Topics

1

Reader Reviews / Sin & Punishment Impressions

« on: October 10, 2007, 04:16:26 AM »

I'm sure there are many people on here who are way ahead of me on this game, but in case you're on the fence about it, I've played through a bit of the game, so here are some impressions:

Basically Sin & Punishment is about non-stop action.  There is a story, but it's kind of silly, cliche anime stuff.  There are graphics, they're not that pretty but they're fast and action-packed.  There is voice acting, but it's mediocre and heavily compressed.  There is music...but it's weak and repetitive.

The action, though, is really good.  There are tons of bosses and mini-bosses, tons of regular enemies, and just shoot, shoot, shoot!  At times there's so much shooting to do that it becomes slightly monotonous, but the game switches up the action fast enough that it's generally a really fun.

It's a little hard to play with the GCN controller...you can either use Y and X to strafe and the control stick to aim, or you can strafe with the d-pad and aim with the c-stick.  I don't like the first option because I find it hard to fire with the L-button while I'm aiming, but the second option is a little uncomfortable with the Wavebird's tiny d-pad.  I bet the "traditional" controller would be great, too bad I don't have one!

It's moderately hard and has multiple difficulty levels.   If I'm not mistaken the save system eats credits, so it's kind of like old-school games where you have to start all over again if you don't do well enough.  This works well since I hear the game is short (I couldn't say since I have yet to beat it). It also includes a two-player mode which I imagine would be awesome.

Overall, it's very much an arcade shooter...I've heard lots of comparisons to Star Fox, and I'd also say that it reminds me of classic "beat-em up" games with the short length and swarms of enemies.

I wouldn't say this is a must-have game, it's not super-polished and I hear it's not very long, but it is a really fun diversion.  At 1200 Wii points it's as expensive as VC games get, but it's not a bad deal for a good game that never reached North America before.

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Nintendo Gaming / Oneechanbara R and Simple 2000 come to Wii

« on: September 24, 2007, 09:02:13 AM »

I've heard a lot of reports that TGS was all about Nintendo, but somehow, hearing Chris K at Wired mention that the Simple series of budget games is coming to Wii makes it official: Nintendo has won Japan.

For the uninitiated, Simple 2000 is a series of very low-budget games for PS2 that Infernal Monkey seems to blog about a lot.   I don't know if we'll ever see these in North America, but maybe PAL will get them.  Not sure I'd want to play them anyway.  

3

General Gaming / Anyone had problems buying NTDOY?

« on: July 24, 2007, 07:07:28 AM »

Hey guys, I think there may be one or two other stock jockeys on the boards, has anybody attempted to buy some Nintendo through Pink Sheets and failed lately?

I had the problem a month or two ago and according to my trading company there was a cease trading order from Reuters, based on some kind of fraud allegations (not within Nintendo, I think it's one of the middle men between the Japanese stock exchange and ours).

Anyway, my concern now is that maybe it's my own trading company that is not allowed to purchase more Nintendo.  I want more Nintendo, darnit!  Does anybody know anything or have you purchased NTDOY successfully in the past two months?

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Reader Reviews / SSX Blur

« on: June 19, 2007, 08:44:28 AM »

I haven't seen much, if any, talk about this game around NWR.  I rented it, and it's pretty darn good.  Since I just rented it, I'll throw down some quick and dirty reactions:

Pros:
- really fun motion controls with more depth than the average minigame-heavy Wii title
- cool soundtrack constantly reacts to your performance
- it appears to have a lot of content, though I only played it for a few hours myself

Cons:
- some of the crazy drawing-based tricks are really hard to pull off
- lower production values than other SSX games
- most of the content is recycled, apparently
- the more cartoony art direction is a letdown (and I'm usually a huge fan of cartoony graphics)

Inbetweens:
- No voice acting...some people will be relieved as the characters can be really obnoxious, but I find their over-the-top personalities to be one of the series' best assets

Overall, I was really happy with the game - it's arguably the best third party title I've played on the system, but it definitely shows that the game was thrown together (no voice acting, recycled content) and given EA's track record, I'm tempted to skip this game on the assumption that a better one is coming down the line.

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NWR Forums Discord / I like how the new background...

