#588 Gradius V

Posted: 28th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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484th played so farGradius_V_cover

Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: Playstation 2
Year of Release: 2004
Developer: Treasure
Publisher: Konami

Today we revisit the Gradius universe, a pretty enjoyable shooter that supposedly helped create a weapon bar and other refinements – mostly decent fun really.

The fifth sequel (apparently the best of the series) is quite a bit newer, and from the screenshots it’s already clear that it looks more luxurious. A more modern shoot ’em up – something we’ve been looking forward to.

Our Thoughts

Gorgeous, first of all. As the game has you flying through space, there are several nice objects floating in the background and there’s some attention paid to how the levels look. Sure, some are simple, but it just looks so much better than the early 80s shoot ’em ups of the time we’ve been playing a lot of.

The basic gameplay stays in that area, though, loads of enemies flying at you that you can kill, dropping powerups for your weapons. It’s executed well and looks good while doing it – I realise that’s the repeating thing, but it’s what sets the game apart.

This really shows at the bigger bosses and enemies. They are big, they are imposing and they have loads of moving parts and bits and pieces. I’m sure they would have been possible before, but they seem especially impressive here.

Final Thoughts

Gradius V is, as you can probably tell, not a game with many of its own features. Instead, it’s clearly one of the best of the genre (listed as the best of the series in the book – apparently the last main series game in its group) and is a game I enjoyed based on just that.

#64 Track & Field

Posted: 24th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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3

483rd played so far

Track&Field_arcadeflyer

Genre: Sports
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1983
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami

Sports games have been around for a while, and today we’re going to play an early one. Many newer ones don’t necessarily grip us, but it feels like a large part of it is because they become impenetrable if you haven’t kept up with the series, not offering the learning curve contemporary games do.

These older games, being from the arcade generation, generally tend to do better as the history isn’t there and (to be fair) they wanted you to keep spending. Time to try our luck!

Our Thoughts

Track & Field does what it says on the tin. Effectively, it’s a bunch of minigames based on various athletics events. Minigames because each have simple controls and happen pretty quickly – you start with a running game that consists of just alternately hitting two buttons. A mechanic I’m fairly persisted until at least 2012 Olympics games, so clearly they had something there.

Being an arcade game, there’s a lot of quarter-gulping, and you don’t get a choice in minigames – you have to do them one event after the other, which means that if you can’t do an event (long jump…) you can simply get stuck there.

With that said, minigames are addictive, because they give you the reward of success so frequently and often relatively easily.They become familiar quickly, and as the games progress, you will quickly learn how to play them even if you’ve not made it to that event before.

Final Thoughts

Track & Field is a simple game, and it surprised me how much of it looked familiar from games that followed it. While this is an area where you would have expected time to have moved features on, Track & Field seems to have stayed a good baseline to build athletics minigames around. I’m not sure it’s the best approach for those games, but here it works nicely as a properly competitive game.

#441 Crimson Skies

Posted: 20th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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482nd played so far

256px-CrimsonSkies_coverart

Genre: Flight Simulator/Shoot ‘Em Up
Platform: PC
Year of Release: 2000
Developer: Zipper Interactive
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

For my birthday I got a proper, fully featured joystick, one of those gaming implements I still needed. Being a busy bee, however, I haven’t really had a chance to actually play a game with it much.

Flight simulators are probably one of the best games to play with it, and that’s where Crimson Skies comes in – checking off both that and one of the many shoot ’em ups.

Our Thoughts

It’s been interesting to go back and do some flying, considering it’s been so long. This was a nice one to get back into, though, and yes – the joystick really helped.

Crimson Skies feels like it makes its mark early on. Vaguely reminiscent of Thrilling Adventure Hour‘s Amelia Earhart segment, it has the World War II “we can do it” radio play feel to the interactions between the characters on your team. It can feel a bit stereotypical and over the top, but on the whole adds a lot of character and fun to them. They’re the lovable rogues and pirates that you get around, not really bad people, just them doing their own greedy thing.

And it felt good once flying out. Again, the improved controls helped me here, but the game feels like it allows for a lot of freedom. You are encouraged to follow specific missions, getting near goals to explore and dropping people. This is interrupted by enemies that need to be shot down and ground vehicles that need to be destroyed (once by shooting down a bridge, which was quite cool).

That part is where I started struggling. While the flying works quite well, I had trouble lining up my shots and hitting anyone – all planes being a bit too mobile to keep up with.

