Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
Spyro The Dragon Review
Platform: Playstation
Released: 1998 (worldwide)
Developer: Insomniac
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA)
Digital Release? Yes, this is available as a PSOne classic on PSN for $5.99
Price: $13.99 (disc only), $19.98 (complete), and $55.00 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
Jam’s Take
The Sony Playstation was well known for having a generous supply of 3D platformers. You had Crash Bandicoot, Gex (other than the first) and Croc but there was also another animal who made a name for himself on the system and later rose to greater popularity, probably even more so than Crash. I am of course referring to Spyro the Dragon. For this review we are going back to the origins of the character with the very first game on the Playstation that was developed by Insomniac games.
Goldeneye 007 Review
Platform: Nintendo 64
Released: 1997 (worldwide)
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Nintendo
Digital Release? No, licensing assures we’ll never see this outside it’s original release
Price: $15.75 (cart only), $29.99 (complete), and $149.99 (new/sealed) per Price Charting
Good old Rare back when you were Nintendo’s second party developer you really did come up with some truly stunning IPs like Jet Force Gemini and Banjo Kazooie. I still defend my Banjo Kazooie review to this day but for those that hated that review be prepared to love me all over again as this entry we’re going to re-visit the title European fanboys (or fangirls) go crazy for: it’s the N64 iteration of Goldeneye.
Primal Rage Retrospective and Comparison Video
Primal Rage was one of the more notable Mortal Kombat clones in arcades in 1994. The popularity of this Atari Games fighter secured multiple ports to the home consoles of the time, a true cross-gen title that was on most portable, 16-bit, and 32-bit CD consoles. GH101 looks into the history, gameplay, and home console versions of this dinosaur brawler.
Talking Ports: Ghouls’N Ghosts on the Master System
I really wanted to write a article on this port but rather than doing an actual review I thought it may be more interesting just to discuss what this game does differently from the arcade version it is based on.
Several ports of Ghouls’N Ghosts came out from the microcomputers like the ZX Spectrum all the way to the consoles like the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis). For the time it was practically released on everything except Nintendo consoles – yep, look it up, this particular game has never graced a Nintendo console. One port that certainly deserved recognition is the attempt made on the Sega Master System.
My PSP Friend: A handheld Fan’s Piece
The PSP, the portable console that really failed to catch a audience in the west. In this article I come out and defend the poor console which seems to receive a surprising amount of hate in the gaming community. Ok, so the little analogue nub is a bit irritating and the battery life is a bit naff and there are some questionable models of the console that are just flat out awful.
A little background on my experience with the console. I avoided this system like some handheld plague mostly due to the horrific world of mouth the console received from my brother who owed the system as well as the gaming media itself. Its not hard to find some entertaining YouTube video that pokes fun at the attempts Sony made to market the system and how it was destroyed by the Nintendo DS in sales. Anyway, one fateful day I was visiting my parents and on clearing some junk from my old bedroom I came across my brothers PSP model 1000 which was so unloved it was shoved behind the radiator and just left there. Since by this stage in my life I was doing incredibly long commutes on the train on a daily basis which would take up to five hours of my day I was desperate to fill the void of boredom. iOS games at this stage were starting to be a big thing but they just didn’t do it for it. Try playing Bejeweled for 5 hours, you will have the most creepy nightmares you never thought possible, or maybe that’s just me. So I refurbished the poor PSP, gave it a new battery, brought a large memory card off ebay at a incredibly cheap price and then proceeded to load the system with PSone nostalgia. I owned a lot of games already as I owned a PS3 by this point. From there the rest is history, my train commutes suddenly flew by as I listened to podcasts and played PSP. Some time later I managed to acquire a red PSP model 3000 which is lighter and just runs better. I also started to enjoy games for the console itself as opposed to just sticking to the oldies. Despite owning a PS Vita I still find myself reaching for the console everytime I go away, have work trips or just want to play on the sofa while my partner watches something on telly. So yeah I dig the PSP.
Even with more modern handhelds now on the market like IOS and android mobiles, the 3DS and even PSVita, let’s see if I can convince you that the PSP is a console still worth adding to your retro collection.
