time), etc.
Humor: 8/10 Like mentioned above, the weird crap and occasional reference that the contestants say in between rounds is more often than not worthy of a chuckle. Soda Popinski is my favorite character for this reason. Knowing that his name in Japan is Vodka Drunkinski, the line "I can't drive, so I'm going to walk all over you!" is pretty amusing.
Difficulty: 10/10 Oh boy, this is one of those games! If you're expecting to beat Tyson at the end, think again. Without days and weeks of constant practice, I would say close to 90% of people will never be able to beat him. Pretty much every other character in the game is easily beatable with enough trial and error (except Mr. Sandman, I was never able to get good at him), Tyson is one of the most infamous bosses in video game history and will make you tear your hair out with his 1HKO punches.
Other Memorable Features: This was the 4th NES game I ever owned, so I have a special place in my heart for it.
Overall: 8/10 This game is actually really close to a 9, which is fantastic for the NES. It has more character than almost any other NES game that I own, and that makes it incredibly lovable and memorable. Too bad Mr. Dream had to ruin it all.
NIGGA STOLE MAH BIKE
Not sure if this is worthy of a post here or not, but I made a website with a download link to version 1.0 of the Pokemon PowerPoint I'm making.
The link is here (http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php)
If you download it, and I hope someone does, please let me know! I need someone to test to see if my Dropbox account is working.
It asks for a login.
Really? Other people seem to be able to download it fine...
Let me see what I can do.
Are you planning on reviewing Luigi's Mansion?
Yes, probably soon so it's fresh in my mind.
Oh, cool! I'd recommend the second one, too. It was better in my opinion. Though a lot of other stuff that people have recommended to you takes first priority.
You mean like Virtue's Last Reward, Mario Galaxy 2, Mario and Luigi, and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future?
Well since you're already getting VLR, I think you should take that off the list, add Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, assign all of them a number, and go to random.org and get whichever one it picks next. Because they're all very good games XD
Quote from: blueflower999 on June 06, 2013, 04:56:25 PMYou mean like Virtue's Last Reward, Mario Galaxy 2, Mario and Luigi, and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future?
You forgot one.
Which one?
Order of Ecclesia.
You realize I was only listing games that Slow recommended. :P
The list would be a lot longer if I included everything.
Mega Man 5 is sooooo hard >.<
Current to-review list (May or may not be in order):
1. Luigi's Mansion
2. ?? (Secret)
3. Cave Story*
4. Mega Man 3
5. Mega Man 5*
*I still have to finish this game
Well what the heck, I've been putting this off for way too long. Might as well get it out of the way now. Hopefully this one won't be too long...
Luigi's MansionNow, a lot of people say this game sucks. And a lot of other people say that this is one of the greatest games on the Gamecube. Where do I stand? Well, let's find out.
Gameplay: 8/10 Certainly does not suck. This game starts off simple, and gets more and more complex as it draws on. Suck up ghosts with your vacuum. As the game goes on, the ghosts get more and more complicated, and the strategies that you have to use for the boss ghosts do as well. Speaking of boss ghosts, there are a TON of them in this game. Literally every 2-3 rooms you should run into a boss, at least. Sometimes you have to fight multiple in a row with no normal rooms in between, which is fine by me. The game does a pretty fair job of ranking you on the bosses (a gold, silver, and bronze system) and the portrait that you make of them is determined by your rank. (Gold ranks give higher quality paintings than silver, and so on) While the game is fairly short, the mansion is huge and there are plenty of rooms to explore, which adds to a nice sense of adventure. Elements like fire, water, and ice are also implemented, and you need to beat ghosts with them in a rock-paper-scissors type fashion. The main issue I have with this game and the reason I found the final boss to be so difficult are the controls on the flashlight and vacuum. They're inverted, meaning that down moves it up, and vice versa. While some people might be used to these, I am not, and it caused me to mess up over and over again in this game. (I only missed about 3 Speedy Spirits though, and I got all the Golden Mice, so I suppose that's not too bad for my first run!) This game also has a TON of secrets in it, and only a few of which are so cryptic that you'll never find them without a walkthrough, so it's a lot of fun just experimenting around and looking for stuff.
Addictiveness: 7/10 I really didn't find this game to be all that addicting, but knowing that it's pretty short and you could probably beat it in a day or two made me finish it quickly. It does have a pretty decent sense of adventure though, but I do wish that it was a bit longer.
Story: 5/10 It's a Mario game, and the story is still pretty cliche. No real need for comment here. Who plays Mario games for stories? At least the Princess doesn't get kidnapped in this game, so it's not totally like the others in the series.
Music: 6/10 Again, I didn't really find the music to be anything special. Granted, the main theme is one of my favorite Mario songs of all time, but that's really all I heard in this game. Most of the songs were just remixes of that theme or just totally unmemorable to me. (Slow will probably argue this, and my stance may change over time, but this is how I am at the moment of writing)
This is the main theme that plays in the halls
If you want a cleaner version, I recommend the one from Brawl
Character Design: 9/10 I found the character design to be one of this game's stronger points. The boss ghosts have pretty interesting back stories, and many of them are wacky characters in and of themselves. E. Gadd is one of my favorite characters in the Mario universe as a whole, and Luigi is as wacky and hilarious as ever in this game.
Humor: 8/10 The humor in this game was pretty good too. Heck, how can a game staring Luigi NOT be funny? By using your Gameboy Horror to check random objects, some of Luigi's text is pretty amusing. Oh, and King Boo quotes Star Wars. That is AWESOME!
Difficulty: 7/10 As unfortunate as it is, most of the difficulty of this game comes from the controls that I was never able to get used to and the "if you don't get it this one time, it's gone for good" sorts of things, mainly Speedy Spirits. I did get an A rank on my first try, but I imagine that without me watching Chuggaaconroy play through it prior, I would have done a ton worse. The final boss battle took me many tries to do, and it got pretty frustrating.
Other Memorable Features: Like I said before, King Boo freaking quotes Star Wars. I have to say, I know plenty of people who played this game as really young children, and it scared them, but I found this game to be more of a parody of the horror genre than a legitimately scary game, and if you know me, I love a good parody. Heck, the scariest thing in this game by far is Luigi's face on the save screen.
Overall: 8/10 This was a pretty entertaining game, and while it did have some flaws, it was one of the better games I've played on the Gamecube so far. And does it suck? Absolutely not.
This is clearly stolen from my review of Luigi's Mansion.
Also this game does suck. It sucks and blows.
Lame/Plagiarism
I was so scared of this game when I was 5. Then I "borrowed" the game from my cousin and beat it just two years ago.
I remember seeing the yellow ghosts in my nightmares.
You were scared of it, and then borrowed it?
This game is very good. Believe it or not, I actually agree about the music. I also wish there was a proper version of the main theme, with something carrying the melody besides Luigi's humming--that was clever, but isn't as easy to listen to outside the game.
The game being so short was the biggest problem for me--also Boolossus was so hard omg. Had way more trouble with him than King Boo.
I beat Boolossus with one HP left. :D
Boolossus is probably one of my most favorite boss fights of all time.
I have no memory of him being hard, he was just awesome :D
Oh, and his boss theme was the best in the whole game.
Quote from: MaestroUGC on July 04, 2013, 09:17:58 PMOh, and his boss theme was the best in the whole game.
I loved his boss theme :D
Spoiler alert: there's a similar fight in Dark Moon, though it isn't referred to as "Boolossus." It's basically the same thing though.
New poll
Which ever has the most votes by tomorrow I will review
Looks like TF2 it is!
WARNING: THIS GAME IS M RATED. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE M RATED GAMES, READ NO FURTHER. THIS GAME IS RATED M FOR BLOOD/GORE, VIOLENCE, AND LOTS OF SANDVICHES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!Team Fortress 2:Gameplay: 8/10 Now, before I even say anything, I just want to make this clear: what I am reviewing is the Bot mode of this game. I was not able to play online, so all of the unlockable weapons and game modes that can only be played online were not accessible to me. Basically, the only three modes I could play were king of the kill, payload, and capturing/defending points. But that's not to say this game isn't a whole heck of a lot of fun. You guys know how I bash on CoD and other FPSs a lot? Well, none of the problems that I have with those games are present in this one. No boring and repetitive single player campaign, 9 different classes and tons of weapons to chose from, lots of strategy involved in the gameplay, and some amazing humor to keep it fresh. Basically it's red team vs. blue team, simple as that. Your objective changes from game mode to game mode, but usually blue is on offense with red on defense, unless it's something like king of the hill in which they are both offense and defense at the same time depending on who is the king. There's a time limit on each mach that I played. Let me explain. In payload, if blue escorts their cart to the end of the map before time runs out, they win. If red stops them, red wins. Same sort of thing for capturing points. In KotH, whoever controls the hill for three minutes first wins. Now, let's get into what really makes this game a ton of fun: the classes. Ever get tired of playing as the same boring old character over and over again in most FPSs? Well, not here! You get bored of one class, you switch to another, simple as that. A few rounds later, and the first class will be totally refreshed and fun again. It's really a genius way to keep the game from getting old, which is the biggest problem I have with CoD: repetition. I'm going to give my brief thoughts on all 9 classes, in the order from my least to most favorite.
#9
My least favorite TF2 class
Soldier
Let me explain. Back in May when I was considering to get this game, I asked my friends who already had it which of the 9 classes was best for beginners, and all of them said the Soldier. He's not too complicated, isn't all that slow, and has really great HP. His weapons are the rocket launcher, shotgun, and a shovel for melee. Well, they were sooo wrong. I hate the Soldier. I was just never able to play as him. His rockets travel so slowly that I can never hit anybody, and there are 4 other classes that all can use a shotgun more effectively than he can. Plus, half the time I die, it's because of a Soldier. I just hate these things. Moving on.
#8
Second least favorite
Medic
Now, don't get me wrong. The Medic is so essential to any team that you would definitely lose without one or two. This is a list of how much fun I think it is to play as a class, not how useful they are as a whole to the team. (If that were the case, Spy would definitely be #9) The Medic can heal other units, and also has a needle gun and a saw... thing for melee. When he heals someone, he temporarily increases their maximum HP. A Heavy normally has 300 HP, but when being healed by a Medic, he has 450 when not taking damage. When his Ubercharge gets full from healing people for long enough, the Medic can right click to make him and whoever he's healing invincible for a short time, which can really be game changing. However, I never live long enough as a Medic to get this to 100%. While Medics are the only class that regenerate, they also have only 125 HP, meaning that a Sniper shot to the head and bye bye.
#7
3rd Least Favorite
Spy
Like I said above, the Spy is kind of fun to play as, but he doesn't really do much to help the team as a whole. Basically, the Spy cloaks himself as an enemy. Say I'm playing on the Red team as a Spy. I can disguise myself as a Blue character, and every Blue person will see me as that character. Doing this, I can sneak into their base and 1HKO backstab them for points, but whenever I stab, my cloak vanishes and I need to put it back on. I can also turn completely invisible for a short time as well. However, because of my cover being blown whenever I stab or short someone with my pathetically weak pistol, I'm almost always killed immediately afterward by someone who saw it because I only have 125 HP. This means that I can only pick people off by themselves, and they usually get suspicious and shoot me before I can get to them, exposing my true form. Spies can also drain energy from sentries without blowing their cover, but Engineers usually pick up on this and kill them. Spies are fun to play as once in a while, especially if there's one person in particular that you want to kill and don't care if you die in the process, but they don't help the team all that much and they're incredibly hard to play well as.
#6
6th Favorite
Scout
Now for the classes that I can start talking more positively about! The Scout is the first class here that I often select and play as. Unfortunately, he's this low on the list of "good" classes because he rarely makes huge significant kills in the game. Rather, he's the master at capturing points. A Scout can capture any point twice as fast as any other class, making him essential in KotH. However, he also has the abysmal 125 life, so he does die fairly quickly. This is made up for by the fact that he's super fast and can double jump, so he is pretty hard to hit at far range. The Scout is basically good for capturing points and occasionally taking out Spies or other weak classes with his pistol or shotgun.
#5
5th Favorite
Heavy
This was a really tough call just because we're getting into the pretty freaking awesome range. Scout was kinda borderline, but every class from here on in is incredibly useful and a joy to play as. In a nutshell, Heavy is bulky, slow, and a powerhouse. His minigun costs 400,000$ to fire for twelve seconds, so you better not get close to it! The spread is huge, but at close range, Heavy can mow down countless soldiers in mere seconds, making him a great defensive class. His HP is a massive 300, and with a Medic hiding behind him constantly healing, he can be an amazing assault class as well. I preform pretty well as a Heavy, and that's really all I need to say.
#4
4th Favorite
Engineer
Dare I say it, the Engineer is probably the most unique class in the game. His job is to build Sentry Guns, Teleporters, and Dispensers. The Sentries can mow down enemies faster than you would believe, the Dispensers give metal to the Engineer for building things and also heal other units and replenish ammo. The teleporters can warp allies to the front of the battle from the spawn point lickity-split. The Sentries when fully upgraded are literally so overpowered that they can chance the tide of the game in an instant if the Engineer keeps watch for Spies. The Engineer is so game changing and unique that I play as him a lot more often than most people do.
Also, Nope.avi.
#3
3rd Favorite
Demoman
For the longest time, I swore that the Demoman was the worst class in the game. How wrong I was, how wrong I was. I just wasn't using him properly. See, the only weapons the Demoman has besides his melee one is a grenade launcher and a sticky bomb launcher, which activate when the right mouse button is pressed. He's the only character in the game that has no gun, and that annoyed me. However, as I soon discovered, while the Demoman is difficult to play as on offensive missions, his sticky bomb traps can kill SO many people on defensive missions that it's not even funny. He would be higher if he had more of an offensive capability however, like the next one on the list.
#2
My 2nd Favorite
Pyro
Oh yeah, it's that crazy Pyro! Probably the biggest flamer in the game, the Pyro is really hot stuff! His flamethrower's range isn't very long, but if you get trapped in it, you'll most likely either die within seconds or, if you're lucky enough to escape, die from the flames if you can't find a Medic or health pack. It's so much fun to just hide, wait for someone to jump out, and then roast them to ashes with your flame thrower. Granted, they are really annoying bots that play as Pyros sometimes, but it's really easy and fun for me to be one. This would be the class that I would recommend for beginners, and the Pyro is definitely a lot more useful than the Soldier for me.
#1!
My Favorite TF2 Class!
I've always loved sniping whenever I got a chance to play an FPS. And that's why my favorite TF2 class is the Sniper. Seriously, even on Expert mode, I just get kill after kill with this guy. There was one point where I was dominating 8 of the 12 opposing Bots, and didn't die once. Oh, and did I mention that the Sniper also has a Uzi, which is also one of my favorite guns of all time? And that his Australian accent is hilarious? Yeah, I just love this guy! A fully charged headshot is enough to kill every class in the game instantly except for maybe the Heavy.
Addictiveness: 9/10 Dangit, that took a long time. On to this category. This game is so addicting because of what I described above. The 9 different classes keep it so fresh that you'll have hours of fun experimenting with them all. I'm also sure that if you go online and play Mann Vs. Machine co-op with friends, you'll have an even more fun time with this game. Oh, and did I mention that it's FREE? There's literally no reason not to get it.
Story: 6/10 While the backstory of Redmond and Bluetard isn't really all that cliche, it's not touched upon in the game very much, and I'm not going to go into it. Look up TF2 Lore in a Minute if you're curious, but who plays this game for the story?
Music: 6/10 There really isn't any music other than occasional jingles in the actual game, but there are several title screen songs, some of which are pretty good. I can't find YouTube links for them though, so what I've posted below is the main theme of the game, which I enjoy.
TF2 Main Theme
Character Design: 10/10 The characters in this game are really all that I ask for. Some goofy, some hilarious, and all genius. Watch the Meet The ____ videos for all of them and you'll see what I mean. Their over the top personalities and backstories make the game so much more interesting than your average FPS.
Humor: 9/10 The Meet The ____ videos are some of the funniest things I've ever seen on YouTube, and you should all check them out. In the game, the taunts and a few of the unlockable weapons that I've heard of are pretty amusing, and some of the bot names reference other Valve series, especially Portal. It's a pretty hilarious game.
Difficulty: 5/10 The difficulty literally depends on what setting you put it at, so I really don't need to comment on this. The Bots can be a bit frustrating, but it's all so much fun that I never really cared.
Other Memorable Features: References to other Valve games, hilarious voice acting and characters, tons of weapons to chose from (if you go online), and plenty of maps make this a game you'll come back to again and again. Oh, and it's FREE.
Overall: 8/10 A very high 8/10. Really, do you expect me to give an FPS any higher than that? This was pretty close to a 9 though, and I really can't complain about a game that I didn't pay anything for.
I apologize for double posting so soon, but it's my thread, so I can do what I want. ;)
...
I have a new type of thing to add to this thread, something other than a blog entry or a review. I'll be calling them "Blueflower Specials". Of course, they'll still be related to my favorite video games, but they'll each be unique in one way or another. Maybe it'll be an analysis or comparison of games, or maybe a top ten list. Who knows what I might end up doing?
I'm keeping most of my ideas a secret, so expect lots of surprises!
That is all.
Quote from: blueflower999 on July 09, 2013, 08:38:46 PMI've always loved sniping whenever I got a chance to play an FPS. And that's why my favorite TF2 class is the Sniper.
My older brother loves sniping in Battlefront (which is why the Kashyyyk Docks is one of his favorite levels); the FarSight from Perfect Dark is also a rather fun sniping weapon.
Isn't that the gun that lets you snipe through walls?
Quote from: blueflower999 on July 10, 2013, 04:39:15 AMIsn't that the gun that lets you snipe through walls?
Yep; that's the one. :3
Sniper is fun, but it's frustrating being completely oblivious to Spies most of the time.
The thing I like best about TF2 is that it isn't your ordinary FPS in that each class is balanced against and toward other classes. For example, Engineers do well against everybody except Spies and Demomen, Pyros are the bane of all Spies but aren't the most effective at charging multiple enemies, Scouts die really easily but can be deadly to a Sniper if they keep moving and capture points more easily.
I suppose you didn't get a chance to see them, but the other weapons and items you can pick up are balanced toward different playstyles. There's an item for the Sniper that sacrifices your secondary weapon for a single-use backstab protection that alerts you and stuns the Spy.
Yeah, I did hear about that weapon. I do wish I had it, but I'm pretty content with the default weapons. :)
Why can't you play online?
Firewall.
Unless I'm mistaken, you can easily allow something through your firewall on Windows.
Your review convinced me to get 999, so, mission accomplished!
YES BLUEFLOWER MORE PEOPLE ARE PLAYING
I still say this series needs a discussion thread. :P
Great job Firearrow! Just post if you need help!
Olimar doesn't really seem to want to have much to do with me right now, but that's not going to make me talk trash about this amazing game!
Cave StoryGameplay: 8/10 Keep in mind that I'm reviewing the 3DS version of Cave Story. (Meaning the one that's downloaded from the eShop, NOT Cave Story 3D.) However, I have gotten the PC version of it, and I have to say, while the bigger screen does make this game a bit more appealing, the control scheme is a little awkward and the 3DS version is much easier to adjust to in my opinion. Also, the 3DS version has a better translation. This game is sort of a homage to certain NES classics, if I'm not mistaken. The most obvious influence on the developer was probably Metroid because you need to gather health extensions to increase your maximum life and can collect rockets from fallen enemies to be used, both being mechanics in the two games. For the most part, the mechanics in this side scrolling platformer are fairly standard, but there are a few RPG elements mixed in here and there. You do have objectives in some of the stages, not just making it to the end of the level. Boss fights are frequent and fun, and the weapons are varied and most are fun to use and come in handy. This game has plenty of levels to explore and a few bonus quests to do as well. While the gameplay is my least favorite part about the game, it's still solid despite being almost 10 years old.
Addictiveness: 9/10 You know that when you've played through a game 3 or 4 times to get the best ending that it's pretty addicting, and that's what I've been doing. It is fairly challenging, but not so much that it'll make you quit and never come back to it again. I would argue that the story is fairly engrossing too.
Story: 9/10 Speaking of the story, this game's is fantastic. While there are no super duper amazing plot twists, this game's plot tugs at my heart strings quite a bit and I was actually close to tears at a point or two. Basically you're an amnesiac Robot trapped on a floating island, and The Doctor is trying to force bunnies (Mimigas) to eat red flowers and become rabid, and then he plans to use them to attack the earth. With numerous quirky bosses and characters along the way, this game is quite epic in its own right, especially for a game that intends to pay homage to the NES. If this actually was an NES game, I would argue that it has by far the greatest story on the console.
Music: 10/10 Seriously, do I even need to comment on this? Such complexity! Such variety! The music in Cave Story combines the complexity of orchestral pieces with the sound and the feel of catchy 8-bit classics! It's freaking genius! Oh, and did I mention that this entire game and soundtrack was all made by ONE PERSON?! That's incredible! Seriously, just listen to some of these songs.
First Cave
Mimiga Village
Egg Corridor
Bushlands
Sand Zone
Egg Corridor?
Outer Wall
Running Hell
Balrog's Theme
Plantation/Main Theme
Character Design: 10/10 Once again, I can't ask for more character design than this. Lovable characters, hatable villains, great backstories to figure out. It's all just so genius! Balrog has to be my favorite character in the game just because of how wacky he is. Seriously, what is this guy? A bar of soap? A suitcase? I have no idea! Besides, he Quotes the Kool Aid man every time he enters the screen, and he has is own amazing theme song which plays every time too, reminding me of Porky's theme in Mother 3. And THAT is not a bad thing. King and Toroko are also close seconds for my favorite character, but really everyone in this game is ingeniously designed and it's just amazing how one person could make such fantastic characters.
Humor: 9/10 This game does have that wacky sense of humor that I love so dearly. I mean, my favorite enemies in the game are ghost cats that shoot sperm at you.
Wait, what? Yeah, I'm not making this up! This game has an incredibly awesome translation that left much of the charm and humor intact in the dialogue. It's really such a joy to read these lines over and over again.
Difficulty: 9/10 This is another game that comes with a difficulty setting, but I found that even on easy mode, the game is still quite a challenge. Hell at the end of the good ending can give even the most experienced Cave Story players trouble sometimes, and I have yet to beat it. However, don't let the difficulty get you down. This is another game that's a master at teaching you how to play it before giving you a really challenging obstacle, just like the NES library before it. It's difficult, but it's the fair type of difficult.
Other Memorable Features: This game is just full of such care and charm! It truly is a one of a kind masterpiece and is worth the ten dollars on eShop. Seriously, how was a game this good made by ONE PERSON?!
Overall: 9.6/10 I have to say, all of my favorite games have at least one sequel, but this one doesn't really need one. (I still would want one, but it doesn't beg for one. It's more of a singular experience.) That being said, this is probably my favorite stand alone game that I've played. Yeah, it's that good. This ties Mega Man 9 for the best eShop/Wii Ware game that I've played.
But everyone voted for MM6!
A+++++++++. I love this game too, and I knew you'd appreciate the NES-era nostalgia that went into creating it.
So far, Unwound Future is one of the weirdest games I've ever played.
I need to get some of these out of the way before I forget more things that I want to say.
I'll keep this disclaimer shorter this time. This game is far less disturbing than 999 was, but it still has bloody scenes, lots of swearing, and some extremely attractive partially naked females. Don't play it if you don't like this sort of stuff.Virtue's Last RewardGameplay: 9/10 This section is a bit difficult to write about just because I love this game so much, but I need to not be a complete babbling fanboy and actually get my thoughts across. The gameplay in this game was still very good and well thought out. However, a few things prevented it from being better than it's predecessor 999. For one thing, and let's just get this out of the way first so I don't have to keep bringing this up, there is a pretty game breaking glitch. Not the sort of thing that you benefit from either. There are a few escape rooms in the game where if you save in them, you may lose your entire file. Thankfully, this didn't happen to me, but I did get a crash in one of the escapes and I had to restart. If you play the game,
do not save during the escapes. Now that that's out of the way, the puzzles in this game were far more difficult than 999's were. Many puzzles in 999 are perfectly easy to figure out on your own, but I think that Virtue's Last Reward takes it a little to far at some spots. There are some points in this game where you really need a walkthrough, almost to the point where I would actually recommend using one. One change that I do like is that you have to figure out a code for a safe in every single escape room in the entire game. Not find a key, not put in a password to the door, not solving some puzzle. The last thing you do in every room in the game is always a password. And they're not that complicated either. Just three symbols in a 3 by 3 grid and it only uses 3 of the spots per password. However, that wasn't good enough. If you do the escape a different way (usually requiring you to go a step beyond the normal requirements), you'll get a different password that unlocks a golden file for you to read, and you need all of them to get the final "Secret" ending. Some of these blue passwords are just ridiculous to find, and I think one or two of them were a bit misleading in what you had to do. The password system overall is a nice change and I do appreciate it, but the puzzles were pretty difficult because your companions wouldn't give you hints unless you changed the difficulty over to Easy Mode. However, once you change to Easy, you can't get the Gold File and you can't change back to Hard until you do the escape again, so it's really in your best interest to either figure it out on your own or use a walkthrough to help you. Now, I get to the biggest and best change that this game made: the flowchart. Remember how annoying it was to start over every time? No more! In this game, you NEVER have to do the same escape twice because you can jump to any point on the flowchart at any time, including decision making points. If you get an ending, all you have to do is jump somewhere else and chose the other option(s) to see the other possibilities. It's GENIUS and it really helps because there are 24 unique endings in this game, and you really need to see them all. Overall, this game was intuitive in its gameplay and is still fun to play, and I could imagine that there are some people who found 999 to be too easy. If that's you, then this game hopefully offers the challenge that you want in the escapes.
Addictiveness: 10/10 Once again, and just as you could expect, I could not put this game down. It took me only a few days to finish the game, and yet I have over 30 hours on it. I played the game for so many hour straight that it got kind of insane. This game does a much better job of teasing you than 999 does. In 999, you're pretty much in the dark for the vast majority of the game, which is one approach to creating a suspenseful story. The other is pulled off fantastically by VLR, where it waves bits of information across your face through all the endings and tries to make you piece them together. 999 had a little of this as well, but in VLR it was obviously important whereas in 999 you didn't really realize why people were telling you the information until it came together. Don't start this game until you have a few days in a row that you can spend playing it for extensive periods of time.
Story: 10/10 Here's the big sucker. For those of you who don't want ANY story details, just don't read the spoiler section below. Just like with other reviews of this nature, I'm not going to actually tell the story, this is just in case you don't want anything about it.
My Thoughts on VLR's Plot
One day I'm going to do a comparison between 999 and VLR side by side, because they're really both very different and successful in different areas. One of those areas is the story. 999's story was incredibly scary and gripping for me, whereas VLR accomplished the same thing without scaring me at all. True, there were a few creepy parts, but I only lost sleep over trying to contemplate the events rather than being freaked out at one of the endings. 999's endings are all named after objects that are important in those endings, whereas Virtue's Last Reward's endings are named after characters. The whole setup is fairly similar to 999, but with a few twists that you sort of have to discover as you play the game. In short though, this game places a LOT of emphasis on trust and it can be very difficult to get all the endings because you need to betray people. I felt like a complete jerk playing this game, to be honest! This time, the participants of the Nonary Game are Sigma (you), Phi, Clover (who returns), K (not his real name, he is an amnesiac who wears a suit of armor that cannot be removed), Dio, Quark, Tenmyouji, Luna, and Alice. A few of the plot twists in this game are fairly obvious and I did figure some out on my own, but most are pretty genius and you would be crazy to not be shocked by most of them.
Music: 9/10 Once again, the music in this game is outstanding, if not better, than 999. However, just like what I did with 999, I find most of the songs to be very situational. You sort of need to hear the song in context to appreciate the true meaning of it, and knowing that, I'm not going to post any songs, nor will I name any for fear of minor spoilers in their titles. However, if you liked the music in 999, you will be pleased to know that many songs actually come back in their original forms to be used in similar ways.
Character Design: 10/10 Seriously, what can I say here? Clover is my new favorite character in the series, even though I don't really want to get into why. ::) A few of the characters do annoy me, but all in all the game portrays some awesome people that I sure hope will return in the third. Most of them have some great backstories, but I couldn't post any of those here, now could I?
Humor: 10/10 Oh my frick, if there's one this that this game IMPROVED on from 999, it's the comedy. Seriously, I laughed so hard while playing this game. There's a rabbit A.I. named Zero 3 who basically introduces the rules of this game, and he is one of the funniest characters I have ever seen in a video game. In fact, he kind of reminds me of GLaDOS if she was an adorable furry mammal and much more blunt with the jokes. Some of the character dialogue is really funny too, so expect to laugh quite a bit.
Difficulty: 9/10 Like I mentioned in the Gameplay section, many of the escapes are nearly impossible for me to solve without a walkthrough. While the flowchart makes getting endings less frustrating, the escapes sort of slow the game down a little too far for me.
Other Memorable Features: The voice acting in this game is EXCELLENT. Fans of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will be pleased that Clover (::)) is voiced by the same actor that voices Haruhi in the English dub. The 3D effects are pretty shallow, as unfortunate as that is, but the animation on the characters sprites is much more pronounced than it was in 999 where basically people were flat images for most of the game.There actually are quite a few cutscenes in this game as well aside from doors opening and closing, so that in and of itself is a vast improvement of 999. While not quite as beautiful as Layton's cutscenes, they are pretty well done and I would love to see more in Zero Escape 3.
Overall: 10/10 I think IGN put it best: "The only things bad about this game is that you'll lose sleep and probably kill yourself waiting for the 3rd. Get into this series. Now."
"In 999, you're pretty much in the dark for the vast majority of the game, which is one approach to creating a suspenseful story. The other is pulled off fantastically by VLR, where it waves bits of information across your face through all the endings and tries to make you piece them together."
That's a good observation. Also "oh my frick" is a new favorite saying
I really liked your review, excellent restraint on not showing spoilers. Your review is 10/10
Got two big things to post today regarding this thread. I've been throwing several ideas about what my first Special post should be about, and I think I've come to the conclusion that it should be something pretty big.
My top 100 video game songs of all time. Yeah. (And essentially top 100 songs of all time because I don't listen to anything except for video game music)
This is going to be hard. To make it even more difficult, I'm going to be placing a limit of
only five songs per franchise on the list. This is to ensure that all my favorite games get a few songs on the list and it's not totally dominated by one or two series that I think have particularly outstanding music. Nonetheless, deciding what my favorite Mother series, Cave Story, and Mega Man songs are and narrowing it down to only five is going to be a monumental task for me, and this list could change at any point in the future, so this will just be accurate the moment I post it.
I'm planning on making the posts in groups of ten and in this format:
Spoiler Tag with the number of the song and a warning if it contains spoilers or not to a game
YouTube link
Name of the song
Game(s) the song is from
Why I like the song
My favorite part(s) of the song (given in seconds for the video above)
This might take a little while for me to make, so please be patient and hopefully I'll post the first batch of ten in a few days!
This is just a suggestion, but I think you ought to not limit yourself to five pieces per franchise. Just pick the ones you like and slowly narrow it down. It seems almost foolish to forget about all the music you love from Mother 3 and just list five from the whole series.
I'll try to get on skype tonight to talk to you about this and some other stuff :)
Now onto the second matter of business. I decided to make this a new post just for easier reference.
Professor Layton and the Unwound FutureGameplay: 9/10 Oh boy, I've heard so many fantastic things about this game. Where to begin? Well, I suppose with gameplay because it's the first section in my rubric. Yes, the formula is pretty much the same. Similarly to Diabolical Box, the puzzles are integrated nicely into the story and aren't thrown randomly at you like in Curious Village. I found the "You must have completed X amount of puzzles to continue!" moments to be a bit more forgiving in this game as well. The most obvious innovation in the puzzles in this game is the addition of a "Super Hint", which costs two Hint Coins but essentially tells you how to get the answer to the problem in a clear and simple way, which I really like. It's always nice to have that just in case you really can't figure out what to do next. While I only used it once or twice because most of the really difficult puzzles in this game are the sliding ones that it couldn't have helped much in, it's still a great addition and I would love to see it return. Layton never fails to come up with original puzzles that boggle the mind and trick you when you're least expecting it all while entertaining you with the story as well. While I don't play the games to work my mind, anyone who likes this sort of stuff would absolutely adore these games. One thing slightly different about this game than previous ones is the areas. Curious Village like, as I already mentioned in my Diabolical Box review, takes place solely in one town. Diabolical Box, in contrast, is a linear progression from area to area without an ability to go back to previous ones. Unwound Future is different in the sense that the game alternates between a few areas and you do eventually go back to previous ones to continue the story, which I like.
Addictiveness: 9/10 Once again, this game was pretty difficult to put down. Because I played this one in the summer where I really didn't have anything better to do, this was by far my fasted completed Layton game yet. It only took me about two days, and it currently holds the record for the longest average time a game has been played on my 3DS, at over five hours. :o If that's not proof that this game is a lot of fun, I don't know what is.
Story: 10/10 Going to avoid discussing the story in depth too far, but this one's a shocker just like the two before it. I don't know if I'd agree that it was "BY FAR THE BEST GAME IN THE SERIES OAIWHYFOIAWHF" like many of you have been saying, though. I would say it's about tied with Diabolical Box for my favorite so far. This game probably had a better story and definitely had a larger emotional impact on me, but I liked Diabolical Box's atmosphere a lot more and the story was nearly as good.
Music: 8/10 I have to say, the music in these games is starting to grow on me a little. Still wish it had a little more variety, but it's definitely some good stuff. I'll post a few of my favorites below.
An area theme (Spoilers?)
London's theme
Don Paolo's theme
I don't really need to post Layton's theme again, but it's still one of my favorites regardless!
Character Design: 10/10 This game has the weirdest NPCs in the entire series so far. Seriously, I burst out laughing at the weirdness so many times that I lost count. After playing this, Don Paolo has been cemented as my favorite Layton character, and he'll probably remain that way unless someone in the prequel trilogy really impresses me.
Humor: 9/10 Now this is what I'm talking about! Diabolical Box had a fantastic story, but it lacked the "what the heck" kind of moments that this game has in abundance. Probably the biggest improvement that this game makes as a whole, in my opinion of course, is having some comic relief moments. Whether it's Belle flirting with Luke or a character that literally grabs the edges of the DS screen to shuffle away, this game definitely has some lol-worthy moments.
Difficulty: 8/10 OK, I'll admit it. I used a walkthrough for a handful of the puzzles in this game. But that's actually more of a compliment to the game: I was so hooked on the story that I didn't want to take 15 minutes to figure out that dang sliding puzzle! I just wanted to see what happened next in the plot! These games are probably better experienced if you solve all the puzzles yourself so that you get the "Wow, that was great! Maybe I'm not that stupid after all!" kind of feeling after you beat each one. Most of the normal puzzles are on par with the rest of the series, it's just I remember some of those sliding puzzles giving me problems towards the end. Besides, the addition of the Super Hint makes this game pretty doable, especially since the hint coins are fairly abundant.
Other Memorable Features: The minigames are as fantastic as always, but unfortunately, I didn't get very much time to play around with them this time through. I'll probably have to go back and play them again someday, but that will ruin my 5 hours average playtime!