« on: April 16, 2007, 05:41:01 AM »

...gets cut off at the right so it looks like he's feeling her up under the shirt.

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Reader Reviews / Scurge: Hive

« on: April 10, 2007, 04:33:45 AM »

Yay, it's time for a review!  You guys like these, right?  That's why it's the busiest section of the Internets.  On with the

Many a comparison has been made between Scurge: Hive and Metroid, and while the comparison isn't perfect, it is useful.  Scurge is about a female bounty hunter named Jenosa Arma, it is about exploring a planet with the intent to destroy an alien species, and it is about collecting upgrades. On the other hand, it's presented from an isometric perspective, it has a few RPG elements, and it features a time limit of sorts.  So I guess you might call it a tribute to Metroid - is it a worthy one?

I picked up the DS version, it was $30 CDN, putting it more in line with Game Boy prices than DS; that's good thing, since the game is very much an upgraded GBA title.  The graphics are good and functional but not flashy - the sprites are small and special effects are few. The small sprites actually turn out to be a bit of a boon since they give a better view of the action, and the backgrounds are nice - this is pretty good by GBA standards but not up to par with high quality DS games.

The sound effects and music are similar to the graphics: functional, fairly well done, but still obviously a generation behind what the DS is really capable of.  You can hear an almost eerie similarity to Metroid in some of the short sound effect musical pieces, but the overall soundtrack tends to be more techno-pop than Metroid.

The game features less exploration than Metroid, rather the focus is on shooting with a little platforming and puzzle-solving mixed in.  The weapon enhancements form a rock-paper-scissors cycle with the enemies - use the wrong one and the enemy will gain power, use the right one and the enemy will die faster and create combos if other enemies of the same type touch him. It's clever but it gets used for evil later on, when constant, tedious weapon swapping is required.  Other enhancements allow Jenosa to access new areas and solve puzzles much like Metroid.  It all works pretty well.

Where Scurge doesn't work quite so well is in the aiming.  There are 8 directions to shoot in so you have to get just the right angle, and then the enemy will move forcing you to readjust everything.  It's forgivable but it bogs things down, maybe more forgiving hit detection is in order, or maybe isometric shooters are just a bad idea by nature. Orbital Media gets some credit for differentiating the game from Metroid, but it loses the credit for having less fun gameplay.

The other important thing about the design is the timer.  Jenosa is infected by the "Scurge" as soon as she lands on the planet, and the player must constantly seek out "decontamination chambers" which double as save points.  How you react to this part of the game is largely a matter of taste - some will be frustrated that their exploration time is limited, others may enjoy the added tension.  Personally I found it acceptable but a little frustrating at times.  The good thing is it means there are a ton of save points, a plus for any portable game.

Even on regular mode the game offers a decent challenge and probably 12 hours of gameplay. There are four difficulty levels in all but frankly, I don't find myself very motivated to go back. It was a good play the first time, but I can't bring myself to spend another 30-plus hours playing and replaying the game just to fight progressively toughter enemies and unlock a few bonuses.

On a final note, the final boss featurs a nasty design flaw - any time the best strategy for beating
an enemy is to let it suck away 99% of your life there's a problem.

At the end of the day, Scurge: Hive is a game to look out for on the cheap.  The overall experience isn't as polished as some other DS games.  The budget-minded buyer should look for the GBA version since all the DS seems to add is a map and more screen space -  both nice additions for this game, but probably not worth the extra money.  I was happy, but I didn't say wow.

Rating: 7/10 (buy it cheap)

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General Chat / Help Wanted

« on: February 23, 2007, 03:57:32 AM »

Hopefully I'm not breaking the forum roolz...too much.  I need some volunteers!

When: Wednesday, Feb 28th, 7:00-7:20 PM MT (9:00 PM Central / 2:00 AM GMT)
What: Surf my new site, to see if we can create enough load to break it.

If you're willing and able, comment here or PM me, I will PM the URL and other details on Monday or Tuesday.  Thanks, jerks!

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General Chat / Flashback: Nintendo Blamed for Losses

« on: February 20, 2007, 05:52:55 AM »

Tomy is blaming Nintendo for its recent losses - but unlike the good old days, it's because Nintendo's products are too popular, cutting into Tomy's traditional toy market.

