Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

Sailing, not something that inspires excitement.  Being in the ocean for long periods of time with little interaction with things is definitely not something that would come across as a good game idea.  This game changed that mindset.  Zelda has always been about the adventure.  Getting further from home or discovering new things with the new items that you find.  This game does not disappoint.

Let me get the bad stuff out of the way, it's short.  I promise.  The biggest issue I have with this game is just one specific part and to not spoil it, I will just say that it is a huge fetch quest.  It is tedious and incredibly drawn out.  It is the only smudge on this otherwise great game.

Why is this game so fun?  Simply put, it is a big adventure.  A giant sandbox with no sand.  Sure you have to sail everywhere but that is half the fun.  Sometimes you run across an event or a monster or you see something in the distance that looks interesting.  It's about setting out and seeing what you can.  Sure there are parts where it is frustrating and you don't know where to go but that is half the fun.  Figuring out where to go at each point and then what to do is fun.

Was this game as good as the other Zelda games?  Of course, it's one of my favorites.  Will it be remembered fondly by others?  Not really, because of that one part that is just a minor flaw in the design, a lapse in judgment.  Should you play this gorgeous game?  Of course, what is more fun that heading out on an adventure just for the sake of adventure?  Nothing.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Pokemon: LeafGreen (GBA)

What can I say about Pokemon that hasn't been said already?  This game was a good step into my past.  I had orginally gotten Red version for my Gameboy at the start of my gaming tenure.  It was fun but I didn't know what I was doing.  In fact, I had like three Pidgey's for a while and used my Master Ball on a Pikachu later in the game.

What makes this game better?  Everything.  The fact that after you beat it, you don't end up with just nothing to do is the best part.  Being able to pull in new pokemon from other regions was a nice touch.  Sure the story was the same as it was a long time ago, but I don't care.  I play this for the collecting.  Sure it has a good RPG background and the mechanics are solid.  You know exactly what you are tasked with and why.

That said, I feel this game was slow.  But so was the first game.  The pacing is just so slow that often I would just wander from trainer to trainer just to level the team I had been building since the start just to beat the Elite Four.  I do that in almost every pokemon game now though, so it is not new.

What would I like to see done to the series as a whole?  Probably a new type.  Something weak to dragon but strong to ice.  That way we can have a dragon-ice-new type starter set.  I'm tired of grass-fire-water.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Here we go, a good reason to own the Wii.  This game was one of the best 3D Mario experiences I've ever had.  It was a solid title to this great series and definitely warrants a play.  Why?  Because this game has what many Mario games needed.  Challenge.

Getting through the main story of this game is not the difficult part.  No, beating the big baddy (you can guess the last boss) is just the beginning of the fun.  Collecting all the stars is the hard part.  Where in typical Mario games, you just have to look high and low for them.  In this, you have to look everywhere, literally.  With many of the galaxies being fairly large, these can be anywhere.

Sure the levels may not be hard, where is the difficulty?  Comets.  With the comet system, the levels get harder or different based off which comet is there.  Sometimes they are nice relaxing "find all the purple coins" kind of challenges.  Other times it "time limit, go" kind of challenges.  You always know what you need to do but it does add to the fun.

I would say that this is a must own for the Wii but most people that own a Wii have this already.  Sure the camera can get goofy at times.  You can't blame it when it suddenly is not on the same plane as Mario.  Still, this is a solid title...only trumped by the sequel.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Guilty Gear Judgment (PSN)

It's a shame that I can't play this on my Vita cause I thoroughly enjoyed this fighter.  Sure I was terrible at it and I never really did much except look at the move list and just do them in Training, but it was fun nonetheless.

This was my first exposure to airdash type fighting games, which would eventually lead me to Blazblue.  I don't know if this game is an airdasher but I don't care.  It was fun.  The fighting game was solid, had a good cast of characters, and wasn't super complicated until you actually wanted to be good.

The action game though, I spent most of my time trying to beat this and still haven't done it.  The last boss is just insane.  I have made it to him as Ky or Sol, I can't remember.  I wish I could beat it but I have tried my best and not even come close.

I look forward to playing more games in the series someday.