Gaming Through the Ages

Vay Sega CD Review - Quick Plays

2012-02-19T13:08:00.000-08:00

Dark Arms: Beast Buster 1999 Review

2012-01-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Derived from SNK’s 1989 rail gun arcade game Beast Busters, Dark Arms: Beast Buster 1999 is an experience unique to the Neo Geo Pocket. The game is a horror-themed, gothic action RPG, where the player controls the “Beat Buster,” who has entered the spirit realm and must create powerful weapons known as “Dark Arms” to combat the creatures of darkness. The story becomes convoluted as the player must try to fill in the missing pieces, but the dark atmosphere and sound design immerse players into the world, and entice them into interacting with it to uncover its secrets. The player begins in the Master’s House, where the game can be saved, weapons can be forged/evolved, the player can rest, or the player can venture out to an increasing number of dungeons.

In Dark Arms, the player begins with a weapon known as the “Catcher.” Every enemy destroyed with the Catcher becomes “food” that can be fed to weapons once the player has forged their first weapon. Toward the end of the first dungeon, and in subsequent areas, the player will collect “seeds” and oums.” By combining these items, a weapon can be forged. The weapons can then be evolved into more powerful forms by feeding them caught monsters, and will gain new abilities and increased attack power. Weapons used will level up and increase in attack power as the player continues fighting enemies, but when it comes time to evolve them via food, they will revert to the first level with a new ability, making leveling them before their final evolution somewhat moot.

While the RPG elements in Dark Arms are an important aspect of the game, the true emphasis is on top-down action. This is where being on the NGP is a major asset to Dark Arms, as the omni-directional stick makes control fluid and responsive. The player is able to maneuver while shooting with relative ease. When the player walks into a wall or obstacle, they automatically turn around and continue shooting in the opposite direction to prevent getting trapped or pinned by enemies.

Each dungeon in Dark Arms consists of both enemies and non-playable characters whose information can be vital to completing your journey. These dungeons change depending on whether the player enters during the nighttime or daytime. Typically, monsters increase in numbers and strength during the night, but the player must traverse the hazards to unlock all of the secrets Dark Arms has to offer. Although there is a fair amount of exploration in Dark Arms, the overall experience is relatively short. There are five dungeons and one optional dungeon which is much larger than the rest, but still lacks much depth. The player may find themselves spending more time catching monsters and leveling weapons than actually advancing the game.

Dark Arms also features a versus mode which allows two players to link their Neo Geo Pockets together using a link cable to do battle in a chosen stage, although finding another player with both Dark Arms and a Neo Geo Pocket can be a challenge in itself.

While Dark Arms: Beast Busters 1999 may not be a game synonymous with Neo Geo or SNK, it is a unique action experience with interesting mechanics and often addictive RPG elements that many Neo Geo Pocket owners uncovered as a pleasant surprise in the handheld’s small library.

Musya: The Classic Japanese Tale of Horror Review - Quick Plays

2011-12-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Castlevania Adventure Review - Quick Plays

2011-12-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

Halloween Horror Review: Splatterhouse 3 for Genesis

2011-10-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

STORY

Splatterhouse 3 actually gets pretty high marks for its story, since it’s one of the few beatemups I’ve played where I became invested in the character’s and their endeavor. This surprised me because the story is very simple and the cutscenes are extremely brief, but this game can supply some real tension for a player. You play as Rick, who has been awoken by an ancient mask to find your mansion transformed into a hellish nightmare, full of mutated monsters. Together with the mask, you must battle your way through enemies in order to save your wife Jennifer and son David, as well as defeat the evil lurking in the night. Any B-movie horror fans will most likely find themselves enjoying the story, but what really makes Splatterhouse 3 unique is that it’s a beatemup with multiple paths. If you don’t save someone, the game doesn’t end, but the story changes accordingly.

GAMEPLAY/CONTROL

Splatterhouse 3 features several moves/combos for your character, each varying in damage. You have your basic punch, grapple, throw, and jump kick. When grappling you can headbutt your opponent by pressing punch, jab them in the gut by pressing down and punch, or do a “megaton driver” by pressing down and the special transformation button. When you simply press the special button, you transform into a bigger, stronger, and slower version of Rick, known as Mutant Rick, until you run out of your power meter. While Mutant Rick, you can press back, forward, back, punch, to thrust your guts at enemies, giving the illusion of multiple appendages. More useful yet, as standard Rick, by pressing back, forward, punch in quick succession, you can perform a spin kick which knocks enemies away and does massive damage. This is arguably the most useful moves in the game, and is nearly essential for clearing some stages within their time constraints.

The stages are made up of non-linear paths. There are many different paths and rooms to explore, but in order to save everyone; you must complete the stages within a set time limit. There is a built in map function to prevent you from getting lost, which you can check upon clearing any room of enemies. Occasionally, while wandering the level you experience cutscenes showing the dangers approaching those you are trying to save. Depending on how you traverse the stages, you can find lots of powerups, such as orbs to fill your special meter, health replenishing meat, and extra life bibles. There are also a few weapons, including bricks, bats, and knifes scattered around the stages, which can be extremely useful but they are few and far between. Collecting these items can make the stages much easier, but costs valuable time and will likely prevent you from saving anyone. Also, if you manage to beat a stage very quickly, you are transported to the elusive Stage X before the next stage, which is filled with fat zombies who love dropping extra lives.

GRAPHICS

The graphics in Splatterhouse 3 are quite good. There are large, colorful sprites, tons of details in both characters and background, and great animations. However, the Splatterhouse franchise is really known for gore, and Splatterhouse 3 delivers. Each enemy has “stages” they go through as you pummel them. Essentially, their face splits open into a bloodier and gorier mess as you attack them, and occasionally, you can demolish an enemy’s face with a bat and get a satisfying “splat” sound effect. If you like slashers films, or are a gore hound, then you will appreciate the animations and graphics in Splatterhouse. If you’re not, then you will still experience a great-looking game with atmospheric backgrounds and effects. It’s not the gore that makes Splatterhouse 3’s graphics good, but the gore does enhance them and gives the game its style.

MUSIC/SOUND

Aside from the aforementioned satisfying splat noises which accompany gory face busting, Splatterhouse 3 features intense music tracks in each stage which play as you fight through enemies in any given room but lulls to an eerie tune after you defeat the enemies and tend to your map. All of the music works very well and each tune manages to be both creepy and exhilarating. There’s also unique music for the various boss battles. The enemies also have various grunts and other sounds which work well, and sound effects help to make Rick and the enemies various blows feel solid. I would venture to say the soundtrack for Splatterhouse 3 is one of the best horror game soundtracks I’ve ever experienced, including current generation games. There’s a ton of variety, and every song ties in nicely to the overall mood of the game.

FINAL GRADE: A

Splatterhouse 3 did a lot of things other beatemups hadn’t done at the time, and did them extraordinarily well. From the non-linear gameplay, to the multiple story paths, to the perfect blend of horror elements any horror fan can appreciate, it’s a game which genuinely feels quite a bit ahead of its time, despite being in a genre most gamers tend to associate with the 16-bit era. It has quickly risen to one of my favorite beatemups, one of my favorite Genesis games, and one of my favorite horror games and I know I’ll keep coming back to it time and time again.

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Review: Brutal Legend for PS3 (or XBOX360)

2011-10-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

STORY

Brutal Legend’s story centers on a roadie who, through a work-related accident, gets transported to an alternate world where all things heavy metal forged the land. The story of the world itself can be viewed by unlocking thirteen chained statues containing blue story ball-thingies which are hidden throughout the world. The short excerpts and the accompanying animations found within these were actually my favorite part of the story.

As for the actual plot of the game delivered through cutscenes as the game progresses, it gets the job done nicely. I never really found myself surprised during moments that were presented as if they should be unexpected. I felt like a few too many hints were dropped that prevented me from being surprised by a couple scenes that would have been much more powerful had I not seen them coming. However, the plot does have tension, tragedy, rebellion, and intensity. The plot of Brutal Legend, while better than piles and piles of other games I’ve played, has the unfortunate air of being somewhat rushed.

What really kept me playing Brutal Legend and caring about the next cutscene (besides the gameplay) were the characters and their interactions. There are several voice cameos which many heavy metal aficionados will recognize, but the voice acting is done well enough that those who don’t recognize the cameos will still find personality and charm in the characters.

The main character is voiced by Jack Black and out of all the things I’ve seen him in (remembering back as far as him playing a bully in The Neverending Story 3) I consider this the best performance I’ve ever seen him give. Granted his performance is all vocal so I’m not really “seeing” him perform, but he manages to convey an impressive range of emotion and depth through his voice, and really pulls you into his journey.

GAMEPLAY

Brutal Legend was in interesting game in that it completely defied my expectations with certain elements of its gameplay. The game starts out as a hack’n’slash adventure. You have an axe to melee attack with and a guitar which does a couple of ranged attacks. You can also do guitar solos which have various effects on yourself and surrounding enemies/allies. You get a hot-rod near the beginning of the game which will serve as your faithful companion and can be upgraded in many ways to perform faster, get various weapons, paintjobs, etc.

As you progress through the game, you unlock story missions and side missions to complete. Unfortunately, there are very few unique side missions. Most of them fall into categories such as racing, tower defense and ambush. Essentially, you’ll be doing several missions multiple times if you do all the side missions.