Final Thoughts

Despite those struggles, the presentation of the game is nice enough that it charmed me early on.ย  The flying is great and the environments are lovely to be around, even despite its relative age.

#420 Shenmue

Posted: 16th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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481st played so far

Shenmue PAL DC-front

Genre: Action/Adventure
Platform: Dreamcast
Year of Release: 1999
Developer: Sega AM2
Publisher: Sega

Shenmue has created its own hype. A little while ago there was a Kickstarter for the third part of the game series (originally, I believe, set up to have at least four games). It’s praised for the depth of its world and worldbuilding, with the story being engaging.

All of this has made me really curious about seeing what the game will be like and whether it would be that good and it feels like we’ve put off this game for quite long enough already.

Our Thoughts

That was a really good game. Shenmue might not be quite as good as many people claim, but it felt impressive. The basics are simple – a lot of it is walking from place to place, talking to people and figuring out the reasons behind your father’s murder.

That may sound boring and straightforward – so far there weren’t really many puzzles, just walking around finding places – but the world is interesting enough that this doesn’t matter. There are plenty of people walking around, living their lives and having something to say about your plight. The town doesn’t just have mandatory buildings, it has different shops and buildings and places where people hang out, just to create that feeling of living in a Japanese town like this in the eighties.

It fills more of the space with distractions – mini games, collectibles, optional bits as well as ones that are useful down the line. The roaming of an open world game isn’t there, but the options of an open world is. The game nudges you a bit more towards plot, but there’s no rush.

While the game runs on a timer, and certain events have to happen at a certain time of day, it doesn’t constrict the game. You may need to wait for a few hours before you can handle certain areas of the plot and you need to be home before your curfew each day (missing it once gets you told off, I didn’t have it happen again later). It creates realism without feeling limiting.

Final Thoughts

There’s parts of the game that feel a bit slow, when you need to talk to someone who’s only available after 6PM for example and it’s still early morning.ย  That matters little, though, as it seems like there are always other things to do as well. Mostly the game is just incredibly engaging, drawing you into the story and offering the chance to explore more of this world.

#971 Trine

Posted: 12th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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480th played so far

Trine_PC_US_FOB

Genre: Platform/Puzzle
Platform: PC/Playstation 3
Year of Release: 2009
Developer: Frozenbyte
Publisher: Nobilis

Trine is a puzzle platformer. The main draw comes from the way three characters interact, each with different abilities and options. Sounds like The Lost Vikings, except, apparently, with less babysitting as you only have one on the screen at a time.

I’ve been looking forward to it, as it caught my attention some time ago and I’d love to see how it plays out in reality.

Our Thoughts

Look, I get frustrated with these games sometimes and need to take a step back occasionally, recover and distract myself before trying again. I had a few moments like that, but in the end persevered enough to make it a nice part through the game.

The game looks gorgeous. This should almost be a given for games of this era, but it feels important to mention because platformers have become rare and most of the ones we see, like VVVVVV, go for retro graphics. The big publishers don’t invest enough to always get the graphics, possibly with the exception of Nintendo’s set of platformers. Main point is, however, the game looks amazing and the different areas really are a treat to see each time.

The interaction between three characters is also quite interesting. Each has their own power, with different solutions to puzzles. The wizard conjures different types of special platforms, as well as telekinesis. The thief uses bow and arrow as a weapon, and a grappling hook to move. The warrior has fighting abilities, while also using his strength. It makes for a nice set of solutions, with most puzzles being solved by any of them (although some have it easier). The real puzzles mostly appear for optional collectibles, where specific gaps needs to be bridged or other special actions need to be taken. Beyond that it’s a necessity because the game has a multiplayer mode, where each controls a character – you need to be able to do it while helping each other!

With that the game was a lot of fun. The real annoyance came in with the enemies. While some are easy enough to defeat, some were incredibly annoying. Archers in places where you can’t hit them back, for example, and infinitely respawning enemies that badly distract from solving puzzles. It’s nice that they’re in, but there are too many – having limits on how often they spawn would have felt better. As having your warrior taken out can be a real hindrance to beating them, the game gets pretty difficult because of them.

Final Thoughts

Trine is a fun and especially pretty game. It has a bunch of decent puzzles and the list of abilities (partially supporting by a leveling system) adds a nice amount of strategy. Frustrating in parts, the game has been worthwhile to play around with.

