Where I Read – Nintendo Power #38
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #107
Letters
So in the several issue gap lay 1997’s April issue, and it’s April Fool’s Day joke, which was one of the most legendary jokes in EGM since the Sheng Long cheat – the All Bonds cheat. For those who are unfamiliar, the cheat was a fake cheat that let you, unlocked a series of skins for Goldeneye 007 for every single prior official James Bond – Connery, Lazenby, Moore, and Dalton. This issue has a series of responses to the “cheat” both positive and negative. Read more
Video Game Review – The Beatles: Rock Band (PS3)
So, a while back I played, and reviewed, the first major rhythm game to be based around a particular rock band – Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. I reviewed it almost a year ago, and I didn’t think it was all bad. Well, this year I’ve picked up Harmonix’s take on the concept. With the game I reviewed a year ago, Neversoft took the Guitar Hero series, took some of Aerosmith’s hit tracks and put some relevant tracks by other artists around it. Harmonix’s philosophy of game design has a fundamentally different style. Instead, they’re picking some of the best of the best of the band they’re building their game around with DLC for other songs by that band. The band in question? The Beatles. Read more
Quality Control – Arcana
The problem with picking RPGs for Quality Control picks is I often don’t have the time I need to give it the consideration it deserves. Normally, when I’m reviewing a platformer or some other, more traditional game, I’m able to beat the game in an emulator in a day – or at least get far enough in the game that I can get a pretty good feel for the game. Not so with most RPGs – so I basically had to play this game over a weekend (though you can’t tell, because I wrote this in advance). Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #37
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #98
Our editorial column this issue relates to the fairly heavy coverage that EGM has had of the Tomb Raider games. People are writing to complain because they think they’re, well, under-sexed. However, what Editorial Director Joe Funk brings up is that Lara Croft is one of the first really major video game franchise to feature a female protagonist. Yes, there was Final Fantasy VI – but to be frank that was more of an ensemble piece. I also wouldn’t consider the Valis series for this either, as it’s not a major franchise – as much as I wish it was. Read more
Quality Control – Xardion
So, for this week’s Quality Control pick, I chose a mecha action game that had caught my eye earlier in my magazine recaps. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get past the second level, even with the use of save states. This isn’t due to difficulty, precisely, as much as it related to an obstacle in the level that I was supposed to destroy to progress, but the obstacle wouldn’t be destroyed, no matter how much I hit it. So, I really wasn’t able to progress enough in the game to give my opinion of it. Some other people were able to get past this, though, so I know it can be done.
That said, because of my lack of progress, I’m going to withhold judgment on this game for now. What I will do is give my concerns about what I’ve played so far. The game has 3 mechs you can play as. One is a Gundam style humanoid mech, one is more insectoid, and another is shaped like a panther. The panther has machine guns in the shoulders, and the insect has a short-ranged sonic wave attack it can do by whipping its antenna. Of those three types of unit you can pilot, only the humanoid one can attack in a different direction – it can attack straight up. However, the other ones have the advantages that they’re lower to the ground. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #36
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #97
No, I don’t have their 100th issue right now, so I’m going to have to skip it. Yeah, I feel bad about it to, and trust me, as gaps are filled, I will go back and do write-ups to address the missing issues of the magazine. Anyway, the magazine is evolving, and while Steve Harris is no longer with it, and Ed Semrad is only on board as their Chief Correspondent, and there’s still the matter of being hitched to the potentially debt-ridden mess that is Ziff Davis (I don’t know if it was as debt ridden then as it was at the end of the first generation of EGM). That said, Ziff Davis still has ZDTV at this time. That has to account for something right? No, it doesn’t. Thought it would be absolutely awesome if Ziff Davis had still had ZDTV around the time they launched the 1up Brand, and the 1up Show could have been an actual TV program. Ah well, such is life. Read more
Quality Control – Town & Country 2: Thrilla’s Surfari
There are certain games which lend themselves very well to speed runs, and videos thereof. For some of them, it’s because the game’s a non-linear game like Metroid, where the player has multiple ways in which they can jump ahead of the path and find various hidden items in the game. For other games, because of their visual style and speed of the game, they just fit in perfectly with this type of video–the classic example being Sonic the Hedgehog. When I saw the maps of Town & Country 2: Thrilla’s Surfari, this seemed like a perfect fit for the latter category, which is why I picked it.
Maybe I should have picked something else. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #35
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #90
Press Start
Sony has given gamers their first look at the PlayStation Dual-Shock controller, their response to the single-analog stick on the Nintendo 64 controller. Frankly, I liked the design of the Dual Shock over the design for the N64 controller. However, I feel that the stick positioning on the later Xbox controller was superior, with the Xbox 360 being on top of the game in terms of controller design. That said, I have not had an opportunity to use the Wii yet, so I can’t compare the Wiimote and Nunchuck with the Xbox 360 controller at this time. Sony’s also putting out a new design for the PlayStation that uses the unified proprietary graphics connector that Sony has continued to use to this day. Read more
Nintendo Power Then & Now
For the issues of Nintendo Power I’ve covered thus far, the magazine is, essentially, advertising for Nintendo, but very good advertising. Rather then simply spouting marketing ad copy at the gamers (who were generally children–though the letters column has shown some adults as well), the magazine takes a different tack. Since video games are a visual medium, the magazine is a visual guide. Each featured game gets a strategy guide, often with fairly comprehensive level maps (which were no doubt expensive to make at the time), advice for beating the bosses and information on the power-ups and so on. The idea behind this, ultimately, is that you get a certain degree of familiarity with the game before you get it, and once you’ve gotten it, you have the guide to fall back on in case you get stuck and are frustrated. Read more
Quality Control: The Empire Strikes Back (NES)
I previously reviewed the JVC Star Wars game that was made for the NES before the SNES came out. It wasn’t a good game. I’ll be honest–it was a very bad game. The shooting controls were bad, and some of the enemies were cheap as hell. However, now we have a game based on the second installment of the trilogy, and now I’m going to see what improvements they’ve made from the prior installment of the series. Now, I wasn’t able to beat the game, but I made it through far enough to get a fair cop about what the game would be like.