Eventually, the story missions evolve from hack’n’slash battles to full on real-time strategy battles. The fact that these were integrated into the game and worked really well, even within the context of the story, blew me away. You have a stage and must gather fans to create troops, some of which cost more fans than others. You then need to have your troops attack the enemies fan geysers and eventually base to win the battle. The troops are various enemy and ally characters regularly found throughout the game. You can join in the battles and attack enemies, buff your characters, even call in your hot-rod and run enemies over if you desire. These battles, known as stage battles, are one of the most fun aspects of the game and are the core focus of Brutal Legend’s online multiplayer.

The really impressive thing about Brutal Legend’s gameplay is how it stacks leading up to the stage battles. As you naturally progress through the game, you learn things that help you with the RTS aspect of the game without even realizing what your being lead towards. It really sets itself apart as a unique blend of game styles that actually work very well together.

GRAPHICS

Although this is a heavy metal-inspired game, it manages to look dark, brooding, epic, and vast with cartoony graphics and very good art design. The land is literally made up of all things metal. From a wall of screaming amps, to the great guitar monument there are tons of bits of scenery to look at, each of which looks like it could be on a heavy metal album cover. The trees in the game are actually made out of metal; there are spiders that weave bass strings, and trees that appear to grow beer.

The game also looks very good just in terms of visual quality because it doesn’t try to look photo-realistic, but instead takes the cartoony look to its full potential. The game goes up to 1080p and there’s a ton of fine detail. There are a few different areas of the game which start opening up after a few missions and each have their own unique direction and style. More than once while playing, I found myself driving around just to see all the different scenery and try to find new things to look at as I explored.

MUSIC

As a person who listened almost exclusively to heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motörhead, and the likes as a teenager, I’m pretty biased towards loving the music in Brutal Legend. That being said, even if you didn’t grow up listening to the classics, the music in Brutal Legend fits the atmosphere of the game magnificently. The game also covers several subgenres of metal music spanning a couple generations so there’s most likely going to be something for most gamers to enjoy.

One of the first upgrades you get for your hot-rod is a tape deck (judging from the tape sound effect you satisfyingly hear whenever you switch tracks) and as you explore the land, you can unlock statues which hold songs for your car. Also, every time a song is featured in one of the story missions, it becomes unlocked. You can tell the game creators spent a lot of time researching and deciding how to go about the soundtrack for this game, as each area generally uses a specific style of metal which goes with the atmosphere and mood specific to each area of the game.

FINAL GRADE: A-

This is one of those rare games nowadays where you can really feel the passion of the people who made it all come together as you play through the game. It tried new things, which I had not experienced in a game before. It took risks that paid off. It created an atmosphere that completely pulled me into the game and fully immersed me in the world. It made me care about goofy over-the-top characters. This is all despite legal problems which occurred during crucial times while the game was in development, which is why at times the game can seem rushed and is one of the only things holding this game back.

Also, before someone points it out, yes, I know the game was created by Tim Schafer, the man behind Psychonauts and Secret of Monkey Island. I’ve never played those games, so I can’t compare. All I can tell you is that Brutal Legend is one of the most unique and enjoyable games I’ve played this generation.

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Portal Currently FREE on Steam!

2011-09-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

You can download a copy of Portal for absolutely free on Steam right now. This isn't going to be a permanent deal so might as well get it while the getting's good!

For those of you who don't know, Portal is a critically acclaimed puzzle-adventure game where you must traverse rooms using a unique portal gun in some mind-bending logic puzzles. It's not often a game as good as Portal can be had for free so go check it out at the following link:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/400/

NOTE: You have to install Steam if you don't have it, but Steam is a really great gaming application which is free and rather enjoyable.

News & Updates: 09/01/11 - Frequently Asked Questions

2011-09-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Some of you have probably noticed a significant drop in my posts during the last month. I have no intention of abandoning this blog and will continue to update it as much as possible. I have been very busy lately and much of my time has been dedicated to other aspects of my life.

I would like to answer a few questions I've been getting and if any readers have other questions which aren't addressed, I'll answer them in the comments below this post.

Q: What have you been doing?

A: I have been spending a lot of time applying all over for substantial employment, preferably full-time and substantial enough to allow me to pay off my student loan debt more easily. This is the primary reason the blog has not been updated as frequently as it once was.

Q: Are you still learning Japanese?

A: Yes. Several people have urged me for more information regarding my post on how to supplement Japanese language learning with games. I will be writing a more elaborate post on the subject when time permits. As for my own Japanese learning, I do a little bit every day because ten minutes a day is far more beneficial than cramming once a week or so. I would classify myself as an intermediate student of Japanese at this point. My biggest hurdle at this point is building up vocabulary and learning the kanji.

Q: Can I write an article for your blog?

A: Yes, but I have to read it and approve it first. As long as it has proper grammar, spelling, etc. and is fairly well-written I will most likely accept it, and will put it under a Guest Articles section and give a shout out to your blog or website. It also cannot have excessive profanity or inappropriate content. (This is actually out of my hands - I actually find profanity interesting due to my fondness of studying language and articulation.)

Q: Are you going to be doing more videos?

A: Yes, but written posts will take priority for the time being. As for the Quick Play Reviews, they will continue but at a less frequent rate than I had originally hoped for. I'm planning on doing Quick Plays of Vay, Maximum Carnage, Musya: The Classic Tale of Japanese Horror, and The Castlevania Adventure soon. I would also like to do more polished videos like my Dreamcast VGA video, but these take the most time and energy, so their release will be infrequent.

Q: Are you going to be doing more written reviews?

A: Yes, I have several games waiting to be played that I want to do full written reviews of, but I cannot review a game without playing it and I have had very little time to actually play any games as of late.

Q: What is your favorite game of all time?

A: This is a tough question to answer. I like hundreds of games, and can usually find positive and negative aspects in any of them. The keyword here is favorite though, not best. So although it might be considered cliche, my favorite game has to go to Final Fantasy VII. That being said, I don't think it's as good as some people make it out to be, or even consider it the best FF game. It gets the spot for nostalgia and fully exposing me to the RPG genre.

Q: What is the first game you ever played?

A: I'm not entirely sure, but the first game I vividly remember playing was The Legend of Zelda on my dad's NES. I really couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the world of gaming.

Q: What is your favorite anime?

A: I didn't think I ever gave any inclination that I'm a big anime fan, but apparently several people have me pegged as one. I'm not that big into anime but have enjoyed a few. I really dislike some anime however, namely most of the ones that have to do with middle and high school relationships. My favorite anime was Mushi-shi. It's hard to put in words why I liked it as much as I did, but it is both the most intriguing and relaxing show I have ever seen.

Q: Where do you find the time to play all these games?

A: How much time I have to dedicate to playing a game is really random. Lately it has been none, but some games can be beaten in one 3-4 hour long sitting if I'm in the right mood. I have become much better lately at utilizing the time I have available. For instance, I replaced the hours of silence or random noise in my daily life with hours of Japanese listening practice just by having Japanese TV shows or music playing in the background all the time.

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Yard Sale Gaming Issue 1 - A New Gaming Magazine Worth Your Time

2011-08-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, a friend of mine who moderates over on the RacketBoy forums and runs the Game Boy Player Land blog at RFGenerations published the first issue of his new magazine Yard Sale Gaming.

The magazine features a large (15 page!) spread on the history of the Darkstalkers franchise, several reviews, an interview with the founder of RacketBoy, thought-provoking essays on gaming, and a chapter of a serialized novel about shmups. There's a ton of content located in the fifty pages of this magazine well worth checking out.

Several writers contributed to various aspects of the magazine all utilizing their personal plethora of gaming knowledge. I contributed a small section on the Card Fighter's Clash series to the Darkstalkers article for instance.

The magazine is currently available in print for the low price of 11 US dollars and the low low price of $2.50 for a digital issue. Also, the print issue includes the digital issue for free. Check out the magazine below:

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/257928

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Freddy Krueger New DLC for Mortal Kombat

2011-07-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street is coming to the new Mortal Kombat game as a downloadable character. As a huge fan of the original movie, I was a little disappointed that the character was modeled after the new Krueger from the recent Nightmare on Elm Street remake instead of the traditional Robert Englund Freddy. I still rather enjoyed the remade film and thought the actor did an excellent job and Freddy's make-up was superb. Krueger will be available for download August 9th. Check out Freddy in action here.

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Quick Final Impressions - Streets of Rage 2 HD

2011-07-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

As a temporary Playstation Plus member (due to the Welcome Back package) I was able to temporarily download this for free. I played Streets of Rage all the time in the Genesis 6-pack when I was younger and still pick it up from time to time, but never actually tried the sequels. I should have. Streets of Rage 2 was a blast to play through cooperatively online and locally with a friend.

There was also an online versus mode but every time I started to win the other player would quit the match so that my win didn’t count. I found this rather unsportsmanlike and was surprised that every single person I connected to via quick match did the same thing. Although the game is HD, it really doesn’t look any better than an actual Genesis game on my HDTV, which is a little disappointing. Even so, it was fun to play and being able to get a co-op partner online when none are available locally is a pretty nice feature.