Overall: 9.8/10 Tied with Diabolical Box for my favorite Layton game so far for reasons explained above and only second behind Zero Escape for my favorite puzzle series. I want more!
A+++++++++ Don Paolo is awesome
Think I might finally have selected an adequate Top 100 songs. Now I just need to arrange them in the order. That was really difficult, I hope I didn't forget any.
In all, they span about 33 or so franchises. Not bad.
OffYep, that's it. Just "Off". Probably the shortest video game title I'll ever have to review. (And the reason it needs bigger font than the others)
What, you've never heard of Off? Well, I can't really blame you. I hadn't heard of it either a few months ago. Nebbles recommended it to me, and here I am. For those of you that are curious, Off is an RPG Maker title that was originally made in French and translated recently by folks over at one of my favorite websites: Starmen.net. It's available for free here (http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Fan/Games/OFF-by-Mortis-Ghost/page/1/).
Gameplay: 7/10 I'll be honest here, the gameplay wasn't really all that spectacular. It was fun to play mostly to laugh when the enemies are encountered because they all look so weird! The gameplay is standard for RPGs, no real interesting twists are added that I can tell. The only real "character" that you can play as is the protagonist, The Batter. As the game progresses, you do get other party members, but they're not exactly people. Rather, they're rings called Add-Ons which fight, but don't show up in the overworld following you or have any effect on the story. One thing that I found pretty annoying is always waiting for this bar to fill up before you can attack. It gets better once you get all three Add-Ons because then you're not waiting as long between strikes, but with only one or two characters it can be a good three second wait every so often when you can't do anything. I prefer the whole "I go first, then you go, then I go" formula. This game doesn't really bother to tell you which stats increase when you level up either, which is fine I guess. At least it tells you when you learn a new special move, which are referred to as "competence". Just like with any RPG, there are offensive, defensive, and supportive competence moves, and while they're not really necessary in the beginning of the game, as it progresses and the enemies and, most especially, bosses get more and more health, the competence moves will really save you a lot of time. Often when traveling around the four "Zones" of the game, which sort of act like Worlds, you'll often encounter puzzles to solve and riddles. Characters will sometimes tell you stories and there will often be a boss or two per zone. The graphics are fairly basic in the overworld, but often when being told a story, it changes to a black and white photo montage, which I kind of like. If I could describe this game in one phrase, it would be "simple, yet effective". I can't really describe it any other way. It's not low quality to the point of being lazy, though. What more could you expect from an RPG Maker game? There's just something endearing to me about people who put so much time into their fan projects for little to no profit.
Addictiveness: 7/10 One of the problems that I had with this game plot wise is that there really aren't any hooks that keep you going. There aren't questions that really beg an explanation or anything similar. I was promised a good plot and I most certainly got one, but it took a long time to pick up. I did enjoy the game quite a bit, but I never really felt that strong incentive to play it.
Story: 9/10 Puzzle games. RPG games. The two genres that seem to impress me the most plot wise. Put them together. What do you get? A game with a great plot! Remember my key phrase "simple, but effective"? That applies here too. Not going to delve into the plot cuz spoilers, but it doesn't need to be incredibly complex to have an effect on you. Cave Story sort of accomplished a similar thing, but this game even more so. Bottom line, the story's simple yet moving.
Music: 8/10 There were some really fantastic songs in this game. While some areas I feel could have better composed music, the regular enemy battle theme ("Pepper Steak") is one of my favorites in video game history. It's just... so... I can't even describe it. Even listening to it on YouTube wouldn't quite give the same feeling that you get when encountering a giant floating head and hearing it play. Some other fantastic songs include the first boss battle theme and an area theme. I'll post them below as always for convenience sake.
Battle Theme "Pepper Steak"
First Boss Theme "Fake Orchestra" (Spoilers?)
"Unreasonable Behavior"
Character Design: 9/10 For whatever reason, the characters stuck with me quite a lot in this game. Because of spoilers I can't really discuss very much, but The Judge and Zacharie are my two favorite characters, though I really love all of them. Not very many are given a whole ton of development, but somehow I'm endeared to them by the appeal of this game.
Humor: 9/10 I have to admit, I got a ton of laughs out of this game. A lot of it was because of situations like "wait what the heck is that that I'm fighting lololol" sort of stuff, but there are also quite a few really witty lines of dialogue that deserve a laugh or two. Overall, this game has its disturbing and serious moments, but it also has some room for laughs. Nice job, Off.
Difficulty: 7/10 The puzzles are all fairly simple, and the answers are found in the Readme anyway, so it's not like you'll get stuck forever if you don't want to use a walkthrough. The boss battles are definitely the most challenging part of this game for me, and mostly it's just pressing enter over and over to attack when your bar fills up while using competence when needed. The bosses have too much HP, the first one in particular, and the battles seem drawn out and longer than necessary. You shouldn't have too much difficulty if you stock up on healing items beforehand, though.
Other Memorable Features: One thing that sucks is that you need to download font files to read the text, which I was never able to accomplish. Therefore, I taught myself to read this crappy default font that it resorts to when you haven't installed the files, which was surprisingly a lot easier than I expected, although it did take away a bit from the first few parts of the game when I was still learning.
Overall: 8/10 I never like to complain about free games, but I certainly can praise them. Go out and give it a try if you're bored and want a game to play, especially if you don't feel like spending money.
HELP
...Please don't. That scene was freaking scary. XD
I haven't forgotten about Off ;) I'll finish it sometime before Pokemon X and Y are released (because that's when I'm going to lose anything resembling a life).
HELPBut in all seriousness, I've been playing some games that you may want to play/review.
- The Binding of Issac (Can be Bought from the steam shop)
- FTL: Faster than Light (Can be bought in a Humble Bundle)
- Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (Free, I can't link you to the site though).
- Megaman Unlimited (Free)
- Eversion (Free, although there's a HD version avaliable on steam for $2.00)
Blueflower's Top 100 Video Game SongsNumbers 100-91#100
Underworld Theme
Kid Icarus
Oh come on, you knew I had to start with an 8-bit song. You'll probably get a lot more variety in game franchises this far down in the list. There's really not that much I need to say in comments on this song. It's just catchy and pretty. Nothing all that special and that's why it's this far down, but it's still a nice overworld theme. That is, until you see a Reaper and the music changes to something far more disturbing. If my memory serves me, it was Hirokazu Tanaka that composed the music for this NES title, and if that's the case, it shows.
Favorite part: All of it
One down, 99 more to go. This might be more difficult than I thought.
#99
Ice Climber Theme
Ice Climber
Ice Climber was one of the first NES games I ever played, and it was on the Wii virtual console (mainly because I found the demo in Brawl to be interesting). Having such a catchy title theme was common for the NES, and this one is pretty decent. The theme I've posted above is the version from Brawl because it extends it a little bit and adds a nice guitar solo. I like how jazzy it sounds.
After reading the top YouTube comment, I can finally hear what they're saying in the first few seconds: "Hey guys! It's Ice Climbers, wow. All you have to do is get rid of your friends and survive the ice crash." What...?
Favorite part: 0:00-0:47
#98
Vs. Ridley and Vs. Meta Ridley
Metroid Prime Series
Now, I apologize for listing a tie so soon in the list, but I thought that these two songs were so similar that it warranted it. Besides, I can't really decide which I like better, so there you go. I'm not a huge Metroid fan, so some of this might be a little off, but from what I can understand, Ridley is a recurring antagonist in the Metroid series that has appeared in nearly every game in some form or another, whether its his normal, Meta, or Omega form. The music linked above is, predictably, the song that plays when he's being fought. He's essentially Samus' arch nemesis, so the songs are appropriately intense. In the only Metroid Prime game I own, the third one, the later theme plays when falling into a pit and fighting Meta Ridley at the same time, and the music reflects that intense atmosphere.
Favorite parts: Can't really pick one for the first song just because it's so intense all the way through. For the later, it would be 0:38-106.
#97
The Amazon
DuckTales
Admit it, DuckTales had a fantastic soundtrack for the NES. Wait, why's that? Surely Capcom has other franchises out there with really well composed music! *Hint hint* For those among us that don't appreciate or enjoy 8-bit music as much as I do, I've included a link to the recent remake of DuckTales, which I may get a chance to play someday. All of the remixes in Remastered that I've heard so far are phenomenal, and this won't be the only time one shows up on this countdown. The Amazon theme has that perfect combination of a catchy song and an adventurous tune that just make it fun to play the game, even if you suck like me. The melody is simple, yet catchy, just like many NES songs.
Favorite part: 0:08-0:25
#96
Ragnarok Cavern
Battletoads
Oh boy, where to start with Battletoads? Probably the hardest game ever made, Battletoads gets a lot of unfair hate. Sure, its hard, but so are so many other popular NES titles, so why is this the one that gets all the hate? Personally, I sort of have a soft spot for it because it was the second NES game I ever owned. The soundtrack is also underrated. I mean, listen to this. It's freaking epic. The first level is so ridiculously easy compared to the rest of the game that it sort of makes you feel that maybe this game will be possible after all. And then you get to the third level where all those hopes are shattered in an instant.
Favorite part: First 22 seconds or so
#95
Bubble Bobble Main Theme
Bubble Bobble
Bubble Bobble is probably the cutest game on the NES. Want to know why? Listen to the music. Imagine happy little dinosaurs jumping around shooting bubbles everywhere while that plays. Adorable! Some games have songs that get really old when they play for the entire game, like Ghostbusters on NES, but this one never really did. It always gets stuck in my head after I play the game for a good amount of time.
Favorite part: All of it
#94
Clu Clu Land Theme
Clu Clu Land
Now THIS is some smooth jazz! Seriously, this is so freaking catchy! It amazed me when I was first discovering video game music how intricate this song was for such an old game. The Brawl remix is really nice and adds even more to the song. It's also pretty cute in its own right. I love the instrumentation in the song as well.
Favorite part: All of it
#93
Wookie Hole
Battletoads
Last Battletoads song to appear on the list, but this one's really intense. You're falling into a pit attached to a cable while fighting birds, piranha plant rip offs, and the most annoying enemies I've encountered in the game; evil cameras that are almost impossible to kill without getting hit. It's fairly long for an NES song as well, and I always appreciate the developers taking the time to make a song complicated enough that it doesn't feel bland when it repeats. Overall, nice soundtrack, but I can't really put anymore songs on this list from the game because I can't get past the third level legitimately.
Favorite part: 0:27-1:15
#92
Bout Theme
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! And Punch-Out!! Wii
Punch-Out!! is another ridiculously hard yet doable and very fun NES game, as long as you're willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to beat everyone. It's one of those games where every boxer is hard until you learn their pattern, and then you can beat them pretty much every time afterwards. Of course, because you're fighting intimidating boxers that are all like 8 feet taller than you, this intense and catchy theme is really fitting and makes the matches much more enjoyable for me. The Wii version adds some great instrumentation and makes an already great song even better.
Favorite part: All of it
#91
Mice on Venus
Minecraft
Several things are special about this song. For one, it doesn't loop. Also, it's the only Minecraft song to make this list, and for a reason. Minecraft has some really good music, but this one is just really pretty and adds mood to certain scenes in the game. It's just really pretty. The only reason it isn't higher is that it gets kind of weird after a certain part.
Favorite part: 1:51-2:18
And there we go. That was an endeavor.
hey guess what
you're going to have to do that
9 times over
Quote from: Yugi on September 28, 2013, 02:12:12 AMhey guess what
you're going to have to do that
9 times over
Great encouragement. :P
The poll needs to be updated.
Played MM 9, as you recommended, Blueflower. Very nice game. Three stages till Wily.
I personally would have suggested the PC freeware version of Cave Story.
I like the graphics better, and the translation feels off in the newer versions.
Suggest you try VVVVVV. Also, ASMBXT. The site's down for that though.
Binding of Isaac was very good gameplay-wise, but I don't like the way it's presented. Also, it seems to run slow on many computers.
Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup.
If you can learn it. Rougelikes tend to be rather complicated.
One of my very favorites.
I've played both versions of Cave Story, and tbh I like the one on the 3DS much, much better.
I'm not really familiar with any of the games you mentioned, but there are a few that I might look in to. Thanks!
I don't recommend VVVVVV at all. I didn't enjoy it :P
I don't really know what to expect from a title like that. Going to watch a demo for it on the eShop now.
EDIT: Just saw it, doesn't look like the kind of game I'd pay 8 dollars for. Unless there's a freeware version, it just doesn't look very appealing. :P
I got it because it was recommended for people who liked Cave Story. But it wasn't that similar beyond simple controls.
Away from home, I'm bored to death, I need to do something. So here I go.
Professor Layton and the Last SpecterGameplay: 9/10 Out of all the Layton games I've played thus far, popular opinion was correct with this one. Well, at least in this sense. The puzzles in this game are probably the least annoying and the most fun out of all the Layton games I've played thus far. The series continues to polish up more and more, and from what I've been seeing, it looks like Miracle Mask is going to be even better. Some game series out there just make the same games over and over, but few improve the same concept so much in between games as Professor Layton. We've come a long way since Curious Village, and to be honest, I'm anticipating a difficult time if I ever decide to play the older games over again.
Addictiveness: 8/10 One of the things I noticed with this game is that it cuts right to the chase. Literally, there's no boring intro. You seriously click "New File" and are immediately shown a cutscene. Have you ever read a book that has the first chapter, or the first couple sentences, about a really intense event, and then it goes back in time to tell you how that happened? Well, that's what this is like. The opening cutscene actually takes place a few chapters into the game, and to be honest, I like it. It really grabs your attention. Unfortunately, the whole concept of the plot isn't quite as attention grabbing as Unwound Future, but it makes up for it with beautifully intense cutscenes.
Story: 9/10 Unfortunately, this Layton has the weakest story in the series. Well, second weakest behind Curious Village. But you know what? Don't let this discourage you from playing it. The game's still fantastic even though the reveals on a few of things are a bit anti-climactic and not quite as mind-blowing as you might expect from the previous titles. Still though, it's well worth your time for the epic music and the incredibly funny characters.
Music: 9/10 I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I wasn't a huge fan of Unwound Future's soundtrack. It could be that I was just so captivated by the story that I didn't have time to listen to the music, or it's just that I didn't like it. Regardless though, this game has a fantastic soundtrack and maybe the best in the series. This isn't to mention that I LOVE the puzzle theme in this game.
Misthallery Theme
Best Puzzle Theme Ever
Special Puzzle Theme
Main Villain's Theme
Don't really know what to call this without spoiling something
Character Design: 10/10 My favorite characters in the Layton series by far reside n this game. While my favorite all time character is only in the original trilogy, I felt that the overall NPC and main character designs in this game were the best yet. Professor's assistant Emmy is awesome, the main villain is classy and awesome, there's an NPC that only meows to talk, there's an NPC that tries to hide but is always sticking out, and all other sorts of silliness like that. Layton and Luke are their normal selves, but I sort of liked how Luke was such a dynamic character in this game. You could see how being around the Professor changes his character for the better.
Humor: 8/10 A few really funny moments in this game. One of my personal favorites is watching Emmy beat people up. The wacky NPCs cause some awkward "what the heck" moments as well, especially the one that only meows. To put it in context, he was the owner of a archaeology museum and most would expect him to be an intelligent man, so the irony is that he doesn't even speak English over the course of the game.
Difficulty: 8/10 Nothing all that bad in this game, occasionally a difficult puzzle or to, but most of them are guessable and nothing really stuck me for a long time. As long as you have enough hint coins and occasionally buy the Super Hint, you should be fine. There are a few moments where the puzzles are pretty difficult, but the hints are fair enough that all of them a re solvable with enough thought. Which is how it should be.
Other Memorable Features: Now I get to mention London Life! If you like Animal Crossing and Professor Layton, then this is the game for you! Unfortunately I haven't really had the time to dig into it yet, but I like what I see. (Plus the fact that it has so many cameos from the previous games automatically makes it awesome!)
Overall: 9.5/10 A fantastic game that is more than worthy of being in the series. Much better than Curious Village, but not quite up to par with Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. Despite this, I felt completely satisfied when I finished it, and any criticism that it is the worst game in the series is far more than undeserved. Can't wait to finish this series.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMGameplay: 9/10 Out of all the Layton games I've played thus far, popular opinion was correct with this one. Well, at least in this sense. The puzzles in this game are probably the least annoying and the most fun out of all the Layton games I've played thus far. The series continues to polish up more and more, and from what I've been seeing, it looks like Miracle Mask is going to be even better. Some game series out there just make the same games over and over, but few improve the same concept so much in between games as Professor Layton. We've come a long way since Curious Village, and to be honest, I'm anticipating a difficult time if I ever decide to play the older games over again.
Yep, I totally agree with everything here. It only gets more polished with each game, and Last Specter is definitely the shiniest and best in terms of gameplay. Everything is remarkably fluid. It's true that Miracle Mask only gets better, and honestly is probably my favorite of the series simply because of how improved everything is. I am surprised you didn't mention the minigames here though--even though the ones in Miracle Mask are undoubtedly the best minigames in any game ever, I really enjoyed solving the Train and Fish puzzles especially.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMAddictiveness: 8/10 One of the things I noticed with this game is that it cuts right to the chase. Literally, there's no boring intro. You seriously click "New File" and are immediately shown a cutscene. Have you ever read a book that has the first chapter, or the first couple sentences, about a really intense event, and then it goes back in time to tell you how that happened? Well, that's what this is like. The opening cutscene actually takes place a few chapters into the game, and to be honest, I like it. It really grabs your attention. Unfortunately, the whole concept of the plot isn't quite as attention grabbing as Unwound Future, but it makes up for it with beautifully intense cutscenes.
Yeah, the first time I played Last Specter I was hooked from the beginning, mostly because I was wondering how the story escalated to that point. This game has very very good pacing, setting you up immediately and not slowing down the whole game, which unfortunately is kind of an issue in Miracle Mask.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMStory: 9/10 Unfortunately, this Layton has the weakest story in the series. Well, second weakest behind Curious Village. But you know what? Don't let this discourage you from playing it. The game's still fantastic even though the reveals on a few of things are a bit anti-climactic and not quite as mind-blowing as you might expect from the previous titles. Still though, it's well worth your time for the epic music and the incredibly funny characters.
I think that's a bit generous, but I can't deny the story is good. The plot was going really well until the introduction of
Spoiler
Jakes
which was a bit over-dramatic and then additions like
Spoiler
Loosha and Luke relying on Toppy for the water levels
made the plot seem silly and too far-fetched. That's just my complaints. But on the plus side, at the end you have
Spoiler
Descole's introduction
which honestly made up for the plot holes, and the after-credits sequence where
Spoiler
Arianna kisses Luke on the cheek
was really, really cute. And I'd be lying if I said that the plot didn't hold my interest the whole time. So I think I can justify 9/10, even if I personally wouldn't have scored it so high.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMMusic: 9/10 I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I wasn't a huge fan of Unwound Future's soundtrack. It could be that I was just so captivated by the story that I didn't have time to listen to the music, or it's just that I didn't like it. Regardless though, this game has a fantastic soundtrack and maybe the best in the series. This isn't to mention that I LOVE the puzzle theme in this game.
I think this game's soundtrack is much better than that of Unwound Future, simply because more of the pieces were memorable. Unwound Future had some really great songs (some of my favorites were "More London Streets" and "The Research Facility") but it was also loaded with syrupy ones like "Sorrow" and "Suspicion" that were really forgettable. Last Specter is a pretty tight package soundtrack-wise, not a weak track from start to finish. Besides, "Misthallery's Many Canals" alone is actually one of my favorite pieces of music from Professor Layton, if not my favorite.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMCharacter Design: 10/10 My favorite characters in the Layton series by far reside n this game. While my favorite all time character is only in the original trilogy, I felt that the overall NPC and main character designs in this game were the best yet. Professor's assistant Emmy is awesome, the main villain is classy and awesome, there's an NPC that only meows to talk, there's an NPC that tries to hide but is always sticking out, and all other sorts of silliness like that. Layton and Luke are their normal selves, but I sort of liked how Luke was such a dynamic character in this game. You could see how being around the Professor changes his character for the better.
I really enjoyed the inhabitants of Misthallery as well. I know we talked about how I found Mido and Aunt Taffy amusing, but one that I think I forgot to mention was Clarence, that creepy old guy who hits on Emmy. His lines were really funny to me. And even the characters that you don't see much in the story are given more screen-time in the Special Episodes, which makes for a really great snowflake cast.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMHumor: 8/10 A few really funny moments in this game. One of my personal favorites is watching Emmy beat people up. The wacky NPCs cause some awkward "what the heck" moments as well, especially the one that only meows. To put it in context, he was the owner of a archaeology museum and most would expect him to be an intelligent man, so the irony is that he doesn't even speak English over the course of the game.
Yeah, this game wasn't particularly humorous, but then again Layton games aren't really meant to be. The writing is really clever (Nintendo has a fantastic localization team), but not always funny. I did think that the eccentric NPCs were especially eccentric this time, making for some great "what the heck" moments as you put it. Goosey is another one that I found myself chuckling out loud at, especially when you find him in
Spoiler
the Abandoned Factory
where he has no business being. xD It reminded me of seeing
Spoiler
Pavel in the tower of St. Mystere
in the first game.
Quote from: blueflower999 on October 16, 2013, 11:03:48 AMOther Memorable Features: Now I get to mention London Life! If you like Animal Crossing and Professor Layton, then this is the game for you! Unfortunately I haven't really had the time to dig into it yet, but I like what I see. (Plus the fact that it has so many cameos from the previous games automatically makes it awesome!)
Overall: 9.5/10 A fantastic game that is more than worthy of being in the series. Much better than Curious Village, but not quite up to par with Diabolical Box and Unwound Future. Despite this, I felt completely satisfied when I finished it, and any criticism that it is the worst game in the series is far more than undeserved. Can't wait to finish this series.
London Life is for low-key people who like RPGs without battles haha. It's a cute little experience and it works really well as a contrast to the main story. I think it's better to play in small doses though.
Anyway if you liked Last Specter this much I just know you'll love Miracle Mask, and I'm excited for you to play it. Hope you enjoyed my commentary!!!
Blueflower's Top 100 Video Game Songs
Numbers 90-81#90
The Roost
Animal Crossing Series
Brewster has always been one of my favorite characters in the Animal Crossing series. Maybe it's the fact that he's so shy at first and then warms up to you the more you buy his coffee. After you go to his place 20 or so times, you're like best friends forever, and I really like seeing his change in personality. This song sort of fits the calm atmosphere of the Roost quite well. It's not incredibly long or creative, but it fits very nicely.
This song isn't really long enough for me to pick a favorite part.
#89
Tetris A Theme
Gameboy Tetris
I'll admit it, I'm freaking addicted to Tetris, so much so that I play it in my mind when I don't have access to a console. As I'm sure many of you have experienced, sometimes when you play a game for extended periods of time, the music gets really stuck in your head, as is prime case with this song. The B and C themes are really good as well, but the A theme is so classic that I think it represents the series best on this list.
Favorite part: 0:00-0:25
#88
Brinstar Theme
Metroid Series
Metroid is one of the loneliest games ever made, and has one of the best atmospheres on the NES. This I will admit. However, it's really not anywhere near my list of favorite games on the console because I simply don't enjoy playing it. Whenever you die, you respawn with 30 life and need to essentially grind off of enemies for long periods of time to have any chance on the upcoming areas. That being said, the music for the game is composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, one of my favorite music composers of all time, and Brinstar is one of the many crowning achievements that he is recognized for.
Favorite Part: All of it
#87
Main Theme
Zelda Series
What?! Blueflower, how could you?! Zelda is the best series ever and this song is the best video game music ever composed!!!
Well, sorry to disappoint, but I disagree. I can't say I dislike the Zelda series, because I don't. But is it fair to say that I don't think it's quite the pinnacle of the video game industry. Some of you would argue that I need to play Ocarina of Time to judge that, and maybe that's valid, so I'll just hold off on the bashing of the fans until then.
So why is this music so low on the list? Well, because it's not my favorite Zelda song, of course! The games may not be the greatest adventure games ever made in my opinion, but the music certainly ranks up there with some of the best, so expect to see more on the list. The original Zelda game had an enormous impact on the video game industry, and you essentially heard an 8-bit rendition of this song throughout the entire game. It's quite a triumphant adventure song, and I really like it. There are just better songs in the series that will appear later on this list!
Favorite Part: The first few seconds
#86
Jungle Level
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country... is an interesting game. It's relentlessly difficult, but overall a great platform game in its own right. Not only that, but the music is freaking fantastic. I've posted the Brawl rendition of this song because it's probably more well known, but the original was pretty long for SNES standards! I really like how jazzy it gets at some points and then immediately turns environmental.
Favorite Part: 1:04-1:22
#85
Shampoodle Theme
Animal Crossing Series
I really don't know what it is about this song. I just... like it, you know? It's sort of a guilty pleasure too, and I honestly have no clue why. It's just sort of that mixture of catchy and pretty that I like. A lot of people really hate Harriet because she gives you ridiculous hairdos, but I never had a problem with her. I guess I just like those wacky haircuts!
Favorite Part: 0:03-0:20
#84
Contra Base Theme (2nd and 4th Stages)
Contra
If you disregard the Mega Man series, Contra is in my top 10 soundtracks on the NES, mostly because the songs are catchy and intense. They suit the gameplay quite well, and a lot of them really get your blood pumping in the moment. I could say this for pretty much any song in the game, but three of them in particular really shine. This is the first of those three.
Favorite Part: 0:31-0:44
#83
Kid Icarus Title
Kid Icarus
Did I mention I love Tanaka? Seriously, this song is freaking gorgeous for NES standards, even though it hurts my ears a bit when I listen with earbuds. Unfortunately, this game is so relentlessly difficult that I can't get very far to hear the rest of the game's soundtrack, but what I have heard I'm pretty impressed with.
Favorite Part: 0:00-0:25
#82
Dragon Warrior/Quest Theme
Dragon Quest Series
Yet another gorgeous title theme on the NES. While I haven't played enough Dragon Quest to judge the series, it's a fine RPG for the time and worth trying if you're a fan of classics. Some of the modern games have really awesome orchestral versions of this theme, and I really like those too, but I couldn't quite find my favorite rendition of it, so I just posted the original.
Favorite Part: All of it
#81 Yoshi's Island SNES Final Boss Spoilers
Final Boss
Yoshi's Island
Here we are, the first song I post that contains spoilers. Because I've marked that this post as such, I assume that by reading it you've either played Yoshi's Island all the way through or don't care if it is spoiled. However, some of the future songs must not be listened to if you haven't played the game, whether you want spoilers or not.
Anyway, the final battle of this game is among my favorite in the Mario series just because of how intense it is. A giant Baby Bowser rushes at you from miles away as he slowly gets bigger and bigger, and you have to throw eggs into the background and hit him in the mouth. All this time the platforms are collapsing around you. Yeah, it's really not that generic of a Mario final boss battle, and I this rock and roll music makes it that much better.
Favorite Part: The introduction
Well I was going to post something tonight to kick off my Christmas Marathon, but as luck would have it I accidentally closed the window and deleted my post. So I'll just have to deliver two tomorrow.
Was it a review?
No, it was a special that's not related to my Top 100 Songs. (Which I fully intend on finishing, by the way).
I really like that dragon quest theme song.
A few notes before I do this: Pokemon are grouped by families as long as their typings don't change so drastically that I can't do this, and only the primary type counts, with the exception of Flying types.
Top 10 Normal Type Pokemon:#10
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Eevee
Eevee is one unique Pokemon. Not only is it adorable to look at (just look at those baby-doll eyes!), it has more potential evolutions than any other Pokemon, 8 of these "Eeveelutions" exist in total as of now, but there's little doubt that more will be introduced in the future. Because of this and the stat distributions among each Eeveelution, Eevee's evolved forms can work well on pretty much any team, with Jolteon, Espeon, and Vaporeon generally being considered the best.
#9
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Audino
Audino is on this list for several reasons, one of which is, again, like so many other normal types, it's just cute. In my view, it's kind of like the Chansey family, but a whole lot cuter and more innocent looking. Not only this, but it's great to grind off of because it gives a ton of experience points for KOing, which is especially useful in Pokemon X/Y's Restaurant Le Wow. Other than using it for Toxic stalling and Wish healing though, it's not particularly good in battle, but it holds a special place in my heart because it was the first Pokemon I ever found in the new rustling grass mechanic in Generation 5.
#8
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Bidoof and Bibarel
OK, just to get this out of the way, I'll admit it. I love derpy looking Pokemon. And the fourth generation of Pokemon was the first generation I played, so other than Turtwig and Starly, Bidoof was the first Pokemon that I actually came across. Everyone loves Bibarel because of how good of an HM slave he is, but what I really love the duo for is the ability Moody, which is so luck based and annoying to go up against that it's banned from competitive play. Not only this, but Bibarel has a unique type combination of Normal/Water and Bidoof's cry is adorable. Finally, Bidoof was one of the most lovable and memorable characters in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2, yup yup!
#7
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Arceus
Ah, Arceus. The god of Pokemon. I'm sure most people that played Generation 1 when it first came out had no idea that one day there'd be deities as Pokemon, but here we are. Generation 4 didn't really start this whole thing though, I'd argue that Gen 3 did with Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza being the gods of ocean, land, and sky respectively, but you could argue that other legendaries before those were godlike too, so it just sort of depends on how you slice it. Anyway, other than Arceus having the highest base stat total of all non mega-evolved Pokemon, it's a pretty cool Pokemon by itself because it can turn into any pure typing with the addition of a plate to it thanks to its ability Multitype, allowing for you to use it in whichever might be your preference. However, because with the absence of a plate it is Normal type, it was mandatory that I put it on the Top 10 Normal type lists and none of the other ones.
#6
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F2%2F24%2F474Porygon-Z.png%2F250px-474Porygon-Z.png&hash=962c383b9dc3a28ef052f6caa1908984d66ae6ee)
Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z
While the names might not be all that impressive, these Pokemon hold a special place in my heart. For one thing, the fact that they're man-made is quite intriguing to me, as well as the whole concept of upgrading a Pokemon by trading it holding the upgrade software! Unfortunately, these Pokemon have gotten a lot of hate because of the whole Electric Soldier Porygon incident in the Pokemon anime, and Porygon2 and Porygon-Z have not appeared in the show even once to this day.
#5
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Spinda
Spinda is another Pokemon that doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I don't even know where to begin with this thing. It's like being drunk embodied into a Pokemon! Jokes aside, Contrary is one of my favorite abilities in the Pokemon series, and Spinda getting it makes it quite fun to use with Super Power spam. (Not quite as good as Malamar, but it's something, right?) In addition, Spinda has the most variant visual forms of all Pokemon, with 2^32 different spot combinations. Multiply that by two for shinies and you have a massive 8,589,934,592 different spot combinations. Trust me, you've never seen a Spinda with the same spot pattern twice. And that's awesome.
#4
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F7%2F7e%2F506Lillipup.png%2F250px-506Lillipup.png&hash=c6ad593e674e798a50b03b5eff2a1d37ee3dd8a2)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F9%2F96%2F507Herdier.png%2F250px-507Herdier.png&hash=ac04624aefd4aa63e5e23018d7ec12334ddaccb8)
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Lillipup, Herdier, and Stoutland
This is one of the Pokemon that probably wouldn't appear on this list if it weren't for me developing a special attachment to it by using it in a game. In this case, Stoutland was my strongest Pokemon in my first playthrough of Pokemon White, and thus I've grown to like it quite a lot. Arcanine and Houndoom are kind of fiery dogs, but Stoutland is the one that does the best job of being just an average, run-of-the-mill dog! It's a simple concept that I wish they would have touched on earlier in the franchise. This isn't to mention that Lillipup is pretty adorable. While not particularly useful, Stoutland has a special place in my heart.
#3
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F9%2F94%2F573Cinccino.png%2F250px-573Cinccino.png&hash=ff963fe9c34d87640b9e28492b6e00098147eee9)
Minccino and Cinccino
These two Pokemon make me happy that Pokemon Amie exists. Why? BECAUSE I JUST WANT TO HUG THEM! The darn things are just so adorable, it's hard for not to say "aww!" whenever I come across one. Minccino's cry is also among the cutest cries I've ever heard, and this isn't to mention that their shiny forms and pink, making them arguably even cuter! Skill Link - Choice Band - Tail Slap is a great set for Cinccino, making it actually fairly decent in battling as well.
tl;dr: They're cute
#2
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Dunsparce
Bidoof may be a doofus, but Dunsparce is a dunce! Jokes aside, just to reiterate myself, I love derpy Pokemon. And then here's Dunsparce, whose name just screams "derp". I love how its Pokedex entries describe it as being able to fly "just a little", but it doesn't have the ability Levitate or the Flying type, so it sort of implies that this isn't enough to really do it any good. It's a great troll in competitive battling with its Serene Grace flinch hax, but it's pretty outmatched by Togekiss and Jirachi in most regards.
#1
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Regigigas
Oh boy, where to start with this guy. If you don't count Rotom, Regigigas is probably my favorite legendary Pokemon. Why? Well, that's sort of hard to explain. I've always had this fascination with the Legendary Golems, and Regigigas is their master, so there's one reason. Another is that it always looked like a taco to me, and it still does to this day. Thirdly, it's one of the few legendaries that's considered to be terrible in battle because of its hindering ability Slow Start, which halves its attack and speed for five turns after switching out. However, his stats are overall pretty good, so if you can find a way to get past that ability, he can pretty much wreck the opposing team just like many other legendaries. Also, he was one of the easiest legendaries to catch in the fourth generation but also one of the hardest because you needed to have played the third gen games and have Regirock, Regice, and Registeel in your party in order to battle him. (I've never played the Third Gen, so I got these from a friend through trading.)
And there you have it! I'll be hopefully doing these lists for every type of Pokemon.
I agree completely. :P
There was one time I defeated a guy with Regigigas in NU because his Zweilous missed an Outrage due to Hustle (and had it not been for that, he probably would've won- my original team wasn't the best in terms of synergy). That's probably one of my favorite battles because of how humorous it was. :P
Pokemon X and Y:Gameplay: 9/10 I'd just like to start off by saying that I've been going through a rather large phase of Pokemania over the last couple of months, and this game's release timing couldn't have been more perfect. I really don't think I need to praise the Pokemon formula at all because I'm sure most of us are aware that it's nearly perfect and this game fine tunes it even more with the addition of the Fairy Type and 69 (soon to be 72!) new Pokemon. However, discounting some minor changes (like how Steel no longer resists Ghost and Dark type moves), the overall formula of the game remains the same. 8 Gyms, evil team, Elite Four, the whole enchilada. Only now in 3D! Well, not really. One of the biggest disappointments was that the 3D only works in battles and a few other places, but when it does it slows the frame rate down so much that it's sort of unpractical to use it. This game added a few features that I really like, such as using touch screen controls to slide around Pokemon in your party and on PC, connecting with friends over the wi-fi is ridiculously easy now thanks to the 3DS friend feature, and, speaking of the friend feature, the Friend Safari is a genius idea and loads of fun. The region is huge, lively, well constructed, and contains such variety in Pokemon. From old favorites to awesome new ones, they're all included. (I don't think very many people on this forum besides Mashi falls into this category, but if you only played the retro Pokemon games and want to get back into them, this game is much more nostalgic than the fifth generation was!) There's so much I could talk about in this section, but really the fun is playing the game yourself and exploring the world, and I don't want this review to be too lengthy, so on we move.
