Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Gaming stuff.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Game Review: 5 in 1!
MEGAMAN STARFORCE 3
Megaman Starforce 3 is the third title in the Megaman Starforce series, and adds on to the same type of gameplay which has kept people at it for years. Basically, you have to save the world from an evil organization battling viruses and enemy "wizards" (robots) by shooting your buster or utilizing "chips".
Story: 8/10 - The story starts out slow, and kind of ridiculous, (saving a science club rocket from a sprinkler gone haywire), but gets better, inevitably ending with a great way to end the series (although they'll probably make more). You are a boy named Geo Stelar and you have apparently made friends with EM aliens, and is able to "wave change" into Megaman. After a series of "wizards" go haywire, you find out that this is the work of Dealer, which collects "Crimson" created by haywire wizards producing "Noise", and are trying to shoot a meteor at the Earth.
Gameplay: 9/10: The gameplay is simple enough, yet addictive. You battle on a 3 x 5 grid, which although is pretty large, the drawback is that you are only able to move left and right. You battle viruses (ranging from black blobs in hardhats with pick axes to spiders with hammers) and bosses. You are able to utilize a vast amount of chips, of which there are three types, Standard, Mega and Giga. There are even "illegal" chips obtained by collecting "Noise" in a battle. Halfway through the story, you gain "Noise Changes", a change which affects Megaman, granting him new ablities, and elemental strengths and weaknesses.
Sound: 7/10 - The sound is good but the big letdown here is that there isn't a huge variety of it. The sound matches the area, if you're in a boss zone, quick suspense music plays, when you're in a mall, jovial, electronic music plays.
Graphics - 9/10 - The graphics are great and there are two styles in this game: one is sprites when you're moving around, and one is 3D when you're in a battle. The graphics match each area to its best.
Replayablity - 9/10 - Once you've won the game, there are still tons of stuff for you to do. There are three extra bosses whem you win the game, you can re-battle bosses, collect rare chips, and fight the final boss again.
Overall - 8/10 - Megaman Starforce 3 adds something new to this classic series, the ablity to Noise Change, and the collecting of illegal chips will provide a new take on this great series, and will keep fans wanting more.
Overall, this series is great but the story is confusing, you won't understand it until you've played the first two.
PLANTS VS ZOMBIES
Plants VS Zombie is a turret-defense like game, where you use plants to defend yourself from zombies in a variety of ways. It's intense, addictive and contains hours of gameplay. While the story mode itself is pretty short, there are also over 20 minigames, a survival mode, and a zen garden to keep you busy.
Gameplay:9/10 - The gameplay is basically like any other turret defense game, except in its own unique way. Zombies come in from the side in one of three locations, your front lawn, backyard and your roof, morning and night. Basically, you've got to collect sun to grow your huge variety of plants to attack zombies in special ways. Peashooters shoot peas, Chompers devour them whole, while Melon-pult's fire melons at zombies. There is around 20 zombies to fight, and you'll have to be rethinking your strategies for every level,especially on the roof.
Music - 7/10 - The music is OK, it's basically the same song playing throughout every level with a few variations, but when the game gets intense, and hordes of zombies arrive, so does the music. While it sounds calm, it does suit the game well. The only thing bad is the lack of song variety throughout the game.
Graphics - 7/10 - For a game like this, the graphics suit it pretty well. They're like sketches of cartoons, and they move pretty smoothly, and it matches the casual feel of the game.
Story - N/A - I can't rate the story for this, because there isn't any. Basically, the only plot for this game is that you have to defend yourself from the zombies who want your brain.
Replayability - 10/10 - You can keep playing this game over and over again and you wont get tired of it, especially with the over 20 minigames, such as ZomBotany (where you defend yourself from zombie-plant hybrids), Portal Combat (where zombies are able to warp through portals), and Zombiequarium, (a Insaniquarium-PVZ crossover) survival mode, and the zen garden to keep you busy.
Overall - 8/10 - The game is casual, yet it can still offer a challenge for any kind of gamer, the graphics suit the game along with the sound, and it's got a ton of extras to offer. So pick up this game on Steam! It's only 10$!
Also, there's Zombies on your backyard.
AUDIOSURF
Audiosurf is a music/rhythm game, except the only thing is you provide the music. In Audiosurf, you select a music to play and Audiosurf generates a track from it, fast music like Canon Rock makes downhill tracks and slow music makes uphill tracks. As you go along the track, you have to collect blocks in order to make clusters of three or more blocks in each row.