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News & Udates 07.04.11 - Japanese PSN Finally Making Full Return

2011-07-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Japanese government was strict about Sony fully reinstating the PlayStation Network. They wanted to be sure that the network had become much more secure since the hacking that took place back in April, but the Japanese PlayStation Network is finally being restored. The official word from Sony can be found here:

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/110704.html

All the network services are scheduled to be restored on July 6th. As someone who has a Japanese PSN account, and uses the Japanese PSN store, I'm rather happy to see the service finally come back to life. Previously, if users tried to access the JPN PSN store, they were greeted by a message stating "This service is not available in your country/region."

Additionally, a Welcome Back package will be available for Japanese PSN users. As with other regions, users will be eligible for 30 free days of PlayStation Plus and be able to pick two free games from a list of five for both PS3 and PSP. The list of games to choose is as follows:

PS3
-The Last Guy
-LocoRoco!! BuuBuu Cocoreccho
-Echochrome
-Wipeout HD
-Hustle Kings

PSP
-Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida or2
-Minna no Sukkiri
-Patapon 2
-LittleBigPlanet Portable
-LocoRoco Midnight Carnival

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Quick Final Impressions - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

2011-07-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

Upon returning Uncharted to the friend who lent the game to me, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the second game, saying I had to try it out. I don’t expect sequels to be as good as their predecessors, but Uncharted 2 was a definite improvement in several ways. Naughty Dog had managed to take their good game and turn it into a great one. The story was more interesting, the game was more cinematic, there was greater diversity in the environments, there were both old and new characters who played significant roles in the story progression, there were new toys to play with, new enemies to face, and most an all new online multiplayer mode.

The multiplayer in Uncharted 2 actually blew my mind. I did not think that the level of control available in the single player game could be implemented into an online multiplayer mode with several players running, gunning, and climbing all over maps. It is one of the most addictive multiplayer portions of a game I have played in years and feels very fresh given all the first person shooter multiplayer modes I’ve played in recent years. This game was the most fun I’ve had on the Playstation 3, and I have had a lot of fun with PS3 exclusives.

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News & Updates 07.02.11 - Club Nintendo Rewards

2011-07-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Club Nintendo recently revealed its Platinum and Gold member rewards for 2011 (I'm referring to the North American Club Nintendo as that's where I'm based). For those of you who aren't familiar with the service, newer first party Nintendo games (Wii/DS/3DS) come with registration codes which buyers can use at the Club Nintendo site. Club Nintendo members can then take surveys which are rewarded with coins, which can then be used to get rewards. If a member gets 300 coins within a year they qualify for the gold reward and if they earn 600 coins within a year they earn the platinum reward.

Nintendo revealed that the gold reward this year is a calender while the platinum reward is a set of 25 Mario & friends pins which come in interesting puzzle type boxes. Seeing as I reached Platinum status this year I opted to get the pin set, but the real reason I've become interested in Club Nintendo is the newest reward you can exchange coins to obtain. For the large sum of 1200 coins Club Nintendo members can get a stellar highly detailed working reproduction of the original Game and Watch Ball game. For collector's like myself, that prize is easily worth taking the time to register games and fill out Nintendo's surveys.

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Quick Final Impressions - Infamous

2011-07-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Remember the whole Playstation Network hack debacle from a little while ago? I bet you sure do. One of the games I downloaded was Infamous, figuring it was one of the fullest experiences offered by the Welcome Back program. I generally get tired of sandbox games after a while. I’ve hardly picked up Prototype since I beat it, I haven’t played any Grand Theft Auto games in years, and I was bored of Red Dead Redemption in less than an hour. Yet somehow Infamous was different. It was so wonderfully different that I actually was compelled to play through it twice in a row, once as good, and then as evil on the hardest difficulty before I was awarded the Platinum trophy for the game (although that can be attributed quite a bit to luck).

You’re probably wondering how exactly Infamous was different. It’s actually a little difficult to say. It was definitely more fun than any other sandbox game I’ve played but it’s hard to say why. The powers in Prototype were more diverse and you had a lot more you could do including utilizing weaponry and vehicles, but it was still more fun to run around fighting enemies in Infamous, which was more focused on third-person shooting (Prototype seemed more focused on combat). While the story in Infamous wasn’t fantastic or anything it was more interesting than other sandbox games I’ve played through fully and the ending genuinely surprised me. Since this game was given away free to so many gamers recently, it will probably remain very low in price for quite some time. If it sounds interesting to you, then it’s a game worth picking up for real low cheap.

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Quick Final Impressions: X-Men Arcade

2011-06-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

X-Men Arcade was a real blast from the past. I used to play this game in the arcade with friends whenever I had the chance. It’s a fun beat-em-up, but the character selection is rather small at only six characters when you consider the vast array of X-Men characters. Still, six characters is more to choose from than many other beat-em-up games. My only real complaint with X-Men arcade is how easy it was on normal difficulty. I had to turn up the difficulty to keep from becoming bored by the game.

A nice touch was the ability to play the Japanese version of the game which offered power-ups which weren’t implemented in the English release. Additionally, if you have Xbox Live, you can play online with up to five other players. Of course, you could also have your friend grab an Xbox controller and play locally as well. Despite the game’s low difficulty, it still felt great to hear “Welcome to die!” and kick the crap out of Magneto with a group of other players after all these years.

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Video #3: Quick Plays - Wonder Boy in Monster Land for the SMS

2011-06-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

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Quick Final Impressions - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

2011-06-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

I borrowed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune from a friend who pretty much insisted that I borrow the game. I wasn’t all that interested but had heard enough good things about the sequel that I figured I should give the first one a try beforehand. The game turned out to be very fun. The game was far more cinematic in nature than I expected. It was sort of like playing through an Indiana Jones movie, which was pretty engaging. The characters were interesting enough to get me to care about them (well maybe not the love interest – she was a tad annoying), and the story was simple enough to remain interesting without getting in the way of the gameplay.

However, the third-person shooting segments were too frequent and long for my taste. They were fun, but I grew tired of doing the same thing every few seconds. The platforming aspect of the game is what really kept me playing because I hadn’t experienced anything quite like it in a game before. It was amazingly fluid in most climbing situations and I was always looking forward to what new obstacle the game might throw at me. The section of the game which sealed the deal for me is the point where the game becomes somewhat survival horror-ish. That pushed me to the point where I recommend this game to anyone looking for PS3 exclusives.

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Team Fortress 2 Now Free to Play!

2011-06-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have already played Team Fortress 2, but I'm one of the gamers who never have. For those of you haven't played it and want to try a highly acclaimed multiplayer FPS for PC for entirely free, head on over to Steam right now to get it for free and keep it forever.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/?snr=1_4_4__13

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Capcom vs. SNK Card Fighter’s Clash Series Retrospective

2011-06-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

I recently collaborated on a Neo Geo Pocket Color article by doing a write up on the Card Fighter's Clash series as part of the larger "Games that Defined the Neo Geo Pocket [Color]" article for Racketboy.com. The segment I wrote on Card Fighter's Clash can be read below, and the entire article can be found here: http://www.racketboy.com/retro/snkneo-geo/2011/06/games-that-defined-the-neo-geo-pocket.html

The initial two Card Fighter’s Clash games were released as the SNK (blue label) version and Capcom (yellow label) version, with each game utilizing more characters from their respective franchises than the other, at least at the start of the game. Although these games are centralized around a battle card game, at first glance the games greatly resemble the Pokemon franchise, using a top down view and similar looking sprites. This resemblance is amplified by the games utilization of the Neo Geo Pocket link cable and the release of two versions, each of which feature some exclusive cards.

Using the link cable players can battle or trade cards with other players. However, the heart of the Card Fighter’s Clash series’ gameplay, a simple battle card game, is surprisingly unique.

The player can challenge various non-playable characters throughout the game in order to advance the story. Each card battle begins with a selection screen, where the game selects which player will go first and shuffles each player’s deck. Each of the two players has a set number of hit points which must be whittled down to zero in order to win the match. When the match begins, you have five cards and another card you draw at the beginning of your turn. The cards consist of two types, known as Character Cards and Action Cards.

Character Cards consist of BP (or battle Points) and SP (or Soul Points). Soul Points are gained each time a character card is played, and can be used to activate Action Cards, which can do a variety of things such as allow you to draw more cards or directly inflict damage upon the enemy player’s hit points. Battle Points are used to buffer the players hit points and can be lowered by the enemy player’s characters attacking. Essentially, the Character Cards must battle through each other in order to damage the players. Up to three character cards can be laid out at once in order to act as buffers for the player’s hit points. Deciding whether to counter enemy characters with your own or to allow the damage in order to keep your Character Card’s Battle Points up can play a major role in battles. In addition to this, saved up Soul Points can be used to combine multiple Character Card’s Battle Points to unleash devastating combo attacks. Many Character Cards also feature special abilities which can be beneficial or detrimental depending on when the Character is played. Also, some Character Cards can be combined at no cost for increased Battle Points, but these combinations could prove difficult to uncover for a player unfamiliar with SNK or Capcom franchises.

If the Neo Geo Pocket is turned off during a battle, the battle can be resumed upon turning the handheld back on, making the game very pick up and play friendly. Upon defeating an opponent the player gains at least three cards which they can choose to add to a 50-card deck. The player can then have up to five different decks at once. As the player defeats opponents and increases the strength and strategy of their card decks, they must collect six SC Coins from certain non-playable characters in order to play in the final tournament.