Addictiveness: 9/10 Out of all the Pokemon games I've played, this is the one where I feel the greatest urge to "Catch 'Em All!" And that's why I've been doing it. Maybe it's the fact that I've been so obsessed with Pokemon, or maybe it's the fact that over half of the existing Pokemon are able to be easily found in the region, but whatever it is, I really feel the urge to complete the National Pokedex.
Story: 8/10 Now outside of the Mystery Dungeon games, a Pokemon story has failed to truly impress me and leave me speechless. However, what I like about this one is that it actually does have a few really touching moments in it. Not going to spoil anything, but the story is halfway decent, and actually it has to be one of the best for a main series Pokemon game. Well done.
Music: 8/10 There are a lot of really catchy songs in this game, I'll never be able to post them all, so I'll just say a few of my favorites that are on my mind right now, and by no means think that these are all my favorites.
Professor Sycamore's Theme
Kanto Legendary Battle
(I mainly like this for the throwback)
Bike Theme
Lumiose City
Route 18
Character Design: 8/10 A lot of the characters in this game felt real. Just like Black and White, there are multiple rivals, and all of them have a friendly relationship with you, rather than a "I hate your guts" sort of thing. Professor Sycamore is one of the most debonair characters I've seen in a video game recently, and his theme just oozes French. I also really like how "fabulouuuus" Team Flare is and how insane some of their members are. If Character Design can encompass Pokemon design, then I really like the designs of this generation as well. Klefki, Delphox, Carbink, Vivillon, Aegislash, Dragalge, Helioptile, and Avalugg are all among my favorites, but really almost all of them are good.
Humor: 7/10 A lot of references to older games and other things are in this game, more than I remember seeing in previous Pokemon games. My personal favorite is when a trainer exclaims that my power level is "Over 9000".
Difficulty: 7/10 Eh, Pokemon games aren't really meant to be difficult. The Elite Four was a pushover and I defeated them only using three viable Pokemon (The other three slots were taken up by two mons that I was training and an egg). Victory Road is probably my candidate for the hardest area of the game because there's one part where there are several trainers in a row and they all seem to have Pokemon with great coverage.
Other Memorable Features: Too many to list here. Pokemon Amie is genius, Super Training is a blast, the PSS is awesome, and everything about the game is just so memorable I probably will still be playing this in a year.
Overall: 9.5/10 This is my candidate for the best Pokemon game ever. Say what you will, but I'm standing by this.
good review :D
QuoteNow outside of the Mystery Dungeon gaNow outside of the Mystery Dungeon games, a Pokemon story has failed to truly impress me and leave me speechless.
What (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Black_and_White)
Wait, how have I not done this yet?
Mother 1/EarthBound Zero:Wow, how could I miss this? Well, I didn't miss it. I just wanted to spread out the love, I suppose! Or maybe I'm just saving the worst game in the series for last? Don't get the misconception that I just got around to playing this game recently, oh no. I completed this game the summer I joined NSM, so about two and a half years ago. Anyway, onto the gameplay. This game gets a whole heck of a lot of criticism in the EarthBound community for aging poorly. According to Starmen.net, the official word on the Mother series, in order to be an administrator on the site you need to "be a huge fan of at least two games; it is acceptable if you did not enjoy Mother 1". As a fan of the series, while I can understand this, I do not approve. Mother 1 is by far the weakest the series has to offer, but who can blame it? Shigesato Itoi had no experience making games by himself, not to mention that it was on the NES and many RPGs from that time don't age well. So why do I defend it? Well, let's find out.
Gameplay: 7/10 Mother 1 is the only game in the Mother series to have random encounters, which is acceptable, but feels incredibly broken after playing the smooth encounter systems of the other games where you see the enemy on the overworld and touch to battle. Of course though, the foundation for how the other games work is in here somewhere, even if I have to dig a little deep to find it. One major problem I have is that the backgrounds to all the battles is black. It's just black. And all the text and boxes are white. It's by no means terrible looking, but it feels weird, especially after being used to the other game's colorful backgrounds that make you feel like you're on LSD. I know I'm doing a lot of comparison here, but oh well, I sort of need to; this is also the only Mother game where you never have more than three party members at a time, which is probably due to the NES technical limitations, because there are still four main characters just like in the sequels. If there's one this the gameplay does really right though is the PSI moves. The animations are almost nonexistent, usually consisting of a flash of color across the background, but there are a lot of them. Plenty of moves are here in this game that didn't make it further on in the series, like PK Beam (confirmed for Mother 4!) and 4th-D Slip. This game also comes with a rather large variety of enemies, most of which are your typical Mother series humor. One of my personal favorites is the "Raeb Yddet", which took me a long time to figure out what the joke was. Mooks, which return in Mother 2 very much nerfed, and the masters of all PSI. Seriously, these things are like Smeargle without four move slots. They can use nearly any form of PSI imaginable, so you have to get ready whenever you fight them. If Mooks are Smeargle, then Titanians are Shuckle. Massive defenses forces you to use a lot of special attacks to kill them. One seemingly minor complaint that I have is that you need to go into your inventory and use your ATM card in order to withdraw cash, rather than just checking the ATM machine and being able to do it automatically. However, despite some complaints, the game was very impressive at the time because of its large expansive world, colorful enemies, interesting characters, and quirky sense of humor that only shines through more and more as the series goes on.
Addictiveness: 7/10 I believe I've said this before, but NES games, unless they're puzzle ones like Tetris, tend to not be very addicting. However, I did play this one pretty faithfully, so there was something keeping me playing it, even though it now escapes me what it was. Perhaps a combination of playing a game so old (it was my first NES game!) and my love of EarthBound and desire to see how the whole series got started did it.
Story: 7/10 I suppose for an NES plot the story was fairly complex. I don't even think I need to say anything here though, I'll just post the wall of text that greets you when you start the game:
"In the early 1900s, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural America. At that time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home.
The man's name was George
The woman's name was Maria
Two years later, as suddenly as he had left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study all by himself.
As for Maria, his wife...
She never returned."
Essentially the game has the exact same plot as EarthBound but with this thrown in, leaving me to argue that EarthBound is a holy and perfected remake of Mother 1, but that's the topic for another day.
Music: 9/10 As always, the music in the Mother series always shines through, even on the NES. In fact, this game is tied with Final Fantasy for the largest NES (or Famicom) game ever officially released, and this is mainly because of its large world and extensive soundtrack. I'll post my favorites below as always.
Wisdom of the World
(Absolutely gorgeous)
Pollyanna
(The theme for the Mother series)
Bein' Friends
(You may know this from Super Smash Brothers Melee)
Airplane Ride
Youngtown
(Sad as all heck)
All That I Needed Was You
(Just... wow)
Character Design: 8/10 Let's face it, it's difficult to make attachable characters on the NES. However, I still love quite a few characters in this game! There's the guy that gives you a ride in an airplane and then lends you a tank, there's this... ridiculously annoying antagonistic robot named R7037 that I don't want to discuss, Giegue/Giygas is hilarious as a final boss, the four protagonists are all pretty cool, and George and Maria are pretty sweet too.
Humor: 8/10 One of the funniest games I have on the NES, but in a weird sort of way, just how I like it! There's an item called "Curse Words" where if you use it in battle it says "I hate you" to the enemy, which is great because some of the enemies really suck. (Mooks and Cerebums, I'm looking at you) And of course what would a Mother game be without Strawberry Tofu or Trout Yogurt? That's not to forget the scene where if you accept a drink of alcohol you get arrested and your weapons confiscated. My personal favorite part of the game where I was laughing like crazy was in the final boss battle against Giegue. What you're supposed to do is sing the 8 Melodies to him a handful of times and he'll eventually be defeated, and his lines after you sing part of it are quite amusing. My personal favorite is "STOP IT! STOP THAT SONG, YOU PUNY LITTLE EARTH BUGS!!"
Difficulty: 10/10 This game gets a 10 for one reason and one reason alone: Mt. Itoi. (Yes, the game developer named an area after himself) This area of the game is hands down the most brutally difficult area in an RPG that I've ever seen in my life, and here's why: when developing this area, they were under time constraints. And you know what?
They forgot to difficulty test it. Well, crap. Literally the only way to get by is the run from enemies all the time, use 4th-D Slip which is a guaranteed successful runaway, or use 1HKO moves like PK Beam Gamma or PK Freeze Omega. The other parts of the game would have been a 8 or 9 out of 10 because of the difficult navigation and annoyingly frequent random battles, as well as a few overpowered enemies here and there like Mooks, Cerebrums, and Titanians.
Other Memorable Features: One of the most memorable games on the NES in my opinion. I've already mentioned most of my favorite parts, but there's a scene where you get rides in airplanes while listening to this awesome tune and you get to see essentially the entire map of the game all speed by you. It's pretty exciting. And then the guy lends you his tank and you can blow up crap.
Overall: 8/10 Is it the best game in the series? Pfft no. Should it be ignored? Absolutely not. Play the other two first, and then give this one a try. Or, if you're an NES fan or a fan of JRPGs, why not start with it?
Blueflower's Top 100 Video Game Songs
Numbers 80-71#80
Rockin' K. K.
Animal Crossing Series
While I'm not a huge fan of K. K. Slider's songs, there are a few songs that stick out to me, and this is my favorite of all of those. This is sort of a silly reason for liking it, but it sounds very similar to the Hippie Battle Theme from EarthBound, which may or may not be a coincidence. Either way though, it seems to take some sort of inspiration from classic rock 'n roll, which is pretty awesome.
Favorite Part: 0:58-1:18
#79
Poo Mountain
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Yes, this is immature, I admit it. But how many video game songs have you heard that use farting noises as an instrument? Only Conker's Bad Fur Day would ever think to do something like this. Ignoring the crude instrumentation, the song itself is pretty jazzy and has... some interesting sound effects.
Favorite Part: 1:04-1:46
#78
Stage 1
Contra
I've said this before, and I'll say it again; I love me some Contra. This is the first song that you'll hear in the game other than the title screen jingle, and it's pretty good at getting you pumped up for one of the most intense and difficult games around. (The other music accomplishes the goal as well, and there are a few other songs from this series that you'll see later on this list.)
Favorite Part: All of it
#77
Title Theme
Animal Crossing Wild World and City Folk
While New Leaf delivers a different theme song, the classic one from the DS and Wii era is still as pretty as ever. It acts as a great overtone for the series by being relaxing and carefree sounding.
Favorite Part: 0:10-0:25
#76
Vampire Killer
Castlevania Series
Originally acting as the theme for the first stage in Castlevania on the NES, this song has gotten several remixes in future games in the series. It's one of the most well known songs on the NES, and with good reason. It's just... catchy. I don't really know how to describe it, it just sort of fits with the overall theme of the game. Going around whipping ghosts and medusa heads into shape, and the first song you hear is "Vampire Killer", even though 99% of the people that play the game will probably never make it to Dracula because the game is so freaking hard.
Favorite Part: 0:00-0:08
#75
Title Theme
Animal Crossing New Leaf
Honestly I don't know why I have this up higher than the original considering it's pretty short. I guess it's probably just because it's really pretty and I played a LOT of New Leaf over the summer. Again, the same reasons for liking the other title theme apply to this one. It's laid back, beautiful, and acts as a good overtone for the game.
Favorite Part: The first few seconds
#74
Digital Root
Zero Escape Series
Oh man, the first song in this series. This song plays in both 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors and, to a lesser extent, Virtue's Last Reward whenever something scientific is explained. It's kind of repetitive, but that doesn't matter to me so much because it sets the mood right and is a prime example of good Zero Escape techno music. While it by no means is my favorite song in the series, it's still pretty catchy and ends up being one of the more memorable ones.
Favorite Part: 2:00-2:24
#73
Mute City
F-Zero Series
OK, now we're starting to get into the really good stuff. F-Zero is an underrated racing game on the SNES. Unfortunately I haven't gotten a chance to continue with the series outside of this first installment (unless you count Nintendo Land's minigame), but what I've seen I like. The music in the game is pretty kickin' too, and this song is my second favorite in the game. It just makes it feel like you're speeding at 600 kilometers and hour down a track, which is exactly what you're doing when you hear it.
Favorite Part: 0:00-0:19
#72
Green Hill Zone
Sonic Series
Ah Sonic, how little experience I've had with you. The only games I have from this series are Shadow the Hedgehog on Gamecube and the original Sonic on Sega Game Gear, both of which are pretty lackluster. However, the music in Game Gear Sonic is actually really cool, and this song is my favorite of all of them. It's not exactly suiting for the stage all that much, but it's just pretty and fun to listen to.
Favorite Part: 0:15-0:40
#71
Bryyo
Metroid Prime 3
This is sort of a weird pick because I don't think anyone else really finds this song all that special other than me. I just liked it when playing through the game and it's been stuck in my head ever since. It's just a nice and ominous song that perfectly suits the environment. Actually, the reason I like this song so much is because the Bryyo mission took forever for me, and so I heard this song quite a lot. The choir vocalization in the song feels right and works well with Metroid's tone of being alone.
Favorite Part: All of it
MUTE CITAHY!!!
I definitely like those songs too ^_^
Top 10 Fire Type Pokemon:#10
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Flareon
I'm starting off this top 10 with another Eeveelution. However, this is probably one of if not the most neglected of all of them, or at least it was in all previous generations. See, Flareon has a really good Attack stat, however, the only good Fire type STAB moves that it was able to learn were Flame Charge and Fire Fang. the 5th Generation was a bit more kind to it by giving it Guts, making it a good Facade user, but that's about it. However, now it's able to learn the move Flare Blitz, so it'll hopefully become better in the future. Flareon looks essentially like a red version of Eevee that literally breathes fire every time it exhales, which is pretty cool. I don't know if I'd want to own one as a pet because of this, but Flareon is pretty adorable and I definitely hope that it becomes more widely used now that it can use Flare Blitz.
#9
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Torkoal
OK, this one's a bit weird too. This seems to be coming up a lot, but I'm not entirely sure why I like Torkoal. Maybe the concept of a Fire tortoise is cool to me. Maybe I like how it has smoke coming out of its shell. Maybe it's that by having it in my party, I decrease the chance of encountering a wild Pokemon. Maybe it's the fact that he played the role of town elder in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, which reminds me of Tortimer from Animal Crossing. Maybe it's because most people associate turtles with water (even though he's a tortoise), whereas Torkoal is a Fire type. Whatever it is though, Torkoal is pretty cool.
#8
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F3%2F3d%2F058Growlithe.png%2F250px-058Growlithe.png&hash=5e85ba9eb699e2f7d05002c0719b7b527c638c01)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fb%2Fb8%2F059Arcanine.png%2F250px-059Arcanine.png&hash=644cb3ab3507a204f26997ee08fe135cad39fed7)
Growlithe and Arcanine
While I don't like these two nearly as much as I like the Stoutland family, a dog Pokemon is just a concept that works, and these are the original dogs. Arcanine has the highest base stat total of all non legendaries in the first generation, so it's quite a force to reckon with. Growlithe, like most first stages, is pretty cute as well. Arcanine also wields one of my favorite abilities in Pokemon; Flash Fire. When hit with a Fire Type move, it's damage is neutralized and Arcanine's own Fire type moves become more powerful. This makes him great to switch in against something that you know will do a Fire type move.
#7
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fb%2Fb6%2F156Quilava.png%2F250px-156Quilava.png&hash=5887b0b0115d35fedd89dffe3165b2128751abfc)
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Cyndaquil, Quilava, and Typhlosion
While I didn't pick Cyndaquil to be my starter in the second generation (that would be Totodile), I do have to acknowledge its adorableness here. Cyndaquil is based on one of my favorite animals, the echidna, which is one of the few mammals to lay eggs. Typhlosion isn't terrible competitively, but it's not the best starter in the world, so I mainly like this line for what they're based on and how awesome they look. Cyndaquil and Quilava are pretty adorable, and then Typhlosion is quite awesome looking with its raging fires on its back.
#6
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fc%2Fc6%2F322Numel.png&hash=156335ad832b7dab653a1398b6252a1f737a8638)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2F7%2F7d%2F323Camerupt.png&hash=aa0df150c33f169ba0d06133fb07335fbcadae2c)
Numel and Camerupt
Numel might look kind of dopey, but honestly I think it's pretty cute. These two Pokemon have the unique type of Fire/Ground, and while this makes them X4 weak to Water, the ability Solid Rock, another one of my favorites, makes that X3 when Camerupt has it. It also reduces its other weaknesses to X1.5, which is pretty awesome. Another reason that I love these Pokemon is because of Camerupt's name, which is obviously a combination of "Camel" and "Erupt", and while this might seem kind of silly, honestly I think it fits together very nicely. Like, it just rolls off the tongue right and sounds overall like a good name for it. This isn't to mention that I think that the volcano humps on its back are pretty clever.
#5
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Vulpix and Ninetails
While these Pokemon aren't really considered to be very nice (Ninetails puts a curse on anyone foolish enough to grab one of its tails), they're incredibly useful competitively. Ninetails resides in the OU tier, and with good reason. The ability Drought makes it essential for Sun teams and also a great counter to Politoed by using its Solar Beam, a 120 Power Grass move that is completed instantly in sunlight. I've already discussed that I love the ability Flash Fire, and that's what their other ability is. I don't really think I need to say this, but Vulpix is adorable.
#4
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fc%2Fce%2F662Fletchinder.png%2F250px-662Fletchinder.png&hash=636b219f5570e8ded491633cc45745adfd0a78c9)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fa%2Fae%2F663Talonflame.png%2F250px-663Talonflame.png&hash=4cab2d1d1a8707ae1ddad06af154bf1f62a6672a)
Fletchling, Fletchinder, and Talonflame
While Fletchling may be Normal/flying, I'm including it on here because its two evolved forms are Normal/Flying. Also, because it's a Flying type and I'm including it in my top 10 list of Fire types, it won't be included on my list of Flying types because then I'll just be repeating myself. Again, Fletchling is adorable, I don't really need to say anything there. I used to be really bothered by how simple Talonflame's name is, but now I can look past that to the ridiculously cool Pokemon that it is. It's like Moltres and Ho-Oh, but much more easy to obtain! Its ability Gale Wings, which is incredibly over powered I might add, gives priority to all Flying type moves, which will probably make it OU because it counters Breloom, Volcarona, and essentially anything else that's weak to Flying type moves.
#3
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F6%2F65%2F219Magcargo.png%2F250px-219Magcargo.png&hash=25987b86651a9687836cbda4341df6c55acb5b91)
Slugma and Magcargo
While the names might not be as good as "Camerupt", Slugma and Magcargo's designs just... work for me. They're slugs and snails of molten lava, which makes sense and honestly is pretty awesome. Magcargo is famous because both of its normal abilities, Magma Armor and Flame Body, speed up the hatching of eggs when in your party, which saves me a lot of time when I'm trying to hatch things to trade or using the Masuda method of finding shinies. While Magcargo could have benefited greatly from the ability Solid Rock, which it didn't get, they're still awesome Pokemon despite their uselessness competitively.
#2
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Heatran
Heatran is, quite literally, a beast. Boasting a unique Fire/Steel type, which in my opinion is one of the coolest ones yet, and the ability Flash Fire, and being a legendary with great stats and a good movepool, Heatran is nearly unstoppable when used correctly. Its design is awesome. I'm not all too sure what it's supposed to look like, but whatever it is, I like it. It looks like a spider with molten lava and pieces of steel sticking out all over it, with fangs made of iron and crosses on its feet. This isn't to mention that Heatran is the only legendary that can be either male or female, which I think is a pretty nice touch. Also, Heatran has FIVE X0.25 resistances to Ice, Bug, Steel, Fairy, and Grass, making it easy to switch in against many an opponent.
#1
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F0%2F09%2F654Braixen.png%2F250px-654Braixen.png&hash=04b5606b012f11e3fe1fedf614911c81d798ef6d)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F2%2F21%2F655Delphox.png%2F250px-655Delphox.png&hash=ebbc6ced721d77d335581700caf449b8df13933d)
Fennekin, Braixen, and Delphox
While a lot of people were really confused or disappointed with Fennekin's evolutionary line, I personally loved it. I hate to make a starter number one on a list of mine, but I feel as if this family really deserves it. Fire/Psychic is an awesome type that a lot of fans really hoped that Fennekin would be, so why were they so disappointed when it evolved into a biped? Well, I couldn't tell you, but I felt no such disappointment. Besides Victini, the event only legendary, and Darmanitan-Z, the form that can only be obtained through a hidden ability, Delphox is the only Fire/Psychic type, making the combo more widely available for fans to experiment with. However, perhaps the thing that makes me love Delphox the most is its name's origin. The Oracle of Delphi, as some of you may know from Greek mythology, told the futures of whoever asked for it. Delphox is, then, obviously a combination of Delphi and Fox, in reference to its psychic powers. While another Pokemon still holds my title for favorite starter, Delphox takes close second.
Oh boy, time for another big one. I might end up making this sort of a review of New Leaf, but at the same time sharing my thoughts on the Animal Crossing series as a whole.
Animal Crossing New Leaf:Gameplay: 9/10 The Animal Crossing series is known as, in my view, one of the best games that both casual players and hardcore ones can simultaneously enjoy. It's not an easy game to master; the most difficult skill that you need to know is how to fish and catch bugs, and it doesn't really go much beyond that. That being said, Animal Crossing is an example of a simple concept that addicts players almost immediately. Throughout the game, your house gets remodeled over and over again, and each time you accumulate a larger debt that you have to pay, only to remodel it again. Essentially you're paying these debts to increase the space that you have to decorate you house. It sound easy and simple, but for those who have played it, you know that it's so much more fun that it appears. You can go fishing, bug catching, diving, fossil hunting, do errands for villagers in hopes that they'll give you something in return, and so much more. In New Leaf, however, an additional element is added; you are now not only a citizen of the town, but the mayor, and this allows you to customize the town even more with ordinances and building projects like benches, fountains, and even the Eiffel Tower. There's really quite a bit I could talk about here, so I'll only touch on a few of the many aspects of this game. You can get your hair done, visit other people's towns, donate fish, bugs, paintings, and fossils to the museum, have your fortune told, watch hilariously lame comedy skits, participate in events on a tropical island, dive for sea creatures, celebrate all your favorite holidays like New Years, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, compete in bug and fish catching tournaments, and, my personal favorite, collecting Gyroids. There's so much to do in these games that generally they'll have you playing nearly daily for X amount of time. For some people it's a few weeks, others like me last for a few months. And that leads me into the next section.
Addictiveness: 10/10 Animal Crossing is a very addicting game, but usually only for a period of time. For me, nearly the entire summer was Animal Crossing. (Thanks to all of you who played with me!) Now, I don't really play it at all, but I'm confident that when the next installment in the series comes out, I'll be addicted all over again. Or maybe someone will revive New Leaf for me and I'll continue where I left off. a
Story: 0/10 There really isn't very much in the way of story here, and I don't feel like I need to talk about it because it can be whatever you make it. Animal Crossing is YOUR STORY.
Music: 8/10 The music in Animal Crossing generally goes for the upbeat, happy, catchy tunes. This may just be because of my obsessive playing, but I think New Leaf has the best soundtrack in the series to date. There are lots of songs that I've already posted that I like as part of my Top 100 (Rockin' K. K., The Roost, Shampoodle, and the Title Theme), so I don't really feel like posting those again. Here are a few other memorable songs:
7PM
(Most of the hourly themes in this game are pretty fantastic)
Town Hall
(I really like this for some reason)
There are some other songs that I like, but the soundtrack is difficult to find on YouTube, so I may end up posting more in the future when it's easier to find clips of the songs.
Character Design: 10/10 Oh boy, I could talk all day about this. Animal Crossing has one of my favorite casts of characters in the whole of Nintendo. Nearly every single special character (not villagers, special characters are available in every game) is one of my favorites. Savanha, Nook, Katrina, Reese, Brewster, Blathers, Celeste, Leif, Dr. Shrunk, Sable, Mable, Tommy Nook, Timmy Nook, Porter, Redd, Lyle, and so many more. Nearly every character in this series is bursting with personality and it adds a lot of charm to the games themselves. For once I find myself at a loss for who my favorite character is.
Humor: 8/10 Much of the Animal Crossing series' humor comes in odd places. Occasionally I've gotten a villager to tell me a "so bad it's good" type joke, and some of the items are kind of humorous. However, my favorite source of laughs in this series is the puns that the character makes when you catch a fish, bug, etc. My personal favorite comes from this game when you catch a tire instead of a fish. "I caught a tire! It was just treading water!"
Difficulty: 4/10 Like I mentioned above, Animal Crossing is a game designed for anyone and everyone, so it doesn't need to be hard! The largest source of frustration I've gotten is when I miss a large fish or scare away a rare bug, but even that just makes me loose bells that I can earn back in another five minutes work. This game and the franchise as a whole is sort of like living an ideal life without that many worries other than your massive debt. If anything, the most difficult part about them is the time it takes to pay off your loan.
Other Memorable Features: There are tons of Nintendo character references and items that are available in this game, so hardcore fanboys like myself will appreciate them. Gyroids are my personal favorite items in the game though, and I have over a hundred different types of them in New Leaf.
Overall: 9.4/10 My favorite Animal Crossing game and the game that totally made last summer one of the best I've ever had.
Game Analysis #1: EarthBound Vs. Mother 1Ah, back to talking about this series again. I hinted at the fact that I might be doing this in my Mother 1 review. In fact, this is something that struck me as soon as I started playing through Mother 1; I realized that EarthBound is almost like
a remake of the original that got improved in every way imaginable. This is by no means intended to say "They're the same game, why did Itoi make the same game twice," or "EarthBound is obviously a Mother 1 clone, therefore it's unoriginal and stupid,", but rather just my thoughts on the similarities.
First, let's have a look at the main characters. Mother's protagonist's name is Ninten, which is obviously a shortening of Nintendo, or a nickname of the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, the system that the English port of the game would have been released on. Mother 2/EarthBound's hero, as I'm sure many of you are aware of, is Ness, which, as some of you may not be aware of, is an anagram of SNES; the console that EarthBound was released on.
And the similarities between those two don't stop there. Just look at them:
Spoiler
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That's Ninten on the left and Ness on the right. Besides some minor differences, the two look nearly identical. This has lead many fans to speculate that Ninten is Ness' father (who is never seen in EarthBound), and while this is a reasonable theory that I do accept as a possibility, there is no official confirmation to support this.
Just to list a few other oddly "coincidental" similarities that these two have, they both have a white dog, a mother that insists on always cooking their favorite food, sisters (Ness has one, Ninten has two,), an absent father, and a house to the north of town. This isn't to mention that they both use baseball bats as their main form of attack.
Moving past the main protagonists for now, let's look at the other main characters. Besides Ness and Ninten as the mains, we also have three other characters in both games, all of which are clearly counterparts for one another. Paula in EarthBound and Ana in Mother 1, just like Ness and Ninten, look very similar. They both wear pink dresses, have long blonde hair, and use frying pans. Lloyd (or Loid, depending on who you ask) and Jeff are also counterparts. Both have white hair, glasses, and are stereotypical nerds. Finally, while probably the biggest stretch, Teddy and Poo are both either in their late teens or early twenties and boast strong physical capabilities. Teddy uses knives and Poo uses a sword, making them the only two characters in the Mother series that actually use "real" weapons.
There's a lot more I could talk about here, but I could really go on forever on this subject. Let's talk about the plot, which is perhaps the most similar between the two games. Giegue (In Mother) and Giygas (In EarthBound) are the same entity, just different translations of the same name. However, for clarification, I will refer to him as Giygas. In both games, Giygas invades the Earth with an army of Starmen, Mooks, and other odd creatures. Ninten/Ness are conveyed the message that they are the chosen one who must unite with three other people to save the world. Along the way, they must visit eight locations to collect the Eight Melodies, and only then will Giygas be defeated. While the locations are, of course, different and the songs themselves are as well, and the methods that both of them unlock to defeat Giygas are the same, in the end, Giygas in both games is defeated the same way. I don't want to say how because of spoilers, but if you've played either game through to the end, you should know what Giygas' weakness is.
Finally, as one last point, let's talk about the music. There are loads of musical samples from Mother 1 that got used over again in EarthBound. I'll post a few of my favorites:
Yucca Desert/Dusty Dunes Desert
Youngtown/Paula's Prison
Twinkle Elementary Schoo/Choose a File
(This one is less obvious)
Hippie Battle Themes
To conclude, both games are fantastic and a story in their own right, but it was apparent to me that Itoi was essentially telling the same story twice through different methods. This makes Mother 3 all the more awesome when you realize how different it is from the previous two.
Top 10 Fighting Type Pokemon:#10
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fd%2Fd7%2F448Lucario.png%2F250px-448Lucario.png&hash=28a768614a539a8b6649875b2eb0cada846e3294)
Riolu and Lucario
Honestly, as much as I love Riolu and Lucario, they're a bit overrated, and so I couldn't put them up any higher on this list than here, but they still deserve acknowledgement. Riolu is quite a pain to deal with because of Prankster, and so is Lucario because of its great typing and awesome offensive stats, which are boosted even higher when it mega evolves. With its Mega ability being Adaptability, its fighting and steel type moves read a ridiculous X2 power from STAB, making it a very dangerous offensive Swords Dance sweeper in the OU tier.
#9
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F4%2F41%2F619Mienfoo.png%2F250px-619Mienfoo.png&hash=300580048c1a7774a1963fce1d9a910b57eae45c)
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F2%2F20%2F620Mienshao.png%2F250px-620Mienshao.png&hash=0bf96a5c89b47a0b36cb3b9e4cd34385d54baa71)
Mienfoo and Mienshao
I'm not really sure what these things are supposed to be based on, but they're pretty sweet. I don't know if I've mentioned this in a review before, but the Fifth Generation of Pokemon is my personal favorite. I'm not even really sure why, but just something about its Pokemon is special to me, and these guys are no exception. Mienfoo is pretty adorable for a Fighting type, and Mienshao is the very definition of a glass cannon. Its awesome abilities in Reckless and Regeneration make it very powerful with a STAB boosted High Jump Kick, but it is fairly frail, making it reside in the UU tier. The only reason they're not higher on this list is that Mienshao's arms kind of bother me because they're limp all the time and it just looks weird for a Fighting type to have arms that it can't control.
#8
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2F6%2F6f%2F297Hariyama.png&hash=9897d66e8f55399a272e1f196a1653c9a0b38b79)
Makuhita and Hariyama
Their names are a bit odd and so are the designs, but these two Fighting types from Generation 3 are far from average. Hariyama is one of the bulkiest Fighting types around, boasting a massive 144 (my favorite number!) HP stat. This isn't to mention that it also has a very nice 120 base Attack stat, and while its other stats are poor (60/60 defenses and 50 speed), the first two are enough to make it useful. Hariyama also has two of the best abilities in the Pokemon franchise; Guts, which raises its Attack stat when inflicted with a status condition, and Thick Fat, which lets it resist Ice and Fire type moves. While it isn't really a great sweeper because of its poor speed, Hariyama's bulk and power make it a great wall breaker.
#7
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F9%2F9a%2F057Primeape.png%2F250px-057Primeape.png&hash=902daecca34eb9d71ce1f62890d3b1986b726e6c)
Mankey and Primeape
Although perhaps the worst Fighting types to appear on this list, Primeape is far from being a bad Pokemon. Mankey's name always amused me because of how close it is to, well, "monkey". I always liked how Primeape literally has boxing gloves for fists, and it has two of the coolest, if not very competitively useful, abilities in the game. One is Defiant, which raises your Attack stat by two whenever any stat is lowered, including Attack! This means that if a Pokemon uses the ability Intimidate to try to lower your Attack, it actually lowers it, and then boosts it back up two levels, meaning that it actually raises your Attack in the long run! The other ability is Anger Point, which, when hit with a Crit, maxes out your attack stat. Because Crits only have a 1/16 chance of occurring normally though, I can see why it wouldn't be very useful competitively, but I'm sure that in game it would come into play much more often. Primeape has a good 105 Attack stat and also a good 95 base Speed stat, meaning that it can outspeed every other fighting type in NU.
#6
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Meditite and Medicham
While they might look kind of silly, Meditite and Medicham are among my favorite Pokemon introduced in the third generation, and with good reason. Meditite always looked to me like it has an onion for a head, and Medicham's baggy pants always amused me. Looking past appearances though, Medicham packs a ridiculously high attack stat, one of the highest in the game actually, making it usable even in the OU tier despite being ranked in RU. Wait, it's only 60? Well, there you'd be wrong, because its ability Pure Power doubles it. Give it a Choice Band or a Life Orb and you've got a very powerful Pokemon with High Jump Kick or Psycho Cut. When Medicham Mega Evolves, its Attack stat rises to 100, and therefore, to 200 with Pure Power. At the time of its release, I'm sure everyone was happy to have a Fighting/Psychic type, and to this day it's still an awesome combination. The Fighting resists Dark and Bug, while the Psychic resists itself, canceling out three would be weaknesses.
#5
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Pancham and Pangoro
By far the cutest Fighting type ever, Pancham is adorable and him alone makes this line one fan favorite. If you haven't heard its cry yet, go look it up, because it's just adorable. Personally I don't think it's the single greatest Generation 6 Pokemon, but it's still pretty awesome. Pangoro's type of Fighting/Dark was great back in Generation 5, but now has a X4 weakness to Fairy in this Generation, so I don't think it'll be tiered very high. However, on the contrary, Pangoro has a great 124 base Attack stat and a good 95 HP stat, so it'll be at least viable in whatever tier it's put it. Also on the contrary, Pangoro has some great abilities in Iron Fist, which boosts punching moves, Mold Breaker, which allows you to hit Pokemon with moves that their abilities would normally cancel out, and Scrappy, which allows you to hit Ghost types with Normal and Fighting type moves. While a lot of people apparently forgot that they already had a panda Pokemon before Pancham's announcement, it certainly is a great family and is certainly much more usable than Spinda.
#4
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Sawk
Oh man, I really love Sawk. It might be NU, but in my opinion it's one of the top five Pokemon in the tier, along with Jynx. A massive 125 Attack stat and decent other stats all around (except for Special Attack, but that doesn't really matter) make Sawk a powerful Choice Band sweeper. The fact that Sawk's name is pronounced like "sock" always amused me. Who ever thought that a Pokemon would one day be named "Sock" but had nothing to do with clothing? Its counterpart is Throh, a red skinned judo themed Pokemon, and a more apt name could not have been chosen for a Pokemon that represents Judo. Personally, I prefer Sawk over Throh because it looks cooler, I like blue more than red (obviously), and it's just much better in most regards. Sawk's abilities aren't the best; Sturdy and Mold Breaker are both good but nothing too special. all in all though, Sawk is just cool and I think it represents the Fighting type very well. There's only one other Pokemon that is a better poster-boy for the Fighting type, and that line is going to be #2 on this list.
