Marble Insanity

Posted : 4 months, 4 weeks ago on 2 April 2008 11:34 (A review of Marble Madness)

"Madness" would be an understatement.

This was one of the early NES games that you tried the first level, were lulled into a false sense of skill, and then you found out that this is one of the toughest and most frustrating games out there. Good times though.

And now, the updated Wii version!

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The story continues

Posted : 4 months, 4 weeks ago on 2 April 2008 11:29 (A review of Jak 3)

If you've read some of my game reviews you know by now I am passionate about my games (aka, I yell at the TV on occasion).

I think that the Jak series has gotten better with each sequel, and this is a nice step up from the previous installment. I also like the continuing storyline and the addition of driving (something other than those crummy floating crotch-rockets in the city).

Not much to say, good gameplay, some frustrating races, 600 orbs to go crazy trying to find and achieve (and unlock some neat things along the way), and the mystery of the precursors...

I'd play it more, but I bought it used and it has some scratches and the darn thing will error out on me during race missions causing much frustration.

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It's-a me, Mahrio!!

Posted : 4 months, 4 weeks ago on 2 April 2008 11:22 (A review of Super Mario Galaxy)

No reviews yet? For shame.

This is a really amazing game that will either make you marvel out loud about its ingenuity and beauty, or make you nauseous and yell at the tv. For me, a little bit of both.

I would compare this game to Mario 64 in terms of controls and the dizzying camera, but the rest of the game is so much more than that.

Typical strange Mario storyline about you traveling around to save the princess, but the fun is in the gameplay. Once you get used to the controls, it's a blast, beautiful to look at, and plenty of levels to go through with multiple layouts, and lots of missions to get your star collection. There's times where I breezed through the level, times where I just barely made it, and times where I said bad words at the game, the Wii, and all those associated with the production of the game.

But I still want to play it more, and get all those pesky stars...

By far the best game I've played on the Wii.

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Mario, in 3-D!!

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 03:29 (A review of Super Mario 64)

I remember when this came out and watching some young kids playing it in the store. "Hm, looks cool, pretty easy too, look at how they're doing it." Yeah... three dimensions took some getting used to, I couldn't really run in a straight line.

I don't think I need to explain this one, we've all played it. I think that it just set the playing field for the next gen 3-D games and how well you can control them. It's a nice long game that takes some getting used to, and there's even some tricky stars that you can try to get if you're good.

And have a lot of patience.

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The game that started it all...

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 03:21 (A review of Tomb Raider)

I actually went back and played this one last year, and it still is a good game.

If you turned Lara into Larry, it would still be a very fun game to play. You have a fairly open environment, some cool puzzles, a pretty weird storyline, a trial and error type of jumping around rocks, a big ol dino, and ah that infinite ammo.

That aside, the graphics look really angular, but when it came out for the PS, they were amazing! Slight sarcasm intended.

This started the legacy, and I still feel that this might be one of the best of the series, though I haven't tried out the update version. Well, nothing can be any worse than Angel of Darkness.

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Faxana-dana-ding-dong

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 03:14 (A review of Faxanadu)

Really? A 7 out of 10?

And is Faxanadu the guys name? Oh what ever, I don't really care anymore.

I don't know why I played this so much, it was kind of a bizarre, creepy little game, that had poor directions as to what to do next, and you got minuscule gold when you killed enemies, and the stupid mile long code you wrote down to continue never worked.

But darn it, I beat it!

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It ain't Bond

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 03:08 (A review of Spy Hunter)

Since we're talking old-school, this was still back when they designed a game, and then never bothered to put an ending in it.

So you're in a little red car and you avoid, or make other cars crash. And you get oil slicks, smoke or a lame missile that only shoots down the helicopter. I remember being a kid and making it to the boat stage, then back to the car stage. Then I realized there was no ending. Lame.

And did you know that if you make it to the winter stage with the icy road and spun out a certain way you would just spin around forever and not crash?

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C'mon, you know the code...

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 03:03 (A review of Life Force)

Yet another game that you could give yourself a few extra lives to get you through the tough times.

This was a cool NES game back in the day where you could fly through space with a buddy and fight aliens, and space snakes, and flying brains with eyeballs, and argue over who should have gotten the power-up.

Yes I beat it, and yes I used the multi-life code.

Over and over again.

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Reverse that and try it again

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 02:58 (A review of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones)

This is the first and only PoP that I've played so far, and I do plan on checking out the rest of the series, then maybe the storyline will make more sense.

It is a fun game with lots of cool moves and the ability to rewind, which comes in very handy (and necessary) throughout the game. I also like the push-button cues to make you perform tasks, and that since I do mess them up, I can rewind and try that one again. This game takes some skill and I died quite a few times, and there's this odd feeling that a lot of the gameplay and themes and all that feel a bit like God of War.

Good times though, pick it up in the bargain bin, I did.

Last I played I was at the multi-part final boss that drove me so crazy that I haven't played it in months. I may beat it, some day....

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"I'll pick 'Epic games' for $800, Alex"

Posted : 5 months, 1 week ago on 19 March 2008 02:47 (A review of God of War 2)

I would definitely describe this game as "epic". There were many times during the story where I'd stop wailing on the baddies for a sec to look at the level design and the sheer awesome-ness of it all.

Although I did die and yell at the game for cheating a few times... I did find that overall, it was easier than the first one, though it really was different game play. There is a great sense of how "enormous" the levels are (you'll know what I mean) and as typical, you're out for revenge, so bloody violence is mandatory.

The story line is cool, the fight moves are different, and cool, and the graphics look fabulous on the PS2. I can't wait to see what GoW 3 will look like on the PS3. I also like Harry Hamlin as Perseus, nice Clash of the Titans reference there.

And while I'd like to unlock all of the unlockables, I did "ok" on Normal, I cannot imagine I could beat it on God-mode. And Titan? Forget it. I'll just go online and find screenshots of the other costumes, because that's as close as I'm going to get.

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