A third Card Fighter’s Clash game known as SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters 2 Expand Edition was only released in Japan and was the last game released for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. Unlike the previous two games, this game let you choose to play with either a Capcom deck or an SNK deck at the beginning of the game, instead of being released as two separate game cartridges and featured all the cards from the original two games. The game also featured over 100 new cards, including a new type of card called a Reaction Card. These performed actions similar to Action Cards but the player could interrupt the opponents attack phase to use them, adding a new layer of surprise and strategy to the games. A fan-translation patch exists for non-Japanese literate gamers looking to get in on the action.

Additionally, a Nintendo DS game was released in December 2006 in Japan, and later released in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. However, this game was radically different than the previous entries in the series. It featured a new type of card game battle, new cards, and a bug found during the game’s second play-through which made truly beating the game an impossible task, and was widely considered a poor game.

The three Card Fighter’s Clash games found on the Neo Geo Pocket had a surprising amount of depth and strategy despite appearing quite simple at first glance. Combine this with their portability, multiplayer features, and addictive quality and you have a series of games which remains as compelling to play today as it was when it was first released.

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Video #2: Quick Plays - Astyanax for the NES

2011-06-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

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Quick Final Impressions - Lost Odyssey

2011-06-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

This was one of the most enjoyable JRPGs I’ve played in a long time. It was certainly the most enjoyable one I’ve played this generation. It features classic turn-based combat, but it utilizes rings that you have to time in order to enhance your attacks with whatever the ring’s ability is, so they act a lot like simple accessories but they specifically enhance your attack. There are also accessories typical of other RPGs that can be attached to your character in addition to weapons. I always enjoyed games that did the timing attack sort of thing such as Legend of Dragoon and Shadow Hearts because it felt like I was more directly involved in the battles and helped give them a feeling of rhythm. I also just found it addictive to try hitting perfects. It’s always nice to play a game where you find yourself looking forward to all the random battles instead of tiring of them. The game does suffer some slow-down in terms of gameplay and narrative about halfway through, and I’ve talked to several people who have set the game aside at this point, but it really is a minor hump in pacing, and the game picks up a lot during the last two thirds of the game.

The story in Lost Odyssey was pretty enjoyable. You start off as a 1000-year old immortal who has lost his memories in the middle of a power struggle between nations due in part to the immergence of magic energy as a viable power source, and as you meet other characters, some immortals, some not, you slowly gain some of your memories. Often times these are presented as narratives that you can read, many of which I thought were surprisingly engaging and well-written. The characters were really enjoyable and I genuinely liked most of them, aside from a couple ones I found a bit annoying, but managed to grow on me over the course of the game. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to enjoy a JRPG on the Xbox 360.

Quick Final Impressions - Halo Reach

2011-06-15T14:49:00.000-07:00

My friend recently got a Halo Reach addition Xbox 360 that she’s been keeping at my house because she doesn’t have anywhere to put the console for the time being. Since it came with Halo Reach, we played through the campaign on co-op mode. It’s a prequel to the first game, and you’re not playing as Master Chief, but you’re still playing as a Spartan so that doesn’t really affect the gameplay. My previous complaints about the first couple of Halo’s having repetitive campaigns were rendered pretty moot by this one. There is a lot more variety than in the other Halo games I’ve played. There was a space ship shooting frenzy level which was really fun and felt like what a modern 3D shmup could really be. There were also different goals during the campaign like blow up certain enemy utilities, protect something, etc. and other vehicle-oriented areas, so I didn’t have much of a chance to get bored like I did in previous games. The story was pretty cliché at times and by its very nature predictable, but was a lot of fun.

My friend had a two-month free trial of Xbox Live Gold so I played the multiplayer quite a bit to give it a good chance. It was pretty fun, a lot more so than I found Halo 2. There are tons of new game types in addition to the classics, some of which I didn’t get a chance to play long enough to figure out what was happening, but many of them were chaotic and enjoyable. I especially enjoyed using the various special abilities like the jetpack and armor lock. They added elements to the gameplay that I hadn’t experienced in a Halo game before. There’s also a ton of character customization available as you gain points for playing multiplayer that you can spend to unlock various armor pieces and styles, but I didn’t really care too much about customizing my Spartan.

The forge world element of making your own multiplayer maps was actually less fun than I had hoped and I didn’t spend much time playing with it, but I might revisit that at a later date. The firefights were a lot of fun, especially teaming up with a friend to fight the massive waves of enemies and a welcome addition to the game for me. I’ve had a lot of fun with the game, and will probably continue to pick it up to play with friends even though the Xbox Live membership has expired as long as the game’s being stored at my place.

News & Updates 06.15.11

2011-06-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm afraid I've been rather busy as of late and haven't had a chance to upload much new content for awhile. I do have some Quick Final Impressions articles that I wrote up but haven't posted so I'll toss up a couple of those soon. Don't worry about the lack of content lately though, as I've been developing a means to quickly and efficiently churn out short video reviews. These will be short and unscripted, designed to just get across my overall feelings and recommendations towards certain games. If the feedback is positive and the demand is there, then I will make it a goal to upload one at least once a week, possibly more.

I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for continuing to read my posts and a big thanks to those of you who take the time to comment on my blog, ask questions, etc. You guys keep me engaged and truly help keep me involved in expanding the blog and providing new content. Despite the low rate of said new content lately, Gaming Through the Ages' views continue to grow exponentially.

I've been toying around with the idea of trying out the adsense program with the blog. The page views here are higher than I ever expected, but if the program turns out not to be worthwhile, then I will remove it from the blog. The reason I'm trying to monetize somewhat is to expand this thing so that I can spend more time uploading new content and taking more time to write. Initially, any monetary gain (I'm not expecting much to be perfectly honest) will be put into a fund for audio and video equipment. Expect some toying around with ads over the next month or two, but rest assured, I started this thing for fun and if I don't think the ads are worth it or are too annoying, then I will remove them.

My Ideal Collection - Famicom Exclusives

2011-05-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Allow me to clarify what I mean when I say exclusives. I'm talking about games that were released on the Famicom, shown above, which you can think of as the original Nintendo Entertainment System released in Japan, but were not released for the NES in other regions. Some of these games may have been ported to other systems, but were not available for NES consoles outside of Japan. I did not take the language barrier into account when choosing which games to include on this list, but I will mention when games are text heavy and more difficult to play due to the amount of reading comprehension necessary. This list does not include Disk System exclusives.

1.　悪魔城すぺしゃるぼくドラキュラくん (Akumajou Special Boku Dracula-kun)

This game was released on the Game Boy as Kid Dracula and is essentially a wacky and cartoonish Castlevania game. Don't let the comedic presentation fool you though, this game was always one of my absolute favorite Game Boy games as the game is very good. It's not as hard as the Castlevania games, but can be difficult at times and features some fun gameplay elements. You have a projectile weapon instead of the traditional whip and get new power ups in each area, such as turning into a bat for a time and walking on walls, which you have to utilize to proceed through the game.

2. コスミッケ　イプシロン　（Cosmic Epsilon)

Cosmic Epsilon is a game very similar to Space Harrier, but with some minor varying gameplay elements. Space Harrier is one of my favorite games, so I enjoy playing games that borrow from its formula. Cosmic Epsilon was one of the few Famicom games that utilized an accessory called the Famicom 3D system, which was never released outside of Japan. Essentially, the 3D system was a large pair of shutter glasses (like the SegaScope 3D glasses, but quite a bit larger) which alternated in conjuction with the images in certain games. Cosmic Epsilon could be switched into 3D mode for use with the glasses, but functions fine without the accessory. Another game which used the accessory but is so much a blatant rip off of Space Harrier with poorer quality gameplay that I have no desire to play it was アタッケアニマル学園 (Attack Animal Gakuen). Although I have no interest in the game, it may interest some fans of Space Harrier or anyone interested in the Famicom 3D system.

3. ケライシスフォース (Crisis Force)

Crisis Force is a vertical shmup that looks very fun. Lots of variety in power ups, bosses, stage environments, enemies, etc. The gameplay looks fast and addictive which is what would keep me coming back for a long time. Out of all the shmups I've seen on the Famicom and NES, this is one of the most appealing.

4. デジタルデビル物語女神転生 (Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei)

This is the first RPG on the list and as such the first game that would be difficult to play for gamers who cannot read Japanese, especially considering how important the story can be in RPGs. An English translation to this game is however being worked on and info can be found here: http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=megaten1. For those of you who don't know about this game, you may have heard of the Persona games or other various Atlus RPGs. If you were to trace back the origins of those RPGs, you would likely come across this Famicom game. This game is actually based on a Japanese novel, or rather trilogy. The first book was known as Megami Tensei or Resurrection of the Goddess. The premise of the book is that a student creates a computer program which can summon demons and some issues arise when he accidentally summons the demon Loki. An English translation of the book can be found here: http://ddstranslation.blogspot.com/2006/08/introduction_16.html for anyone interested.

5. ドラえもん（Doraemon)

Doraemon has been an extremely popular manga in Japan for years and you can easily find tons of Doraemon merchandise, cartoon shows, games, etc. At first, the game alternates between maze like top down areas and side-scrolling areas and offers a constant barrage of enemies. Then the game starts alternating between being a vertical shmup and a horizontal shmup. Then you find yourself swimming through a maze underwater caverns, collecting various items, and trying to discover the correct path. The game has a surprising amount of variety and looks both difficult and fun.