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General Gaming / Eye of Sauron Turns Towards Nintendo

« on: January 10, 2007, 07:09:41 AM »

Ha ha ha, excuse the dramatic title.  Thing is, Bill Gates has recently stated that Nintendo will be Microsoft's toughest competition.  This is a complete about-face from the early 360 days where Nintendo was a "niche" company that had it's little cult following, and nothing more.  I think this also marks the first time any of the competing execs have openly acknowledged that Nintendo is a major threat.

Nintendo got all the way through the front door before anyone said anything.  

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NWR Forums Discord / HALO2 nite for all the ladies!!!

« on: December 14, 2006, 10:27:38 AM »

We're meeting at Vudu's house.  I baked double-chocolate cookies!

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NWR Forums Discord / The I stands for irony

« on: December 14, 2006, 12:28:19 AM »

I read two articles on IGN this morning, and they went something like this:

IGN Wii knocks Ecco the Dolphin's plot:

Quote
The plot is off-putting and more than slightly ridiculous, calling for Ecco to use a time machine developed by the lost civilization of Atlantis to travel to the past and stop aliens from harvesting food (his pod pals) from Earth's oceans. You'd think that by 1993 the storylines in games would have started making more sense. And you'd be wrong about that.

Kirsten Bell describes the plot of Assassin's Creed:

Quote
"It's actually really interesting to me. It's sort of based on the research that's sort of happening now, about the fact that your genes might be able to hold memory. And you could argue semantics and say it's instinct, but how does a baby bird know to eat a worm, as opposed to a cockroach, if its parents don't show it? And it's about this science company trying to, Matrix-style, go into peoples brains and find out an ancestor who used to be an assassin, and sort of locate who that person is."

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General Chat / Calling all screenshots!

« on: December 13, 2006, 06:11:39 AM »

I need a picture of a boring video game loading screen, pronto! Shockingly, nobody on these interwebs seems to be interested in boring loading screens.  If anybody knows where I can find one, I'd be grateful.

13

General Gaming / Analysts Predict Apple May Join Video Game Business

« on: December 06, 2006, 07:41:22 AM »

Article here.  Apparently they've been hiring some software and hardware developers to this end.  Apple could be an interesting competitor.  Like Sony it is a hardware business which allows it more flexibility.  Unlike Sony, it's not invested in lots of bleeding-edge technology and it has some perspective on being an underdog.

To me, Apple could be a much bigger threat to Nintendo than Sony or Microsoft because of its expertise in digital distribution and the fact that it's not already married to a traditional console design.

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General Gaming / Oh noes, not my Super NES!

« on: November 30, 2006, 09:06:52 AM »

Hey, anybody know anything about this problem?  The start and select buttons on my contollers (all of them) have stopped working. I'm guessing it's an issue with the SNES itself since all of the controllers mysteriously stopped at once.  I have no idea how to fix it.

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Nintendo Gaming / Wii Third Party Domination

« on: November 27, 2006, 05:37:54 AM »

All right guys, here's one thing that Wii will need to succeed: third party support.  Will it get it?  Only time will tell, but here are some interesting (and encouraging) tidbits that have come out this year:

Square Enix said it will support everyone equally because it doesn't want one company with too much power.  My opinion is that Square Enix is tired of Sony but it's equally afraid that Nintendo could take total control of the Japanese market.  I'm guessing the "main" Final Fantasy series will be on something other than Wii, since the series has become known for graphics/movies.

Ubisoft intends to become the number 1 third-party publisher - by supporting Wii.  It has tentatively announced seven more games for Jan-Mar 2007

Disney is opening a new development studio exclusively for Wii.  Electronic Arts did the same thing, but I can't find any news stories about it, it just kind of came up in interviews earlier this year.

Take Two thinks Wii has great potential for sports games.  These guys sound like they may be too late to the party, but considering their portfolio - Grand Theft Auto, Bully, etc. it's safe to say Nintendo has never been their main target for new games.  Edit: February 6th - Manhunt 2 announced

Bandai Namco has 30 Wii titles in the works (thanks ProtoNY)

SNK Playmore plans to focus on Wii - says the other systems aren't appropriate for 2D games (indirect thanks to segagamer12).