The Premise
If you don’t know the premise to The Empire Strikes back, go to your local library, video store, to Netflix, or even to YouTube. I’ll wait.
You’re back? Good. Okay, the game follows that plot, though it focuses entirely on Luke and pads things out a bit, but not by too much.
The Good
We don’t get any enemies which are as on-nigh impossible to beat as the Bounty Hunters were in part 2, at least in the portion I made it through thus far. Additionally, they’ve re-balanced weapon damage some, where most regular enemies go down with one shot from a blaster, a few tougher enemies (like mini-probe droids) take multiple shots, and for bosses they’re essentially a pew-pew gun. However, Light-Sabers can take down the tougher enemies in a couple hits, and they’re more productive for bosses. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #34
Yes, that’s right. I just referenced the Spice Girls.
Anyway, kids being rather selfish beings, they want lots of games or candy or cash, all that sort of thing. However, one reader can be trusted to be inventive – he wants Nintendo Power boxer shorts, he even came up with a design, which he sent with the letter. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #84
Quality Control – Legend of the Mystical Ninja
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja series is a game series I’ve heard a fair amount about in the past. I’ve heard that it’s a good game series, and I’ve heard it’s got a tongue in cheek atmosphere. Despite all this, I’ve never taken the time to try any of the games in the series. Maybe it’s because many of the more lighthearted 16-bit games I’ve played haven’t been that good. Maybe it’s because of a certain degree of cognitive dissonance – for me the definitive ninja game series is the Ninja Gaiden series, and that definitely takes itself seriously. So, this last issue of Nintendo Power finally got me to knuckle down and try out the first Legend of the Mystical Ninja game. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #33
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III Guide
The turtles are getting their third game, something similar to the Arcade game, but with a few differences. We get a run-down of the Turtles and their special moves. We get maps of all 6 stages, which will take you to the fight with Shredder. That one you’ll have to handle on your own. This is, currently, the only Turtles game I haven’t played yet. This makes a good qualifier for a Quality Control pick. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #83
Press Start
Sega has unveiled the Saturn 2.0 – which can best be described as a slightly cheaper version of the Saturn. We get some discussion of the changes for the system, both from the innards (including a smaller physical motherboard, and moves the I/O board onto the motherboard instead of having it on a separate board like the original, replacing some metal parts with plastic parts), as well as making the unit physically smaller. However, they dumped the CD-ROM access LED, which is in my opinion a bad move, the access LED is helpful for telling when your system locked up because of a buggy game. Also, the system is going for $199. This is opposed to the N64 which is going for $250. Let’s make this clear: the Sega Saturn, which we know through 20/20 hindsight failed, is running for less than the N64 and has a bigger software library. This says rather impressive things about the loyalty of Nintendo’s fan base. We also get a comparison of the US and Japanese Sega Saturn Controllers. In short, the Japanese Saturn controller kicks the US controller’s butt. We even have reviews – which (by the way) is the first time Dan “Shoe” Hsu gets his name on an article in EGM. By means of explanation, at this point in EGM’s history, articles didn’t have bylines, so there’s no way to tell who wrote what, outside of the Review Crew segment and stuff like this. Read more
Quality Control Review – Super Off Road
The Premise
Drive a race car around a track, be in the top 3 to advance to the next track. In between races you can upgrade your car’s top speed, acceleration, shocks, tires, and top speed, as well as buying Nitro boosts, all using the prize money you earn from winning races Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #32
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #82
Quality Control – Ninja Gaiden Shadow
The Premise
Ryu Hayabusa is a young man. His father is still alive and is still in possession of the Dragon Sword. As Ryu trains in New York, he learns of a sinister plot by Emperor Garuda to take over the city for his lord, Jaquio. Ryu goes forth to save the city and the world. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #31
Letters
The theme for this issue is what you’d want your ultimate gaming system to be. As you can imagine when a large chunk of your reader base is kids, basically they want a console that does everything–including their homework.
Batman: Return of The Joker Guide
The Joker is back, and the Batman is waiting. The guide details the new power-ups for this game: a crossbow, homing batarangs, the Sonic Neutralizer, and the Shield Star (which is a spread attack). We get maps for stages 1 through 6. I have to say that the levels look really generic. Levels 1 & 7 are the only ones which really have a look to them that feels different – though the gimmick for 5 is itself generic – it’s a sewer level. Read more