#3
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2F3%2F32%2F106Hitmonlee.png%2F250px-106Hitmonlee.png&hash=9d1ef7990fc0b4cf7dd4048b6213f92b1c6d71db)
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Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop
Oh wow, this is going to be a difficult one to discuss. For those of you who don't know, Tyrogue can evolve into any of these three guys; Hitmonlee if its Attack > Defense, Hitmonchan if Defense > Attack, and Hitmontop if Defense = Attack. This sort of forces a trainer that wants to get a specific one to EV train them in such a way that by level 20 the desired stats are reached. Out of the three, Hitmontop is my personal favorite, but I really like all of them. Well, except Tyrogue, but even he's OK. Let's start with him though. His stats are terrible, but that's excusable because he's a baby Pokemon. Second, Hitmonlee has great Attack and a really good 110 Special Defense, one of the highest for Fighting types. He's a good Unburden Sweeper in the RU tier despite being fairly frail physically. Hitmonchan is my pick for the original two. The ability Iron First and a decent 105 Attack stat make him almost as viable in RU at Hitmonlee is. His stats are more balanced despite sill having poor HP. He's generally given a Life Orb and various punching moves of different types for coverage. Finally, we have Hitmontop, my personal favorite and the only one to be put in the UU tier. Will still cursed with the terrible 50 HP stat, Hitmontop has good 95 Attack and Defense, and excellent 110 Special Defense, making him bulky nonetheless. His ability Intimidate only further ensures that his opponents won't be able to take him out with physical attacks as it lowers their Attack stat whenever he switches in on them. While Blastoise is generally a more popular choice, Hitmontop is a good Rapid Spinner in UU.
#2
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Machop, Machoke, and Machamp
When "Fighting type" is mentioned, most people automatically think of Machamp, especially if they've only played the First Generation. These are the Pokemon that I think best personify the Fighting type; they're just macho men (or women). Simple. With a massive 130 Attack stat and an excellent ability in No Guard, Machamp makes itself one of if not the best Fighting type in the UU tier. After all, it does have four muscle packed arms! The ability No Guard ensures that, while all moves will hit you, your moves will never miss, and this works especially well with the 100 (150 with STAB) power move Dynamic Punch, which has a 100% chance of confusing the opponent. Normally this move has 50% accuracy, but with No Guard, it always hits. Think about this for a second. 130 Attack stat, 150 power move, always confuses. If you give Machamp a Life Orb or Bulk Up, nearly nothing is going to survive this thing. Stone Edge is also another move with 80% accuracy that always hits with No Guard. You can even give Machamp a Choice Band and totally wreck with these moves. Machamp literally may be the champ. But wait, isn't there another Fighting type that I like even more?
#1
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(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.bulbagarden.net%2Fupload%2Fthumb%2Fa%2Fad%2F533Gurdurr.png%2F250px-533Gurdurr.png&hash=f68007634b67036546cb0ac641c80c3470d114b6)
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Timburr, Gurdurr, and Conkeldurr
Aw yeah, these guys are awesome. Let's start with Timburr. Obviously a corruption of the word "timber", which it is holding, Timburr is a decent Pokemon in the Little Cup metagame for Pokemon in their lowest stage. It's fairly bulky with a decent 75 base HP and awesome base 80 Attack, making it a great Eviolite Bulk Up user as long as its supported correctly. Next, we've got Gurdurr, who gets the award for the derpiest Pokemon name ever. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just try saying "Gurdurr" outloud while stretching the "ur" at the end for as long as you can. Amazing, isn't it? Gurdurr is one of the few Not Fully Evolved and not Little Cup Pokemon that is viable in gameplay, and it is in the NU tier. In fact, its only rival is Sawk, but Gurdurr boasts three better abilities: Guts, Sheer Force, and Iron Fist, all of which can be played well depending on the set you give it. Finally, we have Conkeldurr, who gets the highest Attack stat of all Fighting types (excluding Medicham with Pure Power), including legendaries, at 140. Its 105 HP and 95 Defense make it a decent Physical wall too, but poor 65 Special Defense make it vulnerable to Psychic type attacks, like most Fighting types. Remember those three abilities I mentioned above that Gurdurr has? Well, these combined with a great movepool have put Conkeldurr in the OU tier. With a Life Orb, any move boosted by Sheer Force doesn't force Conkeldurr to lose HP from using the Life Orb, but the boost is still there. With Iron First, all punching moves are boosted, most notably Ice Punch, Drain Punch, and Mach Punch. Finally, you could even give it a Toxic Orb and let it be a Guts user with its always massive attack boosted. Bulk Up is also a viable strategy. Not very much is going to survive a Bulk Up Drain Punch from Conkeldurr unless it resists. With the addition of Ice Punch, it even counters Dragonite, Gliscor, and Salamence provided that it doesn't succumb to a special attack first. All in all, Conkeldurr is my favorite Fighting type and one of my favorite Pokemon in OU.
I have a Hariyama on my team in my current Sapphire playthrough, and while I love how high his attack is, I actually don't like the way his stats are set up. Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal. When I initially saw how high his HP was compared to the others on my team, I was excited to have a hard-hitting wall, but as soon as I entered my first evenly-matched battle, I was disappointed to see how badly his defenses made up for it. He's pretty good as a sweeper, but I just wish his defenses were a bit higher.
Quote from: Dudeman on December 31, 2013, 01:16:16 PMI have a Hariyama on my team in my current Sapphire playthrough, and while I love how high his attack is, I actually don't like the way his stats are set up. Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal. When I initially saw how high his HP was compared to the others on my team, I was excited to have a hard-hitting wall, but as soon as I entered my first evenly-matched battle, I was disappointed to see how badly his defenses made up for it. He's pretty good as a sweeper, but I just wish his defenses were a bit higher.
Mega Hariyama for Gen 7
+Atk, +Def, and +Spe :D
I'm still waiting for Mega Shuckle with like base 200 HP.
Quote from: Dudeman on December 31, 2013, 01:16:16 PMSure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal.
lies
Hariyama can be damn bulky if you invest in it's defenses a bit.
Mienshao's pretty sweet, wish it learned something like Power Whip or a signature move that highlights the whips on its arms though.
Quote from: Dudeman on December 31, 2013, 01:16:16 PMI have a Hariyama on my team in my current Sapphire playthrough, and while I love how high his attack is, I actually don't like the way his stats are set up. Sure, his HP is massive, but HP means nothing if your defenses are dismal. When I initially saw how high his HP was compared to the others on my team, I was excited to have a hard-hitting wall, but as soon as I entered my first evenly-matched battle, I was disappointed to see how badly his defenses made up for it. He's pretty good as a sweeper, but I just wish his defenses were a bit higher.
He's definitely better in Link Battles. He gets Knock Off/Whirlwind for trolling, and it's funny when something like Salamence/Gyarados/Aerodactyl try to hit you with Hidden Power Flying/Aerial Ace only to get one-shot by Counter.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney:I've wanted to check out this series for a while and I'm very glad I did. Looking forward to continue it. For those of you that don't know, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (PWAA) is the first game in the series.
Gameplay: 8/10 and 9/10 See, the reason I need to give the gameplay two scores is because the game cycles through two very different modes. The 8/10 goes to the investigations that take place before and between the trials. They're kind of like click escape games with multiple areas to visit and people to talk to, present evidence to, and the like. Essentially it's preparing for the trial scene the next day, which is fine. It's nice that there is at least a bit of variety in the gameplay, but then again, I didn't really get bored with reading text. Anyway, the 9/10 goes to the Trial scenes, which are a lot of fun. The specifics of course differ from case to case, but generally you play as the defense attorney Phoenix Wright and defend your clients against prosecuting attorneys, of which you meet three over the course of the game. Various witnesses are (usually) called by the prosecution and your job as a defense attorney is to press them and use evidence in the court record to point out flaws or contradictions in their testimonies. It sounds simple, but it really requires more and more thought as the cases go on. All of the five cases in this game are murder cases, by the way, so most of them follow the same general outline towards the beginning. The first two actually show you who the murderer is in the cutscene before the case, but the last three don't, and they're the ones I had the most fun with. The fifth case adds a few more elements of gameplay into the investigations, such as the ability to spray luminol and dust for fingerprints, which added much more depth than I would have thought.
Addictiveness: 9/10 There was only one part in the game where I didn't feel the urge to play, and that was after I finished case 1-4 (Turnabout Goodbyes) and was about to start 1-5 (rise from the Ashes). This is mainly because 1-4 was so good, but I heard that 1-5 was super long and I didn't think it'd be worth it. Wrong. 1-5 is the best case in the game, and so if you didn't finish it, you owe it to yourself to go back and do so. Anyway, the game is difficult to put down, especially in the middle of a trial. The investigations can be a little drawn out, but nothing too bad, and honestly what most people consider to be the "filler" case (1-3, Turnabout Samurai) is actually my second favorite case in the game.
Story: 10/10 it would be criminal of me to not give this game a 10/10 for story. The first case (1-1, First Turnabout) is the tutorial case, so it can be excused for not being as exhilarating as the others. Likewise, case #2 (1-2, Turnabout Sisters) is the tutorial to investigations, and while it is arguably more enjoyable than 1-1, it's still nothing all too shocking. 1-3 is my second favorite case and my favorite case of the first four, despite most people disagreeing with this. Turnabout Samurai had great characters, hilarious lines, a fun investigation, and it was the first case where they didn't show you the murderer right off the bat, so it actually felt like I was being an investigator for the first time. Case 1-4 was much better than 1-3 in its impact on the plot, but I enjoyed 1-3 much more for whatever reason. Anyway, 1-4 is still fantastic and is likely to be most people's favorite along with 1-5, despite being fairly long. All in all, the story feels broken up by case but also unified (1-2, 1-4, and 1-5 are the ones that affect the grand plot the most) at the same time. Well done Capcom, after playing so much Mega Man I'm impressed that you were able to come up with such great plot lines.
Music: 10/10 As some of you may know, PWAA was originally released as a GBA game, and so much of the music is in the GBA soundfont, which I really like. In addition to this, this game includes many character specific theme songs, which I've been such a sucker for in the past. I'd describe some of the songs in greater detail, but I think I'll just let the music do the talking:
Jake Marshall's Theme
Damon Gant's Theme
Inspector Dick Gumshoe's Theme
Court Beginns
Cornered!
Happy People
Steel Samurai Theme
Grossberg's Theme (And a few other people)
NOOOOOO
Character Design: 10/10 So many great characters! From lovable protagonists to despicable murderers to hysterical side characters, this game has everything I need. All the character theme songs (my favorites are posted above) really add to people's personality too. I'm not going to say much in particular here to avoid spoiling things, but the characters are among the best, most colorful, and most memorable I've ever seen in a video game.
Humor: 10/10 This is one of the quirkiest games I've ever played. Remember above when I mentioned hysterical side characters? Well, yeah. This game has a lot of hilariously weird moments in it. One of my personal favorite is when someone throws their wig in Phoenix's face after being caught lying during his testimony. The main prosecuting attorney, Miles Edgeworth, has this cold and sarcastic sense of humor that always makes me smile. Also, whenever a character is caught lying or is proven to have committed a crime of some sort, they all have a hilarious breakdown animation that ranges from throwing wigs to banging their head against the wall to being struck by lightning. Yeah, it's funny how hard to play this game with a straight face considering it's all about murders!
Difficulty: 8/10 The most difficult parts of the game are the trials in the last two cases, but if you save often enough and make smart choices, there's nothing all too difficult. Worst case scenario you'll have to reset your system a couple times, but that's about it. It's all just text reading and selecting responses anyway, so you're bound to figure the correct path out eventually if you keep trying hard enough!
Other Memorable Features: Whenever you finish a case, an image of all the important characters replaces the background on that case's selection screen, which serves as a nice reminder of what you just finished. This game has a few hilarious moments in it that occur by checking random objects, so if you play it, be sure to explore your surroundings and examine anything that looks suspicious!
Overall: 9.7/10 The last series of the Holy DS Puzzle Game Trinity does not disappoint.
Hey Blue, I know this is a little off-topic, but can you do a review of Metal Gear Solid?
I'm sorry, since when do I own a PlayStation?
YOU ARE MISSING OUT
If there are no games I want, I don't buy the console.
If I were to convince you to get a PS2 game, would you get one?
Take a minute to think about how many times people have had this conversation with me, and then think about the odds of that actually happening. :P
I don't play Microsoft or Sony consoles. Period.
Katamari Damacy.
'nuff said.
Quote from: Yugi on February 05, 2014, 08:49:30 PMIf I were to convince you to get a PS2 game, would you get one?
It's futile. Trust me.
I respect blueflower for that ;D
Quote from: blueflower999 on February 05, 2014, 07:19:34 PMI'm sorry, since when do I own a PlayStation?
You do realize that they made ports of MGS and MGS2 for GameCube...
Oh yeah, there was a port of MGS3 for 3DS.
It's not that bad, so if you're interested in the series, go for it!
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask:Or, as I like to call it
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles:Gameplay: 10/10 I've finally found it guys. The only Layton game where I enjoyed doing the puzzles. I don't know whether this game was actually much better than the predecessors in this regard or I'm just slowly going insane, but I'm pretty sure it's the former. Miracle Mask's puzzles are all loads of fun. My least favorite puzzles in the series are the ones where you need to do math and input a numerical answer. I much prefer the ones where you interact with elements on the touch or top screen to solve the puzzle, and this game had much less of the former and much more of the later. Besides the puzzles, the investigating portion of this game is also much improved and much more to my liking. It's sort of hard to explain, but the new method of navigating has you using the touch screen to look around the environment with a magnifying glass in an almost 3D perspective. Finding Hint Coins is much easier, and the environments look much more lively and interesting in a 3D perspective rather than in a flat one. If there's one work I would use to describe this game, it's just... so pretty. Some people might not be huge fans of them, but I
love the character models. They just work really well and show the personalities of all the characters with the animations they use. I'm not going to spoil what it is, but Chapter 6 in this game has some gameplay totally different from anything else in the series, and while it does drag on a little longer than I thought it should have, it's still a nice and refreshing change of pace. All in all, I don't think the Layton series could be much better than what is presented in this game gameplay wise.
Addictiveness: 9/10 It was pretty hard to put this game down. Miracle Mask is fantastic in that the puzzles don't take away from the experience at all. In other games, it was sort of like "Ughh the story is great but the puzzles are so boring", but that's not the case with this one, making it even more fun to play.
Story: 10/10 It's Layton. What more do I have to say? Unless you go into the game expecting Unwound Future, you'll most definitely be impressed with this game's story, and I really can't say much else without spoiling things.
Music: 9/10 I've really started to take a liking to Layton music, and this game's soundtrack really hit home with me for whatever reason. As always, my favorite tracks at the time of writing will be posted below.
Monte d'Or (Carnival Night)
Puzzles Abound (The puzzle theme)
The Theme of the Main Villain (Spoilers?)
Illusion
Not even really sure why I like this one, it's more for the atmosphere
Misgivings
The Masked Gentleman's Theme
Character Design: 10/10 Like pretty much all Layton games, the cast in Miracle Mask is cute, memorable, and nearly perfect. Layton, Luke, and Emmy are all among my favorites as they have always been. Inspector Grosky looks magnificent in his 3D model. The comic relief character, Hannah, is also pretty hilarious. The NPCs aren't as terrifying as Unwound Future's, but are also significantly less bland then they are in Curious Village.
Humor: 8/10 Like in most Layton games, the humor is never really too "IN YOUR FACE", if you will. Layton is usually better at more subtle humor, which I've grown to respect. My personal favorite comic moment in the game is when Luke sleeps late and wakes up to find the Professor and Emmy gone. When they return, the conversation is essentially "Hey! Where were you guys?!" and then Emmy says "Sorry Luke, we already caught the Masked Gentleman while you were asleep, it's time to go home". Another ridiculously humorous character is the bumbling Inspector Grosky, but I really can't do him justice in this review.
Difficulty: 7/10 I've got to say, this game had by far the lowest amount of what I would deem "BS Puzzles" than the other games. The only puzzles that really had me ripping my hair out were the ones where you have to divide the chess board into sections that all have an equal number of black and white pawns. Other than that, there were much less puzzles with numerical input as answers, which made me quite happy.
Other Memorable Features: The minigames in Miracle Mask are among the better ones I've seen so far, but are much more frustrating as they go along than the regular puzzles are, so they're not for the faint of heart. In addition to the main story, Level-5 posted a Daily Puzzle every day for quite a while, and they're all available in the Bonuses section in case you really crave more Miracle Mask style puzzles.
Overall: 10/10 The perfect Layton game. I've finally, finally found it.
A+++++++++
I love this game and I loved this review, especially your comments about the humor and 3D aspects. Best comment: "not sure if they were actually better or I'm slowly going insane." Awesome music selections, by the way.
I forgot to ask you this, but didn't the Reunion Inn music strike you as really scary for Layton? Or was that just me lol
Quote from: SlowPokemon on February 07, 2014, 06:38:19 PMI forgot to ask you this, but didn't the Reunion Inn music strike you as really scary for Layton? Or was that just me lol
Miracle Mask Spoilers
It was more dark and sad to me than scary. All those stories you read, which are, of courses, symbolic of the Masked Gentleman's anger, were pretty sad and out of place in a Layton game.
I have a few reviews planned for the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
I've been lazy. My apologies!
I've wanted to review this game for some time now, and it just so happens that Wolf posted a review of the sequel today, so I thought it would be a good time!
Plants Vs. Zombies:Please note that I have the DS version of this game, and so that's what I'll be reviewing. I'm aware that it's also available on PC as well as some mobile devices and consoles.
Gameplay: 9/10 Plants Vs. Zombies is easily the best tower defense game I've ever played. It starts off as a very simple game and gets more and more complex as it goes on. You start off with five lanes, each of which are attacked by Zombies more and more over time. You start by planting Sunflowers in the back row, which generate sun that is used to buy other plants. Pea Shooters are the basic offensive plant that shoot one pea at a time forward in their lane at a Zombie. Like I said, it sounds simple, but by the end of the game you have the option to use over 50 plants and are battling against about 25 different types of Zombies, each of which have their own strategy of making it to your side of the screen and different plants that counter them. The terrain changes too. For instance, on Night levels, sun never falls from the sky. When you battle Zombies on the roof, your Pea Shooters don't work because the room has an angle, so you use catapult plants instead. There are also levels that take place in the backyard with a pool, so aquatic plants are used as well. There are 10 levels in each area and 5 areas in total (front yard day, front yard night, backyard day, backyard night, and roof). Every fifth level, there's something different than the standard gameplay. For instance, level 1-5 is a bowling minigame and level 4-5 is a vase-breaking minigame. After beating certain levels and finishing the game, you unlock numerous other game modes. Mimigames has about twenty minigames in it that are very fun and put creative twists on an already fun game. Puzzle mode makes you think and plan out strategies in two fun game modes. Survival tests your endurance to see how many waves of Zombies you can take. This is barely scratching the surface, but in short there are tons of stuff to do in the game. You'll most definitely be getting your money's worth.
Addictiveness: 9/10 I've been very much addicted to this game the past few weeks. In fact, it an Ace Attorney have dominated my handheld playing time, and you all already know how much I love Ace Attorney, so that's saying something. As I mentioned above, there are tons of game modes, and that contributes very much to the addictive factor; once you're done playing in one mode, there's always another that you haven't played in a while.
Story: 1/10 There's really nothing in the way of story from what I can tell other than that you're a house owner who is getting ambushed by wave after wave of Zombies for several days.
Music: 9/10 This game has freaking awesome music. A lot of it has sort of a terrifying-but-silly feel to it, which really adds to the game's charm. All of the level themes are particularly fantastic. I know I said that I play the DS version, but I'll be posting the songs from the original PC version because YouTube has better quality uploads of them.
Front Yard Day
Front Yard Night
Back Yard Day
Back Yard Night
Roof
Ultimate Battle
Definitely my favorite song in the game. Highly recommend listening to the whole thing.
Final Boss Music (Spoilers)
So freaking good.
Character Design: Not counting the plants and the Zombies, there's only one real character. Crazy Dave is essentially the narrator for the game, and he pops in every few levels to tell you something about what's coming up or some random piece of information. He's hilarious and very "crazy", as his name would suggest. Of course, the Zombies are all a riot. You have everything in this game: pole vaulting Zombies, football Zombies, Zombies riding Zambonis ("Zombonis"), bungee jumping Zombies, dolphin riding Zombies, etc.
Humor: 9/10 This game has an absolutely charming sense of humor. The plants and Zombies all have really clever names, especially the plants. The Pea Shooter is your basic attacking plant, which shoots peas as its name suggests, but is also named after a type of gun, a "pea shooter". Later, you get a type of plant that shoots two peas at a time called a Repeater, and later a plant that shoots peas in three lanes called a Threepeater. All kinds of jokes like that make Plants Vs. Zombies sort of a parody of the horror genre.
Difficulty: 8/10 The later levels in the game can be fairly difficult. Being prepared for so many Zombies forces players to pick their plants very carefully (you only get about 7-9 slots depending on where you are in the game). Some of the mini games can be difficult, and the Survival levels are intentionally brutal. This game has something for everyone: difficult levels for gaming experts and a campaign with a learning curve that will make even the worst gamers experts by the end.
Other Memorable Features: While playing the game, Zombies sometimes drop plants which are added to the Zen Garden, a feature that allows you to water plants and help them grow. As time goes on, plants in the Zen Garden will drop money, which is useful for buying upgrades, extra seed slots, more plants for the Zen Garden, and many other things.
Overall: 9.4/10 This is one of the few mainstream games I've played that I feel deserves every bit of the hype.
Awesome review! Before you played it I had no real interest in playing this game, but this review as well as your comments on Skype have earned it a spot on my to-play list.
I listened to a few of the music tracks while reading the review and although the ultimate and final bosses were good, my favorite one that I listened to was "Roof"--it has a very cool vibe and is really the perfect sort of music for this type of game.
Nice job!
To celebrate me completing the school year and the 5 year anniversary of the first game, it's time for another review!
Plants Vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time:It's about time is right! I got this game a few weeks ago on my iPhone, and I'm certain I've played it every day since. It's the most addicting thing ever, and it's totally free. I recommend everyone with an iPhone or Android pick it up if you want to try out this excellent series!
Gameplay: 10/10 Plants Vs. Zombies 2 is easily the best tower defense game I've ever played. It takes everything the first game did right and multiplies it ten times over. New plants, tons of new zombies, and quite a few new level mechanics make this game just as good, if not superior, to the first game. For the most part, the gameplay remains both similar enough that fans of the old game will be very pleased, yet different enough to feel like a completely different game. Plenty of new plants are introduced, many of which take new and creative twists on preexisting plants. For instance, the Pea Pod is a variety of Peashooter that you can plant multiple times on the same square to multiply its damage. Rather than taking place around the player's house (front yard, backyard, roof, pool, etc.), this game takes place in several time periods including Ancient Egypt, Pirate Seas, Wild West, and Far Future. Also in contrast to the first game, where you can find a zombie on any level once they're introduced (with some obvious exceptions, i.e. finding a pool zombie on the roof), you'll never see a zombie from Ancient Egypt in the Far Future. This means that each time period has its own unique strategies and different plants are more or less useful. For instance, the Spring Bean is very useful in the Pirate Seas, but completely worthless in every other world. Many features continue over from the first game, such as the Zen Garden, having minigames in between real levels, battles with Dr. Zomboss, and the Suburban Almanac, which provides humorous descriptions of plants and zombies. The biggest change to the gameplay by far is the edition of plant food. Certain zombies glow green when spawned, and if you kill them, they drop plant food for you to collect. Placing plant food on any plant will give it a certain boost which is different for each plant. The Peashooter shoots rapidly forward for a few seconds, the Potato Mine clones itself, and the Sunflower generates a ton of bonus sun. While there aren't quite as many alternate playing modes as PvZ1, there are still plenty of challenges to be had in each world. Each time period has 25 levels, which include minigames, a boss battle, a conveyor belt level as seen before in the first game, and many challenge levels. Challenge levels include restrictions such as never having more than X plants, never spending more than X sun, or surviving while protecting some preexisting plants. Perhaps my favorite part about this game is the fact that it's being updated all the time. Far Future was released in March, and they're making at least one more world, presumably the Middle Ages, that should be ready in a few months or so.
Addictiveness: 10/10 I beat this game about a month ago and still find myself playing every day, sometimes for hours on end. It's really a bad habit and I need to overcome this addiction, but dang, this game is fun. It's free too, so if you have an iPhone or Android, be sure to check it out.
Story: 3/10 Literally the best "so bad it's good" plot line I've ever seen in a video game. After the first few tutorial levels (which take place in the front yard of the first game), Crazy Dave is shown eating a taco. He then proceeds to jump into a time machine (named Penny) to go back in time to eat the taco again, and for some unexplained reason you go along, for some unexplained reason there are zombies wherever you land, and for some unexplained reason you travel to the future before traveling to the present to retrieve Dave's taco. Yeah.
Music: 9/10 While not quite as iconic as the first game, there are still plenty of outstanding songs in this game, and many of which are remixes of songs from the first game. Both the Dr. Zomboss battle theme and Ultimate Battle get remixes in each time period. Ancient Egypt, Pirate Seas, and Wild West all have pretty good regular themes too. Far Future's is OK, but I'm not a huge fan of it as of yet. There's even a pretty sick remix of the front yard theme from the first game.
Ancient Egypt
Pirate Seas
Wild West (Personal Favorite)
Wild West Zomboss Remix (For an example)
Far Future Ultimate Battle
Front Yard
Character Design: 9/10 There are only really three characters in this game, all of which I've named: Crazy Dave, Penny the totally not DeLorean clone, and Dr. Edgar Zomboss. While all three are hilarious, fairly colorful, and enjoyable characters, the real characters that most of the game is spent with are the plants. While they don't say anything, the plant's designs never fail to amuse and endear me. This game furthers this by adding unlockable costumes for each plant. I haven't gotten all of them yet, but the Repeater gets a viking helmet, the Twin Sunflower gets sunglasses, and the E.M. Peach gets Mega Man's helmet. Just like the first game, all the plants are useful and have a time to use them. Some I like more than others, but I use all of them from time to time. There are no bad plants.
Humor: 9/10 Lots of corny jokes. To list some would be a disservice to anyone who wanted to play the game, but Dave and Penny have these hilarious exchanges before the start of certain levels that usually entail a one liner or two. In addition, the Suburban Almanac is just as witty as it was in the first game, and is still a pleasure to read through.
Difficulty: 7/10 If you were able to beat the first game fairly easily, then this game shouldn't give you too much difficulty. If you do have trouble on certain levels, then this game has both paid DLC and in game currency to help out. Seven plants are available to purchase with real money and there are some temporary powerups able to be bought with coins during a level. In addition, the Zen Garden allows you to "boost" a plant, which means that for one level that plant will always use its plant food effect once placed, which is quite helpful.
Other Memorable Features: Each world has a survival mode-esque area that is quite addicting. It keeps track of your high score and I always find myself wanting to play them to beat my previous one. As mentioned above, the Zen Garden is used both for money (growing Marigolds) and for boosting plants (growing everything else). Every day now, there's an event called a Pinata Party that takes place in the front yard and has zombies from all four locations. Winning these results in huge prizes, and occasionally a plant costume.
Overall: 9.5/10 While largely similar to the first game and likable for different reasons (as many sequels are), it still stands out as the superior title. Also, it's
free, so please try it out if you have the time!
Time to review a game that I really don't have all that much to say about, but wanted to say something about it anyway.
The Stanley Parable:I don't really know what to say about this game. So far the best description of it I've seen is the game's description on Steam:
"The Stanley Parable is a first person exploration game. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will follow a story, you will not follow a story. You will have a choice, you will have no choice. The game will end, the game will never end. Contradiction follows contradiction, the rules of how games should work are broken, then broken again. This world was not made for you to understand."
Gameplay: 8/10 You play as Stanley, the generic silent protagonist. It's really hard to put the experience of this game into text, but I'll try my best. You follow a story with a Narrator and walk through Stanley's office building. The Narrator will say things like "When he came to a set of two open doors, he chose the one on his left." Of course, as the player, you have the chose to enter either the left door or the right door. Obeying the Narrator's instructions through the entire game results in the "True" ending, which actually resolves the plot (kind of) and makes everyone happy. Disobeying the Narrator at any point results in various effects on the plot. Explaining them or giving any kind of examples would be a huge disservice to anyone wanting to play the game, so I won't. Similar to many choice-based games, there are multiple endings. The Stanley Parable has about 18 Endings, but you can slice the game in numerous ways, so that number is more variable than you might think. Occasionally you'll get to interact with things by clicking, but mostly this consists of pushing buttons and opening doors. You can't jump or perform any real actions, so this game is entirely based on exploring the possibilities with the narrative video game. It's really quite bizarre, and you can tell the creators had a lot of fun programming it. Like many Steam games, there are numerous achievements you can get, but none of them follow convention. They have qualifications like "This is an achievement" and "Don't play the Stanley Parable for five years". There's even an achievement called "Unachievable: You can't get this achievement". Yeah, I don't know.
Addictiveness: 7/10 It is a rather short game, but the whole premise is so hilarious and intriguing enough that you'll probably spend a day, or at most two, playing it a lot. It only takes about 4-5 hours to beat the whole game though, so it's not something that'll take most people a while. The replayability is there, but not that much stronger than your average game.
Story: ?/10 I really can't say anything here or even give my own opinion on the story. Is there a story? Is there not a story? I beat the game and researched as much as I could but still can't decide. It's really quite intriguing. Play the game and make up your own mind.
Music: 6/10 Because there's a Narrator who speaks at pretty much every opportunity, I didn't spend much time listening to the music. There's really not a lot in the game, and what I do hear isn't particularly memorable. There is, however, one decent song that sticks with me because of the sheer hilarity of it: The Narrator calls for some "adventure music" or whatever and this starts playing:
Adventure Music??
The otherwise eerie and lonely tone of the game is completely shattered as soon as that starts playing.
Character Design: 4?/10 This is another section that's difficult. The Stanley Parable is the only story based game (if you can call it that) which doesn't have any characters and yet continues to tell a story. Stanley does pretty much nothing, so The Narrator is really the only person who arguably qualifies as a character. What makes him really interesting is that his role changes drastically depending on the choices you make. Some paths make him your best (and only) friend, where other choices make him quite cruel and almost evil. Other than those two, there really aren't very many other moments of significance that I can talk about without spoiling things.
Humor: 9/10 Oh gosh this game got me to laugh a lot. It's really wacky, bizarre, and just downright absurd at times. Sometimes it satires other video games, other times the Narrator's narrative is plain hysterical. It's really quite well written and his voice acting is really well done and conveys a lot of emotion.
Difficulty: 0/10 Unless you count figuring out how to get all the endings as a challenge (which it kind of is because some are more obvious than others), there really isn't anything that can be considered hard or easy about this game.
Other Memorable Features: There's one ending that involves pressing a button to prevent a baby from crawling into the fire. It goes on for four hours before the game ends and shows the ending. This is also the only game I've ever played that spoils itself and then proceeds to tell you that it's spoiling itself. I'm not even kidding.
Overall: 8/10 I think the best description of this game is in the beginning of the trailer. "It's brilliant. Why? That would spoil it. You'll just have to trust me."
I apologize for my lack of commentary about most of the game, but that's really all I can say without ruining the experience. In short, it's a really weird and unique game with a great sense of humor and an interesting "story".
Come on Stanley! Let's go find the story!
(Ah, the adventure music has to be the best track in video game history. I NEED to get this game!)
Some pretty impressive reviewing going on here! Good job!
Quote from: InfinitySoul on July 10, 2014, 06:14:44 AMSome pretty impressive reviewing going on here! Good job!
Thanks! You have a pretty good taste in games yourself. :D
Reminds me of zork
sounds fun.
Little Inferno:It's Little Inferno! It's Little Inferno just for meeee!~ I actually played this game back in the winter, but I'd thought I'd wait until the most inappropriate time to review it (the middle of summer). Either that, or I was just lazy. Who knows?
For those who don't know, Little Inferno is a gem of an indie game that's available on numerous platforms including the Wii U, iOS, and PC. Personally, I bought the version on the Wii U eShop for 10$. Whenever I talk to anyone about this game, I always show them the trailer first (which is also available to watch in the game), so if you're interested, I'll start with that.
Little Inferno Trailer
Gameplay: 8/10 Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the game. Little Inferno's gameplay is pretty simple: buy objects in the catalog, burn them, and then they drop more money than they cost. Doing this allows you to slowly build up money and purchase the next catalog after burning all the objects. However, before the next catalog is available for purchase, an increasing number of "combos" is required, which involve burning two or three objects at the same time. The game provides a list of combos by name, and the names are clues to which objects to burn. For instance, the combo "movie night" involves burning a television and corn (resulting in popcorn). Occasionally objects will also drop stamps, and completing combos awards stamps as well. These can be used to make shipping packages instantaneous. In the beginning of the game, the shipping is pretty quick and stamps aren't really necessary. However, the last object in the game takes about five minutes to ship, so it's recommended saving stamps for the last few catalogs. The best part of the game is when every couple minutes a spider will crawl down into the fireplace, which you can burn for 100% free profit (and occasionally a stamp). Burning on the Wii U involves dragging your finger across the touch screen to either light things on fire or move them around. The graphics looks gorgeous on the gamepad (and they would on my TV too, but I hate flat-screens and refuse to use HD TVs) and the gameplay is simple yet so fun and addicting that you'll want to play through to the end. Occasionally a letter from any one of three people arrives in your mailbox, and these are what largely progress the story. (Yes, a game about burning things in a fireplace actually has a story, but more on that later).
Addictiveness: 8/10 While it is a fairly short game (only about 3 hours or so), the addictive level is high because of both the story and the simplicity of the gameplay. The objects always have you wondering what'll happen when you burn them, and there's always an incentive to continue. Most people would beat this game in a day or two.
Story: 8/10 I can't say too much here about the story to avoid ruining it for people, but it is rather good. Granted there aren't earth-shattering plot twists like in Professor Layton or incredibly fleshed out characters like in Ace Attorney, but there are nice moments and likable characters and the story provokes a lot of thought and makes the game quite memorable. The premise of the story is explained in the video trailer I linked to above, so go watch it if you're curious.
Music: 7/10 The music in this game isn't phenomenally diverse, but the main theme of the game is remixed several times throughout and it's really one of my favorite pieces of video game music. The best version of it in my opinion is the theme that plays when reading a letter from the Weatherman, and that's the version I'll place below. There are some other okay songs, but that's the one that sticks out to me the most.
Reporting From The Weather Balloon
Character Design: 8/10 There are only really a handful of characters in the game, but most of them are surprisingly memorable. To describe any of them in detail would be a little too close to spoiler territory, so I'll just say that many of them are more interesting than they first appear. My personal favorite character is the above mentioned Weatherman, both for his awesome theme song and other reasons that I can't disclose.
Humor: 8/10 This game is pretty wacky and it's clear that the three guys who made it had some fun writing the dialogue. The letters you receive, depending on who they're from, are usually written in a quirky and sometimes goofy manner that help cement the character in the player's mind. There's also a lot of in-your-face or even dark humor when you burn certain objects. For example, burning a toy school bus results in hearing children screaming before the bus explodes.