Reggie has also said that third party support is higher for Wii at this point than it was for GameCube at the same point, but he was basing that on second-hand information from older employees.  I couldn't find a reference for this, if anybody knows where to find the quote, feel free to add.  

Edit: February 3rd: Konami announces a few Wii games, including DDR: Hottest Party and Dewey's Adventure.

Edit: February 8th: Activision plans to double it's Wii support.

Edit: March 3rd: Id says that a lot of companies have been requesting Wii tools from Id, and that it might release something on the system.

Edit: April 10: Sega has announced a Wii-exclusive Nights sequel, and Bloomberg claims that Electronic Arts and others are scrambling to release more Wii products after losing cash on the other new consoles.

Edit: April 12: Capcom shows RE4 remake and RE: Umbrella chronicles for Wii; Resident Evil 5 (for 360/PS3) is nowhere to be seen.

April 17: Jet Black Studios  is formed by a group of former EA Canada employees.  

June 18: Take Two is "completely focused" on creating a Wii and DS strategy

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Reader Reviews / Wario World

« on: November 24, 2006, 09:25:03 AM »

WELCOME TO THE WARIO WORLD REVIEW!

There's nothing that hunky, handsome Wario likes more than TREASURE, unless maybe it's himself!  And who wouldn't be proud of such a sexy bod?  So when some kind of crazy possessed jewel takes over Wario's treasure stash, it's time to bust some heads!

Feast your eyes on Wario's manly figure, he's looking good!  Some of the freaks he fights are pretty dumb looking, but not everyone can be beautiful like Wario.  You'll be rid of them shortly, just a couple of punches in the kisser!  The worlds Wario visits are pretty fun to look at, but sometimes it's annoying that you can't move the camera around more, seeing as there's lots of treasure hunting to do!

Listen to Wario's beautiful singing voice! "GET OUTTA HERE!"  Oh Wario, my knees are getting all weak! "HAVE A ROTTEN DAY!" How did you get so dreamy?  The musical accompaniment can't quite live up to the delightful Warioisms - it's mainly generic upbeat platformer stuff, but there are some cool hip-hop inspirations here and there and the audio is good overall.  

Cheer while Wario puts the smack down on stupid monsters!  He's equipped with a few wrestling and punching moves plus some jumping attacks.  Wario controls fairly well but the game still comes down to a whole lot of brawling.  You can run away a lot of the time, but every level contains the same four basic types of enemies and how Wario attacks them usually doesn't matter so the game quickly becomes repetitive regardless of how well Wario controls.  Top it off with a ton of treasure hunting and it's like the game combines the worst  part of platformers with the worst part of brawlers.

Gasp as Wario performs feats of derring-do!  Wario World does offer some great platforming "bonus" areas.  You can't die by falling in them but it will take quite a bit of skill to beat them anyway. There are also some puzzle areas that aren't exactly brilliant, but they still offer a nice break from the constant beat em up action.  The game's boss battles are pretty fun too.  Too bad these good elements are stretched out over tons of mindless action.

Laugh at how quickly Wario defeats his foes!  If Wario has taught me anything, it's the value of greed. This game comes up pretty short, but to be honest I don't really want much more of it.  It's just too repetitive.

Watch Wario's exciting conclusion!  What this game needed was an injection of variety.  Maybe that means more variety in enemies and objectives, maybe it means less collecting, or maybe it means some type of co-op mode... What it means for sure is that the game is too mindless and short for a one-player adventure.  It might be worth picking up on the cheap if you want a simple break between epic adventures and RPGs but it's pretty average overall.

Wario Pros:
- hilarious Wario dialogue all the way through
- lots of fun bosses and jumping sections

Wario Cons:
- too much repetitive fighting
- no co-op play, which is often the thing that makes up for repetitiveness
- it's a bit short, though that might be a blessing in disguise

Wario Score:
3/5

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NWR Forums Discord / Nintendo Gundam Report is just the Funhouse with better graphics

« on: November 22, 2006, 04:19:55 AM »

I can't believe anyone would pay $0 for it.

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NWR Forums Discord / Lots of new people pooping on the forums

« on: November 21, 2006, 04:49:32 AM »

I think the drain is plugged, someone call Mario, quick!