5. ドラゴンスクロール　甦りし魔竜 (Dragon Scroll: Yomigaerishi Maryuu)

Dragon Scroll: Resurrection of the Demon Dragon is an overhead adventure game with gameplay similar to the original Legend of Zelda. If you're like me and find the gameplay in the top-down Zelda's to be some of the best out there, then you may find this game very attractive. This game is playable in Japanese but I imagine it may be difficult to determine what to do next. A translation has been made and is available for anyone interested in playing a translated version.

6. ファミコンジャンプ　寛雄列伝 (Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden)

Famicom Jump: History of Heroes was a game that combined popular characters from popular manga released in the weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Those of us in the states will most likely recognize Goku from Dragonball or possibly Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. Famicom Jump is an action RPG, and although it's not impossible to play without being able to read the Japanese, it's one of those games where figuring out what to do next could turn into a headache. Of course if you grew up on 8-bit adventure games, you may be like me and genuinely enjoy adventuring around discovering the game without a clear path.

7.　ファミコンウォーズ (Famicom Wars)

Famicom Wars is where the Advance Wars series began if you're familiar with those games. Famicom Wars is a grid-based tactical strategy game where your units move along the grid and face off with enemy units. Although there's a bit of text in this game, I imagine it would become fairly easy to play once you get the hang of what each option does as overall there aren't all that many options. There are some translations being worked on but I really don't think a translation is necessary as you can easily look up what each option does through various guides on internet as Famicom Wars is pretty popular and well-known.

8. ファイナルファンタジーII (Final Fantasy II)

Being an RPG, there's quite a lot of Japanese text in this game. For those of you unfamiliar with the confusion associated with the names of earlier Final Fantasy games, let me offer a brief explanation. Originally the game Final Fantasy was released for the Famicom and the NES and was known in all regions as the first Final Fantasy game. Then Final Fantasy II was released for the Famicom but not released outside of Japan. Then Final Fantasy III was released for the famicom but not released outside of Japan. Then the Super Famicom was launched and Final Fantasy IV was released in Japan but was also released in other regions. Since regions outside of Japan had not received the previous FF games, Final Fantasy IV was called Final Fantasy II when it was brought to the other regions. This game has been translated and ported to the PSP in as Final Fantasy II Anniversary edition and even given a stunning graphical overhaul as well as some new features. That edition even allows you to play the game in Japanese if you desire. This is a very unique FF game as the characters weapons level up in a fashion dissimilar to any other FF game.

9. ファイナルファンタジーIII (Final Fantasy III)

The next Final Fantasy game which wasn't originally released outside of Japan was the first FF to feature the job system, a system I wish more of the FF games took inspiration and cues from. This game can be found translated for the Nintendo DS as Final Fantasy III (not to be confused with FFIII on the SNES), but is redone in three dimensions and features big polygons and really doesn't look anything like the original to me. I much prefer the original two dimensional style for this particular game. The DS version also changed the starting job class which seems strange to me. Due to the popularity of the Final Fantasy franchise, there are multiple translations for the original game available throughout the internet.

10. がんばれゴイモン！　からくり道中 (Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchu)

Preserve Goemon! Tricky Journey is a game I'm interested in as I really like all the Goemon games I've played. I'll admit this game doesn't look as good as the later entries in the series but it still looks like a fun action game and a solid addition to any Famicom collection. Aside from exploring and fighting enemies with both a short range and long range weapon, you collect power ups and visit shops.

11. がんばれゴイモン２ (Ganbare Goemon 2)

This looks fairly similar to the first Goemon game but offers some improvements such as boss battles, first person labyrinths, and a two player mode. Like the first game, you must collect items, traverse maze-like landscapes and use various upgrades to survive. Translations for both games do exist, and may be helpful as occasionally information is relayed by characters you can talk to while traveling which is vital to proceeding to the next stage.

12.月風魔伝 (Getsu Fuuma Den)

Put simply, this game looks absolutely amazing. If I could choose any game on this list right now to be the only Famicom game I could ever play I would choose this game in a heartbeat. This game is like a hybrid of The Legend of Zelda II and Ninja Gaiden that takes place in an underworld full of demons and even includes some first person perspective dungeons. There is a translation of this game but I consider it playable without one.

13 .銀河の三人 (Ginga no Sannin)

Ginga no Sannin or Galaxy's Trio is a sci-fi RPG which was released by Enix and ported to the Famicom from the PC where it was known as 地球戦士ライーザ (Earth Fighter Rayieza). This game actually looks like it could get pretty boring but as a classic RPG fan I would be very willing to give it a go. At the moment there don't appear to be any complete translations out there, but supposedly there's something in the works.

14. HIGEMARU　魔界島 (Higemaru Makai Jima)

Mikai Jima, commonly referred to as Makai Island or Hell Island is a port of an arcade game where you traverse the seas, occasionally visiting bodies of land or other sea vessels where the game shifts to an overhead action game where you defeat enemies using a variety of objects such as rocks and barrels. This is another one of those games that's all about exploration.

15.　ホーリーダーイヴァー (Holy Diver)

Ever hear of that guy Ronnie James Dio who had that hit song Holy Diver after leaving Black Sabbath? My guess is many of you have. Well apparently he inspired a Famicom game which was never released in the U.S. (or so quite a few people think he was the inspiration). I can't confirm whether or not that's true, but there are a lot of what appear to be allusions to Dio in the game such as the main character's name sounding suspiciously like Ronnie. I can tell you the game looks like a very fun Castlevania-esque game and would probably be a great game to play while blasting some Rainbow in the Dark.

16. ジョイメカファイト (Joy Mecha Fight)

Joy Mecha Fight is a fighting game which looks stunning on the Famicom. It also looks like it would be a thrill to play, but I'll just link to a brief video for this game as you really have to see it with your own eyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2OezCqQE2c&feature=related

17.　キャッ党忍伝てやんでえ (Kyatto Ninden Teyandee)

Kyatto Ninden Teyandee was a cartoon which was brought over to the states as Samurai Pizza Cats and I must admit I rather liked the show when it first aired. It was really upbeat, silly, and overall very fun. The game is a platformer with tons of secrets and hidden bonuses where you can switch between several cats with unique abilities on the fly to explore different areas and find new paths.

18. メタルマックス (Metal Max)

This game actually has a remake on the Super Famicom which has been translated into English and is often considered superior to the original Famicom version seen above. That being said, I like the look of the original game and would like to give it a try. Metal Max is an RPG where you roam around the world in a tank. Turn based battles take place both on foot and in the tank. You're tank must be managed just as your characters must be and you can roam around taking on bounty heads to earn cash.

19. マザー (Mother)

Mother is also known as Earthbound Zero as it's the predecessor to Earthbound on the SNES. Nintendo actually translated this game but the translated game was never released. The Nintendo translation was eventually discovered and can be found around the internet. I've never played any of the Mother or Earthbound games, but they look like very original RPGs because they revolve around making the ordinary both interesting and engaging and that fascinates me greatly.

20. パロディウスだ！(Parodius Da!)

Parodius Da! is a quirky horizontal shmup which looks like it's a delight to play. The Famicom port features slightly different levels than the arcade, Super Famicom, and MSX versions. Apparently the Parodius series began on the MSX as a parody of the Gradius series, and although I can't confirm this, this does seem like something Konami would do. Especially considering that their Kid Dracula game at the top of this list appeared to be a fun parody of their Castlevania games.

21.　ポートピア連続殺人事件 (Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken)

The Portopia Serial Murder Case is an extremely text heavy graphical point and click adventure game, but there is a translation patch floating around the net. In this game you must talk to various characters, collect clues, and solve puzzles on your path to unraveling the mystery behind the murders. Depending on your actions, the game offered varying routes for the narrative. Supposedly Hideo Kojima, the man behind the Metal Gear franchise, was inspired by the storytelling found in this game and began to really think about how video games could be used as a story telling medium.

22. スプラッターハウス　わんぱくグラフィティ　
(Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti)

This is essentially a cutesy parody of the more gore filled Splatterhouse games, but looks just as fun as the more adult games and features tons of horror elements and nods to classic horror. It even features a moon- walking vampire! I'm a huge fan of the early Splatterhouse games so I'm particularly interested in this game.

23. スウィートホーム (Sweet Home)

Sweet Home is often touted the as the origins and inspiration for the first Resident Evil game and there are many parallels between the two, despite Sweet Home being an RPG. Sweet Home is a horror themed RPG which takes place inside of a haunted mansion similar to the first Resident Evil and was based on the Japanese horror film by the same name. I'm a fan of most of the films directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (who's style is often compared to Stanley Kubrick) so a game based on one of them fascinates me greatly. This game combines the two genres that I tend to spend the most time with, horror and RPGS, into one entity. There is a translation available for anyone looking to play the game in English.

24. テトラスター (Tetra Star: The Fighter)

I'm interested in this one for the same reasons I'm interested in Cosmic Epsilon sans the 3D system compatibility. Tetra Star is another game that's very similar to Space Harrier, with some different gameplay elements, making it a game I really want to try. The weather effects implemented in the game and how they can potentially affect your concentration are what first caught my attention.