Difficulty: 5/10 The only difficulty that comes from this game is a direct result of having to figure out combos to buy the next catalog. Usually this isn't too hard because even though the number of combos required increases each time, the number of combos available also increases, so usually with a bit of trial and error it can be done. In a game that only takes about three hours to beat, there's nothing too difficult.
Other Memorable Features: In the game, the player burns objects in his Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace. That fireplace is made by the Tomorrow Corporation, which is also the company that made the game Little Inferno. So you're playing as a kid burning things in a fireplace made by Tomorrow Corp while you burn things in a game made by Tomorrow Corp. Yeah.
Overall: 8/10 Definitely among the more unique concepts for a game I've seen, Little Inferno is very good for what it is and leaves a surprisingly strong message on the player. It's a little expensive on the Wii U, but the iOS version is very much worth the price.
Woo!!! Haven't thought about this one for a while.
While it seems as though it's not much of a game, it's one that sparked me (no pun intended) to tell a lot of people about it upon completion, which doesn't happen terribly often. I totally agree that the developers obviously had a lot of fun making it and that it ends up leaving an impact even if it's a strange little oddity of a game.
Excellent review. :)
I don't feel like I've talked about Ace Attorney enough in this thread, but I'm not sure how to approach such a large topic that I've let accumulate so long.
Have you played Chrono Trigger? I didn't see a review for it, so I thought I'd ask.
I haven't, although I'd definitely like to. The game is too expensive (like many SNES RPGs) and rare though. I've only seen a copy once, and someone else was buying it. :(
I'm sure it is an excellent game though, and while I'm aware that there's a remake or something on the DS, I'd much rather play the original SNES version.
Quote from: blueflower999 on August 08, 2014, 07:33:29 PMI don't feel like I've talked about Ace Attorney enough in this thread, but I'm not sure how to approach such a large topic that I've let accumulate so long.
Here's an idea! Since this is a gaming blog too, why not do something more along the lines of a column or article about Ace Attorney? Write about what your initial concerns about the series were, or maybe write something in the holes of convincing a non-fan to try it out. Idk, there's a lot of stuff you could do with it. Favorite characters and cases could be a fun read too.
But see I just love the series so much that I don't think I could do it justice. The series isn't guilty of very many mistakes in my opinion. In fact, it's pretty near fawles in most regards.
In all seriousness though, I definitely need to do something and fast. I might wait until I finish Investigations 2 and then just make an unorganized post ranting about the series and how much I love it and everything it did right.
but come on amano role here
Not badd ;)
Be honest: did you ever expect to like this series this much before playing it? xD I remember hating myself for bugging you so much to play it but I kept telling myself how much you would like it if I did so in a way your interest is validating my being annoying
I didn't really know what to expect going into this series (exactly the same with the other two members of the Holy Trinity!), and I think that made the experience all the more enjoyable tbh. XD
All I know now is that I have an unhealthy obsession with this series and it's making it hard to go to sleep at night.
You forgot something about Chrono Trigger. It's also on the wii/wii U virtual console it it's original format. And $7.99. Beats a 90.00 cart any day.
Ehh I'll think about it but I would really like the cart for my collection. And I don't want to buy I have I already have...
Maybe one day.
Just try to make it soon. The cart will only go up in price...And it's possibly the best game I've ever played. :P Just make sure you eventually get around to it in the future.
Heh. The future. Nice one.
"In time" would have made a better pun than "In the future" though...
im so disappointed in you mael
I've decided to do a Top 34 cases list after I finish Investigations 2 and then review each individual game after I finish replaying it.
I've finished the second case in Investigations 2 (The Imprisoned Turnabout) and it's definitely in the Top 10. Gosh that was a good case.
Quote from: blueflower999 on August 09, 2014, 10:01:38 PMI've decided to do a Top 34 cases list after I finish Investigations 2 and then review each individual game after I finish replaying it.
I've finished the second case in Investigations 2 (The Imprisoned Turnabout) and it's definitely in the Top 10. Gosh that was a good case.
Nice! The case after is actually one of my personal favourite cases ever, so I can't wait to hear what you think about that one!
AA stuff
So long as 2-4 is on top I'll be happy
Assuming Investigations 2 doesn't beat it, I guarantee that case will be in the Top 3
I'm in the middle of The Grand Turnabout. Expect a Top 34 Cases shortly.
To further celebrate my completion of this fantastic series, I'm planning on reviewing each of the games in turn and also doing more stuff related to it. Top Cases definitely comes first, but the poll now asks the question of what other topics I should do. Please vote if you'd like!
Top 34 Ace Attorney Cases (34-26):Alright, I'm finally doing it! In four parts, I'm going to rank all the cases from the Ace Attorney series, including the five mainseries games and two Investigations spinoffs. Each case ranking will be in a spoiler tag and thus WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, but I will put the name of the game on the spoiler tag. Therefore, if you've
finished the first two games, it's safe for you to read the entries saying "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" and "Justice For All" on them because I won't spoil things from other games. However, because some cases connect with others, I ask that you don't read the articles if you haven't finished the game entirely (this includes the DLC case from Dual Destinies). Before I begin though, here's a quick reference of all the cases in the series:
Just Names Listed
1-1: The First Turnabout
1-2: Turnabout Sisters
1-3: Turnabout Samurai
1-4: Turnabout Goodbyes
1-5: Rise From The Ashes
2-1: The Lost Turnabout
2-2: Reunion, and Turnabout
2-3: Turnabout Big Top
2-4: Farewell, My Turnabout
3-1: Turnabout Memories
3-2: The Stolen Turnabout
3-3: Recipe For Turnabout
3-4: Turnabout Beginnings
3-5: Bridge to the Turnabout
4-1: Turnabout Trump
4-2: Turnabout Corner
4-3: Turnabout Serenade
4-4: Turnabout Succession
5-1: Turnabout Countdown
5-2: The Monstrous Turnabout
5-3: Turnabout Academy
5-4: The Cosmic Turnabout
5-5: Turnabout For Tomorrow
5-S: Turnabout Reclaimed (DLC case)
E-1: Turnabout Visitor
E-2: Turnabout Airlines
E-3: The Kidnapped Turnabout
E-4: Turnabout Reminiscence
E-5: Turnabout Ablaze
E2-1: Turnabout Target
E2-2: The Imprisoned Turnabout
E2-3: The Inherited Turnabout
E2-4: The Forgotten Turnabout
E2-5: The Grand Turnabout
Now with that out of the way, let us begin!
#34 Miles Edgeworth Investigations
The Kidnapped Turnabout
My gosh, this case irritates me. Hands down, I didn't even need to think to name it my least favorite case in the series. If I had to pick one thing that I do like about this case, it would be the whole Blue Badger theme park. Just the concept of such a thing is hilarious, and the orchestral arrangement in game is very well done, if a little underplayed.
Now let's look at the bad stuff. First off, the characters. To the case's credit, it introduces Shi-Long Lang and Kay Faraday well, who end up becoming great characters. But because their main characters (plus Kay was supposed to be introduced in an earlier case originally), this isn't very much to the case's credit. All the characters that are exclusive to this case (Ernest Amano, Lance Amano, Lauren Paups, and the victim Colin Devorae) are all incredibly flat and simply not interesting. Lance Amano is hands down my least favorite character in the series. He's a spoiled brat rich kid, and unlike some other characters later on in the series, he doesn't pull it off well at all. He's arrogant, his animations are obnoxious, and he's just a pretty-rich boy that I don't like. His breakdown sucks, he uses his girlfriend, and just all in all he's not a likable character. Lauren Paups, Lance's girlfriend, is slightly better, but not by much. She's not given very much character development before it's revealed that the victim was actually her father. That's slightly touching I guess, but I didn't find myself caring very much because it isn't built up well. Lauren has this annoying habit of flirting with Edgeworth all whilst scolding herself in the third person, which gets annoying really fast. Ernest Amano, Lance's father, is the best of the three but still isn't very memorable. He's essentially the stereotypical rich dad who spoils his son, but he has this annoying habit of going "Now, Now, Now", which scrolls ridiculously slowly. He turns out to be a villain by the end of the game, but you've essentially figured that out by the end of the case anyway. He makes a smart move by purchasing the Haunted House so that it can't be investigated, but Kay Faraday spoils it with her Little Theif.
Other than those new characters, the case also has three pointless cameo characters. Wendy Oldbag is the least annoying of them (strangely enough) because she fits right into the case. Her flirting action with Edgeworth is always amusing, so I don't mind her being there too much. Next, Mike Meekins in the Blue Badger costume. This role could easily have been filled by any other character, but the developers I guess felt like making a ton of Rise From the Ashes references. He's not terrible, but it feels kinda forced. Finally, Ema Skye. My gosh, this is probably the worst cameo in the game. Ema was one of my favorite characters in the series after 1-5, but the following games continue to butcher her character (Apollo Justice) and her role (Investigations). Rather than being the cute science-loving sidekick, she just appears for a split second for no reason other than to provide forensics help. If you wanted her to provide forensics help, have her there as a character in other scenes. These developers are using her as an object. "Oh, Edgeworth needs to find out whose shoes these are. Better make Ema a character for this one scene and then never mention her again!"
The plot of the case isn't anything all too spectacular either. The concept of a boy kidnapping himself for a ransom has been done before (although admittedly the reference to Tender Lender was rather subtle and amusing). All in all, I just really didn't like this case. It didn't' build up to anything unique or interesting, the characters were among the worst in the series, and Ema Skye's cameo makes me really mad.
But is it *AWFUL* for video game standards? ...No. Not even the worst Ace Attorney case has no redeeming qualities. And that just goes to show how good the series is at its core. Like I mentioned earlier, Kay Faraday and Shi-Long Lang are both great characters and make their debut in this case, but that's not nearly enough to save it.
#33 Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
Turnabout Sisters
With The Kidnapped Turnabout out of the way, I don't hate any more cases. Turnabout Sisters is still a bad case though, no matter which way you look at it. However, it does have the excuse that it was the first real case in the series to have any sort of meat behind it, and because it takes place at a point where the series was still defining itself, I can let it slide.
This case is one of the few instances in the series where a main character, Mia Fey, is killed. This could easily have been the concept for a finale or even a middle game case, but unfortunately they ruin all the suspense by showing you the killer's face in the opening cutscene (not that there was anyone else in the case who could have done it anyway).
This case is the first case that requires you to investigate the crime scene and interrogate witnesses and other people. The characters aren't nearly as bad as The Kidnapped Turnabout, but there are a couple that could still use some work. I like Marvin Grossberg for some reason, Redd White is a despicable villain yet is still lacking a little in character, and The Bellboy is simply hilarious with his random affidavit fetish. April May is alright too, but her archetype of being evil-yet-attractive/slutty-accomplice isn't very original.
Of course, as every fan knows, this case introduces Miles Edgeworth as the prosecutor, and one of his biggest merits as a character is his development. Which basically means that in this case he's a jerk. I hated him at first, and only started to grow to like him around Investigations 2, so he didn't exactly redeem this case for me either. Similarly, Maya Fey later becomes one of my favorite main characters, but in this case she's really gloomy and depressed (understandably so, but still), which is in complete contrast to her usual effervescent personality. Finally, Detective Gumshoe becomes one of my favorite characters in the future, but in this case, again, he's portrayed completely different. He's sided with the prosecution, like all detectives, and is working to convict Maya. All of these characters grow to be likable later in the series, but this case portrays them as different people. The development is very real and understandable, but it just doesn't make them good characters playing through this case for the first time.
If there's one thing this case did really well, it's set up Turnabout Goodbyes. By talking about the DL-6 incident so much without really explaining what it was, it set up the finale perfectly. Which means that this game had to have been in the game for the full experience.
So, what is it exactly that turns me off about this case? Well, for one thing I don't like them killing Mia off too quickly, but I can even get past that. The main gripe I have is that it shows the killer. It's fine showing Frank Sahwit as the murderer in The First Turnabout because it's the opening case of the series, it's painfully obvious anyway, and it's only one short trial in length. This case seems to drag on a lot longer than needed, consists of two court cases and two investigations, and STILL has a painfully obvious killer, and yet they need to show his face anyway. Why?! It's just not needed!
tl;dr: Turnabout Sisters isn't an awful case, it's just long, boring, it shows you the killer beforehand even though it didn't really need to, and introduces a lot of new characters, some of which are good, some are bad, and some are bad that become good later in the series. It's an important case to the overall plot though, so I totally understand why it exists, but I feel like it could have been executed better.
#32 Miles Edgeworth Investigations
Turnabout Visitor
Ah, Turnabout Visitor. What an odd case. I don't even know if I have all that much to say about it. It's easily the most bland opener in the series, which I suppose is the best way to start off the most bland game in the series?
Anyway, the characters. Jacques Portsman (or Jock Sportsman as I like to call him) is the killer, and it shows you that in the intro. No big surprise there, anyone could have figured it out in the first few minutes of the case. It's an unnecessarily long intro, but it's not nearly as long as Turnabout Sisters, which also shows the killer, so I can let it pass. He's sort of a cool character, pretty cocky (although he's yet another "prodigy prosecutor" stereotype) and pretty cruel once you break his facade, but he's the only new character in this case other than the victim, Detective Buddy Faith. (Not counting one other person, who I'll talk about later). Maggey Byrde is perfectly integrated into the case. She's a guard at the prosecutor's office who unknowingly helps Prosecutor Portsman out with his mission to steal files from Edgeworth's room, and ends up getting framed for the murder. It's exactly the kind of bad luck that Maggey has throughout the rest of the series, and it doesn't feel nearly as unnatural as, say, SOME OTHER CAMEOS IN THIS GAME.
Ahem. My favorite part of Turnabout Visitor is definitely the reveal in Turnabout Ablaze that it was Detective Badd who tried to rob the office ahead of Portsman, which was pretty neat. The video tape featured in this case also becomes important evidence in Turnabout Ablaze as well, so I guess the connection there is strong enough for me to... not hate this case.
tl;dr: A bit of a bland opening for a bland game. However, it does have the redeeming qualities of good characters and a good connection to the finale. It's not awful, it's just not very memorable.
#31 Justice For All
Reunion, and Turnabout
I used to really dislike this case, but I've started to like it a little bit more in the past few months. Other than Turnabout Sisters, it's the first case in the series where you get to meet and talk with the character who gets murdered before it happens. And let me tell you, Dr. Turner Grey is hilarious and has this weird obsession with hating the local weather girl.
This case also introduces a lot of great characters. Ini Miney is pretty annoying but makes the "stupid" archetype look really freaking stupid. That is, until she lifts her facade and in a twist turns out to be quite cunning. Morgan Fey is also a pretty interesting character, but Pearl takes the cake for the cutest kid in a video game everrr. She's just the best. Everyone loves Pearl, and for good reason. Additionally, Lotta Hart makes a return (this was the first "oh hey it's you again!" moment in the series other than Larry Butz in 1-4) and the recurring character of Director Hotti is introduced, who is also one of my favorites. Of course though, my favorite character introduced in this case is Franziska von Karma, but I'll talk more about her later.
In addition to good characters, Mimi Miney has a great murder plot, it's executed well, and honestly it's quite amazing that Phoenix was able prove her the murderer. The whole thing with the face change is also really surprising and well done.
So, what is it I don't like about this case? Well, honestly, I'm not sure anymore! I used to really dislike it, but now that I'm examining the plot, it's really... okay! The worst part about the case is that it does drag on way too long, and the fact that the only two suspicious people are both involved in the crime is obvious pretty quick. But I think if you can get past the length of the case, it's still an improvement over Turnabout Sisters. (And trust me, these second cases are only going to continue to get better.)
#30 Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
The First Turnabout
What can I say about this case that hasn't been said a million times? It's just a classic, and deserving of that title. I think from this point onward I genuinely like every case.
The First Turnabout is exactly what you would expect the first case in the Ace Attorney series to be. A really easy to spot culprit, very obvious contradictions, and a slightly incompetent yet hilariously cocky prosecutor who doesn't really get in the way that much. It's just great. Phoenix Wright's first case is also the only case to have Mia alive through all of it, so that's cool too. It introduces Larry Butz, The Judge, and Winston Payne, all of whom become main characters later in the series. Frank Sahwit is a hilarious culprit. His animations are hilarious, his breakdown is perfect, and his changes in composure are always fun to watch. The victim in this case... wait, what was her name again?
The First Turnabout essentially sets up the remainder of the first game perfectly and teaches the player very nicely how to spot contradictions and defend someone in court. It even foreshadows a little bit why Phoenix became a lawyer and Mia's death in the next case. So, why is it so low then? Well, because it's so simple and there's not a lot of meat behind the case. Frank Sahwit didn't have an interesting motive or backstory, and neither did the victim. It's just a simple open and shut case once it's revealed who the culprit is. And you know what? That's great! It's exactly what the player wants to see from the first case, and I give them credit for pulling it off well. Unfortunately, because of that, it's not one of my favorites. I like my cases to involve a lot of characters and complicated backstories with plot twists. Still, though, it's a perfect opener for the series, I wouldn't have asked for anything better, and I like the case a lot. Next!
#29 Dual Destinies
Turnabout Countdown
Yep, I like Turnabout Countdown. But I don't love it. To be honest, it's very clearly the worst case in Dual Destinies, and the worst opening case in the main series since The First Turnabout (my opinion). Despite that, it's still a good case that has a very important connection to the finale case.
The characters. It introduces Athena Cykes as a new protagonist, which is awesome. I love Athena, despite her not being quite as adorable as Trucy or Pearl, she's still a complex character with a lot of personality.
Next, Gaspen Payne. ...yeah, don't like this guy at all. He's like Winston if you sucked all the charm and replaced it with annoying arrogance and a lack sufficient sprite animations. His objection sounds nowhere near as funny as Winston's either. (Although admittedly the whole exchange between Widget and that "arrogant jerk" was quite amusing.)
Ted Tonate as the culprit was obvious (it shows you in the intro), but he was still a funny character. Text-to-speech typing worked really well, and I couldn't help but laugh when Tonate started "saying" things like "AWFHOFHIO@RH*@#(Y(F". Good culprit, and especially shocking later in the game that (major spoilers!) it wasn't actually him that blew up the courtroom.
Juniper Woods, I'm kinda iffy on. She's a nice character and her crush on Apollo is sheer adorable, but I can't help but wish she had more of a backstory other than Athena's childhood friend. She is a good defendant though, but I like her a lot more in Turnabout Academy than this case.
The plot of the case, is kinda eh honestly. It starts out that the victim, Candice Arme, died as a result of the courtroom bombing, but is later proven that she was murdered by Ted Tonate. Admittedly, Tonate's idea to hide her corpse in his bomb transport case was genius, but the fact that his ID could so easily be changed to "Woods" is a little far-fetched. It is a good intro to the game though, and I'd much rather have the bad case at the beginning than in the middle or the end, so I'm not too upset. Its biggest flaw is being too drawn out of a case when we already know who the killer is from the very beginning.
#28 Miles Edgeworth Investigations
Turnabout Airlines
Another mediocre case from Investigations, but I suppose this one wasn't that bad. The setting was original enough, a murder that takes place on an airplane, as its name might suggest. For whatever reason, this case and The Kidnapped Turnabout actually take place after Turnabout Visitor, and Turnabout Reminiscence takes place several years earlier and is told in a flashback. So... the case chronological order is like 4, 2, 3, 1, 5. Yeah, it's confusing, but that isn't this case's fault in particular.
So, plotline. Edgeworth, and later Rhoda Teneiro, is framed for the murder of the Borginian Interpol agent Akbey Hicks. Interestingly enough, he's killed in an elevator during some turbulence, and anyone who's played the previous Ace Attorney games should recognize the significance of that (it's even acknowledged in game). The true killer isn't introduced until the case is well underway, but it's not so late that it feels unnatural. Like every case in the game, it has a connection to the international smuggling ring that's resolved in the last case, so that's cool I guess.
As you might have guessed, one of the best parts of this case is having Franziska back in the series, and her whipping of Gumshoe and Edgeworth never really gets old. In this game she's serving as a prosecutor for Interpol and she's after the same smuggling ring that so many other characters in this game are after. Other characters include the usual Gumshoe/Edgeworth duo, the hilarious Borginian art-dealer Zinc Lablanc, the annoyingly sleepy flight attendant Cammy Meele, and the much more proper flight attendant Rhoda Teneiro. If there's one thing this case did well, it's supply some believable red-herrings. I thought Zinc Lablanc was the killer because of how suspicious he looked and how evil his theme song sounded, but it turned out he was just another victim of the smuggling ring that liked to be precise with his time and money. The captain of the iFly Airlines flight could easily have been the killer too, but he was never really introduced formally and didn't play much of a role in the plot. Having him as a character could have increased the number of suspects, but I guess it would have also drawn out this relatively brief case longer, so it's not that big of a deal.
One thing I really hate is how Edgeworth "deduces" what the "murder weapon" was. This is another one of those cases where you spend the majority looking for just what killed the victim, and it's only at the very end that it's revealed by the stupidest way possible. While he's thinking about the circumstances, Zinc Lablanc happens to tumble over the nearby railing and land on a statue, so Edgeworth deduces that while the statue wasn't there, Akbey Hicks could have been killed by being pushed. It's just rushed, dumb, and while the animation of Lablanc falling was quite amusing, I would have much rather had Edgey figure it out through more logical means than through sheer coincidence.
A lot of the cases in Investigations 1 I don't really have much to say on, and I think this is just one of them. It's not a bad case, but not particularly interesting either. I liked a few of the characters, the setting was interesting, and it wasn't nearly as bland as The Kidnapped Turnabout or Turnabout Visitor, so I can let it slide.
#27 Justice For All
The Lost Turnabout
The only other introductory case that doesn't really have a whole lot to do with the game's overall plot, The Lost Turnabout does everything The First Turnabout does and better. Well, it doesn't exactly introduce you to the universe better, but that's not really its job. Probably the most hilarious excuse for a tutorial in video game history, this case involves Phoenix getting hit on the head with a fire extinguisher by the real culprit, Richard Wellington, and he develops amnesia. He can't remember who he is, what his job is, or how he's supposed to defend his client, which makes the case absolutely hilarious. So many hilarious lines are exchanged with Phoenix by Maggey (the client), The Judge, Winston Payne, and Gumshoe that I begin to lose count. And the murderer, while shown hitting Phoenix in the opening cutscene, has some of the most annoyingly hilarious lines in the game.
Let's talk characters first. Other than the victim, Dustin Prince, this case only introduces two new characters; Maggey Byrde, who becomes a major character in future games, and Richard Wellington, the murderer. Maggey is the queen of bad luck, which is an archetype used in other media often, but I like how Ace Attorney describes it. This isn't verbatim, but she says something like "Ever since I fell out of my apartment's 9 story window as a child, I've gotten hit by all kinds of vehicles, failed almost every test I've ever taken, and never won a single game of tic-tac-toe!" It just sounds sooo ridiculous and sooo Ace Attorney.
Richard Wellington is great too, even though I've seen some hate for him. There's nothing that makes him particularly worse than Frank Sahwit: both are hilarious incompetent murderers in first cases. Of course, Wellington has this whole arrogant air about him, but that doesn't particularly bother me. The whole "big bananas" thing is great, his ramblings are great, and his breakdown is great. Good, stupid villain for a first case.
I do have a few issues with this case though, although they are minor and don't really warrant me disliking it. The main thing is, though, how did no one, including Gumshoe or anyone at the police department, notice that Maggey's name was spelled wrong in the dirt? Also, why the heck did Wellington testify about a "banana" falling with Dustin Prince?
Regardless though, it's a great opener with a lot of good lines, marks the return of some great characters (Payne and Maya), and the introduction of Maggey. Solid first case, although I still prefer the ones that contribute to the game's overall plot more. (Except Turnabout Visitor)
#26 Justice For All
Turnabout Big Top
Yes, Turnabout Big Top. That case that everyone seems to hate for some reason. I didn't absolutely love it, but I didn't have too many issues with it either, and I don't think it deserves the bad rep that it's gotten.
Turnabout Big Top was a unique take on an Ace Attorney case in that it's the only case before or since to involve a killer that killed the wrong person accidentally, and openly regrets the crime. The irony of this is that Acro, the killer, was essentially raised by the victim, Russell Berry, so his death was like the loss of his own father. This is a really interesting and sad concept that makes the case stick out from a lot of the other ones, where the killer was completely despicable and killed for revenge, spite, and other motives. Here I sympathize with the killer and he turns out to be a very likable character.
Now onto the whole premise. Russell Berry is basically found dead hunched over a box, with no murder weapon in sight and no other footsteps but his own. Quite a conundrum. It's an intriguing setup that pays off well towards the end, especially the whole bit with Max Galactica "flying" and stuff. Acro's method of murder was ingenious, even if he was intending to kill Regina instead.
The characters in this case are awesome. I know most people hate them, but I really like them a lot. Ben and Trilo are hilarious to watch, their lines are amusing, and their personalities are excellent. Regina is your stereotypical sheltered princess who almost kills someone and doesn't even realize she did it. Acro is your nice guy murderer, as I've already discussed. Max Galactica (or "Billy Bob Johns") is your arrogant defendant who is kind of likable despite being a bit of a jerk. Moe the clown get a lot of hate, but I attribute that mostly to his overly-happy and constantly laughing personality and the annoying cross examination of him where you're penalized for pressing. Personally neither of these two really bothered me that much, and I thought some of his jokes were funny (if just for the "so bad it's good" effect).
Someone once told me that Turnabout Big Top has a great setup but a poor execution, and while I don't entirely agree on the last part, I can sort of see why some people might not like it because of its quirky characters and tedious trials. I like the case definitely because of its unique setup, but also because I thought the characters were endearing and the plot was strangely sad and dark for a middle game case.
ah... are 31-26 supposed to be empty?
Yes, I'm just filling them in at my own pace. I didn't want something to happen to my internet or my computer and lose the whole write up.
why is 2-1 not rock bottom
Quote from: Yugi on August 31, 2014, 03:30:48 PMwhy is 2-1 not rock bottom
HEY NOW. 2-1 is my favorite first case of any of the games.
Quote from: Yugi on August 31, 2014, 03:30:48 PMwhy is 2-1 not rock bottom
Because I liked it, of course! :P
Quote from: blueflower999 on August 31, 2014, 03:03:35 PMThe victim in this case... wait, what was her name again?
Judge: "Who is the victim in this case?"
Phoenix: "Oh, um, wasn't it Ms. Block? Ms. Cinder Block?"
Judge: "The person in question was a victim of murder, not ill-conceived naming, Mr. Wright."
I really enjoy reading this they're great fun
Also about Turnabout Countdown, you're right; the funniest thing for me is Gaspen's initial conversation with Widget/Athena. "What was it you called me?
Elegance at work?" *Athena makes her ridiculous dramatic shocked face* "(actually it was
arrogant jerk...)"
I thought Phoenix mistaking Gaspen for Winston was also pretty hilarious because that's what the entire fandom did when they first showed a picture of Gaspen, they just thought he was Winston with yet another hairstyle
Top 34 Ace Attorney Cases (25-17):#25 Apollo Justice Ace Attorney
Turnabout Serenade
Turnabout Serenade is an underrated case (just like all of Apollo Justice, but we'll get to that later). There are a few issues with it, and at times it can drag on a little, but overall I think it's at the very least a unique concept for a case with an acceptable to good cast of characters.
The setup is cool enough. Trucy and Apollo are invited to one of the Gavinner's concerts by Klavier. While backstage, a murder occurs in one of the dressing rooms, and Apollo and Detective Ema Skye are the first to discover the body. Romein LeTouse, the manager of Borginian singer Lamiroir, has been shot dead. Interestingly enough, the defendant accused of the crime, Machi, Tobaye, is *blind and doesn't speak English*
Well, later on you learn that he actually can see and speak a little bit, but the point is that the authorities for some reason thought that he couldn't and arrested him anyway. Weird choice. Anyway, through some fairly tedious trials, Apollo is able to convict Detective Daryan Crescend, the guitarist for the Gavinners, for the crime. He also learns through cross examination that the murder actually occurred during Lamiroir's song, not the Gavinners' performance as was originally thought.
There are some pretty clever plot points in the last trial, and I'm rather fond of the whole Borginian cocoon-smuggling business, especially the part how Klavier managed to unknowingly smuggle a cocoon in his guitar case to America. Machi Tobaye is a very forgettable character for me, and easily the worst defendant in a game with a lot of really bad defendants. On the contrary, Daryan is a a great, if a bit generic, Ace Attorney villain. Lamiroir is a good, strong female protagonist that I'm also very fond of, even more so in the last case. This case also shows a bit of a meaner side to Klavier, which I think works rather well at depicting him when he's having a bad day. Finally, this case introduces probably my favorite character in Apollo Justice besides Apollo and Trucy: Valant Gramarye. More on him in a future case.
So, what's not to like? Well, not as much as I thought. The whole premise is ridiculous and a bit implausible at times, yes, but I enjoyed it enough for what it was worth. The investigations are a little annoying, and at times certain parts of the trials become tedious as well, especially those which involve watching the clips of the Gavinner's concert. Overall though, I don't really mind this case too much. It's just the worst in one of my favorite games.
#24 Trials and Tribulations
Turnabout Memories
From this point on, I'm incredibly fond of pretty much every case.
Turnabout Memories started quite a few trends that continue on in the series. First of all, it's the first opening case that has an effect, and even a little bit of foreshadowing, for the rest of the game, which is the same for every opener afterward. Secondly, it's the first case where you don't play as Phoenix (ignoring a small scene in Justice For All). Instead, Phoenix is the defendant, and you see Mia Fey's second case defending him in court for the murder of Doug Swallow. It's a great premise, and as soon as you see young Phoenix's face in the opening cutscene as the "killer", you know you're in for a great one.
The characters are phenomenal. Mia Fey is her usual self, although much younger and lacking in the experience that she shows in The First Turnabout. One of my personal favorite aspects of Turnabout Memories is how it brings back Marvin Grossberg, an often forgotten character from the first game, as Mia's mentor. The lines regarding his hemorrhoids never ceased amusing me. And then there's Phoenix. Oh, Phoenix, how I adore you. You see, Phoenix goes through several distinct personality phases in the Ace Attorney series. There's middle age Phoenix that's sarcastic and inexperienced (at first) who later learns what it means to be a lawyer. Then there's cunning and planning Hobonix who is almost a completely different character. And then there's young Phoenix, who's an adorable dork with a huge crush on his girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne. He has this ridiculous habit of sneezing constantly (especially when asked questions that he does not wish to answer). As weird as it sounds, I got so many laughs out of this Phoenix that I might consider him being my favorite incarnation of the famous protagonist.
Dahlia Hawthorne. Oh boy. I sort of knew going into this case that she would be the killer (because it obviously can't be Phoenix and there really isn't anyone else it could have been either), but I didn't know that she'd be *this* bad. More on how awful she is later, but my gosh she tries to kill Phoenix through poisoning his cold medicine. *Nobody tries to kill Phoenix. Nobody.*
And of course, as all openers go (except for Turnabout Countdown), this case is graced with the amusing character of Winston Payne. Only this time, Turnabout Memories starts the hilarious trend of giving Winston a new hairstyle in every appearance. The case ends with Phoenix being declared NOT GUILTY (of course) and Winston's hair blowing off in a totally out of nowhere but hilarious "breakdown". Oh Winston, how I adore your incompetence.
The case itself isn't ridiculously complex or anything, but it does a fantastic job of introducing Dahlia and foreshadowing the events of the finale with the death of Diego Armando. Throw in a few pop culture references to famous songs and you've got yourself a great opener that sets the standard for all future first cases.
#23 Trials and Tribulations
The Stolen Turnabout
This case is a very unique entry to the third game. Come to think of it, the third game has some really good ideas for cases, doesn't it?
Anyway, 3-2 is a rollercoaster ride all the way to the end. At first you're led to believe that, *FOR ONCE*, you're not working a murder case. The episode centers around Mask*DeMasque, a newly-famous thief that steals valuable objects after leaving a calling card beforehand. The case also marks the return of a lovely character from Farewell, My Turnabout in the second game (I won't say who it is in case someone reads this who hasn't played 2-4, but if you have, you know who I'm talking about).
Ron DeLite, the defendant, is accused of being Mask*DeMasque, and it's Phoenix's job to prove him not guilty against a new and mysterious prosecutor known as Godot. I'll talk about him more later, but he's one of the best new characters in the game, easily. Anyway, the first trial ends with Ronnie getting a Not Guilty verdict, which fools the player into thinking the case is over. In actuality, Ron is immediately accused at murdering a man named Kane Bullard, and it just so happens that Phoenix's defense proved him to be at murder scene rather than at the scene where Mask*DeMasque struck that same night!
To make matters worse, the man Phoenix indites of being the real Mask*DeMasque, a private detective named Luke Atmey, in the first trial confesses, to give himself an alibi for the murder that he committed. Yeah, it's complicated, but the overall plot is genius and one of the most creative in the series.
The Stolen Turnabout also introduces about three great new characters, all of which I'm pretty fond of. Desiree DeLite, or Dessie as I like to call her, is my least favorite of the three. She's not a bad character, and I do like her, but her role in the case is largely indirect as Ronnie's wife who spends a lot of money, forcing him into the thievery business. Ronnie, however, is significantly better. In any other situation, he'd be a jerk character. He's a thief, he sold secrets from his old employer to earn some extra cash, and he commits perjury (like every other Ace Attorney witness ever). But he all does it for his wife, and this plus his incredibly harmless and adorable demeanor makes him a really endearing character. Finally, Luke Atmey is by far the best character in the case, and he's almost good enough to get into my Three Best Ace Attorney Murderers. He's a classic example of a murder with an amazing theme song and a hilariously eccentric and narcissistic personality who comes up with a genius scheme and is only caught by a minor and perfectly understandable slip-up in court.
Whew! Yeah, the Stolen Turnabout's great. Throw in some extra moments with classic characters like Maya, Pearl, and Gumshoe, and you've got yourself the best second case in the original trilogy. Too bad I got super sick playing it for the first time and then got super sick again when my sister played it a few weeks ago, but oh well.
#22 Miles Edgeworth Investigations
#21 Miles Edgeworth Investigations
#20 Dual Destinies
#19 Investigations 2
#18 Investigations 2
#17 Apollo Justice
Let the Christmas marathon begin!!!
Super Smash Bros. For 3DS:Seeing as how I've spent much more time with the 3DS version than the Wii U version as of writing this, I think it would be more appropriate to review the former. Plus, they're more or less the same game anyway, so the Wii U version would only maybe a few tenths of a point higher than the 3DS version due to better control options and lots of bonus features.
Gameplay: 9/10 Traditional smashing at its best. The Smash Brothers series hasn't changed all that much from its conception on the Nintendo 64. Some characters still have virtually the same moveset from back then, with the addition of a Final Smash, of course. Now, I can't say to be an expect in the franchise or anything because I only own Brawl and the fourth installments, but the gameplay in Smash Bros for 3DS is everything you'd expect it to be. While the multiplayer online is pretty laggy, and I know that this is a big peeve of a lot of people, it doesn't really bother me all that much. It still amazes me that a Smash game can work on a handheld console at all, so I'm not too picky about lag or any features that the game might be lacking. Smash Run is pretty lame, admittedly (Smash Tour is a lot better, in my opinion), but all the solo modes are great and local multiplayer works really well. There's an abundance of trophies, a heaping load of characters, and a good selection of stages. My biggest complaint is that the circle pad is the only option for character movement. Part of me wishes that the D-Pad was a choice because my Circle Pad was broken before I bought the game, and at times it's very difficult to control the characters. However, despite this, the game still manages to be easily the best in the franchise (along with the Wii U version, of course).