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Nintendo Gaming / Yoshi's Island DS

« on: November 16, 2006, 08:10:12 AM »

WHAT?  There isn't even a single topic (except for some "new movies of Chibi Robo and Yoshi's Island) on this game.  It's out, is it not?  Has anyone played it?

I will have to get this game sooner or later, but because of Wii it might wind up being later.  I've seen that reviews are ranging anywhere from "awesome sequel we've been waiting for" to "meh".  The review I trust the most, IGN, suggests that it's a faithful sequel but fails to surprise enough.  Sounds good enough to me.

Opinions, please!

20

Reader Reviews / The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

« on: November 02, 2006, 10:49:03 AM »

I can't really pretend this is a retro review since the game is just two years old...but I still love to watch myself type, so here goes!

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was the all-new Zelda game for Game Boy Advance.  The story has Link working with a race of tiny mouse-like people called the Minish to repower the Four Sword and defeat Vaati, a villain who petrified Princess Zelda in his search for the Light Force.

Capcom didn't take a lot of risks with the game.  Take the plot and replace Vaati, Four Sword and Light Force with Ganon, Master Sword and Triforce and you've got the plot from any of the "main" Legend of Zelda games.  Many of the characters and songs are taken straight from previous Zelda games too. That's not all bad because it makes the game feel almost like a "best of Zelda" title.  The problem is that it doesn't have much of an identity for itself and when Capcom tries to invent new characters or compose new songs, they don't always fit in with the rest of the recycled Zelda content.  The classic songs are great, but many of the new ones sound like good yet very generic RPG tunes. Identifying all the returning characters is a lot of fun but some of the new ones fall flat.  Luckily the Minish feel pretty "at home" in the Zelda universe because Link spends plenty of time with them.

Where Capcom did take some risks is in the item design - and the payoff is decent.  Of course classic items like the Boomerang and bombs are still there, but some of the new ones are pretty cool too.  I especially liked the Gust Jar which can remove enemy defenses and also doubles as a replacement for the Hookshot up until you find a better item later on.  Everything controls nicely, and the save-anywhere feature is very convenient.

The level design is good old 2D Zelda stuff, with a couple of new elements.  Link can create magical copies of himself which allows for some fun new puzzles.  Link can also shrink which allows him to interact with the Minish people and also opens up some new areas in dungeons.  This is a pretty neat take on the "two worlds" idea that has been used in other Zelda titles and my only complaint is that sometimes you have to do a lot of backtracking in Link's slower tiny form.  It would be nice to be able to warp back to the point where Link shrunk himself.  Minor point.

If there's anything wrong with the dungeons it's that there are only six of them.  I'm not asking for each new Zelda game to top all others in sheer size, but it would be nice if more of them would at least match the original standard of nine dungeons.  It's still a good length for a Game Boy game, but I wish it was a bit longer.

Like a lot of games these days, The Minish Cap tries to make up for its shortage of levels by throwing in a lot of collecting.  Kinstones are really neat at first: pieces are lying around and you can match the pieces up with other people in the game to unlock secrets.  What makes Kinstones a pain is that some people will only want to match up once out of every few visits, making it hard to tell if a character has any Kinstones.  On top of this, the rewards for matching Kinstones are often boring: Rupees or yet another Kinstone.  How about some Heart containers, Capcom?  The Kinstone set-up isn't bad, but it wears thin unless you're desperate to extend the game.

The challenge level is actually not bad.  Like all the recent Zelda games, this one cuts the damage to about 1/4 of what you'd expect from the classics but healing items aren't as powerful as in other games, so earning a ton of heart containers doesn't make Link invincible like it does in other recent Zelda games.  The shortage of levels is still an issue, but at least I didn't feel like I was breezing through the entire game.

In spite of some shortcomings in the depth and the feel of the game, The Minish Cap is still a very solid Zelda game that's great where it counts: fun gameplay.  It's not the best 2D game in the series but it's a worthy addition and a great GBA game.

Four Swords out of Five Swords.

See what I did there?

21

Nintendo Gaming / Scurge: Hive

« on: October 31, 2006, 05:56:26 AM »

Yo doods, I got this game.  I can't for the life of me figure out why it's only averaging like 60% in the reviews.  Actually, here's a hint: the Gameboy version got 80% from IGN.  I think basically everyone's penalizing it for being a Game Boy to DS port.  The thing is, it's still a good game (well, so far).