Strife: Veteran Edition Review
There are a handful of games out there that are almost universally loved by gamers. Off the top of my head, two of these titles are Deus Ex and Skyrim, and the one thing they have in common is that they successfully blend the first-person perspective and elements from RPGs into a cohesive experience. Oddly enough, when we look back at the history of gaming you rarely have anyone mention Strife: Quest for Sigil, developed by Rogue Entertainment. It was one of the earliest games to combine these genres and it differentiated itself from many of its hybrid peers in that the game focused almost exclusively on gameplay and hid items like the map and the character’s inventory from the main HUD. The end result was a large field of view for the player and it all looked a lot less busy than the games that came before it. This probably had to do with the use of the Doom engine, but regardless of why this title utilizes the full screen for your adventuring or decided to rely much more heavily on combat than any other aspect is irrelevant. Strife did it and it did it well.
The basic premise of the game is that you play a mercenary in a time where a religious cult, The Order, has oppressed a society and is converting humans into cyborgs. Macil, a leader of the rebels combating this takeover, has hired you to seek out pieces of The Sigil, an artifact that can apparently rid the world of The Order. In the game you move about a central town hub, taking missions as you go, to continue this larger quest by going to branching levels. It has a surprising commonality to the way open world titles work today, although it of course modern games aren’t as transparent as they were back then. Each of these levels are diverse in terms of the look and scope of the area, but given that this title is from 1996 and confined to the limitations of the Doom engine, you will find little more than empty areas or a handful of enemies everywhere you quest. This also creates a more binary system as to how to handle each mission – to get the items that make up each quest requires you to either kill someone or attempt to talk them into giving it over, and then usually kill them when they react by attacking you. Your ability to speak with everyone in the game, many of them having different dialogue options, is alone a unique factor of any Doom clone of the time and I remember that it was mind blowing back then. Sure, often times not much comes of it, but I still take solace in a title that is focusing more on the plot and characters in it rather than simply making you a floating gun with killing as your sole purpose. Strife may not be doing a whole lot more than other shooters of the time, but it’s sure trying to hide that fact behind a lot of intriguing concepts.
Strife: Veteran Edition Quick Look
Today we look at the recently released Strife: Veteran Edition from Rogue Software. This game pre-dates many of the most popular games today that utilize both FPS and RPG elements as well as mild stealth themes. If you’re a fan of Thief, Deus Ex, or even Skyrim, you might want to check out this archaic but fun title. This is merely the first 90 minutes or so of gameplay with running commentary from Fred, expect a full review later today.
Viewer Warning: There may be occasional adult language from commentary/gamplay and consistent graphic violence depicted in gameplay.
Podcast: Ready, Aim, Fire!
This week Fred and Jam tackle the wonderful world of light gun shooters. What started as a mere carnival game evolved into one of the more interactive – and for some of us fun – genres that has not withstood the test of time. With the advent of newer screens, the technology that made light guns possible is now ruined by delays of no more than a fraction of a second. In this episode we discuss the history, technology behind, and our fondest memories of the games that utilized the light gun peripheral.
Podcast: Test Your Might
This week Fred and Jam are throwing around fighters of the 90s (that aren’t Street Fighter II or Tekken, we did a show for those already). In the 1990s, the fighter genre was the most popular type of game available (like First Person Shooters today), and among those that have withstood the test of time there were plenty of others that played the field. From Mortal Kombat to Soulcalibur you had plenty of arcades (and home ports) to drink your quarters in arcades.
Retro Game Challenge: Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Over the Thanksgiving holiday Fred and his brother-in-law Brian sat down and played/streamed 14 glorious hours of the N64 classic Conker’s Bad Fur Day. It was a grueling battle and the boys vowed to use no faqs/walkthroughs/guides, which accounts for the long play time. Well now that all is said and done, this is the outcome: a 3 hour video filled with snarky remarks, alcohol use (in game and by the duo players), and some of the most outrageous moments in gaming. Enjoy!
Gaming History 101 