Addictiveness: 8/10 The addictive factor of this game highly depends on whether you either have a good internet connection or have easy access to a lot of other people who have the game. If you have the former and a desire to become good competitively, then you'll probably be playing the game until the fifth game comes out, because it really is a great game for people who like competitive fighting as a genre. If you have the later, then you'll probably play on and off again with them and slowly stop playing by yourself after you've unlocked as many of the achievements as you choose. Regardless, even if you don't have internet at your house or don't have any friends (:'(), I guarantee you at least 50 hours unlocking all the characters and trying all the modes and stages until you get board.
Story: 0/10 No story mode in this game, or the Wii U version either. Subspace Emissary was excellent, but it looks like Smash is no long about that sort of thing, which is acceptable I guess. I wouldn't mind having another campaign in the future though.
Music: 9/10 The Wii U's music collection is easily 10/10, but the 3DS's is slightly worse. Granted, it's still very impressive and most of the remixes are very good. However, there's a bit too many songs that are just copied and pasted from their previous games. This is fine, but there aren't that many songs in the game to begin with, so I'd much rather see remixes over the original songs. That being said, I can't fault the game on this, because the choice of music is very good, the remixes are as high of quality as I expected, and the game couldn't really handle that much more content on a portable console.
Tortimer Island Medley
Air Man's Theme
Spark Man's Theme
You Will Know Our Names
I find myself really liking this song even though I haven't played Xenoblade.
Magicant/Eight Melodies
Running/Countdown
Character Design: 10/10 Granted, the only characters that the game really designed for itself were... actually, I can't think of any. Master Hand and Crazy hand were both in previous installments, and obviously all the fighters were as well. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because the game includes some of the best video game icons ever made. They're all very fleshed out, have great move-sets that reflect their own personalities, quirks, and origins, and are very faithful to their own franchises. Let's take Mega Man, for instance (I've wanted to rant about this for a while, so here I go!). He's what I would call the best example of character-to-Smash-fighter in the game. Every single aspect of his character is taken directly from one of his games. Now, all characters have influences from their games, of course. For instance, Mario can throw fire balls, use F.L.U.D.D., and do his signature jump. However, what a lot of characters do is have specials drawn from their game but regular attacks just based on appearance. For example, a lot of Mario's regular A-button attacks are just generic punches and kicks, and most of Link's are him swinging a sword. But with Mega Man, every single one of his special AND physical attacks is directly taken from a weapon that he uses in the franchise. Pure genius.
Humor: 4/10 Most of the game's humor comes from trophy descriptions, and most of it is in-jokes that non-video game players wouldn't really understand. A lack of cutscenes makes for a lack of humorous content, which is a shame honestly. I remember laughing like crazy at some of the moments in Subspace Emissary!
Difficulty: 6/10 The game is about as hard as you make it. Unlocking all the characters requires a certain level of practice and skill (Dark Pit, Lucina, and Duck Hunt are quite the challenge!). Getting all the achievements requires a lot of time and effort, and I'll probably never be able to complete that. Smash Bros. is the best kind of game difficulty wise, though, because it lets you choose the difficulty levels of the A.I.s you battle, so the player is in almost complete control of how hard each match will be.
Other Memorable Features: Lots here, oh where to begin. Home Run Contest is the same mindless record-beating fun as before. Trophy Rush and Trophy Shop are both great ways for all those fans that want to complete their collection to do so. Classic mode is a big improvement on Brawl's Classic mode. The sound player feature returning is a great feature, and I'm so happy that they list who composed or arranged each track. My personal favorite feature in Smash Bros however, is the victory themes. While many of them are reused from Brawl ( :() all of the new ones are really good, especially Shulk's and Pac-Man's.
Overall: 9.3/10 Screw Melee, this is the definitive Smash.
FANTASTIC review and I wholeheartedly agree with this--I would have lost countless hours on the 3DS version (or at least more than the 15 I did) if it weren't for two major factors:
A) that damn issue I had: the nagging feeling that Smash was destroying my system.
B) the issue of no local multiplayer opportunities (save for separate screen matches with friends) and a very shaky online multiplayer system.
So yep, that's an accurate score, but from the few hours I've spent on the Wii U version so far, it's basically a perfect 10/10.
This may sound weird, but I found most of the extra modes lacking in polish. It wasn't as bad in the Wii U version though.
And, Blue, when will you be finishing your AA case list?
Quote from: maelstrom. on December 20, 2014, 06:34:01 PMAnd, Blue, when will you be finishing your AA case list?
Very soon, I'll be adding in the rest of the cases to the old post either tonight or tomorrow, and then will post further in the list as part of the Christmas marathon. ^_^
For the love of God though, only read the entries for Dual Destinies until you've finished some other games. Spoiling Ace Attorney is the worst thing you can do for yourself.
Quote from: SlowPokemon on December 20, 2014, 06:23:24 PMSo yep, that's an accurate score, but from the few hours I've spent on the Wii U version so far, it's basically a perfect 10/10.
I don't know if I'd call it a 10/10 personally, but yeah as far as fighting games go it's pretty perfect. Lots of great features that polish very well what the 3DS already had to offer.
I'm sorry it took so long to finish up this series!! I don't know why I forgot to do this, but I'll try my best to remember the game for this review. XD
Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy:Gameplay: 9/10 I'll be honest, I don't think Azran Legacy's gameplay is objectively worse than Miracle Mask's. In fact, it's probably better, as Layton games always seem to get progressively smoother in the puzzle solving as the series goes along. There was just something about how Miracle Mask presented the puzzles that was so new and original and presented in such a revolutionary way that I actually went around and solved some for fun. In Azran Legacy, the puzzles are presented in essentially the same way, and they're definitely better than the other four games, but they didn't hook me. The best part about them, though, is their lack of puzzles that require putting in a numerical value as an answer. I much prefer slider puzzles or logical puzzles or brainteasers to math-y stuff, so that's good.
Addictiveness: 8/10 A lot of what I might say here I'll talk about in "Story", but Azran Legacy has moments where you're on the edge of your seat and moments where it's boring and slow. The game starts out with a really gripping cutscene right from the get-go, but it quickly looses steam and starts showing lots of good but less engaging content. It then proceeds to stay at a low intensity for six long sub-episodes before rising dramatically at the end in a very fast manor. The beginning part was good enough for me to not put the game down until the breathe-taking conclusion, so I don't have any complaints. It's just difficult trudging through some of the more boring chapters.
Story: 9/10 While not what I would call the best story in the series, Azran Legacy has to be in the top 3. However, its biggest flaw is what I discussed above. Despite having a nearly perfect opening and conclusion, with lots of great plot twists that no one will see coming in the later, the middle is among the slowest in the entire series. I've heard complaints that Unwound Future's middle is slow, and that has some merit, but that didn't bother me so much because the efforts were pretty much always focused on understandable objectives. In Azran Legacy, there's a sequence where our main protagonists have to travel to six different locations around the world to collect an object in each (I'm trying to keep this intentionally vague so as to not ruin anything). The problem with this is not the environments themselves: they're all very colorful and lively and the subplots in them range from mediocre and pointless to excellent, with the last two being my personal favorites in Hoogland and Mosinnia. The issue arises from the fact that each location has its own subplot and objective that must be completed before receiving the object that's being searched for, which takes a lot of the focus off from the main goal of the game. This being said, it's not a *bad* sequence, it just drags on a little long and feels like filler a lot of the time. If the areas had any sort of connection to the overall plot of the game, it would flow a lot better. Unfortunately, they had to be very episodic because the player can choose which order to do them in. It's nice to have this freedom, but I just did them in the order they were presented. Meh, you guys get the idea. Anyway, the conclusion of the game is perhaps the most intense in the series (it's about Unwound Future level) with probably the most surprising plot twists to fans who have played the other games. It wraps up the prequel trilogy nicely and doesn't really disappoint in anyway.
Music: 9/10 Azran Legacy has a great soundtrack. Again, I don't know if I'd call it Miracle Mask worthy, but it's close. Really close. There are lots of great songs, especially some of the town themes and some of the songs that it remixes from the previous games. I won't be posting remixes or song's that we've had before, but remember that Layton's Theme and the main antagonist's theme still rank among my favorites.
Kodh
Mosinnia
Puzzles Abroad
Froenborg
Targent's Theme
Targent's theme was in Miracle Mask too, I believe, but I'm putting it here because it doesn't really become important until this game. There are also some pretty sad songs that play near the end, but I won't be putting those here either.
Character Design: 9/10 The biggest thing that hurts the characters in this game, in my opinion, is also the biggest thing that hurts the game. Layton, Luke, and Emmy are all the same as you'd expect: Layton is still the perfect gentleman, Luke is still the awesome, adorable, and clumsy apprentice, and Emmy is still the boss and sassy side... kick. (Ouch, that was lame.) Two new main characters, Professor Desmond Sycamore, and Aurora are introduced, and without ruining either of their role, I like both of them. Aurora is a little flat, but I don't mind that so much in a series with nothing but super standout main characters. The main villains (and hey, there are kind of two this time!) are also excellent, but they're not really introduced formally until the very end of the game. Now, what was that I was saying about the characters being hurt? Well, in the Layton games that I feel have the strongest cast of NPCs (Curious Village and Miracle Mask), the entire game takes place in one town (Miracle Mask is arguable, but just go with me on this). Azran Legacy is the opposite, because you visit like eight or nine locations in the game. It's a lot of variety and all the scenery is wonderful, but none of the NPCs stick with me because they're all here and gone in five seconds with very little impact on the plot. Six areas that are visited for brief side-quests with lots of NPCs in each, but they're all there and gone in a flash. They're not *bad*, as I don't think the series is capable of doing anything *bad*, and I suppose I might remember them and like them if I went out of my way to talk to them, but I don't really feel like doing that so much because I'm focused on advancing the plot. Still a great cast of mains, though, as always.
Humor: 9/10 Lots of great jokes in this game. Raymond, the pilot of the ship that you use to tour the world, makes some awesome puns whenever you return from a location. Emmy has some great sass and in-jokes that only fans of the series would get. Lots of other nods to previous titles make the game a lot of fun for veterans. It's been too long to remember any more specifics, but the game did have a sense of humor. Oh yeah, there were two Targent grunts named Robin and Macaw that reminded me of Team Rocket: two goofballs who always managed to screw up their goals in a humorous way.
Difficulty: 6/10 I don't recall the game being all that difficult. The minigames sound hard, but I didn't really have the time to try them out, so I didn't get much experience. Generally the puzzles that give me the most trouble are the ones where you need to input numbers, and because the series gives you less and less of those in each game, the puzzles, as a whole, seem to get easier, yet more fun.
Other Memorable Features: The minigames and StreetPass features are great, I'm sure, but I didn't really get a chance to use them. None of my friends in real life bought the game, I don't think. :'(
Overall: 9.8/10 I'd put it tied with Unwound Future. Unwound Future had a more engaging middle, but I'd call Azran Legacy's beginning and end to be slightly better, plus it had much more tolerable gameplay and better music.
Final ranking of the games:
Miracle Mask > Azran Legacy = Unwound Future > Diabolical Box > Last Specter > Curious Village
Quote from: SlowPokemon on March 28, 2012, 02:42:21 PMREQUEST (if you want): Any Professor Layton game...some of them are quite cheap as they've been out for a while
Consider this request fulfilled. Two and a half years later and I've reviewed every game in the series. It was fun, and I loved every minute of it.
OH MY GOD
CHRISTMAS KEEPS COMING EARLY
I LOVE THIS REVIEW ITS SO WELL THOUGHT OUT AND WRITTEN.
Seriously though, that's a really good point about the NPCs. If you don't make it a point to return to locations like San Grio and Hoogland, you'll likely see and speak to those characters once or twice and never see them again.
It's worth noting the daily puzzles though, even though you don't use them--I finished all of the puzzles and minigames in about 30 hours of play, and thanks to the daily puzzles, my play time for that file has doubled.
Im so glad you ended up liking the games. ;D
Let's say one final goodbye to 2014 with a review of my favorite game that I played this past year!
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: Prosecutor's PathAnd yes, yes, I know. Prosecutor's Path is the fan translation title, but screw that. I'm treating the fan translation as if it's official, and I'll also be using all the English names for the characters. Why? Because I like the fan translation and I did the same thing for Mother 3. And yes, I realize that I haven't reviewed the five other Ace Attorney games. I'll be getting to that, I just really wanted to get this one out of the way because it's such a doozy. Alright, let's dive into this.
Gameplay: 9/10 Most Ace Attorney fans prefer the court scenes in the main five games over the investigation scenes. The court is fast paced, intense, and full of plenty of wacky moments that the investigations don't always have. And, in the five main games, I would agree with them. However, I personally like the gameplay of the Investigations spinoffs a tad bit more than main series. I know, I know, that's blasphemy. But this is coming from the guy that likes Apollo Justice more than the original trilogy, so what do you expect? From the way I see it, the main series has investigations and it has cross examinations, and those essentially sum up the variety of the game (ignoring text-reading and the occasional scientific investigation). Investigations 1 and 2, however, have both of those, plus some new features. You can use Logic to connect facts learned about the case and can Deduce a contradiction from a crime scene using the evidence on hand. There's also the fact that I enjoy the sideways sprites of Investigations much more than the front-facing sprites of the main series. Now, everything I've said so far has referred to both Investigations games, and not specifically the sequel. Prosecutor's Path introduces another new gameplay feature called Logic Chess, in which Edgeworth plays a metaphorical game of "chess" against another character to reveal whatever they're hiding. It's kind of like Phoenix's Magatama and Apollo's Bracelet, but it's a lot more involved and intense. There's a constant dialogue going back and forth between Edgey and the witness, and rather than using evidence to talk to them, Edgeworth just uses pure concrete language and deductive reasoning. It's really a lot of fun, and it's never overused, only coming into play once or twice each case. In addition, each bout of Logic Chess becomes progressively more difficult, and by the last match (which is by far the best and one of my favorite moments in the series) it gets crazy intense. However, other than Logic Chess, the game is largely similar to the first Investigations, which is largely similar to the Ace Attorney series as a whole, just minus a lot of the courtroom. There's still shoving evidence in witnesses' faces during arguments (essentially cross-examinations) and there's still a lot of great writing and animations. In short, I'd say it's the most diverse game in the series and also the most fun to play.
Addictiveness: 9/10 This game really grabbed my attention for some reason, and I can't exactly explain why. Each case gets progressively more intense until the grand buildup to the finale, and it all feels like one giant roller-coaster ride to get there. Right from the very beginning the game leaves some questions unanswered in the back of the player's mind, and these continue to build up over the course of the game. It's really very well done.
Story: 10/10 My gosh, I would give this game a 100 out of ten if I could. The story is absolutely unbelievable, and that's coming from a guy who's played all six Laytons, all six other Ace Attorneys, and both Zero Escape games. As for a comparison, I would put this game as a tie with 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors and Virtue's Last Reward, and it easily tops everything else. The game has five cases: Turnabout Target (E2-1), The Imprisoned Turnabout (E2-2), The Inherited Turnabout (E2-3), The Forgotten Turnabout (E2-4), and The Grand Turnabout (E2-5). After playing Trials and Tribulations, I concluded that it was the first game to have "no bad cases". However, after playing the rest of the series and this game, I conclude that Investigations 2 is the only game to have "all freaking good cases". Not only are all the cases acceptable, but they're all interwoven like no other game in the series tried to do. Without playing the first four cases and understanding them, no one could understand anything in The Grand Turnabout. Every case is involved with every other case and they all flow logically from one to the next. The story itself is masterful even regarding these facts. It pulls in more characters than any other game (the finale has about twice as many characters as Bridge To The Turnabout did, and that was the current record holder) and has an awesomely intricate plot that manages to involve pretty much everyone in one way or another. Even most of the minor characters seem to find themselves involved in the overarching story of the game. I would go through the cases in individual detail, but I'll be doing that shortly in my Top 34 Cases thingy anyway, so there's not much point. However, I can say that the finale of the game is easily tied for my favorite case in the series, and nothing can really beat this game's plot.
Music: 10/10 This game's OST is a candidate for my favorite in video game history, and by far my favorite from the series. I could post all 49 songs here, but I'll try to restrain myself and post only the absolute best ones.
Turnabout Target
Logic Chess
Confrontation ~ Moderate
Confess The Truth
Objection!
Raymond Shields ~ Joking Motive
Sebastian Debeste's Reasoning
Justine Courtney ~ Goddess of Law
Blaise Debeste ~ Rigorous Justice
Patricia Roland ~ Hugs and Kisses
Confrontation ~ Presto
Gregory Edgeworth ~ A Defense Attorney's Knowledge
Jeff Master ~ Sweet Happiness
Katherine Hall ~ Sweet Dance
Dane Gustavia ~ Brandished Flavor
Zheng Fa ~ Land of the Phoenix
My favorite song in the series
Wow, that was still a lot. I apologize, even there I had to begrudgingly drop some songs.
Character Design: 10/10 I know I've been saying this a lot, but this game is hands down the best cast of characters in the Ace Attorney series, and maybe in any video game I've ever played. This game got me to like Miles Edgeworth. I tolerated him after the second game or so, but I didn't like him as a character until this installment. I won't go listing every character for fear of spoiling the ones that return, but Gumshoe and Franny are still as excellent as they always are. All the new characters are wonderful too: Judge Justine Courtney starts out as an antagonistic figure and maybe a bit dry, but by the end of the game I really ended up liking her. Sebastian Debeste, a rookie prosecutor who thinks he's the smartest man on earth despite being ridiculously dim, is my favorite character in the series for reasons I can't go into here. Let's just say that he's the character that I can relate the most to. Raymond Shields is a hilarious hug-obsessed defense attorney that grew up under the leadership of Gregory Edgeworth. Speaking of Gregory, you play as him for much of the third case and he's easily my favorite playable character in the series. All these mains plus an absolute *ton* of lovely side characters (although nobody is really a side character in this game) makes this the best cast ever. It's also the only game in the series to include all five of my favorite characters (Sebastian Debeste, Detective Badd, Detective Gumshoe, Franziska Von Karma, and Blaise Debeste, in that order.) In fact, there are only about four or five characters in the Ace Attorney series that I'd say I dislike. There are a lot of "meh" and "okay" characters, but for the most part I like the majority of them. This game, however, is the only game where I like every single character. Even returning characters that I didn't really care much for somehow become likable in this game. I don't know what it is, but I love every character.
Humor: 9/10 This game's fan translation keeps the classic Ace Attorney witty lines intact. Whether it adds any new jokes or not I can't say, but the game is still very funny. Watching all the characters interact (especially Edgeworth and Kay) is always very amusing, and I got some good laughs out of the puns in characters' names too. There's one character in particular in The Forgotten Turnabout that makes the case so much better than it would be without him. What I might call the funniest scene in the series also occurs towards the very end.
Difficulty: 6/10 To be brief, Investigations 2 isn't any harder than your average Ace Attorney game. In fact, I'd make the argument that in general, both Investigations games are a tad easier than the main series, and from a difficulty standpoint, I'd also make the case that 2 is a bit easier than 1 (especially seeing that 1 has some insane logic towards the end of it). Will there be a few points where you have to guess and present randomly? Possibly, but not as much as before.
Other Memorable Features: Ace Attorney games aren't exactly known for their bonus features, and there's really not much more I can say. Playing the game on an emulator sucks crap, but it didn't diminish the experience of the game really that much for me. I did, however, have to watch all of E2-3 and parts of E2-5 on YouTube, though, because my emulator started glitching out, and that was no fun. I did go back and play them myself immediately afterward though. None of that is really the game's fault though, I just have a bad computer and emulators never really seem to work for me in general.
Overall: 10/10 Best game in the series, best game I've played all year, and easily in my Top 5 games that I've ever played. Honestly, you should play every other Ace Attorney before this one, and if you do that the series will really go out with a bang.
Goddam you make me want to play this right now! I do have a new laptop you know ;)
After I finish the trilogy, what should I play next? Jump straight to Investigations 2 since I haven't played it yet? Or go in chronological order? Or order of release?
I honestly don't care what you do as long as you play it at some point in the future. I think chronological order would be the most interesting, though!
Chronological sounds good, and I've never played it that way :O also that means I only have Investigations between the trilogy and GK2
I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but here I go...
I Am An Air Traffic Controller Airport Hero Hawaii:Yes, this is a real game. Yes, I paid fifteen dollars for it. And, yes, I thoroughly regret it. I bought it for the title alone, and I guess in that sense I got exactly what I paid for.
Gameplay: 5/10 This game is among the most boring I've played, and the only reason I'm going to high as to give it a five is that it's a bit of an acquired taste. The tutorials in the game suck. They don't explain what you're supposed to do, I tried both of them and couldn't figure anything out, so I had to figure out everything through trial and error in the main game. There's a lot I need to say here, so here I go. The essential core gameplay element of the game is that you sit back and watch planes go around. You get to tell departing planes what runway to take and what taxi route to take, and that's it. You get to tell arriving planes what runway to land on and what spot to taxi to, and that's it. Spots, taxi routes, and runways are the only choices you make in the entire game, and it's boring as crap. There are only 12 levels in the game, which is ridiculously few for a game costing fifteen freaking dollars. The game can generate new levels based on pictures you take with the camera, but that doesn't really cover it. The graphics look like garbage. As the title might suggest, the entire game takes place in a (surprisingly accurate) representation of Hawaii's Honolulu International Airport. The airport looks fine, but all the island area around it looks like a wasteland. Either the game takes place in post apocalyptic Hawaii with awful textures and puke-green colors, or the designers weren't using the full graphics capabilities of the 3DS. Seriously, you have one location for the entire freaking game to take place in and you can't make it look nice. Anyway, back to the gameplay. It's frustrating, it's confusing, and it takes way more time to learn than anyone would bother to put in. Everything I'm about to say is just what I've surmised because there's essentially no tutorial. There are five "Controls" that control the different actions that planes can take. Approach Control (blue) gives arrivals the runway to land on, and that's about it. Departure Control (green) and Delivery Control (pink) don't do much of anything. And then there's the two that are always doing something, Ground Control (yellow), which controls taxiing, and Tower Control (red), which controls takeoffs and landings. The biggest problem that I've found in the gameplay is this: you'll have five or more planes at a time all under the jurisdiction of Ground Control (if they're all taxiing) or Tower Control (if they're all landing and taking off, which is a very common situation). The problem arises from the fact that only one man works at Tower Control, so he can only talk to one plane at a time. This means that I need to wait for their unnecessarily-long instructions to finish to move on to the another plane. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it becomes a huge pain when you get penalized points (yes, the game has a points-to-win system) for delays or not making the plane land in time. The absolute worst is when you screw up by accidentally telling a plane to go to a parking spot that already has a plane in it because there's no way to undo a choice. It's also a pain when you have two planes on the same runway and they're about to crash, but to get one to stop you have to wait for Ground Control to shut up, issue an order, wait for the plane to say "okay", and then finally they begin to slow do-- oh wait it's too late. They crashed, game over, and you start the level over again. Did I mention that these levels are about forty five minutes long and essentially involve just WATCHING PLANES??? I'm going to end this section on a quote I found in another review of the game (http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/3ds-eshop/i_am_an_air_traffic_controller_airport_hero_hawaii) that sums up my thoughts perfectly:
Spoiler
The board on the touch screen for managing flight information has room for five arrivals and five departures, and the main game will steadily fill these up as you progress through the stages. As traffic builds at and above the airport, concentration and timing become ever more important. You may soon find yourself frantically tapping between all the flights on your board, making sure you didn't just give one plane a route to its parking spot that will run over the ground crew trying to tow another plane to another spot, all while praying the wind speed will change so you can get another plane off the ground to clear that strip for the arriving plane you promised it to, except you can't reach either at the moment because the channels are currently occupied with orders to other planes and NO, SHUT UP FLIGHT OAL013 YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE TO CROSS THE RUNWAY ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR BIG BROTHER CURRENTLY CAREENING DOWN IT IN YOUR DIRECTION CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!?!
Addictiveness: 4/10 There's really nothing here to keep you playing at all. Every level is more or less the same thing, new mechanics are never really introduced (save for occasionally getting to take off a plane in the water, which isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds), and the game overall just lacks any kind of appeal. So, you might ask, why do I have ten hours on it? Well, because I like the title. And because I went insane a long time ago.
Story: 0/10 There is no story and no attempt at one whatsoever.
Music: 3/10 The music in the game sucks. I can't even post any of it here because I couldn't find the soundtrack on YouTube, and I don't feel like looking for it somewhere else. One thing I can commend is that each stage gets its own unique song, but none of it is fitting. When you think of Hawaii, do you think of awful techno dubstep music? No, of course not. Go listen to the soundtrack from Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask or Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies and then this game and tell me that the 3DS wasn't capable of at least producing
melodies. There's only one song I've heard in the game that's halfway decent, and it plays on Stage 9. It wasn't spectacular, but it at least had a nice little tune to it. So that's why the game gets a 3 instead of a 1 or 2.
Character Design: 1/10 The only characters in the game are the people who voice all the "Controls", and they have no personality whatsoever. The Departure Control guy always says "Good day" when a plane leaves the airport, so that's kind of cool I guess?? I don't know, I'm really grasping for things to say here.
Humor: 2/10 The title alone gets the game two points.
Difficulty: 8/10 Honestly, this game is difficult for every wrong reason possible. A horrendous "tutorial", no forgiveness in undoing decisions, and lots of other technical things that I talk about in the above sections. Most sane people wouldn't play past the first level, if that. The stages labeled "Hard" aren't even hard, I had the most difficulty with a stage leveled "Normal".
Other Memorable Features: If you tap a plane that's pulling out of its gate before taking off, you can faintly hear the crew telling the passengers to "fasten their seat-belts" and that "smoking is prohibited" and all that great stuff. Yeah, that's about it.
Overall: 4/10 This game isn't worth your time or your money. If you can see it on sale for 5 dollars or less, it might be worth getting, but only to experience how ridiculous it all is. I've never played a game like it before, but I don't really intend on it ever again.
I'll remember not to get it :P
Quote from: blueflower999 on January 24, 2015, 08:45:48 PMOverall: 4/10 This game isn't worth your time or your money. If you can see it on sale for 5 dollars or less, it might be worth getting, but only to experience how ridiculous it all is.
Alternatively, you can save up and spend your money on better and other unappreciated 3DS games, such as
• Metal Gear Solid 3D
• Bravely Default
• Gunman Clive
• Any Retro Game
• Monster Hunter
• Phoenix Wright Collection
• Shovel Knight
• Other mainstream games that I'm not going to put attention on
Oh my god this review
I laughed
I cried
I will not buy i am an air traffic controller airport hero hawaii
but bloo
i know you secretly rave about this game
such plot twists
much strategy
Quote from: FireArrow on January 25, 2015, 10:56:32 AMbut bloo
i know you secretly rave about this game
such plot twists
much strategy
The only twist involved with this game is the knot that my penis was twisted into while playing it.
Sounds hot.
Shovel Knight:Heyyy, here's a rather mainstream Indie title that I totally missed out on last summer (I went with 1001 Spikes instead) but ended up getting last month, and it's definitely worth talking about here.
Gameplay: 8/10 If you've ever played a Mega Man game, then you already have a pretty basic idea of how the gameplay in Shovel Knight works. There's an intro stage and a few challenging bonus stages and bonus boss battles scatted here and there, but for the most part the formula is the same. (And don't expect the similarities to stop here, we're going to be referencing Mega Man a lot in this review because in my opinion it was probably the single biggest inspiration for how the game plays.) There are 8 bosses similar to the Mega Man series' trademark "8 Robot Master" setups, only in this game the 8 bosses are members of the Order of No Quarter, an evil gang of characters who have taken over various locations in the world the game takes place. You know how in Mega Man all the Robot Masters always end in "Man," like Cut Man, Fire Man, Shadow Man, and Slash Man just like Mega Man himself? Well in this game, all of their names end in "Knight," just like Shovel Knight. We'll talk more about the specific characters later on down, but the similarities in the formula are quite apparent. There are two major differences though. First of all, there's an overworld map that's very similar to the map of Super Mario Brothers 3, and also similarly to that game, enemies that you can encounter occasionally spawn on the map and walk around. Two towns and a few other areas are also present on the map, and more becomes unlocked the more bosses you beat, kind of like finishing the castles in Mario 3. Secondly, you can't fight the bosses in whatever order you want. You first have a choice of two, then three, and then three more, and then finally two final stages whose equivalents would be the Dr. Wily/Dr. Cossack/Proto Man/Mr. X stages from the classic Mega Man games.
But that's all talking about the game's setup, how does the game actually play when you pick a level? Well, again, very similarly to Mega Man, only instead of having a ranged weapon you use a shovel. You also get a weapon from finishing a level, but you either have to find it hidden in the level or purchase them back in the town after clearing it. The weapons are all useful at some point or another, but most especially a fire wand allows you to shoot projectiles across the screen, and that's the one I find myself using the most. The weapons aren't really used by the bosses of the stage, but they generally capture the theme of the level pretty well. They can also be easily switched by using the touch screen on the 3DS (which is the console I'm playing on, by the way) so you don't even have to pause the game. The weapons cost magic points and enemies sometimes drop potions to refill these points. Both your maximum health and maximum magic points can be upgraded in the town for gold that you find hidden all over every level. There are various checkpoints along the way in each stage, and instead of dying in a level and losing a life, you just drop a certain percentage of the money you were carrying and have a chance to go and retrieve it again. It basically means that you can try a section of the level over and over as many times as you want without worrying about having to start the stage over again. The stages are very, very lengthy too, so that's definitely a plus. The bosses at the end of the stages tend to be fun, fast paced, and enjoyable. All in all, the game feels a lot like how a modern retro-style platformer should feel, and that's a good thing. It's not quite as easy to pick up and play as Mega Man is, but it's still a ton of fun.
Addictiveness: 7/10 Because the story of the game isn't terrible but isn't particularly gripping, most of the game's charm comes from waiting for what lies ahead. Fog clouds the map where you can't go, so waiting to see what new knights and challengers are ahead is quite fun. Saving up money to buy new weapons and armor to help on the quest is also quite enjoyable, and it's rather challenging to see everything in one playthrough, making the replay value decently high.
Story: 7/10 The game has an interesting little twist at the end of the last stage that's foreshadowed to the point of becoming obvious, but it's still nice regardless. Other players might be able to guess it but I did not, personally. It's nothing like you'd see at the end of a Layton game or anything like that, but it's certainly more surprising than "oh wow Dr. Wily's the villain again."
Music: 10/10 Perhaps the best way the game shines is through its soundtrack. All of the Knights with the exception of Polar Knight and to a certain degree Specter Knight have absolutely amazing themes on their stages, and they're much more lengthy and complex than any song that you'd hear on the NES while still retaining much of the soundfont and appeal. In addition, the intro stage and the final stages have excellent themes as well. When I heard the music on the first stage (Plains of Passage) for the first time, I instantly knew that the 15$ was well spent.
Intro Stage
King Knight's Theme
Mole Knight's Theme
Plague Knight's Theme
Treasure Knight's Theme
Tinker Knight's Theme
Propeller Knight's Theme
Tower of Fate
Something else about this game that I thought was really interesting musically were the boss themes. All of the Order of No Quarter have their own boss theme, and most of them remix the music on the stage, which is really interesting and helps to distinguish all the different battles from each other. Speaking of the Order of No Quarter...
Character Design: 9/10 ...they're all excellent. The Order of No Quarter is really a fine cast of characters. King Knight is arrogant and interesting, Specter Knight, while not as cool as Shade Man, still gives off the same ominous and creepy vibes, Mole Knight is sort of silly looking, Treasure Knight is a clever idea, Plague Knight is just insane and a bit terrifying, Polar Knight is a bit sad and has a connection to Shovel Knight, and Propeller Knight is a fencing French guy. Tinker Knight, though, is really my favorite. His stage and boss battle are quite possibly the best I've ever seen in a video game, and I can't say why without ruining it. The main characters are good too, but most of their exposition comes near the end of the game, so I won't really talk about it. Suffice to say, the game's cast is pretty great.
Humor: 6/10 Most of the game's humor is pretty subtle. Tinker Knight's... surprise had me laughing quite a bit at how in your face it was, and the dance of the Troupple King is incredibly amusing to watch, but most of the other jokes are hidden away in NPC lines and the like.
Difficulty: 7/10 On the first playthough, the game isn't too hard. Not having lives makes each checkpoint pretty final unless you turn off the game. I only died about 100 or so times (I died more in a single stage in 1001 Spikes sometimes, by comparison), so the difficulty isn't anywhere near as severe. There are some tricky parts, especially towards the end of the game, but nothing that dedication and a bit of practice can't overcome. (Hard Mode, on the other hand, is another story)
Other Memorable Features: In the stages, you can find hidden scrolls that contain the game's music. You can then take them to a Bard in one of the towns and get some gold, as well as the option to listen to the song you found whenever you want. The Bard even comments on the songs, which could serve as the composer's thoughts on his own pieces, a really clever idea.
Overall: 9.5/10 Shovel Knight is an excellent platformer and is currently in a tie with Cave Story and Mega Man 9 for my favorite retro style platformers. Everything about it is really excellent, and although I'd probably recommend the former two above it because of the cheaper prices, Shovel Knight is definitely a game worth playing.
Nice review.
Random compliment to tell you someone read it and enjoyed it.
Quote from: Maelstrom on June 24, 2015, 06:50:53 PMNice review.
Random compliment to tell you someone read it and enjoyed it.
Why thank you. That's very nice because often I wonder if anyone reads them. :D
good review, but comparing everything to megaman made it hard to digest
Quote from: NocturneOfShadow on June 24, 2015, 07:23:48 PMgood review, but comparing everything to megaman made it hard to digest
If you played Mega Man as much as I do then you'd see why. The comparisons are incredibly easy to make and it's what my mind kept jumping to the entire game.
Sorry if that made the review unfocused or hard to follow, but I've reviewed like four Mega Man games in the past so the formula has been discussed here before
I've just never played megaman so saying something is like megaman is meaningless
It's not meaningless, don't post something so rude??
I really enjoyed your review even though I've only played a very minimal amount of Mega Man before, and your review made me want to play Shovel Knight.
Awesome review! I need to play Shovel Knight now :P
Mega Man 7:I'm skipping 3, 4, 5, and 6. Why? Because I want to. And this one holds a special place in my heart.
Years ago, before I even played a Mega Man game, I watched Brentalfloss's great video "Mega Man 2 With Lyrics," in which he adds lyrics to the famous music from the first two Wily stages of that game. One of the lines he says is
"3 was good and 4 was pretty good
and 5 and 6 were okay
but 7 sucked big dinosaur balls"
For years therefore, I had the impression that the retro, 8-bit Mega Man games were the only good ones, and 7 and 8 were these freak misfits that I didn't really want to touch.