It's not a Metroid clone.  The plot is definitely a tribute to Metroid (there's a location called Brin Talon) but the gameplay is more like a cross between Metroid and Solstice/Equinox.  You move run in eight directions around isometric maps shooting everything in sight.  So far I've picked up a cool grappling hook that lets me drag stuff around (including monsters).  Finding save points is the main similarity to Metroid, and it's even more important here because they also decontaminate you - without decontamination your shields eventually fail and you start to die due to the Scurge virus.

A major complaint is that the game is basically a GBA to DS port.  A slightly interactive map appears on the touch screen, it's definitely not an amazing use of the screen, but this game benefits from a map.  In fact its's just as relevant as most of the stuff on the touch screen in New Super Mario Bros.  The graphics and sound are definitely below average for DS, but they don't change the fact that it's a good game.

There may still be real problems with the game, I've only played for an hour.  Always having to reach a decontamination unit may become a pain, or maybe the gameplay will become too repetitive.  IGN argued that the GBA version is just as good and probably cheaper...I'll buy that, but at the same time I couldn't find the GBA version anywhere and this was only $29.99 Canadian, which is $10 less than the average DS game and pretty good even by GBA standards.

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NWR Forums Discord / Infiltrate 2old2play?

« on: October 26, 2006, 09:18:48 AM »

Hey dudes, anyone familiar with 2old2play?

Obstensibly (BIG WORDS), it's a site for gamers over 25.  Hey! I'm over 25!  It runs a lot of articles on Microsoft products.  They're all very positive. It has an Xbox section, but no other sections.  It ran some Wii impressions lately, they started out with, "Say hello to jaggies, LOL the graphix sux!"  It ran another article on Xbox Live not being free, after many well thought out and seemingly unbiased points, it ended with "The only other 'sure thing' being Microsoft's obvious success with the Xbox Live Service."  Oh yes, free online is so silly, give me the SURE THING OBVIOUS SUCCESSS XBOX LIVE SERVICE.

Most of all, the site is owned and run by Lytis, a web marketing company.  This site was paid for by Microsoft, or my name is Christina Aguilera.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help me invent a user that will be hilarious, anti-Microsoft, yet hard to ban from the site.  If you don't choose to accept it, I'll just come up with something on my own.

23

Nintendo Gaming / The Underserved Market

« on: October 25, 2006, 10:56:40 AM »

Some thoughts, as I read a couple of recent "Iwata asks" articles on wii.nintendo.com:

Sega Genesis is thought to have captured the teenage market in its day.  The kids who were outgrowing Nintendo switched teams because Sega wasn't afraid to dig into more mature content.  Sega manipulated this to its advantage by running a lot of advertising that portrayed Nintendo as uncool and behind the times.  Sega does what Nintendon't...or whatever.

Sony Playstation is thought to have captured the young adult market as well.  Those teenagers grew into adults and Playstation/PS2/Xbox was the place to get the adult products.

I grew up in the exact generation of consumers that Sega and Sony took from Nintendo.  I now see a new problem for our generation and that problem is time.  I've said this before and I'll say it again: I don't have the time to play many 80 hour games anymore.  Just learning complicated new games is too much of an investment sometimes.

Reading some of the Iwata Asks articles I feel like Nintendo understands this issue.  Just plain work and a social life can make it hard to get into today's complicated games and once you start raising a family...well, I know more than one family man that has practically retired from video games because there just isn't time to play anymore.

But Nintendo is building a family-oriented console.  It's designed with families playing together in mind.  In an age where the media screeches about obese North Americans and their obese children, Nintendo has built a system that requires movement and that will feature titles focusing on sports and health.  Healthy video games!  For your whole family!  And not only that, they're easy to learn, so you don't have to invest an hour or more just to learn how to play.

Meanwhile Sony and Microsoft are catering to the same 12-25 year old crowd as always.  Some of their consumers are going to outgrow them.  New ones may take their place, but I think Nintendo is the only company actively seeking to keep the 25+ demographic engaged.