#35 The Hobbit

Posted: 8th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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479th played so far

Hobbit_adventure_packaging

Genre: Interactive Fiction
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 1982
Developer: Beam Software
Publisher: Melbourne House

It’s been a while since we’ve played a text adventure, isn’t it? It certainly feels that way. And while The Hobbit technically isn’t, the version we’re playing having some graphics, they’re simple interpretations that don’t actually affect gameplay or puzzle solving.

I’ve always enjoyed Tolkien’s Middle Earth, as seen in the Lord of the Rings and have probably read more about it than I should. The Hobbit is the one game of many made based on it that made it onto the list, and it’s an early one too. The length should make it nicely playable too, unlike (say) the massive Lord of the Rings RPG series from the early 1990s.

Our Thoughts

So sure, the graphics for the game are indeed not very relevant – after the first time, the game doesn’t even bother showing it to you unless you specifically ask for it. As it doesn’t update, it’s fine anyway, showing the setting but not contributing much after.

Beyond that it becomes a straight forward text adventure, feeling like Zork in its setup and how the world moves on. An immediately interesting feature comes from your companion. While you play as Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin accompany you in the world – although while they partially stay near you, Gandalf in particular wanders a lot and does not seem to be necessary to finish the game.

I think so, at least. Several puzzles in the game seem to have multiple solutions, but it’s hard to say that for sure. Another issue at this point is that these two characters can pick up items in the world – including one you can make good use of early on – and lose them unless you track down wherever Gandalf now is. You can, however, command them if they’re in the same room as you, so if they have an item you need, they can use it for you, and occasionally they can help you reach exits you can’t get to otherwise

The game covers a lot of ground from the books, allowing a lot of puzzles to be solved using the book’s solution if not bypassed. It still, obviously, leaves out large parts as the characters just aren’t in the game, but as an exploration of the book, it works really well.

Final Thoughts

With a reactive world, the game doesn’t need to be huge to be fun. The NPC interactions add a lot to gameplay and the puzzle selection is varied enough that just wandering around leaves you with plenty of options. While there’s a “for its time” caveat, the game was a lot of fun to jump into again.

#173 Populous

Posted: 4th January 2016 by Jeroen in Games
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478th played so far

Populous_cover

Genre: Strategy
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 1989
Developer: Bullfrog
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Some time ago, when it was newer, I really enjoyed Populous: The Beginning, a strategy/simulation game with a focus on you being a deity.

That game left you more in charge of a shaman honouring a god, while Populous (the original) is listed as a god influencing events. Closer, in fact, to the otherwise lacklustre GODUS. All I remember is that trying this game years ago, it didn’t make much sense after my experience with Populous: The Beginning.

Our Thoughts

As an older game, it took a while to figure out how Populous worked – luckily GoG comes with a manual for the game that explains the game’s icons. When I got used to this, a very addictive game revealed itself.

Most of the game is focused on as much on flattening land, creating large stretches of plains to allow houses to be build, as well as creating hills for your followers to retreat to in case of a flood. With more followers than your opponent, you can eventually overwhelm them and slowly destroy them.

Having more followers also generates more mana, which has its further uses. With more followers, further spells unlock for you to use. A long term useful spell is to create a knight, who goes around killing your enemy followers and buildings. You only get one at a time, but it means part of finishing the game is done automatically. You also have earthquakes at your disposal, useful in areas occupied solely by your opponents to deal a blow to its power. If you’re playing evil enough, floods and plagues are possible too, but we didn’t yet see much of that – or needed that on the early levels.

But really, adjusting all the land and slowly seeing it go under is incredibly enjoying, at times in an almost zen like way, putting you in a trance while you slowly flatten everything. The game is simple looking, but it’s just deep enough that is reaches the right levels of addictive.

Final Thoughts

Populous takes some time to get into, but once you’re used to the interface, the game pulls you in far enough to stay addictive. A lovely, quiet game that feels like it is slowly building up to a victory.

#760 Forza Motorsport 2

Posted: 31st December 2015 by Jeroen in Games
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477th played so far

Forzamotorsport2cover

Genre: Driving/Racing
Platform: Xbox 360
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Turn 10 Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Forza Motorsport 2 is listed as a more serious racing game, with some additions to help the casual player – the brake line is mentioned in particular.

It’s got a big enough reputation, but I’ve never gotten to playing the game – yeah, mostly because I’ve never had a reason to seek it out. One of the games we’re playing to expand our horizons.

Our Thoughts

This game played pretty well. Unlike what we previously said about Metropolis Street Racer and Gran Turismo, the game felt beatable early on. Sure, sometimes it needed an extra try, but as this still gave some currency, it still brought you forward.