Fast forward then to me playing 1-6 (and 9-10) and craving more, so I order the Mega Man Anniversary Collection online for the Gamecube, which includes Mega Man 1-8 and two arcade fighting games. I played through the first six games and then started up Mega Man 7. And boy, was I in for a shock.
Gameplay: 9/10 After six NES installments, I'm sure fans were excited to see how Mega Man would transfer over to the Super Nintendo. Actually, they had already seen it in Mega Man X, but how would the classic series fare? Well, in my opinion at least, quite well! Mega Man's sprite is a bit bigger in this game, and thus so is his hitbox, but the stages are designed around it and it doesn't feel like a problem. The slide and the charge also return from the previous games that implemented them, and the charge shot is similar to how it behaved in Mega Man 6. In addition, through exploring various optional hidden secrets in the game's Robot Master stages, Mega Man can acquire a Super Adapter (which is like a combination of Rush Jet Adapter and Rush Power Adapter from Mega Man 6), Beat, Proto Man's shield, Rush Jet, Rush Search (which finds hidden items in stages for you), and some other cool stuff. Mega Man 7 introduces a bolt currency system as well that could continue into Mega Man 8, 9, and 10. Enemies can now, in addition to occasionally dropping small and large weapon or life energies, can also drop small and large bolts. Bolts can be exchanged at a shop for E Tanks, extra lives, and other useful items. It's a nice system that works well in the game, and although the shop is relatively annoying to navigate and use, it would be perfected in later installments. (And by later installments, I of course mean Mega Man 9. Mega Man 8's shop sucked.)
And now we get to my favorite part: the stages. Mega Man 7 is the first Mega Man game that I'm aware of in the classic series (we're not talking about X!) to include an intro stage. It has awesome music and two neat little mini-bosses, and lets the player figure out the controls pretty nicely. It's nowhere near as cool as Mega Man X's or 8's intro stages, but I like the music a bit better. After that, we're taken to a stage select screen with our usual... wait, there are only four Robot Masters in this game?! What a rip off! Freeze Man is the obligatory ice level, Cloud Man's level is reminiscent of Air Man's stage from Mega Man 2 with some weather gimmicks thrown in, Burst Man's level is really neat with lots of water mechanics and disappearing blocks, and Junk Man's stage is an abandoned factory. After beaten them, another stage opens where you enter a Robot Museum, whose music remixes the themes of Guts Man, Heat Man, and Snake Man. Awesome! You then fight a boss, beat it, and then... four more Robot Masters on the stage select! Heck yeah! I don't really mind the four and four design (Mega Man 8 did it too, whereas 9 and 10 went back to giving you 8 choices from the start), but it does kinda chop the game into two halves. The second half is significantly weaker than the first imo, but still has its moments. Slash Man's stage is a dinosaur forest with one of the hardest Robot Master fights in Mega Man history. Shade Man's stage is really neat too: it's the first time the series tries for a horror level with haunted-house type themes, and it works really well. Spring Man's stage and Turbo Man's stage are both kind of lame though, and I don't really have much to say about either other than that they're not particularly fun to play and are just kind of annoying.
All in all though, it certainly feels very much like a Mega Man game. There are four Wily stages at the end, each having at least one and sometimes two bosses in them, all leading up to the usual boss rush and final encounter with Wily. It's not new, but it's solid and well-done.
Addictiveness: 8/10 All ten classic Mega Man games have incredibly high replay value because they're so much fun to pop in and play through again trying out different things, and Mega Man 7 is no exception. It's a true game in the series in that sense. It was fun the first time, but it's honestly even more addicting each time you play through it.
Story: 4/10 Because I haven't covered them yet, I'll talk briefly about the stories of Mega Man 3-6 before I talk about 7. If you don't want to be spoiled for an incredibly lame story-arch (i.e., Bowser kidnaps Peach kind of lame), then don't read ahead. All four of those games try to pull the "The villain isn't Wily! Surprise, the villain is Wily!" twist. Even Mega Man 9 and 10 do this. Mega Man 7 is a breath of fresh air because it's very clear right from the start that Wily is the villain, and it doesn't feel like it's trying too hard to be clever. Wily's actually arrested at the end of Mega Man 6, and I'm sure many fans back then thought that would be the end of it. Lolnope, he programmed some robots to automatically wake up if he didn't contact them for a while, so that activates Freeze Man, Junk Man, Burst Man, and Cloud Man. They go and break him out of prison, and then he sets Spring Man, Slash Man, Turbo Man, and Shade Man loose as well. Along the way, Mega Man meets a similar robot named Bass (Named after the instrument or the clef, not the fish) and his canine companion Treble. At first they pretend to be friends, but later Bass reveals that he's working for Dr. Wily and steals a super-adapter part from Dr. Light's lab. That's about the full extent of the plot, everything else carries over. Mega Man beats the 8 Robot Masters, storms the Wily Castle, beats Bass twice, beats the 8 Robot Masters again, and beats Wily's machines.
Music: 10/10 One of the best soundtracks in Mega Man history. There's only one weak track, and it's Turbo Man's theme. Spring Man's theme takes some getting used to, but it's not bad. Turbo Man's theme is just really annoying. On the positive side, Mega Man 7 has hands down the best Wily stage music in the entire series (Wily Stage 4 is my favorite Wily stage theme in the entire series), as well as one of my favorite boss battle themes and my favorite stage select screen. It's some really good stuff.
Intro Stage
Junk Man's Theme
Freeze Man's Theme
Burst Man's Theme
Cloud Man's Theme
Stage Select
Boss Battle
Slash Man's Theme
Spring Man's Theme
*sigh*, Turbo Man's Theme
Shade Man's Theme
Wily Stage 1
Wily Stage 3
Wily Stage 4
Character Design: 9/10 Ah, now I finally get to talk about the characters. Dr. Light, Mega Man, Roll, Eddie, and Dr. Wily (or "Dr. Willy" as it's humorously misspelled in the opening cutscene) all return from previous games, and are all as awesome as ever. Dr. Light's new robot, Auto, also operates the shop, and he's pretty cool. Bass and Treble (Hey Bass!), as discussed above, are great too. But, of course, my favorite characters are always the Robot Masters. And, unfortunately, we have two stinkers mixed in with six of the best RMs in the entire series. Cloud Man is certainly a good electric themed Robot Master, and while he takes a few things from Air Man on his stage, his theme is great, his weapon is useful, and he manages to be a great RM in his own right. Burst Man is sort of an interesting spin on Bubble Man, combining his aquatic properties with a non-aquatic battle, a bomb-type weapon, and one of the most interesting RM boss fights in the series. Burst Man is great. Slash Man is one of the most epic RM designs in the entire series. Everyone loves Shadow Man and Metal Man, and while they're both great, I love Slash Man. He's like Wolverine with Super Saiyan hair. As a robot. Everything about him is great. Shade Man, as explained above, was the series's first venture into having a horror-themed RM, and it works really well. Finally, Junk Man is my favorite Robot Master in the game. He's huge, he's an easy RM to learn how to fight but a tough one to master fighting. His weapon is a shield weapon that doesn't suck, his theme is my favorite song in the game, and he's just all-around really likable to me.
Unfortunately, two of the RMs aren't so great. Spring Man, while I don't hate him as much as everyone else does, is indeed lazy and a bit forgettable. His weapon is a bit unwieldy, his stage and theme, while not bad, are a bit lackluster, and his boss fight is kind of boring. Turbo Man, on the other hand, is unforgivable in my opinion. A lot of people really like him, and that's fine, but I don't see what's to like. His stage is one of the most irritating in the game, including force beams straight out of Quick Man's stage, his boss fight is really annoying, his weapon is useless, his theme grates on my ears, and I just don't like him. At all. He's definitely in my bottom five RMs.
Humor: 4/10 The game takes a few instances to crack jokes. Within the first thirty seconds, Auto does something that's sort of a tongue-in-cheek moment that's kind of funny. Something that Freeze Man does, that I'll explain later, is pretty great too.
Difficulty: 9/10 This game would be ranked as one of the easier Mega Man games if it weren't for one thing. The stages, except for Turbo Man's sometimes, are all fairly easy if you know what you're doing. Burst Man's boss fight can be really irritating for a newcomer, as can Freeze Man's, and don't even try to beat Slash Man without his weakness. The Wily stages, while difficult, aren't very bad if you collect bolts throughout the game and spend them on E Tanks to use.
The one thing that kills this game is the final boss battle. It's probably the one thing that's preventing this from being my favorite classic Mega Man. The battle with the Wily Machine is long, tedious, and while not overly difficult, really annoying. The battle with the Wily Capsule, on the other hand, is long, tedious, overly difficult, and really annoying. You
need to have four-five E Tanks, at least one weapon energy W Tank, and a whole lot of patience and luck. Wily spams almost unavoidable attacks, his weakness is the Wild Coil (Spring Man's unwieldy weapon of choice), and his attacks do tons of damage. The fight takes a long time and it's a total pain. Once you've learned a little bit of how to handle it, it's not
horrible if you have full E Tanks, but why would you make a player grind for those on the last stage? The creators of the game literally said "let's make the final boss as hard as we can."
Other Memorable Features: There are lots of really small and cool secrets and hidden things in this game. Using the Rush Search item in a certain area will have him dig up a Nintendo Gameboy. A certain password allows access to a 2 player fighting mode, where you can play as either Mega Man or Bass. If you use Freeze Man's weapon on Freeze Man, the music stops, the game freezes, he looks at the camera, strikes a pose as if to say "really? you did that?", and then recovers some health. It's honestly funny enough to do it at least once per playthrough. I also really like the little jingle that plays before going into a Wily stage (https://youtu.be/C4mg5I90Jlc?t=1h10m1s) on the map screen. It sounds so much more intimidating than in the other games. If you hold B while selecting Shade Man's theme, it plays a really nice 16-bit remix of the Ghosts 'n' Goblins theme on the stage. It's touches like these that make Mega Man so much fun.
Overall: 9.5/10 Despite a few flaws, the real gold in the game shines through. I can look past Turbo Man and the final boss battle to see everything else that's so wonderful about Mega Man 7. I would recommend this one to someone as their first Mega Man game. It's the second best Super Nintendo game I've played, behind only EarthBound.
"and Dr. Willy (or "Dr. Willy" as it's humorously misspelled in the opening cutscene)"
Great review, btw.
Really enjoyed this one--it's that good even among Mega Man, huh?
Kind of like Apollo Justice, it's one of the games in the series that a lot of people seem to hate on because it's different from the previous titles. It's just really good though, not sure what the problems are.
Top 10 Mega Man Robot Masters:I'm in a really Mega Man-y sort of mood recently. If my incessant talking about it didn't tip you off, then my avatar or my recent raving about Mega Man 7 probably did. I'm saving my 50th review for a special little game, so what to do until then to blow off some Mega Man steam? Ah, I can do a countdown! Perfect!
Today I'll be counting down my Top 10 Favorite Robot Masters from the classic Mega Man franchise. This means no X, no Zero, and no Battle Network. Just the original Mega Man in all his sidescrolling glory. A few rules before we start though:
Games that could potentially be included:
Robot Masters from Mega Man 1 through 10, Mega Man and Bass, the Mega Man Killers in the Gameboy games, and the Stardroids from Mega Man V.
Games that will not be included include the Genesis Unit from Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Time Man or Oil Man from Mega Man: Powered Up, or main characters like Roll, Proto Man, Bass, and Mega Man himself. I also won't include Metal Man on this list because I don't like him too much. I'm also not putting Splash Woman on this list because
this is not an equal opportunity listing I don't like her enough either. Sorry!
In order for a Robot Master to stick out to me as particularly good, it must excel in one or more of the following areas: design, fight, weapon, stage, and theme. This list isn't final, but it's pretty close. It might alter a bit in the years to come, but shouldn't too much. Narrowing this down to just ten was really, really hard. I honestly felt like I was picking from my own children. But, regardless, here I go!
#10
Cold Man (https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette3.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2Fc%2Fc6%2FColdman.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F270%3Fcb%3D20100825202327&hash=3e295134690415cac834b0ff693b7edb26bf70f7)
First up on this list is King Number 002, Cold Man, from Mega Man and Bass. Cold Man was originally created by Dr. Light to store dinosaur DNA at low temperatures to prevent it from decaying. In the events of Mega Man and Bass, King modifies him to be a combat robot.
To be honest, picking the lower members of this list was a lot harder than picking the higher members, mostly because I've had the higher ones picked out for a long time in my head. So, what is it about Cold Man that I like?
First of all, his design amuses me. It took Capcom a long time, but they finally came up with the most ridiculous ice-typed Robot Master design possible. They had an Eskimo (Ice Man), a ball of snow on skis (Blizzard Man), and a giant ice golem (I'm Fwost Man). But a refrigerator? I just love it, it's the kind of ridiculousness that I expect from Mega Man without being annoying and stupid. His fight is fun enough, if a bit tedious. Ask anyone who's played Mega Man and Bass what the biggest flaw with it is, and they'll say the difficulty. Every RM in the game except for Cold Man is ridiculously annoying to fight, and you either need to practice a lot or have their weakness (or both) to be able to stand a chance against them. Cold Man is the only one who's both fair and not too challenging. His stage is reminiscent of Frost Man's from Mega Man 8, minus the annoying parts (jump, jump!). His weapon, as well, is fine. It's called the Ice Wall, and it essentially creates a wall of ice that you can push around into things and even use as a temporary platform. It's great if you're playing through the game as Mega Man because it can help you get into certain areas that Bass can.
However, what I like the most about Cold Man is the music that plays on his stage. It's not my favorite song in Mega Man and Bass (the game's strongest point is its soundtrack), but it's really very relaxing and pretty, almost a bit sad. Give it a listen!
#9
Tornado Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette3.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2Fd%2Fd9%2FMm9tornadoman.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F250%3Fcb%3D20100619050700&hash=2e48c82ef5c79d9131ed307e4ff5e18d8b03534e)
At #9 we have Dr. Light Number 066, Tornado Man, from Mega Man 9. Tornado Man was created by Dr. Light to control weather at a regulation facility.
As many of you may know, Mega Man 9 is my favorite game in the classic series. This list isn't going to be flooded with Mega Man 9 RMs, but it will receive its proper representation. Tornado Man is one of the best the game offers in numerous regards. Although he looks a bit like Gyro Man, I like Tornado Man's design quite a bit more. Mega Man 9's designs really pop out because of their strong, bright colors.
Tornado Man's weapon is perhaps his only weak attribute. While far from terrible, it's essentially a screen-nuke weapon that's similar to Toad Man's Rain Flush or Astro Man's Astro Crush. It's been done before, and while Tornado Man's Tornado Blow has the added bonus of giving you a jumping boost, it's one of Mega Man 9's not-so-memorable weapons. Far from terrible, but not stellar.
His fight is fun. Tornado Man will constantly fly around into different locations and summon little tornadoes that come up from the ground. You need to jump high and dodge them quickly without going too high to hit the spikes on the ceiling, all while trying to aim your shots at Tornado Man.
In my opinion though, Tornado Man's stage and theme are his best attributes. His stage is a weather stage that's similar to Cloud Man's or Wire Sponge's from Mega Man X2, but it does the job fantastically well. Rather than having changing weather, the stage goes through different sections with different themes, and it builds on itself. The opening segment features rotating platforms, spikes, and pits in clear weather. Then there are a few screens of simple platforming that use ice physics and snowy weather. Finally, there is a segment with wind blowing forward, increasing your jump distance, and backwards, decreasing your jump distance, all while trying to stay on top of rotating platforms. It's a really fun and challenging stage that takes a long time to master.
The music on it is equally awesome. It's long and it's intense, and it's one of Mega Man 9's best Robot Master themes.
#8
Slash Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette1.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2Fd%2Fd7%2FMm7slashman.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F270%3Fcb%3D20100628233330&hash=2216f1688c6ed2175a9718d96610077ad2615789)
at #8 we have Dr. Wily Number 054, Slash Man, from Mega Man 7. Slash Man was created by Dr. Wily for the sole purposes of destroying Mega Man, as well as taking over the world.
Look at his picture. Seriously, look at it. Slash Man is awesome incarnate. In fact, (because design isn't really all that important to me in comparison to other things) I might award Slash Man the "best designed RM" award just because I love how he looks so much. I don't remember if I used this description in my Mega Man 7 review or not, but I'm going to again. He looks like Wolverine with Super Saiyan hair. And he's a robot. And he leads an army of dinosaurs. Seriously, Capcom outdid themselves with this guy. I love Slash Man.
His boss fight is absolutely insane, too. He'll jump around, slashing at you randomly with his claws, and then retreat up behind a wall in the ceiling and drop goop on you. If you get stuck, he'll fly down out of nowhere and slash at you again. I haven't even tried going after this guy with only the Mega Buster yet because I know it won't end well. Come here with the Freeze Cracker at full energy, you're going to need it.
For those of you who have played Super Smash Bros for 3DS or Wii U, Slash Man's weapon is Mega Man's back air, the Slash Claw. Compared to things like the Charge Kick and the Top Spin, one might call the Slash Claw the first successful close-range weapon in a Mega Man game. It's not great, I still prefer the Flame Sword personally, but the Slash Claw is fun to use and it's great against some bosses too.
Slash Man's stage is a bit like Jurassic Park. It's a jungle with lots of robotic dinosaurs roaming around. There is a great T-rex miniboss, some tricky spike navigation, and some interesting enemies like robot stegosauruses and snakes. The music on the stage, however, is quite frankly fantastic and makes me think of Slash Man going crazy chopping down things.
#7
Solar Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette3.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F9%2F96%2FSolarman.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F250%3Fcb%3D20100708150406%26amp%3Bformat%3Dwebp&hash=c903557e9cc13f9f850d200bd9fbc716f480c1bf)
At #7 we have Dr. Wily Number 080, Solar Man, from Mega Man 10. He was designed by an unknown scientist and stationed to research solar energy in a lab.
Some of you may remember a few years ago when I reviewed Mega Man 10, and I really hated it. At one point I probably would have called Solar Man the only good Robot Master in the game. Well, since then, my attitude has changed a bit and I've seen a lot of good in Mega Man 10, and that it can stand on its own without being compared to the masterpiece that is Mega Man 9.
That being said though, Solar Man is still the game's saving grace in my eyes. There's something about him that I just really like. Solar Man's design reminds me a bit of Pharaoh Man's weapon in Mega Man 4. His fight is rather interesting as well, as Solar Man will jump around the room throwing blasts of his Solar Blaze down onto the floor, which break apart and spread across the room. The more your shots accidentally hit the blaze on top of his head, the bigger it grows and the harder the attacks get to dodge. Although he's absolutely decimated by the Water Shield, Solar Man with only the Mega Buster isn't easy, especially on hard mode.
His stage isn't very easy either. Lots of tricky enemy placement, a very annoying mid-boss, and some instant-death lava make this one of Mega Man 10's more difficult stages on normal mode, in my opinion. While all of this about Solar Man is solid, the worst part about him is his weapon. Like a lot of Mega Man 10's Robot Masters, Solar Man has some good attributes but fails to give the Blue Bomber anything useful in his arsenal. The Solar Blaze, while not useless, is awkward and never really needs to be used instead of the Mega Buster, except for maybe against Chill Man.
So what makes Solar Man this high on the list? His theme song. What else? It's my favorite Mega Man 10 Robot Master theme. In fact, I might nominate it for the most headbang-worthy song that I've heard in a video game. Just give it a listen.
#6
Cut Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette1.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F4%2F40%2FCW-03-CutMan-Art.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F220%3Fcb%3D20100506025813&hash=d96457f7f8efc489b05371335ac0bbc07f60c30c)
#6 is Dr. Light Number 001, Cut Man, from the original Mega Man. He was originally designed by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily together as part of their original batch of RMs. Cut Man was originally designed to cut down trees.
Cut Man will always go down in history as the single most iconic Robot Master to Mega Man fans, and there's a reason for that. In the original Mega Man on NES, the concept of choosing stages was unheard of, so most people just pressed start on the first option. That first option was our friend Cut Man here. He's probably the easiest boss in the classic Mega Man series (outside maybe Toad Man) because he takes three damage from the Mega Buster and goes down relatively easily. Most newbie players can and should start with him.
Cut Man's actually pretty flawless in every way. His design is really cute, especially in Mega Man Powered Up where he's essentially a little kid. I imagine that the developers knew that everyone would attempt his stage first by default, so they made his boss fight relatively simple. Cut Man will jump around, throwing his Rolling Cutter like a boomerang at Mega Man. It's a fun little fight that's a taste of things to come. The Rolling Cutter also acts like a boomerang when you receive it as a weapon as well. It's pretty good, and although it's outclassed by Elec Man's Thunder Beam and Fire Man's Fire Storm later in the game, in the first few levels it's very good at destroying enemies that the Mega Buster can't. His stage is fairly simple too. For a beginner Mega Man player it's a challenge, but for an experienced player it's a breeze. Very few serious hazards, lots of predictable enemy placement, no gimmicks, and not a lot to watch out for.
The music on his stage is actually pretty well-known. You might have heard it before if you've played Super Smash Brothers on the Wii U, because it's a song in the game. The original track, of course, is awesome.
#5
Enker(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette1.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F4%2F4d%2FMM10EnkerArt.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F280%3Fcb%3D20100724044838&hash=e033300aeabc50fe8cd2a60efafa63d707c12a6e)
#5 is Mega Man Killer Number 001, Enker, from Dr. Wily's Revenge on the Gameboy. Along with Punk and Ballade, Enker was created by Dr. Wily to destroy Mega Man. Enker, like his two counterparts and like most Mega Man classic main characters, is named after the Japanese style of music "Enka."
Enker is the most recent addition of mine to this list because I only beat Dr. Wily's Revenge a few months ago, but I do really like him. And honestly, I'm not really sure why. Enker doesn't have a stage, you fight him after fighting Bubble Man, Heat Man, Flash Man, and Quick Man in a teleporter room in Dr. Wily's castle. He does, however, have a very fun and intense boss fight. Enker will jump around the room in varying patterns, charge up his Mirror Buster, and then reflect Mega Man's shots back at him in a wave. You want to have a good balance between damaging him and feeding him too many shots to power up his blast. Dodging his jumping patterns and his shots is quite challenging, but still fun.
I think most of what I like about Enker is in his design. Punk looks a bit too intimidating, and while I really like Ballade too, Enker's bright yellow and blue design really sticks out to me.
The Mirror Buster is a good defensive weapon too. I wouldn't use it too much in stages, but in certain boss it can reflect projectiles back at the boss and do damage. It's also the only way to beat Wily's Machine in Dr. Wily's Revenge.
A few weeks ago, I liked Enker a lot, but I wouldn't have put him on this list. He got bumped up tremendously when I heard the song "Heart of Enker" from his DLC stage in Mega Man 10 (that I haven't played). I'm counting this as his theme, and it's just that good.
#4
Elec Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette4.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F4%2F46%2FCW-08-ElecMan-Art.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F250%3Fcb%3D20100506030701&hash=d2399c44d3696227ddf2e97e6f372a58b6f3042b)
Now we're starting to get into the truly flawless Robot Masters. #4 is Dr. Light Number 008, Elec Man, from the original Mega Man. He was originally built to control the flow of electricity at a nuclear power facility.
Elec Man is the insane, crazy, and unpredictable boss of the first Mega Man game. Most games have one. Mega Man 2 has Quick Man, 3 has Shadow Man, and 4 has Pharaoh Man. Elec Man, I would argue, is the worst of all of those to go up against unprepared. He can kill Mega Man in three hits. He also only takes one hit from the Buster, and he's very rarely in firing range because of how big and deadly his own attacks are. His boss fight without the Rolling Cutter is an absolute nightmare.
His design is rather sleek, too. He's cocky and narcissistic in Mega Man Powered Up, and I rather like it.
His stage, the nuclear power facility, is supposedly very difficult. I never had much of a problem with it, but a lot of people do. There's some tricky enemy placement, a lot of vertical scrolling, and some disappearing block puzzles. It's fun and challenging, but not, in my opinion, unfair. It's a lot easier if you have the Rolling Cutter to deal with Spines, though.
Elec Man's weapon is without a doubt the best weapon in Mega Man 1. It's not as broken as the Metal Blade in Mega Man 2, but it's up there in the list of best weapons. It fires a huge blast in front and two smaller blasts going vertically up and down. It kills most weaker enemies in one hit and does a lot of damage to pretty much everything else. It also kills Ice Man in three hits.
Elec Man's music is one of the first Mega Man tracks I fell in love with. It's not overly complicated, but it's pretty and I like it. It's also based on a song by Journey.
#3
Crash Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette4.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F5%2F58%2FCrashman.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F280%3Fcb%3D20100915202626&hash=dfdc2c95eab752dd1a1618d83e37d8e6298a9b1c)
Rolling in at #3, it's Dr. Wily Number 013, Crash Man, from Mega Man 2. He was originally created by Dr. Wily to destroy Mega Man using the speed and agility of Bomb Man with the strength and defensive capabilities of Guts Man.
Okay, I'm not going to end with it this time. Crash Man has the single best song in Mega Man 2 and quite possibly the catchiest song in the entire Mega Man classic series. If you play Mega Man 2 I almost guarantee you will have this song stuck in your head at some point or another. It's really, really good and I sing it every time I play the stage.
Other than the song though, what else does Crash Man have going for him? Well, his boss fight is, to put it bluntly, either a hit or miss. If you know what you're doing, you can lock Crash Man into a pattern really easily (that I learned how to do a month or two ago) and not take a single hit. If you don't know what you're doing, Crash Man becomes almost as hard as Quick Man, jumping around randomly firing bombs at you. I do really like his design though. He's really sleek, has two bomb-launcher drill thingies for hands, and is a nice shade of orange.
His stage is an interesting network of tubes. I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be, but it looks visually impressive like most of Mega Man 2's environments do. Plus, it has annoyingly placed Mets. Cute!
Crash Man's weapon is the Crash Bomber. Again, for those who play Smash Bros 4, it's Mega Man's side special. It sticks to surfaces and explodes, which is great for breaking through walls or defeating one of the worst Wily Fortress bosses in Mega Man history.
Seriously though, Crash Man is awesome and I love him.
#2
Junk Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette2.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2Fb%2Fb2%2FMm7junkman.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F270%3Fcb%3D20100618214731&hash=4c6a7d73c546d77ac6e9571ed32343bce42ff9e4)
Number 2 is Dr. Wily Number 050, Junk Man, from Mega Man 7. He was originally made from pieces of scrap by Dr. Wily and designed to find other pieces of scrap to make more robots, but Junk Man became such a resistant fighter that Dr. Wily modified him for combat. I really like this backstory for some reason, it kind of amuses me.
When I first looked at the list of Robot Masters from Mega Man 7, Junk Man stuck out as being one of the most hideous-looking characters in the series, just like how Mega Man 7 originally didn't look like too good of a game. Well, I love Mega Man 7 and Junk Man is my favorite Robot Master from Mega Man 7. Everything about him is perfect. Let's start with his fight.
Junk Man has numerous attacks. He'll create a junk cube and push it across the room, drop junk on you, jump around the room, throw junk at you, and use his Junk Shield. It's not a super hard fight, but it's not easy either and it keeps you on your toes.
His stage is a molten trash-disposal facility, I believe. It's infested with cockroaches and lots of other enemies. There are a few elevator segments even a branching path. It's a fun stage.
Junk Man's weapon is, in my opinion, the second most useful shield weapon in the series, behind only the Jewel Satellite in Mega Man 9. It's very durable, it can fire in lots of directions, and it kills enemies reliably.
His design is big and hulking, perhaps the biggest Robot Master in the series until Mega Man 8 introduced Frost Man. Junk Man, however, doesn't use his size to his advantage in the same way Frost Man does. Most of his attacks involve his element, junk, and the manipulation of it using electromagnetic forces inside his body. In fact, his body is just junk being held together by these forces. Neat!
The song, as you know, is awesome. It sounds really sad and it's pretty catchy as well. I talked about it in my Mega Man 7 review, but it can't hurt to post it again here.
#1
And my number one favorite Mega Man Robot Master is...
Spoiler
Hornet Man(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette1.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ff0%2F9-hornet.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F250%3Fcb%3D20100619050009&hash=91b22a766295f97d979ce22df8c255fd822bf892)
Doctor Light Number 070 is Hornet Man and my gosh I love him. He's my favorite character from my favorite Mega Man game. He was originally designed to take of a flower park, and that's what his stage is.
Hornet Man is flawless. He symbolizes to me everything that a Mega Man Robot Master needs to be. I want to gush over him a bit but I'll just try to keep things quick.
Hornet Man's design is great. It doesn't try to make him look like a bee but it makes it quite clear that he's based on a bee. All it really gives him is a stinger. He doesn't have wings, or a bee's face, or even multiple legs. He still keeps the humanoid shape that I prefer in Robot Masters without sacrificing his design. Plus, the yellow on his body really pops out, similarly to Enker.
Hornet Man's stage is great. It's not too long, and it's not too short. It's also really hard. Lots of death spikes, lots of tricky enemy placement, a really tricky miniboss, and it just overall requires a lot of practice and a lot of good, solid platforming technique. It's hard, but it's fair.
Hornet Man's fight is intense and awesome, and only recently did I manage to do it only with the buster. He'll run to the side of the screen, shoot three Hornet Chasers out of his chest, and then run to the other side. It's a simple pattern, but the problem is destroying the Hornet Chasers before they hit you, and that's not always easy. He's durable and he can last for quite a while, so the fight turns into a "how fast can I destroy these three things and still manage to hit him" kind of a thing.
Hornet Man's weapon is my favorite weapon in the Mega Man series. It's amazingly useful. It's a homing weapon, like the Dive Missile or the Homing Sniper, that seeks out and finds enemies. However, that's not all it does. The Hornet Chaser will pick up and will
bring back to you any life energy, weapon energy, or even extra lives that it sees on screen. This means that it will essentially heal you and recharge its own energy without you even having to move. It's awesome! It's also great for snagging hard to reach items or items that enemies dropped in impossible to reach places, like over spikes or inside a wall. You don't know how many times I've been playing Mega Man 2 or 3 or whatever and an enemy will drop an extra life inside a wall and I'll curse my luck that I don't have the Hornet Chaser.
And the music. Oh my gosh, the music. Hornet Dance is quite possibly my favorite classic Mega Man song. It's not long, it's not complicated, and it might not even be musically interesting. I just think it's catchy, pretty, and fits the stage. And I love it.
Hornet Man is my favorite. the end.
Well, there you have it! That took quite a while to put together so I hope at least some of you enjoyed it!
elec man only #3?
Today's review (as my 50th review!) is kind of special, because in one sense I'm reviewing four games, and in another sense I'm only reviewing one. In one sense I'm reviewing my favorite entry from a series, and in another sense I'm not. Finally, in one sense I'm reviewing a game for the GBA, but I have it on a DS cartridge.
What the heck am I talking about? Let me explain.
I found the Mega Man Zero Collection at a Gamestop back in June, and although at the time I had little experience outside of the Classic Mega Man series, I decided to buy it because of a recommendation from Dudeman. This is one of my most rewarding "on a whim" video game purchases, right up there with EarthBound, Pikmin 2, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors. The Mega Man Zero Collection is one DS cartridge that contains four GBA games: Zero 1, Zero 2, Zero 3, and Zero 4. Like I said earlier, it's kind of my favorite Mega Man game. Mega Man 9 I feel is more rewarding of an experience than any of these games
individually, but when you play Zero 1 to Zero 4 back to back (like I did over the summer), not much can really compare. Something similar would be me saying that the Phoenix Wright trilogy on 3DS is probably a more rewarding experience than Investigations 2, but Investigations 2 is my favorite
individual Ace Attorney game. Does that make sense?
The games do everything that the classic series does and so much more. I'll be treating this as a review of the entire series for several reasons. Normally I would like to review each game individually (I didn't review Mega Man 1-8 at one time and call it a review of the Anniversary Collection, nor will I do the same thing for the X Collection), but because I played all four of these games so consecutively, they're all tied together so intricately, and because they're all essentially four parts to the same game, this makes more sense to me. There's a lot to talk about here, though, because it is four games. So bear with me and I'll show you why everyone should play these games.
The Mega Man Zero Series:Before I begin the categories, I'd like to say a few things. When you play a Mario game, you expect to play as Mario. When you play a Kirby game, you expect to play as Kirby. Mega Man Zero is a bit different. As its name might suggest, you don't play as Mega Man (who's been dead for hundreds of years, by the way. And you don't play as X, either), but rather as Zero. I could go into great detail about how Zero has been a fan favorite since his induction in Mega Man X1, how he became a playable character in X4 and has been a stable of the series ever since, and how I've heard people call him the greatest character in all of video games. But we'd be here all day if I went into that kind of detail with everyone, and that would honestly spoil a lot of Zero's personality and backstory. Just know that he's awesome and everyone loves him.
Gameplay: 9/10 Mega Man Zero 1 follows a bit of a different formula than the other three games, but Zero 1 through Zero 4 are all essentially the Mega Man you know and love in terms of gameplay. Take Zero's moveset from X4 (he mainly uses a saber for melee combat), give him the option to use a buster and a few other weapons, and viola. In the first two games, weapons level up and unlock new skills as they're used, but this was removed in Zero 3 and Zero 4.
Mega Man Zero 1 is the odd-one-out in terms of gameplay, so I thought I'd talk about it first. Every other game in the Mega Man Classic and X series (that I'm familiar with, anyway) gives the player a stage select, typically with eight bosses, and the player is tasked with figuring out which order to tackle the stages and which weapons work well on different bosses. Mega Man Zero 1 is entirely different. It essentially has an open world, with different missions being available at different times and more missions being unlocked after previous ones are completed. Many of the missions involve the same areas, too. For instance, the desert outside the Resistance Base is visited several times, first to rescue a downed helicopter and later to counter an invasion by Neo Arcadia. In addition, you don't get to see which boss is at the end of the stage (and there pretty much always is one, in true Mega Man fashion), so it leaves a lot up to the imagination who you'll be fighting. The game even allows you to fail and not do certain missions if you don't want to, although I don't recommend this because it detracts from the plot, and if you're not good enough to beat all the missions then you won't beat the final stages. Practice is important in Mega Man Zero 1, even more so than it is in the other Mega Man games I've played. Almost never will you beat a level on your first try, so perseverance is key.
Mega Man Zero 2, 3, and 4 aren't nearly as complex as Zero 1 is in terms of stage choice. Zero 2 (after an intro level, of course) presents four stages to select, then a mid-stage, and then four more stages. Mega Man Zero 3, similarly, presents four initial stages, three mid-stages, and then four other stages. Zero 4, however, presents eight stages from the start. All games have a series of "final stages," whose counterpart in previous games would be the Wily Stages or the Sigma Stages. In all Zero games, however, one does not always get a weapon from beating the bosses. Only if the stages are cleared with a high rank (low damage, high number of enemies killed, few continues, etc.) does the boss give Zero a new technique to be performed with the weapons he already has. The only game that's different than this is Zero 4, where just beating a stage with the right weather conditions (which can be changed freely from the stage select screen) will the boss give you a new technique. Because of this (and because I wasn't nearly good enough to get high ranks on all the stages in Zero 1-3), I can't speak for the techniques that bosses give you. This doesn't really detract from the game, however, because Zero's saber and buster are both really fun to play around with.