24

NWR Forums Discord / The Foundation for Silly Interactive Software

« on: September 29, 2006, 09:20:23 AM »

In light of a recent trailer for Assassin's Creed, The FFSIS is accepting donations.

The towns in the game are reportedly based on real historical documents written during the third crusade.  In order to ensure that this game is available to someone who will appreciate that outstanding attention to detail, FFSIS is requesting donations to purchase:

- 1 Xbox 360
- 1 copy of Assassin's Creed
- 1 HD television set
- 1 pedal powered electricity generator
- 1 time machine

We will use these items to send an Assassin's Creed care package to the Crusades, where players with real-world knowledge of third-crusade era geography and architecture will be able to appreciate this product's great artistic contribution to the world of Interactive Software.

We are hoping that a mad scientist will come forward to generously donate the time machine; failing that our alternative plan is to set up multiple Assassin's Creed care packages in the history wing of a prominent U.S. colleges.  However, we are optimistic about getting all of the donations required and our team is diligently working to ensure that the care package won't be mistaken for a tool of Satan in the delicate Crusades era.

25

Reader Reviews / LOZ: Majora's Mask Retro Review

« on: September 28, 2006, 08:10:24 AM »

Here we have a retro review, or as I like to call it, a burning bismark!  Also known as, "I don't get paid to review games, so I'm usually about five years late".

So here's the big question, is Majora's Mask just the copycat sequel to the most famous Zelda of all, The Ocarina of Time?  Or is it the secret Cinderella beauty to Ocarina's ugly step-sister?

The basic gameplay was recycled from Ocarina of Time but two major ideas make Majora's Mask stand out. The first change is that the player has only three days to save the world of Termina from certain doom - more on that later.  The second is that the player can collect various masks which grant special abilities.  Some masks even allow Link to transform into Legend of Zelda critters, such as  a Goron or a Deku Scrub.  At first I found the transformations hard to control, but they actually feel really good and natural with some practice.  After a nice little learning curve, they add a lot of variety and flexibility to the game design.

Now, as for the the three day cycle.  It's really neat in theory: once Link successfully retrieves the Ocarina of Time, he can use it to go back to the beginning of the three days and play them over again until he eventually solves all the problems plaguing Termina.  In practice it was often annoying: fighting through a 72-144 minute cycle just to have most or all of my progress stripped away was very irritating, especially since the game relies heavily on puzzles, even outside of the dungeons.  It took me two or three cycles just to get into each dungeon.  This made the nicely-built dungeons that much sweeter, but it was pretty frustrating.

On the positive side the cycles give the game a good dose of challenge.  The enemies tend to be weaklings but the three day cycle makes up for it by forcing players to fight the clock rather than the monsters.  The three day cycle also gives the game's characters more personality - they go about their daily lives as you play, and you can spy on them or try to help them out as you please. This results in some very memorable sidequests and I actually wish this feature had been explored further.

The sound is quite good - some songs are recycled from The Ocarina of Time but there are some new songs that are all quite wonderful.  I especially like the haunting theme played after midnight of the final day.  Graphically, this was one of the better games on the N64.  Maybe not quite as polished as The Ocarina of Time, but still very solid.  It's obviously not up to par with current games but it has stood the test of time very well thanks to Nintendo's talented art staff.

The game tends to reuse a lot of graphical and audio assets from The Ocarina of Time, but it does a wonderful job of incorporating them to make Termina feel like a trippy alternate dimension version of Hyrule rather than a knock-off.  I met people I recognized, but their names and jobs had changed.  The whole game has a somewhat twisted feel to it and the game's opening and conclusion are among the best in the entire series.

So which game is better, Majora's Mask, or Ocarina of Time?  Of course the answer is that it doesn't matter - both games are must-play titles.  But so as not to cop-out, I'll say that I'd personally lean towards The Ocarina of Time because the heavy emphasis on puzzle-solving combined with the three day cycles got on my nerves in Majora's Mask. On the other hand, Majora's Mask is still a wonderfully-designed game and it really captured my imagination like few others. Definitely worth playing!

5 / 5 masks

Side-note: The GameCube Zelda Collector's Edition version of the game seems to crash an awful lot.  Maybe it's just my GameCube, but if you don't already own a copy of the game, I think the N64 version would be preferable.