25. かんしゃく玉なげカン太郎の東海道五十三次

(Kanshakutama Nage Kantarou no Toukaidou Gojuusan Tsugi)

I see this game commonly just called Toukaidou Gojuusan Tsugi most likely due to its rather long-winded full title and the fact that this section of the title is much larger and much bolder than the rest. You play as Kantarou who must use his trusty fireworks to travel the 東海道五十三次 or the fifty three stations of the Toukaidou. Think of the Toukaidou as a sort of highway which ran from Edo (now known as Tokyo) to Kyoto during the Edo period in Japan's history. The game consists of 21 stages, and looks like an enjoyable action platformer littered with enemies and fun power ups.

26.　コナミワイワイワールド　(Konami Wai Wai World)

Commonly referred to as just Wai Wai World, this game has you traversing several stages each representative of different Konami games with several different Konami characters which are unlocked as the game progresses. Western gamers will most readily recognize the characters King Kong and Mikey from the Goonies since they are from Konami games which were licensed from Western films. Other characters include Getsu Fuuma and Goemon from previous games on this list and Simon Belmont III, easily recognizable by fans of the NES, among others. The game even switches to from a platformer to a shmup for the stage which uses the ship from Gradius as a character.

27. 妖怪道中記 (Youkai Douchuki)

A youkai is a demon, spirit, ghost, etc., a douchuki is a travel journal, and Youkai Douchuki is a port of an arcade platformer that looks like a real blast to play. The arcade cabinet was released in English and was known as Shadow Land. There was also a port for the PCEngine with enhanced graphics but the ports look different enough that I would give both of them a chance.

Quick Final Impressions: Ninja Spirit

2011-05-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t get enough of this game for a long time after I first played. You take control of a Ninja who comes equipped with a small arsenal of weapons. Each weapon can be upgraded, and you can gain dummy Ninjas who also attack with your equipped weapon through pick-ups dropped by enemies. There are constantly enemies coming at you from every direction as you attack while moving through the levels. The weapons at your disposal include a sword, shurikens, bombs and kusarigama. You move through seven different environments, each with a boss battle at the end and it’s just non-stop action.

The game can be pretty unforgiving at times, but is just so much fun to play that you keep on trying. It’s quickly become one of my favorite games on the Turbografx-16. Finally navigating my way through untold numbers of instant death causing ninjas in what I affectionately refer to as “the fall through hell” and destroying the final boss of this game left me with an intense feeling of satisfaction.

Quick Final Impressions: Halo 2

2011-05-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

I’ve been playing Halo: Combat Evolved on PC for years, but never picked up the second one until recently, mostly due to needing Windows Vista or above to install the game. That always bothered me because I believe it was nothing more than a marketing move by Microsoft to help Vista sales as Vista was fairly new when Halo 2 dropped for PC.

I played through and enjoyed the campaign mode more than the original campaign. The original’s campaign always felt really repetitive to me, even when the game first came out. Halo 2 still felt a little repetitive at times but offered more variety and took a story that I didn’t find all that interesting and made it a little more engaging. Adding certain levels where you play as an Elite was a big step in the right direction in my eyes.

The new melee weapons, namely the energy sword and gravity hammer, were a blast to use whenever I got my hands on them, but I wasn’t too excited about any of the new firearms. There were problems with the way the game controlled though. You moved a little slower than the first game, and you jumped like you were on the moon. It just felt off to me and far less smooth than the previous game. For some reason the tab button which was used in the first game to switch weapons became an additional throw grenade button, so one of the first things I did in the game was blow myself up. Not a big issue, as you can easily map your own controls but I couldn’t figure out why they changed that particular key.

Now the multiplayer is why I still play the original Halo, and I was hoping for some really fun multiplayer action in Halo 2, but I didn’t find it fun. This Halo was built with the Xbox controller in mind like the first game, but when they ported it to PC, they didn’t make any changes to compensate for it being on a different platform other than removing the aim assist thing that Halo has when playing with an Xbox controller. I have a feeling when you push the thumbstick further on the Xbox controller in Halo 2 you run a little faster, but that doesn’t exist when using a keyboard. I think that might be what’s making it feel slower to me, but I’m not sure if it’s really what’s going on. Also, this game allows you to use the Xbox controllers that hook to your PC, which gives anyone playing with a controller aim assist, while anyone using a keyboard doesn’t have that feature. What it really comes down to though, is that I don’t care for the multiplayer maps in Halo 2 anywhere near as much as I liked the ones in the first game. This comes down to personal preference though; they’re not bad; I’m just not a fan of the layouts.

Quick Final Impressions: Pokemon SoulSilver

2011-05-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is how to do remakes. The original game is intact, but completely revamped graphically, with a ton of new pokemon, new areas to explore, new items to find, etc. The list goes on and on. The Pokewalker accessory is pretty neat, and is surprisingly fun to pick up, see how many points you have from walking, and then use the points to try to catch new pokemon or find hidden items to transfer back to your main game.

I’ve gotten 16 badges, and caught several legendary pokemon over a great deal of time, but the game has so much to offer that I could easily spend countless more hours playing the same file while finding new things to do. I’ve been playing this game on and off for a few months now and I still find myself picking it up for short bursts every few days. It’s unfortunate that so many gamers view this series as inferior children’s games. There’s an incredible amount of gameplay packed into each game, and anyone who enjoys turn-based role-playing games should give them a fair chance.

Quck Final Impressions: 3D Dot Game Heroes

2011-05-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

This was a very enjoyable game and I did like it but it wasn’t really what I was hoping for, as I thought it would be a love letter to retro games spanning multiple genres. I really don’t have much to say about it other than it’s both a very fun game and a very pretty game. If you’ve played The Legend of Zelda, Neutopia, Golden Axe Warrior, or Beyond Oasis, you know what type of game you’re getting into. If you like any of those games, I would be very surprised if you didn’t enjoy 3D Dot Game Heroes.

It plays a lot like the top-down Zelda games, but your sword swings in a 90 degree arc instead of stabbing forward. This makes the gameplay a little different as you’ll find yourself dodging and attacking enemies differently than you would in a Zelda game since you often find yourself standing diagonally from them to both attack and dodge. The swords also level up at a blacksmith when you pay enough money and some have special abilities which can make them more useful. Then there are others that are just ridiculous and are fun to play with because they’re humorous to wield. You can also create 3D pixel art, a function that is quite fun to play with, and then use that as your character throughout the game. So you can do things like play the game as a sword wielding toaster instead of the traditional warrior/hero. This is a PS3 exclusive worth giving a try if you're a PS3 owner who enjoys retro games.

My Ideal Collection - Sega CD

2011-05-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

Before I delve into the Sega CD games I'm most looking forward to snatching up a copy of, I thought I should let you fellows know that I'm planning on separating Japanese games into their own lists. For instance, I currently have an Ideal Collection - Super Nintendo list, which only includes NTSC-U (U.S. region) games, and I might have thrown in a PAL (Europe/Australia region) game or two.

I may make an Ideal Collection - Super Famicom list to address the Japanese (NTSC-J) Super Nintendo games I would like to collect. This list would not include games already on the NTSC-U/PAL list but rather games that never made it overseas. Since I live in the U.S., it's usually much easier for me to collect the English versions of games, but there are many good games which unfortunately do not make it out of Japan for one reason or another. Again, these lists are completely subjective and by their very nature could change over time.

1. Night Trap

Due to a large number of its games implementing poor quality full motion video segments and lackluster gameplay, the Sega CD has gained notoriety as an inferior game system over the years. Night Trap is probably the most well known FMV game on the Sega CD, often remembered as being lumped in with Mortal Kombat when the cases were being made against violence in video games.

I own Night Trap and have no problem saying it's a bad game. The gameplay is just plain boring, clicking through cameras and trying to set off goofy traps to catch the bad guys. Sounds like it could be interesting, especially seeing the various traps, but the gameplay gets repetitive extraordinarily quickly. The game really isn't very violent and the gameplay isn't very engaging, but I enjoy it because I like watching cheesy low-budget horror films. That's all Night Trap really is: a grainy low-budget horror film with cheesy acting and a pretty uninspired narrative.

2. Corpse Killer

Corpse Killer is another FMV game like Night Trap which I own, but the gameplay element consists of light-gun stages. They're rather slow-paced and much easier than games like House of the Dead or Lethal Enforcers, but I have fun with them and there's a couple gimmicks like needing certain ammo to kill certain enemies.

Like Night Trap, the game is basically a cheesy low-budget horror film with atrocious video quality, but I found the video segments funnier than Night Traps and the shooting segments much more fun than Night Trap's camera switching/trap triggering.

3. Sonic CD

This was my first Sega CD purchase and I was far from disappointed. The game's pretty affordable and is one of the best offerings on the Sega CD. As a fan of the all the Genesis Sonic games, I was pretty psyched to get this game. Each level features a past, present, and future version which you can explore if you desire. You can also just go full force through the game and try to get to the finish as fast as you want in true Sonic style if that's what you prefer. The game looks and sounds very good and features some neat pseudo-3D effects which help set it apart from the previous Sonic games in terms of the visual style.

4. Snatcher

I don't own Snatcher as I've never seen it at a price I'm willing to pay, but it does sound like a game I would thoroughly enjoy. Metal Gear Solid is one of my all time favorite video games, and a cyberpunk story told by Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear team where I can occasionally use my Konami Justifier light gun sounds like a pretty good time to me. I really want to get my hands on this one pretty badly, but I'm waiting for the right opportunity to pick up a copy at a more reasonable price than is typically asked.