This leads me into boss weaknesses. Rather than always having to guess what a weakness is, bosses are universally divided up into four "elements," or, rather, three elements and then a category for bosses with no element. Fire bosses are weak to Electric attacks, Electric bosses are weak to Ice attacks, and Ice bosses are weak to Fire attacks, once again throwing your Pokémon knowledge out the window. The neutral bosses don't have weaknesses, so they're generally more tricky and difficult to exploit. Zero 1-3 gives you chips that you can freely change around in the pause menu to change the elemental attributes of your charged attacks, whereas Zero 4 allows you to performed elemental attacks with the skills you gain from defeating bosses. Most Zero games (except for Zero 1, I'm pretty sure) have two Fire bosses, two Ice bosses, two Electric bosses, and two neutral bosses, although often the Fortress stages have bosses that are weak to a particular element.
Lots of other staples from previous games appear here as well, such as a boss rush room where you fight eight bosses again, enemies will drop life energy, energy crystals (which act as a form of currency), and occasionally extra lives. Weapon energy is never dropped because Zero's weapons can all be used infinitely. The Zero series does, however, introduce a new mechanic, especially in Zero 1-3. Cyber Elves are cute little sentient beings composed of raw energy that can be collected and used for everything imaginable. Each Cyber Elf can only be used once, but some of them have effects that last forever, like giving you a Sub Tank or increasing maximum health. Finding these Cyber Elves is equivalent to finding Heart Tanks in the X series, so using an online walkthrough for them is recommended.
That's about all I can say on the gameplay, although I might be missing a few things.
Addictiveness: 9/10 These games match the "this is so much fun," nature of the classic games with the perfect level of difficulty to piss you off, but still keep you playing. It also has the factor of never knowing what's going to happen next in the plot (which we'll be getting to shortly!). In general, once you've played one Zero game, I've found it's hard not to play all of them.
Story: 9/10 This is for the people who view Mega Man as a fun little mindless game with high levels of entertainment but little value of lasting artistic substance. The Mega Man Zero series has a fantastic story arc with great characters, lots of development, a really great setting, and lots and lots of lore. There's just so much going on in this series that even if I wanted to I don't think I could spoil all of it here. It doesn't even fall to the typical trope of "Dr. Wily is evil oh no!". Zero 1 has one villain, Zero 2 has a totally different villain, and Zero 3 introduces a figure who's sort of been masterminding everything in the previous games (and I HATE him more than any other villain in the Mega Man series). The plot in these games goes where I honestly never expected it to, and if you need another reason to play them other than that the gameplay is excellent, do it for this. The plot essentially takes place about 100 years after the last X game and revolves around two groups: Neo Arcadia, the so-called haven for humans, and the Resistance, who are fighting against Neo Arcadia's corrupt treatment of both humans and Reploids. I'd recommend playing at least Mega Man X1 before this game so that the player has an idea about what a Reploid is, who X is, who Zero is, and who Mavericks are, but even if you don't you'll still be able to figure everything out okay.
Music: 10/10 The music of these games is absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately Zero 1's soundtrack doesn't particularly stick out to me, and a handful of the stages have sub-par themes, but overall there are enough excellent masterpieces here to warrant a 10/10 rating for it. I haven't gone through all of the songs for all of these games yet actually, so what I'm going to post here is largely just what has stuck out to me as being particularly excellent. I won't post all the stage themes here like I usually do (after all, there are a lot more than eight stages in these games!), just the ones I really like.
(Note: all text is referring to the song directly above it.)
Songs from Zero 1:
Resistance Base
One of the mission themes
The song on a train-chasing mission
Neo Arcadia's Theme
This song's really great, one of the best stage themes in the game. Mostly because it remixes my favorite song in the game, which is...
X, The Legend
This song essentially plays when encountering one of a handful of characters, who I'll talk about later. It's really dramatic and shows the tension of the moment.
Songs from Zero 2:
Sand Wilderness (Intro Stage)
Poler Kamrous's Theme
Probably my favorite song in the Zero series. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this and tell me what you think.
Panter Flauclaws's Theme
Phoenix Magnion's Theme
Screw this level, but the music rocks.
Hyleg Ourobockle's/Burble Hekelot's Theme
The Neo Arcadia theme gets a nice update
Songs from Zero 3:
Blazin' Flizzard's Theme
Deathtanz Mantisk's Theme
Cubit Foxtar's Theme
Glacier le Cactank's Theme
Probably my favorite song in Zero 3
Songs from Zero 4:
Area Zero's Theme
This song also serves as a main theme of the game, and acts sort of like a motif throughout much of the soundtrack. It's really nice and pretty.
Heat Genblem's Theme
Tech Kraken's Theme
Noble Mandrago's Theme
Any fans of hardcore rock and roll should listen to this one.
Sol Titanion's Theme
This one too. Mega Man Zero does hardcore rock and roll really well.
Area Zero Camp Mission
Notice how it sort of sneaks in Area Zero's theme.
Mino Magnus's Theme
This song's a bit annoying but I still like it for some reason.
One of the final stages
Probably my favorite song in Zero 4.
Character Design: 10/10 The Mega Man Zero series has one of the best casts of characters in a non-visual novel game that I've seen in years. Zero and X are both as awesome as they are in previous games. The main villain of the series (who first appears in Zero 3 and who I'm not going to name) is a
disgusting human being and I love to hate him. Probably the best part of the game's characters, though, is that we
finally get some female characters that don't suck! Ciel, who is a human scientist and the leader of the Resistance is a great female protagonist for the series, and her relationship with Zero is pretty interesting.
Secondly, the bosses. I don't know how deeply I can go into all of them, but I'll try to hit most of the good ones.
Zero 1 doesn't have a stages select, so a lot of the bosses only show up briefly and don't get stages associated strictly with them, so many of them aren't as memorable as I'd like. Aztec Falcon is a cool Electric-themed robot bird, and he's pretty neat. Maha Ganeshariff, despite having a silly name, is a giant tub-of-an-elephant, and isn't particularly memorable. Anubis Necromancess the Third and Blizzack Staggroff have cool boss fights and designs, and I do like them, but ultimately they aren't particularly memorable. Hanumachine is a flaming monkey that I completely forgot about after fighting.
Zero 2 has Hyleg Ourobockle, who's this awesome snake boss in a jungle stage. Poler Kamrous (who's apparently girl! woah!) has a cool stage with AWESOME music on it, but a pretty lame boss fight if you have the Flame Chip. Phoenix Magnion is... really...ugh. Really bad. I hate Phoenix Magnion. His stage has amazing music but his boss fight made me
rage. It's
so hard and I probably had to run through the stage at least 15 times before I beat him. Such a pain. Panter Flauclaws isn't nearly as hard, he's an electric panther with a really cool train level, reminiscent of Slash Beast from X4 and Grizzly Slash from X5. The second half of the game has you fighting Burble Hekelot (I call him Gero Gero Gero), who's a relatively annoying frog boss, as well as three characters that I'll talk about later.
Zero 3 introduces eight servants of the main villain, called the Eight Gentle Judges, and they range from acceptable to freaking great. All of them have humanoid forms and robotic "execution" forms. I'll go from worst to best. Tretista Kelverian is a giant three-headed dog. He's the leader of the bunch, but his stage isn't memorable at all, his boss fight isn't hard, and he's just not particularly great. Childre Inarabitta is a cute little rabbit Reploid that's has a really annoying stage. Volteel Biblio is this rather cool eel-like boss in a sunken library, and I like him. Glacier le Cactank's defining point is the music on his stage, so even though I didn't like his personality so much, I still think he's a pretty good Maverick. Cubit Foxtar (who's a boy! woah!) has a pretty cool stage, great music, and a fun fight. Devilbat Schilt has a really fun fight, a really cool stage, and a slick design. Blazin' Flizard has a really cool stage, a really kickin' theme song, a great design, and an awesome fight. Deathtanz Mantisk is my favorite. Imagine the Pokémon Scyther, but significantly more intimidating. His design and fight speak for themselves.
Zero 4 has the Einherjar, who are all based on mythological creatures. Not all of their stages have great songs, but all of their designs are pretty great. Popla Cocapetri is a rather-irritating cockatrice (and chicken) who's the only one that I actively dislike. Tech Kraken, besides having a sick name, also has a pretty fun stage with cool music on it. Fenri Lunaedge is based on Fenris the Wolf from Norse mythology, and his fight is great. The music on his stage is a bit lacking, though. Noble Mandrago (Girls!) has
really rocking music on her stage, and her design is pretty great too. Mino Magnus's "big stupid lug" personality is hilarious and even though I hate fighting him, I love hearing Zero talk to him before the fight. Pegasolta Éclair didn't make much of an impression on me because I beat him so easily, but he's based on the Pegasus and that's pretty cool. Heat Genblem (HOO-JA!) is fire-breathing turtle who's really challenging to fight. Finally, Sol Titanion (even more girls!) is probably my favorite because her stage and her boss fight are both really fun and really challenging.
Finally, I'd like to talk about my favorite characters in the games, and probably my favorite group of characters in the entire Mega Man series. Zero 1 introduces the "Four Guardians of X," essentially four Reploids that are modeled after different sections of X's personality. They serve as antagonists throughout much of the first three games. They're so awesome, in fact, that I'm going to put a picture of them here.
Spoiler
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fvignette2.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fmegaman%2Fimages%2F4%2F4a%2FFour_guardians.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20120525071832&hash=cf865831700da559a3430cea2af1cf7de675302e)
On the left is Fefnir (officially Fighting Fefnir), who is the hot-blooded, loud-mouthed Fire elemental with two huge guns. He's currently in my signature. He says NYOOOH at the beginning of his fights and DOO-YAH whenever he fires a shot. Love him.
Second is Harpuia (officially Sage Harpuia), who's calm, mysterious, and the leader of the four. He's an Electric elemental who can fly around and fire off beams with his two electric swords. Harpuia is freaking awesome.
Third is Phantom (officially Hidden Phantom), who's literally a ninja. I don't need to say anything else.
Fourth is my favorite character in the Mega Man series, Leviathan (officially Fairy Leviathan). At the time of writing this, she's my avatar on the forums and on Skype. She's an Ice-type elemental and always manages to have really fun boss fights. And I just think she's cute. Okay?!
Humor: 4/10 This game often makes very little attempt to be funny because the plot is, for the most part, very dark and serious. There just isn't a lot of room for cracking jokes. Much of the humor is in references to previous Mega Man installments (Mets appearing as enemies, lots of references to the Mega Man X games, etc.) and in the names of bosses.
Difficulty: 10/10 Mega Man Zero games are hard. Very hard. Phoenix Magnion's stage is brutal. Zero 4's final boss is brutal. Almost all of the stages in Zero 1 are brutal. However, they're very rarely unfair. With sufficient practice and determination I think most people can beat these games, but they are pretty frustrating at times. Sufficient skill at Mega Man is pretty much required to succeed here.
Other Memorable Features: These games actually have a "Hard" mode that's unlocked after beating them. Yeah... no. When you beat bosses using the saber, it actually shows them being cut in half before they explode. Zero also talks to almost all of the bosses (at least the Reploid ones) before fighting, which gives them a bit more personality.
Overall: 9.7/10 These games are very underappreciated. Mega Man 1-3 are viewed as classics but few have heard of and even fewer have played or, heck, beaten them. They are, however, fantastic from pretty much every angle. Each game has its strengths and weaknesses, but when played back to back in the Zero Collection they all pretty much add up to one giant game with very few glaring flaws.
For those who are wondering, Mega Man Zero 1, 2, and 3 are currently available on the Wii U's eShop. I'm hoping that Zero 4 comes out this May.
Thanks to anyone who read this review, this was one of my most intensive pieces to write that I've done. Thanks also to anyone who has read a review of mine over the past three and a half years. Cheers!
Quote from: blueflower999 on September 12, 2015, 03:05:50 PM(HOO-JA!)
my reaction
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Awesome job summing up your feelings on the series. Glad you enjoyed it. And you're welcome.
Shovel Knight is one of my favorite games of all time. My favorite Knight is probably specter knight. And I haven't played any of the Investigation games yet but Ive heard great things about both, especially the second one. I also want to play the Zero Series very badly even though I only played the Megaman classic series 1-5. Who is your favorite knight in shovel knight?
I like Tinker Knight the most, easily. His fight made me laugh harder than I do during most games.
Yes, Investigations 2 is vastly superior to Investigations 1. It's also my favorite Ace Attorney games and one of my favorite games of all time. Probably in my Top 4.
The Mega Man Zero series is very much worth your time. I recommend either ordering or looking for the Mega Man Zero Collection (it's not hard to find at GameStops). Mega Man 1-5 are all fantastic but the Zero series is the most bang for your buck.
Quote from: blueflower999 on September 15, 2015, 05:36:03 PMMega Man 1-4 are all fantastic but the Zero series is the most bang for your buck.
fixed
Admittedly Mega Man 5 is a bit of an acquired taste, but it's still better than 1 in my opinion and I still manage to have fun with it.
Except for X7 and II. :P
Tinker Knight's boss was hysterical. I love the game so much. Are you prepared for Layton 7 after playing Azran Legacy?
If it comes out and has anything to do with the previous games, but if it doesn't I probably won't.
Yea it looks really different. Theres a freaking zombie LOL. Did u hear about the new Project Cross Zone? Chrom and Lucina are in it so it should be fun
You should review Hatoful Boyfriend
Obviously ZX and/or ZXA is next on the docket.
Actually, no, I'm expecting a review of Plague of Shadows first.
None of the above, actually!
I'm in a Pikmin mood. Let's do a Pikmin list.
Top 10 Pikmin Series Bosses:This includes bosses from Pikmin 1-3 only, nothing from Nintendo Land or anything else. As much as I love the Emperor Pinchipede, it will not appear on this list. All images in this Top 10 were taken from www.pikminwiki.com.
#10, Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2
Beady Long Legs(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fthumb%2F2%2F25%2FBeady_Long_Legs.png%2F270px-Beady_Long_Legs.png&hash=b74e00fdc3eb7c178d2e90bb05d97b5e76b0e491)
I love Arachnorbs, I really do. The Beady Long Legs is the first, most fought, and most iconic of the Arachnorb family of enemies. Arachnorbs are interesting because they're all bosses, they're all huge spiders, and most of them have crushy feet to squash Pikmin that happen to be underneath them when they walk around. All Arachnorbs are weak on the large ball dangling between their legs (hence "arachnid" + "orb").
Beady over here first appeared as a boss in The Forest Navel in Pikmin 1, and it was honestly a really difficult fight. It had a lot of HP, Yellow Pikmin were needed to reach its high orb, and it stomped about very quickly. It did, however, have a pretty kicking theme song.
In Pikmin 2 it got cheesed a little, but the developers got sneaky and occasionally place them in locations where you least expect it, only to have a giant freaking spider drop from the sky with a SMASH with little to no warning. The Beady Long Legs was the result of numerous heart attacks that I had playing through Pikmin 2 for the first time. I've even given numerous friends of mine heart attacks by asking them to play a Challenge Mode level with a Beady Long Legs in it.
While it unfortunately did not appear in 3 (and was replaced by the much less iconic Shaggy Long Legs), Beady Long Legs is is still a pretty classic example of how to make a memorable Pikmin boss.
#9, Pikmin 1, Pikmin 2, and Pikmin 3
Burrowing Snagret
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If there's one Pikmin series boss that's more iconic than Beady Long Legs, it's the Burrowing Snagret. The Burrowing Snagret is the most common member of the Snavian ("snake" + "avian") family, the most fought boss in the series, and the only boss to appear in all three Pikmin games!
The Snagret pops out of the ground, snatches up a few Pikmin in its beak, eats them, and then burrows again. Its weak spot is its head, which isn't too difficult to hit with a few well-placed shots. While it popping up is not nearly as surprising as the CRASH the Beady Long Legs makes, the Burrowing Snagret still sometimes appears when you wouldn't expect a boss to appear, and sometimes there are two or even three in close proximity to each other. In The Forest of Hope in Pikmin 1, they're especially annoying as three of them protect a vital ship part.
Thankfully the Burrowing Snagret isn't too difficult, especially if you know how to work the fight. Much like Beady, the Snagret was difficult in the first game but got progressively easier as the franchise progressed. Overall though, it's a cool design for a boss, it's iconic, and I like the noises it makes. Solid.
#8, Pikmin 2
Raging Long Legs
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Here's another Arachnorb that will give you a heart attack if you don't know it's there! The Raging Long Legs is fought twice in Pikmin 2 as one of the last bosses in the game, and holy cow this thing can be tricky if you have the wrong squad of Pikmin. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but its feet are massive compared to the Beady Long Legs and they can easily squash half of your squad if you're not careful. A small team of Reds and/or Purples are recommended to take this thing out, and even then it takes a long time. The Raging Long Legs has an absurd amount of health too, so even with the right team it'll take a long time to beat.
Beating it in Pikmin 2's story mode will yield the "Remembered Old Buddy" treasure, which is ROB's head: one of the many classic homages to the real world in Pikmin 2.
#7, Pikmin 3
Sandbelching Meerslug
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Yes, that's actually its name. Glorious, isn't it?
The Sandbelching Meerslug is another freaking enormous boss battle, and while not ridiculously difficult, it's quite a fun fight. The Meerslug is the boss of the Tropical Wilds in Pikmin 3, and as its name might suggest, it's fought in a sandy area. The Meerslug will burrow in the ground, create essentially a sink hole, and quickly suck anything around it down towards its awaiting jaws, kinda like that one scene in the beginning of the 6th Star Wars movie. Occasionally it will also pop above ground and spit rocks at your squad. If the player rushes Pikmin on fast enough, the Meerslug will CATAPULT itself out of the ground to show how truly enormous it is. It's hilarious how high up in the air this thing goes!
From then on the cycle repeats, with the sinkholes becoming deeper and wider, eventually encompassing almost the entire arena. If you're really good you can make the creature eat a Bomb Rock, which will immediately make it pop out of the ground, I believe. When it dies, the corpse it leaves behind is one of the largest in the series, and it spits out the largest fruit in the game: the Crimson Banquet, which breaks into numerous pieces upon hitting the ground.
Some might recognize this boss from seeing it in the commercials for Pikmin 3 that played before its launch, but I most remember it as my second favorite boss from the third game.
#6, Pikmin 1
Armored Cannon Beetle
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The Armored Cannon Beetle is my favorite boss from the first Pikmin game, mostly because it's not cheap, it's not annoying, it's rather fun to fight, and I really like how it looks! The Armored Cannon Beetle's Larval stage is seen in Pikmin 2 and 3, (and it's FAR more annoying), but the adult stage is only fought in the first game for some reason. Odd.
Anyway, the Armored Cannon Beetle fires off boulders in a straight line that insta-kill any Pikmin squashed below them. It can steamroll your army if you're not careful, but the Larval forms are far more annoying in this regard. The Beetle is completely armored (as its name suggests), and thus is entirely impervious to Pikmin attacks. How to do you kill it then? When it inhales to spit out a boulder, if you throw a Pikmin at its blowhole (located above its eyes and mouth), it'll get clogged up, and will need to open up its back to ventilate itself. This is the best time to strike. I also really like how it looks with its back opened up:
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A good Pikmin player can defeat it in two or three of these cycles. This boss is fought twice in the game, and despite not having a theme, it gives the player two vital ship parts for not very much hassle.
#5, Pikmin 2
Empress Bulblax
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Okay, now we're getting into the really freaking cool bosses. The Empress Bulblax is the first boss fought in Pikmin 2, and is fought four times throughout the entirety of the game. She's also the only boss that progressively improves: the first time she just rolls around, the second time she produces Bulborb Larva (which are really dangerous), and the third time she produces Bulborb Larva AND causes rocks to fall from the ceiling. Her health and regenerative abilities also improve from her fight fight.
So, why do I like the Empress so much? Lots of reasons. When I first encountered her, she was by far the biggest creature I had seen in the series to date (I hadn't finished Pikmin 1 at that point), and it startled me. The epic boss music, the tense atmosphere, I didn't have very many Pikmin with me (and she almost finished off what I had left due to me having no idea what I was doing). I remember asking myself "okay, this thing is obviously the boss. I don't have a lot of Pikmin. Do I wake it up? Or do I not? Ugh what the heck, let's do it." Famous last words. I can take her out easily without losing a Pikmin today, but the first time she was a nightmare.
I love the Empress Bulblax. She just looks really amusing to me too, making her by far my favorite member of the Grub-Dog family.
#4, Pikmin 2 MAJOR SPOILERS
Titan Dweevil(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2Fa%2Fa8%2FTitandweevil.jpg&hash=c3ce8b769e1d3988625883a0d874401b4bead03a)
If you haven't finished Pikmin 2, I suggest turning back now. This final boss is an adventure that you don't want spoiled for you.
The Titan Dweevil is the final boss of the last cave in Pikmin 2, and is only fought there. There are so many things to say about this boss, but I'll try to be brief.
Firstly, the music that plays when you fight the Titan Dweevil is absolutely stellar. It changes up constantly throughout the fight, and changes each time you proceed to the next stage of the fight. Each weapon it attacks with has a different short theme was well. I'll post a compilation of the entire fight's score below.
Anyway, the Titan Dweevil is a genius idea. Just like the Emperor Bulblax in Pikmin 1 represents a powered up version of an enemy that you've been fighting the entire game, the Titan Dweevil is a mega powered up Dweevil. Dweevils are enemies in Pikmin 2 only that pick up treasures and corpses in caves, and in order to recover the, you must knock them off the Dweevils. There are five types of Dweevils, and four of them were combined to make the Titan. The Titan Dweevil can attack with fire (Fiery Dweevil), water (Caustic Dweevil), electricity (Anode Dweevil), and poison (Munge Dweevil). It does so by picking up treasures (which all Dweevils do) and firing them at the player. The Monster Pump launches water globs anywhere on the floor that the Titan Dweevil desires. The Flare Cannon and the Comedy Bomb cover the floor in fire and poison respectively, and the Shock Therapist creates lines of instant-death electricity along the floor.
To beat the Titan, one must knock off all four of these weapons, which each require lots and lots of Pikmin to be thrown onto to knock them off. Once weapons start smoking, they start malfunctioning and behaving in more erratic and unpredictable manners, usually speeding up attacks and making them harder to react to.
What's funny, however, is when all weapons are knocked off, the Titan Dweevil becomes absolutely harmless! It can't kill Pikmin anymore! Killing it at the end of the battle is soooo satisfying, and it's easily the best final boss fight in the series. It's the only one to me that doesn't feel cheap, but still remains legitimately tense.
#3, Pikmin 3
Armored Mawdad
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I love the Armored Mawdad, I really do. Pikmin 3 had a lot of really hit-or-miss boss ideas with me, but the first boss in the game is by far my favorite, and it's the Armored Mawdad. It just looks really pretty and really menacing at the same time.
The Armored Mawdad was the first boss revealed for the game as well, specifically in the demo level presented at E3 2013, so I'm sure many of you have seen it before. While not particularly difficult, the Mawdad is not easy for the game's first boss fight (and is certainly a lot harder than a few of the later ones). The Mawdad is completely impervious until Rock Pikmin are used to smash its crystal armor (one of the few times in the game where I enjoy using Rock Pikmin). It's really fun to see the Mawdad's reaction to having another plate off its back broken off. It's also fun to throw the Rock Pikmin at its head, or at its mandibles to break them.
The Armored Mawdad will charge your squad often and trap Pikmin between its mandibles to slowly consume them. If you use Rocks to break the mandibles at the beginning of the fight, it becomes fairly harmless, but doing so without losing Pikmin can be tricky. After becoming exposed enough, it's just a long game of throwing Reds onto it, dodging its charges, and repeating. It's not a hard fight, but usually I find that my Pikmin get scattered around the arena a bit. It's still a really fun time though, and I look forward to it with each playthrough.
#2, Pikmin 2
Giant Breadbug(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2Ff%2Ff3%2FGiant_Breadbug.png&hash=377cde4c4e4c67111e7d99c71f2b0ce76d2ad013)(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2F3%2F39%2F74giantbreadbug.png&hash=eb038458ad22af28441cb02431365f2f261e084a)
(The official image I found was of really low resolution, so I'll post these in-game shots here instead)
Time for my blatant Pikmin 2 favoritism to rear its head (as if it wasn't obvious already)!
The Giant Breadbug is so high on this list mainly because it's just SO CUTE. I've always loved Breadbugs because they're so dang cute, but before I can talk about how awesome the Giant Breadbug is, I need to explain how Breadbugs work in general.
Much like how the Titan Dweevil is a giant Dweevil, the Emperor Bulblax is a giant Bulborb, and the Ranging Bloyster is a giant Toady Bloyster, the Giant Breadbug is a giant... Breadbug. Regular Breadbugs (which I usually call Vanilla Breadbugs to distinguish them from others in the family) will walk around the floor, grab treasures or enemy corpses, and pull them back to its burrow. It will only hurt Pikmin in the rare instance that a Pikmin is grabbed onto the treasure and is pulled into the Breadbug's hole. For the most part, they're a minor nuisance, but their cuteness makes up for it. They're defeated by having a ton of Pikmin (preferably Purples, because of how strong they are) pull the Breadbug back to the ship or Onion tug-of-war style, and this will cause the Breadbug to hit his head when the object is absorbed (and make a hilarious "bup-WAH" noise).
The Giant Breadbug essentially operates the same way, only it's significantly stronger and requires more Pikmin to pull it. It's defeated fairly quickly, but it has really funky music that plays during its fight, and the floor its on is full of smaller Breadbugs and other enemies, as well some food-based treasure. Ultimately the Giant Breadbug is probably the easiest boss in the game, but it's just so dang cute that I can't help but love it.
#1, Pikmin 2
Man-at-Legs
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2F8%2F82%2FMan-at-legs.jpg&hash=e09191e3fb63b407a6f84e7b5ffd5704da911cb7)(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pikminwiki.com%2Fimages%2F2%2F20%2FMaL_CM.jpg&hash=60367ebe8d76a0fecf1a74db73105cbf5149febe)
Anyone who was around in the summer of 2011 might remember the Man-at-Legs as my first avatar on this forum. It's no secret, I love the thing. It's without a doubt my favorite boss in the Pikmin series to date, even though it sadly only appears in Pikmin 2.
First of all, let's take care of the concept. The Man-at-Legs is an Arachnorb with a MACHINE GUN. That is AWESOME. It's incredibly deadly and will massacre you if you don't have a wall to hide behind.
Secondly, its name. It's a pun on "man at arms," a professional soldier in Medieval Europe. It's genius. It's also the only Arachnorb that doesn't crush Pikmin with its feet (because it doesn't HAVE to).
I don't think I need to say any more honestly. In a game that revolves around nature and where most enemies will just eat or squash Pikmin, having a boss with a laser-guided, self-aiming, automatic machine gun is such a ridiculously awesome idea and I haven't quite gotten over it. In order to successfully fight this thing, you need to stay behind some of the metal fixtures on the level. If you accidentally leave a Pikmin out near the Man-at-Legs, it will target it and destroy it nearly instantly, then commence firing at you. It's like covering from actual machine gun fire in a war game.
The boss is fought three times in Pikmin 2, and sadly hasn't appeared since. (Pikmin 3 gave all the previous 2 games' bosses with the exception of the Burrowing Snagret a giant middle finger). Still, it's my favorite Pikmin series boss to this day and remains a ridiculously tense challenge every time I fight it.
It's been a good bit. Because I took a lengthy break from the forums and also had a long period where I didn't play non-League of Legends games, there really hasn't been much for me to put here. However, the time has come. We're going to talk about a game that none of you (barring Maelstrom, who introduced me to it and let me borrow it) have heard of. But first, a little disclaimer.
Warning: The following game is extremely adult. While it appears to be unrated, the game would absolutely receive an Ao rating for adults only. My review will be SFW, but do not play this game if you're below 18. Seriously. Don't. You will regret it.More specifically, to quote the lovely disclaimer the game greets you with before the title screen:
All characters depicted in this game are at least 18 years old. All persons, organizations, place names, etc. appearing in this work are entirely fictitious, and any resemblance to existing entities is purely coincidental.
You must be over 18 years of age to play this game. This game contains disturbing images and scenes of explicit violence and gore. Please do not attempt to copy, recreate, or mimic any of the criminal behavior described or shown.With that out of the way, let's talk about a visual novel.
Wonderful Everyday/Subarashiki Hibi:Wonderful Everyday (or Suba Hibi, as I will refer to it as) is a very lengthy and detailed visual novel game by KeroQ that's available on Steam for an admittedly hefty price of 30$. The visual novel genre is something that I have some experience with from games like Ace Attorney and Zero Escape (which have plenty of reviews in this thread from years back), but this game is a different beast entirely. It's considered to be one of the greatest visual novels of all time and is ranked very highly on the Visual Novel Database, above every game in the Ace Attorney and Zero Escape series.
I was intrigued to play Suba Hibi after Maelstrom told me it was the most disturbing game he'd ever played. I had played Doki Doki Literature Club (maybe I'll get around to talking about that game some day) the year before, and thought I was ready for something a little spicier. Boy, did this game deliver. Suba Hibi goes both higher and lower than DDLC: The disturbing parts are
far more disturbing, the satisfying storytelling is
far more satisfying, and overall the game has a much better sense of narrative. However, seeing as how DDLC is the closest game that I've played to Suba Hibi, I'll probably make a lot of comparisons between the two. Without any further ado, let's get into some specifics.
Gameplay: 0/10 Without a doubt, Suba Hibi is the worst "game" in terms of gameplay that I've played. Like, there's literally nothing here folks. Yes, there are choices. Sure, there are multiple paths that you can go down, kind of. But even that's pretty basic here. This isn't, say, Virtue's Last Reward where there are, like, a million different paths that you can choose to go down and you get to make choices pretty frequently that affect the ending. It also certainly isn't Ace Attorney where you walk around on your own and present evidence. This game is solely reading text and very occasionally making a plot decision. And by occasionally, I mean
very occasionally. Even for visual novel standards, there really aren't a whole lot of decisions in this game that matter a whole lot, which is kind of a bummer. The game has a narrative that it wants to tell and it very rarely deviates from that. This isn't to say that there aren't any important choices or alternate paths, because there are and some are quite good. But you'll often find yourself playing for hours and hours at a time without any input from the player besides advancing the text. All in all, there are four choices in the game that have significant impact on where the story goes. For a game that can easily take over 50 hours to play through, that's an average of more than 10 hours passing without a consequential choice. Ouch. This goes without saying, but if you don't like reading, stay away from Suba Hibi. If you do like reading and enjoy other visual novels, though, stick with me.
Addictiveness: 8/10 Suba Hibi has a fairly engrossing plot. It likely won't rob you of sleep in the same way that games in the Zero Escape series can, but it's still pretty engaging, especially after a point. Admittedly the first 10 hours or so are pretty slow, but once the game gets rolling, it
really gets rolling. A lot of questions hang in the air throughout almost the entire game, and there are some major plot twists to be experienced, as per the usual with VN's. Admittedly, there are a handful of scenes that are kind of a slog to read through. However, the majority aren't too terrible, and for every sloggy scene there are easily three very entertaining scenes.
And with that out of the way, it's time to talk about something important before I get to the story.
This game is pornographic, hence the presumed Ao rating. We're not talking like occasional nipples either. This game has everything you can imagine, including not one, not two, but
twenty-four hentai/sex scenes (by the game's own count, the actual number can be debated but it's somewhere from 20-26 or so). The scenes range from mildly erotic (the entire game is full of still images, so it's not like full motion video or anything) to beyond horrifying. Do they detract from the game? Maybe. Some are a little repetitive and most can be easily skipped through. If you find porn morally repulsive, this game probably wouldn't sit well with you. Don't play this game for the porn, though. It has so much more to offer outside of erotic scenes.
Story: 9/10 This is a spoiler free review, so feel free to read even if you intend to play the game. To put it simply, Suba Hibi's story revolves around the same period of about two weeks told from a handful of different perspectives. The game is divided into seven sections with titles taken from Lewis Carroll works, especially
Through the Looking Glass. These chapters are:
1. Down the Rabbit Hole I
2. Down the Rabbit Hole II
3. It's My Own Invention
4. Looking-Glass Insects
5. Jabberwocky I
6. Which Dreamed It
7. Jabberwocky II
In order the parts can be summarized as:
1. Very... anime-ish.
2. Suspenseful
3. Beyond horrifying
4. Depressing
5. Revealing
6. Pure
7. Closure
The game's story is incredibly well-written and explores lots of deep, philosophical themes. A lot of it actually goes over my head, but you can tell that tremendous thought went into the game's script, not just the scenario itself. It doesn't get a perfect 10/10 from me because there are a few plot threads that I don't feel wrap up as conclusively as I'd like, and there are a few aforementioned sloggy parts to the game. However, overall, the writing shines through and makes for a very entertaining read.
Music: 8/10 Suba Hibi has a pretty phenomenal soundtrack. Not every piece is worth writing home about, but the game has a surprisingly diverse quantity of songs. Some are incredibly creepy and disturbing for the more horror scenes, whereas others are gorgeous or relaxing pieces for the more upbeat and happy scenes. Impressively, only a few songs grew old on me after playing the game for fifty hours. This is pretty impressive, especially after games like Doki Doki playing the same three songs over and over again throughout the entire playthrough. Below I've listed a few of my favorites. Reading comments on these videos is highly ill-advised.
One of the prettier pieces
A gorgeous piano piece
This piece rivals Trepidation from Zero Escape for how terrifying it is
The gorgeous piano version of the game's opening theme
Character Design: 11/10 I just gave a score higher than ten for the first time because this game deserve it in this category. The characters in Subarashiki Hibi are unbelievably well written. Virtually none of the main cast are flat archetypes. Everyone is multi-layered, has a deep and complex personality, and feels like a real person. It's truly incredible how unforgettable the entire main cast of this game is. Everyone has development. Everyone goes through hell and back in this game and develops because of it. Even some of the minor characters are really likable and memorable as well. For the first time ever in a video game, I have a hard time picking who my favorite character is. In fact, I currently have a four-way tie for my favorite. Every other element of this visual novel has some flaws to it, but the characters and the writing are absolute perfection.
Humor: 7/10 While not explicitly a comedy game and certainly not as quirky as something like Ace Attorney, Suba Hibi did get a lot of laughs out of me. The game is full of pop culture references, awkward comedic scenes, and overall does have some funny writing. The story knows when to joke around and knows when to be serious. Most of the time, the game is pretty serious, but when it jokes around, it has a fun time.
Difficulty: 0/10 No gameplay, so no difficulty.
Other Memorable Features: The game has a pretty extensive collection of computer graphic art, or CGs, that are all viewable from the title screen once they become unlocked in game. This game boasts some absolutely gorgeous artwork that's definitely worth viewing after you've completed the main story. Additionally, all of the *ahem* lewd-er scenes can be rewatched from the title as well if you're, uh, into that sort of thing.
Overall: 9.7/10 Subarashiki Hibi is a masterful visual novel that has some notable flaws but excels at storytelling, writing, and especially character development. If you're over 18 and have time for a long one, jump right down this rabbit hole.