Semagorter's Last Game Reviews |
Sonic the Hedgehog 10-08-13 08:56 PM
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The Beginning of a Sonicboom
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 practically changed gaming forever, even if the game itself isn't all that revolutionary. No, it's real impact comes from being the first real competitor to Nintendo's admittedly tyrannical monopoly over the console video game market. But how does it hold up as an actual video game?
The plot is, on the surface, not particularly deep. The evil Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnick has captured cute little animals inside robots in order to power them, using them to take over the world, and is up to Sonic to rescue the creatures and defeat Eggman-I mean Robotnick. However, I've noticed a very subtle nature v.s. Technology theme going on, especially in the later levels, but still, it's not deep either, but it's something. The controls aren't all that different from other platformers of the time. Move left and right, as well as jump, to either reach new heights or defeat enemies. However, you could also curl up into a spiky ball that also acts as a means of offense. Rolling into an enemy defeats it, and you usually curl up into a ball when you jump. The last part is essential for numerous parts of the game, especially for the bosses. Also, Sonic can't swim in water. His motor skills are dampened (pun intended this time) while underwater and if you stay down too long, a pretty haunting track reminiscent of the Jaws theme will play, and if you don't get out in time after that, you'll drown.
The marketing suggests the main draw being the unprecedented speed, in which you go really really fast as opposed to, say Mario. However, I've noticed that a good majority of the game doesn't involve high speeds of nearly any kind, instead opting for traditional platforming. Very few moments involve actually going really fast. The speed was probably used as a hook as opposed to being a more core mechanic in later games. As such, various maneuvers achievable in later gam... Read the rest of this Review
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Contra 10-05-13 09:20 PM
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The Blending of Challenge and Fun at its Finest
Originally an arcade game that was ported to the NES, Contra is one of those "classic" NES games that so many people like to bring up when discussing notable NES titles, and rightfully so. It's arguably the best blend of challenge and fun without sacrificing much, if any, on either front. So how did it earn its reputation?
For starters, like most NES titles, there isn't much in the way of story. Two soldiers named Bill and Lance need to rescue an island from an alien force known as the Red Falcon. That's pretty much it. As far as gameplay goes, however, it's Superb. One of the things that makes Contra so brutally challenging yet exceedingly fun at the same time is its sublime controls. There is a reason why this is pretty much THE golden standard as far as NES Sidescroller controls goes. Going left and right is at the right speed and the amount of control you have in your jumps gives Super Mario Brothers a run for its money. You could also duck and shoot, and jumping down ledges is something that was probably ahead of its time, since not a whole lot of games actually use it, especially back in the heyday. The real beauty, though, is that you could shoot in all eight directions. While at least one other famous game has this feature (Megaman 2, for those of you wondering), you could do this with any weapon in the game. This gives you a surprisingly large amount of control that may have been unprecedented, especially on the NES. One could easily argue that Contra has the best controls of the entire console, and I don't say that lightly.
So what about the weapons? You have your regular rifle, which while decent, isn't going to be enough. The Machine Gun powerup <M> gives you a rapid-fire range that allows you to fire without ever letting go of the button. There's also the Rapid powerup <R> that does pretty much the same thing, except that it does stack with the Machine... Read the rest of this Review
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Mario Clash 09-23-13 09:53 AM
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Definitely could be better, but still relatively solid as it is.
As far as Virtual Boy games goes, there really isn't a whole lot of competition in terms of "quality" titles. Mario Clash, by its very nature (definitive Mario title for the system), is poised to at least be in the upper half in terms of quality. The only question remains is how high can it go? (...that was unintentional.)
Like most Mario games, there isn't much in the way of story. Someone has captured Clash Tower (a very tall tower that reaches the clouds and possibly space), and Mario has to break in and rescue the tower back. As far as gameplay basics are concerned, some people have remarked it being a remake of the 1983 arcade classic Mario Bros., and to be fair, they're not that far off from the truth. Not only is the level progression very reminiscent of arcade games, but there's more than a handful of gameplay elements from said arcade title that it carries over into Mario Clash. It does have its differences, however, but well get to those in a moment. First off, the controls. You only use the left D-pad to move left and right in the game and up and down for menus, B to Jump in the actual game, and A to throw or perform various actions, assuming that Start isn't an option. The swapping of the B and A roles can throw people off, but it's shouldn't be too hard to adjust, though it's understandably frustrating to forget. However, the real problem is that the forgetfulness happens more often than it should, despite being used to it, as if you've played multiple Mario games, this detour is going to get annoying quick. (-.5 for its sheer frequency). However, I'm getting ahead of myself.
From the start menu, you can select which level you'd like to start in, check your high score, or adjust the brightness of the game in five levels. Once you start actually playing the game, each level has two "planes", and you move back and forth via pipes. You get to choose ... Read the rest of this Review
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