5. Heart of the Alien: Out of This World Parts I and II

Another game I don't know a whole lot about but am very intrigued by, Heart of the Alien is a compilation of the Out of the World Games for PC. From everything I've seen the games appear to be critically acclaimed platformers which were released on multiple early computer platforms. They feature cinematic science fiction storytelling and environments, and are often regarded as cult classics within the vast library of early computer games.

6. Silpheed

I've been starting to really get into vertical and horizontal shmups or shoot-em-ups lately and the Sega CD happens to host a few of them. Silpheed is a very early vertical shooter polygon game which hasn't aged very well graphically, but looks very fun to play. Seeing as it can be had rather commonly for fairly cheap, it's a game I'm sure to pick up at some point.

7. Lords of Thunder

Lords of Thunder is a horizontal 2D shmup featuring a heavy metal soundtrack. That's more than enough to convince me that I need to get this game. I'm sure I'll spend a lot of time with this game.

8. Robo Aleste

An extremely fast-paced vertical 2D shmup, Robo Aleste can be had a lot cheaper than Lords of Thunder but sadly doesn't feature all the heavy metal. Another shmup that I can see myself spending a lot of time playing, but isn't as high on the on my priority list as Lords of Thunder or the final shmup I'm about to mention.

9. Keio Flying Squadron

As I've said before, I can't get enough of quirky and colorful games. A colorful and crazy horizontal shmup where you fly around shooting down opponents with a dragon sounds quite fun but also looks somewhat laid back and rather easy. It's considerably rare and I often see asking prices of up to 200 USD when it shows up, which is more than I'm willing to pay for it, so I'm most likely only going to pick up this game if I find it bargain hunting at flea markets or the like.

10. Dungeon Explorer

This game is a 2D multiplayer top-down perspective action RPG often compared to Gauntlet. I've become a huge fan of action RPGs over the years and I used to get a kick out of playing multiplayer rounds of Gauntlet Legends on N64 so I find this game rather appealing.

11. Dark Wizard

I've enjoyed turn-based RPGs since I was a teenager, so I recently picked up a copy of Dark Wizard, but haven't had a chance to really sit down and spend some significant time giving it a go. You can play through four different character's stories, each with varying degrees of difficulty and mildly different gameplay styles depending on the character's skills and uses.

12. Shining Force CD

Shining Force CD is a strategy RPG comparable to games like Ogre Battle or Final Fantasy Tactics. It includes the games Shining Force Gaiden and Shining Force Gaiden II originally available on the Sega Game Gear broken into "books" one and two. It then exclusively features books three and four, which were new to Shining Force CD. I really like strategy games, so I this is another game I want to play quite badly.

13. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue

I was fortunate enough to snag a complete copy of the Playstation collector's edition of this game for about thirty dollars on a whim a few years ago. It's one of the best RPGs I've ever played for a multitude of reasons, but apparently a lot was actually changed when it was brought over to the PS1 as it was handled by a different localization company. I've heard from several sources that the Working Designs version on the Sega CD featured the superior translation and was a great joy to play. I'm looking forward to finding out for myself what sets Working Design's version apart.

14. Lunar: The Silver Star

I haven't had a chance to play the first Lunar game, but my appreciation for the sequel makes playing the original at some point down the line a gaming priority.

15. Vay

Vay was also localized on Sega CD by Working Designs, and I actually own a copy of this one. I'm currently playing through it, and I'm really enjoying the humorous translation. As for the gameplay itself, it's not as good as the Lunar games. It's a pretty straight-forward RPG with little exploration and somewhat erratic battle difficulty and some necessary grinding, but I can see most RPG enthusiasts really enjoying the game. It also features random battles almost every step. Fortunately, the battles are fairly quick and loading into and out of them takes less than a second, so the game feels very fast-paced for an RPG.

16. Popful Mail

As an action RPG/platformer localized by the team that did the Lunar games and Vay, Popful Mail is far and away my most desired Sega CD game. It just plain looks like a ton of fun, and to me, that's what games are all about in the end.

So, are there any games you particularly enjoy for the Sega CD? Any ones you keep your eyes peeled for or any that you think I should have included in the list that I didn't? Let me know!

Unsung Systems: Neo Geo Pocket Color

2011-05-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Neo Geo Pocket Color (from hereon referred to as NGPC) is often overshadowed by the Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System, Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet, and even the Neo Geo CD. The main difference which makes the little portable standout (besides the portability) is that the NGPC is really affordable. I paid thirty dollars for mine, which I consider a fair price for one. I was then lucky enough to get about a dozen of the best games in one lot for about the same price. If you include the Japanese games, the library consists of about eighty games, many of which are quite good.

The system is fantastic for gamers looking to play great 2D fighters on a handheld as it hosts what is known as the Pocket Fighter series. Pictured above is what I consider the pinnacle of that series, The Match of the Millennium, which had a console counterpart on the Sega Dreamcast. It's worth mentioning that there was a cable which linked the NGPC and Dreamcast allowing for things like unlockable content. Match of the Millennium is a game packed full of fighters from various SNK fighting games and various Capcom fighting games. Featuring characters from series like Street Fighter, King of Fighters, etc. it's a very versatile fighting game.

When I purchased the game lot, I received almost all of the U.S.-released games in the Pocket Fighter Series which included Samurai Shodown 2, King of Fighters R-2, Gal's Fighters, and Fatal Fury: First Contact. The only exclusion was the Last Blade. All of the fighters are amazingly fluid considering the NGPC utilizes just a digital clickity-clackity sounding omni-directional stick and two buttons. There is also an option button which acts like a start button by doing things like pausing gameplay.

As mentioned earlier, Neo Geo and Sega had a bit of a collaboration during the time of the NGPC and Dreamcast. This resulted in a lesser-known Sonic game known as Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure and if you're a fan of the Genesis-era Sonic games, then you'll probably have a good time with this game. There are many nods to the 2D Sonic games and it features levels quite similar to some of the memorable levels in them, while still feeling fresh.

If you're a fan of Metal Slug, then Metal Slug: 1st Mission & Metal Slug: 2nd Mission will probably pique your interest. They're not as good as their arcade counterparts, but are still very fun games. I only have the first one, but I've been told the second one greatly surpasses the first. I play it every now and then, as it's a nice break from the fighters, but I usually don't spend much time playing before moving on to something else.

There's also a trading card battle game known as Cardfighter's Clash which was released in two different versions, the SNK version and Capcom version. The two versions have unique cards which can be traded from one game to the other via a link cable. You can also battle another player, and I'm assuming these games were influenced by the success of the Pokemon franchise. It's surprisingly unique and can be quite fun, but the game can be frustrating at times. At first I played this game like crazy, but my fondness of it started to dwindle after awhile. I still pick it up and play every now and then, but it's taking me a ton of mostly luck-driven battles to get cards useful enough to compete with the tougher AI opponents.

I can't get enough of Puzzle Bobble Mini. You might know this game as Bust-A-Move. Basically, a bunch of colored balls are cluttered around from the top of the screen and the screen is slowly moving down. If they get to the bottom, it's game over. You control a little lever at the bottom which can move back and forth and shoot balls up at the top. You have to aim for balls of the same color, and if you get three of the same color stuck together, they fall off the screen. Clear all the balls and you move on to the next level. It's a simple and addictive puzzle game and it's made by Taito, so it features the little dudes you know and love from Bubble Bobble.

Now this games a little different from other games on the NGPC but I've been enjoying it on and off for a long time now. It's a gothic horror action RPG where you level up your weapon by fighting werewolves, mummies, zombies, etc. Your weapons include various guns and claws which can be upgraded in quite a few ways.

One of the games I'd like to pick up for my NGPC, but haven't gotten around to is Biomotor Unitron, which is compared to Pokemon in terms of gameplay, but you're leveling up parts of your giant robot. I've heard a lot of people complain about the NGPC not having a backlit screen, but neither did its competitor the similar looking launch-model Game Boy Advance at the time, and this helped make the handheld affordable and gave it extraordinary battery life. I believe it can run about 40 hours on two AA batteries. Not too shabby. It also has the crispest, easiest to see, and most colorful non-backlit screen I've ever seen.

Considering the price, I think this is a handheld well worth picking up if you really enjoy playing or collecting portable games, especially since the unique stick really can't be emulated. Although it can't compare to the vast size of the Game Boy line game library, it does feature some nice exclusive games and fluid control that give the NGPC its own unique flavor.

Quick Final Impressions: Street Fighter IV

2011-04-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

After beating the game on normal difficulty with all the characters, including the ones I had to unlock, I have yet to really get into this game. I was always more of a Mortal Kombat fan, but I liked Super Street Fighter II for my Genesis, and playing Street Fighter IV just made me want to play that instead. I enjoy playing IV with my friends (not online), but I just don’t find the single player experience very fun.

It’s a shame because it’s the only Street Fighter game I’ve ever felt that way about and I can’t quite put a finger on why. It’s not the difficulty, as you can usually exploit the enemy AI pretty easily. (I’ve kicked Seth in the shins more times than I can count) I guess I just find the way the opponents fight to be more annoying than challenging.