And the brake line helps a lot – an indicator to show what your best line is, when to speed up or, especially, slow down. It saves time having to learn the many tracks, which is a shortcut I needed.

There’s a lot of customization to go with that. Loads of cars to buy (with eligibility requirements for certain races, for example four wheel drive cars only), plenty of tweaks you can make to the cars and cosmetic changes. All of them (that change car stats) are clearly explained, which again makes the game more accessible – not necessarily easily, but there’s less guessing and hoping.

Final Thoughts

Forza Motorsport 2 is a good racing game, well balanced for new players while (it seems) allowing a lot of room for experienced players to get more out of the game. I’m looking forward to the third installment!

#89 Yie Ar Kung-Fu

Posted: 27th December 2015 by Jeroen in Games
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476th played so far

Yie_Ar_Kung-Fu_flyer

Genre: Fighting
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1985
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami

Yie Ar Kung-Fu is described in the book as the archetypical fighting game. I’m sure it is, but I’ve never heard of it.

The images make it look fairly standard, so let’s just go.

Our Thoughts

Boy, did this look like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat. The game plays like a simplified version of a fighting game we’ve seen more often – indeed, Wikipedia says it’s seen as the basis for modern fighting games, and that became clear as we were playing.

A lot of familiar elements are there – a 2D playing field on which you move left and right, fighting a single opponent. You can jump, duck and attack. Health bars keep track of how you’re doing, and there’s a varied roster of enemies, which you fight in order.

There are also still some differences. There’s no character select, you just play as your one character, which you need to master. The opponent do have different patterns of attack, so at least those differences are there, but there’s no favourites or different tricks for you.

It’s challenging at first, the first enemy or two fairly easily defeated but still difficult enough to cost you a life at first. It ramps up quickly from there though, and you still need to master the game.

In looks, the game is fairly simple, with some shades of anime. It looks quite nice, the cartoon-like looks adding to the appeal and dating the game a bit less than it could.

Final Thoughts

Yie Ar Kung-Fu would not be as remarkable if it hadn’t been the first, true, but it’s interesting to see where the genre started. The game might be relatively simple, but it’s suprisingly effective and easier to master than the combos later games offer (I just never entirely get them). It really is a game you should have tried, to appreciate the core of fighting games.

#753 Crysis

Posted: 23rd December 2015 by Jeroen in Games
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475th played so far

Crysis_Cover

Genre: First Person Shooter
Platform: PC
Year of Release: 2007
Developer: Crytek Frankfurt
Publisher: Electronic Arts

I’ll be honest, I don’t have that much affinity with Crysis. I’ve obviously seen it on lists before and come across it, but it never really struck a chord with me.

Reading about it, it sounds like Halo – we have futuristic space suits that enhance human capabilities, and you go around to discover more about an alien artifact. Sure, you’re now still on Earth, but the links seem to be there.

Our Thoughts

Crysis is an interesting one. I struggle with open world FPS games from time to time, not entirely used to it, but I feel like in the last few years, I have gotten better at them. Sometimes I still struggle with them, however.

I’m not sure what happened here though. A little while in, when first facing a larger group, I got overwhelmed. This happens early on, entering a camp I seemingly can’t sneak up to, can’t accurately snipe while having enemies fire at me and having this really unfair motor boat crossing the lake… Yeah, I probably approached it wrong, but I couldn’t see another way.

I resolved most of this by stealing a car and running away, which seemed like a great strategy, except for those that followed. A lot of sneaking got me away from them, with them calming down and no longer chasing me. Even so, my preferred sneaking strategy wasn’t the easiest to pull off.

Anyway, the idea behind Crysis is pretty interesting. To enhance the soldier’s abilities, the army has given you a special suit to wear that makes you stronger, faster or stealthy, but only one at a time. It makes for some nice mix of strategic abilities, with them sharing a power meter it becomes a strategic situation.

Most impressive is how interactive the game and its environments are. Everything responds to your shots, at times falling apart or moving around. It seems to allow far more of this than many other games. Your super strength helps as well, throwing the same items around.

Final Thoughts

Crysis is a good game. Its issues are mostly all mine, never completely coming to grips with how it works. There’s a lot to like that’s coming up, with a story that becomes more interesting later on.

It just felt like it started a bit harder out of the gate than it needed to be, with the protection mechanics with high numbers of enemies triggering a bit too soon for someone trying to figure out how it all works.

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