Gaming Through the Ages Video #1: Dreamcast VGA Cable

2011-04-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

The first Gaming Through the Ages video is now up on Youtube. Essentially, a brief and simple look at what the Dreamcast VGA cable is, its benefits, and where I recommend getting one. Unfortunately, I'm working with rather low quality equipment and videos will likely be sparse. I'm hoping to save up for some nice equipment over the next year or so, but until then I'll make due with what I have at my disposal. If you want to see the video in high quality (up to 720p - but you'll likely have to wait for some buffering) follow the Youtube link in the lower right-hand corner of the video.

Review: Dreamcast VGA Cable

2011-04-13T15:48:00.001-07:00

I recently obtained a Dreamcast VGA cable from Racketboy.com (A website dedicated to retro gaming that I highly recommend both as a source of information and as a community) and I would like to share my thoughts on it.

The Dreamcast VGA cable (A.K.A VGA adapter or box), pictured above, is one the best ways you can get the most out of your Sega Dreamcast and should not be overlooked by anyone looking to experience all the DC has to offer.

What is it?

It's a means for you to play many of your beloved Dreamcast games in their native 640x480/60Hz resolution. You might be thinking, "Isn't VGA the cable I've always used to connect my computer to it's monitor, even the old CRT computer monitors?" Yes, that is the case, but the difference is that what I've pictured above could be thought of as more like an adapter than a cable, because you will still need a VGA cable to use it. If you have both, you will be able to hook your Dreamcast into PC monitors with VGA input, which includes those older CRT monitors (the ideal option for those of us who want to play DC light gun games in the highest resolution possible)

You plug one end of the VGA cable into your Dreamcast, plug the other end of your adapter into a VGA cable, and then plug the VGA cable into a VGA input on your monitor (or perhaps an HD TV with VGA input - that's what I happily use), and you now have the ability to play Dreamcast games in the highest possible resolution. Notice what both ends of a VGA cable look like below:

How does it work?

Dreamcast games display in either 640 x 480 resolution or 320 x 240 resolution, with many of them displaying in 640 x 480. The Dreamcast has the ability to natively output in 640 x 480. You may now be wondering, "if it displays that natively, why do I need the cable?" Well, the Dreamcast originally came packaged with what are commonly described as composite (or RCA) cables.

Composite (RCA) cables have a yellow cable (the composite one - called so for combining everything that makes up the video signal into one cable) for video and both a red and a white audio cable for two audio channels. If you use these cables, you may notice your Dreamcast picture is somewhat blurry. Without getting into all the technical aspects of it I will simply say that for analog picture quality you should remember that RF < COMPOSITE < S-VIDEO < VGA, and composite (RCA) cables cannot carry the full resolution that the Dreamcast can display, but VGA cables can.

What about Audio?

VGA cables do not carry audio. So what are you going to do for audio if you upgrade your Dreamcast to VGA? The Dreamcast VGA box I'm using has an audio out jack located on it. Notice the hole below where the cable is protruding:

You can hook a pair of headphones into this or go all out and hook up a nice pair of PC speakers (I recommend Logitech), especially if you've got your Dreamcast hooked up with a PC VGA monitor. Maybe throw the DC keyboard and mouse into your set-up as well, but I digress.

Why should you care?

If you're thinking about upgrading to VGA, then you're probably wondering about the difference in image quality. Below I've thrown up a comparison screenshot using Soul Calibur on a Dynex 720p capable HD Television.

I recommend clicking on the picture and zooming in to see the differences at a much larger resolution. Notice that the VGA picture is much crisper and less blurred. This is especially easy to notice when looking at text, but is also evident in the textures. It's difficult to convey how much better your higher-resolution games will look simply through side-by-side comparison, as the true difference really shined for me when I watched the opening cinematics in Soul Calibur and Shenmue.

That being said, games which display in 320 x 240 are often so crisp through VGA that the pixels can be more noticeable. You might notice this if you play Marvel vs. Capcom or other Capcom fighting games. However, if you prefer a slightly blocky look over a blurry one, then the VGA cable won't steer you wrong.

Does it support all Dreamcast games?

Unfortunately, there is a small number of games in the Dreamcast library which are not supported. However, most of the supported games have either VGA box, or VGA cable listed on the back of the packaging as seen below:

There are also some games which do not list VGA support on the back but will work with VGA regardless, such as Sonic Adventure:

If you are unsure of whether you're game will run with the VGA cable, I recommend simply checking with Google. If a game is not supported, it simply will not boot when you start-up the Dreamcast and you'll have to use your standard RCA cables (or RF but I advice against that).

Where can you get one?

http://www.racketboy.com/store/sega-dreamcast/dreamcast-vga-cable-box.html

This is where I got mine and it's proven to be quite worthwhile.

I recommend getting the same one I did as it has proven very durable, and doesn't have trouble displaying the image. The price is also quite nice considering you really don't ever find them for cheaper than that - not even on ebay. Keep in mind that you will also need a VGA cable, but those are pretty cheap (You can get ones that are insanely long - like 100 freaking feet - for less than thirty dollars if you search a bit online).

There are other VGA boxes/adapters out there, but I've heard from a couple sources that they can be fidgety when you plug them in, making the picture hard to keep from going out (referring mostly to the Blaze brand).

Another option is the VGA box with S-Video & RCA sold on Racketboy which allows for multiple inputs in case you want the convenience of having all those options attached to your Dreamcast. This could prove convenient if you have and play any of the games which do not support VGA. There are also official Sega one's out there, but they demand pretty outrageous prices, and the one's on Racketboy do the job just as well.

This is one of the must-have accessories for the Dreamcast if you're serious about getting the most out of your games and I highly recommend getting one.

Quick Final Impressions: Mario Tennis

2011-04-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

This is really nothing more than a basic tennis game presented in the Virtual Boy’s 3D style with Mario characters, but I find it to be a very fun and relaxing tennis game. I played through a 1 set match tournament on normal difficulty with each one of the seven characters.

I completely lost track of time while I was playing but I used the Virtual Boy for several hours. Upon taking it off, I felt a very unsettling sensation which I can only describe as it felt like my eyes were melting. No headaches or nausea though!

Quick Final Impressions - New Adventure Island

2011-04-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

This was my first TG16 game, but I had yet to actually finish this one. Seeing as it seems to have unlimited continues, I decided to actually sit down and dedicate myself to finishing the game. It’s an extremely fun platformer for rainy days. (I’m always drawn to TG16 and SNES platformers on rainy days – I have no idea why)

You’re constantly assaulting an array of enemies with various weapons like axes, boomerangs, and arrows while attempting to grab any fruit along the way to keep a bar at the top of the screen from diminishing. If the bar does diminish, you die just like when you run into enemies. This makes the game very fast paced, as you can’t spend much too much time planning out your platforming.

There are several worlds, each with four stages and a final boss. I found all of them quite enjoyable, and when you defeat each boss you are rewarded with a goofy and zany dance.

NEWS/UPDATES - 04.06.2011

2011-04-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I've recently changed by username and email address associated with this blog. My previous username was Czernobog, and it appears that my previous comments will remain under that name. The new username which will be seen attached to new articles, as well as newer comments, is Gaming Through The Ages and I can now be reached at GamingThroughtheAges@gmail.com. For some reason older articles are under GamingThroughtheAges with no spaces.

I haven't been able to update the blog as much as I would like lately, but I will be throwing up an article about what I consider the most underrated handheld in the very near future. I will also make sure to throw up more Quick Final Impressions so that you guys can at least get some fresh content a little more frequently as they are fairly fast write-ups.

Earlier today I signed up for a GamingThroughtheAges Youtube account, and am planning to do some fun videos as time permits. I'm looking to do software reviews and hardware reviews, etc. These will most likely focus on older generations, but I am not opposed to doing videos about current games. I am in the process of deciding how I want balance entertainment/humor with fair analysis and what kind of overall style/structure I want for the videos. I may also try my hand at a Let's Play video or something of that nature. I will make sure to embed each video here as they are completed.

It could be awhile before I see this to fruition so until then I'll make sure to keep updating the blog with written articles as regularly as I can!

Quick Final Impressions - Prototype

2011-03-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed Prototype. It’s a sandbox game often compared to Infamous. I’ve only played the demo of Infamous but believe strongly that I would enjoy it just as much as Prototype, probably more. In Prototype you play as the angry angst-ridden hoodie wearing weird biological weapon parasite of some sort invested Alex Mercer. You have to complete missions to uncover/advance the story while fighting/avoiding both the military forces and infected creatures which spawn from hives covering infected areas.

As far as I was concerned, the missions were nothing special and neither was the story. What made Prototype fun was the powers you could unlock and play with along the way. In fact, if the game hadn’t given me a taste of the powers you receive latter in the game near the beginning I probably wouldn’t have kept playing. Some of your powers include the ability to absorb people to either regain health or unlock some of their memories in your ever expanding “web of interest,” the ability to impersonate whoever you absorb for stealth gameplay, the ability to run up sides of buildings, and the ability to surf through the streets on people’s bodies.

Then there are all the abilities available for each version of your arm you can use for attacking. For instance, the whip fist can latch on to helicopters and pull you up to them for hijacking, or the hammer fist can be used for punching cars into the air. There are far too many abilities to list, but I can assure you if you’re looking for a sandbox game where you just want to have fun running around a city causing complete chaos and terror while moving at incredible speeds and imitating military personnel, Prototype fits the bill.