Gameplay:8/10 - The gameplay is fast-paced when it needs to be and slow when it needs to be slow. While the game itself is fun, and replayable, the only drawback is the concept of collecting clusters itself is pretty boring. Other than that, the game is superb.
Music - 10/10 - I rate the music a 10 out of 10, because it depends on you. The music in this game, apart from the main screen tune, and background music, is all up to you. You provide the music for this game, hence if you don't like the music, try a different track that you do like.
Graphics - 10/10 - The graphics in this game is stunning. The tracks are done well, the background has all kinds of effects from stars to tentacle-like things which grab at you at the end of each track. All in all, the effects in this game are superb and well done.
Story - N/A - What story? There is no story.
Replayablity - 10/10 - The replayablity is great, especially with all kinds of different modes. Play the same song in three different difficulties, and try to beat personal bests. It's a whole lot of fun playing the same song over and over again, and it's guaranteed not to bore you for a long time. A seriously long time.
Audiosurf is a great music game, and if its gameplay could be a little bit better and less puzzle-like, you could be staring at a well made, perfect game. It's amazing, and with more than 10 modes of gameplay, each with its own unique perks, you won't get bored of this masterpiece for a while.
PEGGLE NIGHTS
Peggle Nights is the second installment in the Peggle Series. It's like Pachenko (a japanese game), and has a similiar concept. You shoot a ball into a level, where there's pegs you hit for points, and your goal is to hit all the orange pegs in the level. With all the obstacles and a limit on balls, it's not as easy as it sounds.
Gameplay: 8/10 - Ehh. The gameplay isn't entirely new, there's plenty of games similiar, like Bubble Bobble, Dynomite, and Peggle. But it's a new take on an old concept. It's got 10 characters to chose from, each with their own special power, ranging from a fireball which just blazes through pegs instead of bouncing off, and Zen Ball, which calculates the best angle to take your shot, you'll have to strategically place your shots in order to win and hope you catch your ball or earn enough points to get extras because you'll run out of balls quickly. And when you win a level, there's a slow-motion scene where you hit the last ball that's nice to watch, and you can save your replays too. There's also a challenge mode, in which you do challenges based on levels, and duel, in which you head-to-head with a computer another person for more points.
Graphics:6/10 - Thy aren't bad, but they aren't entirely good either. The levels are mostly the same, just colourful pegs, and a background image, you see when you beat the level. The background art is great, but that's about the only graphics you see, apart from pegs and buttons.
All in all, not a large variety.
Sound: 6/10 - Peggle Nights has got some nice sounds, like the relaxing start-up sound, when it's loading, and some nice quick-paced songs, as well as Ode to Joy, when you win a level, and a remix of that. Apart from those, there isn't really much variety, apart from the occasional bleeps and arcade-y noises, when you hit a peg.
Story: N/A - NO story.
Replayablity - 8/10 - You can replay it, that's for sure. You can play this game over and over even when you've won it, to try and complete all the challenges, ranging from easy to plain difficult, and even go duel some friends to pass the time.
Overall: 7/10 - Peggle Nights is a new take on an old concept, but that still doesn't make it great. It's lacking in a variety of sounds, and graphics. But graphics and sounds aren't everything, and what it lacks in that, it makes up for in replayablity. It's addictive and fun to play for a short while but slowly gets old. If you've got nothing to do, then try picking up this game to help pass the time.
RHYTHM HEAVEN
Rhythm Heaven is a rhythm/music-based game for the DS which is actually a collection of fifty minigames, each with its own special tune and way of playing. It's got a lot of variety, ranging from building simple "widgets" in the factory to eating dumplings with a monk and being a backup dancer in a frog music show.
Gameplay:10/10 - The gameplay in Rhythm Heaven is simply amazing. The controls are easy to pick up and match the game well, from flicking your stylus to shoot a pipe in a factory and controlling a karate man to kick, to moving up and down in order to shake love potions in a lab. It's fun, easy, and simple to use, and you've got to progress through each game to unlock the next one. Also, every four games, there is a "Remix", which is a special tune designed to fit all four previous songs, and they're all bundled into one level, in which you must do tasks from four songs, switching back and forth between games, which means you've got to memorise the controls, which aren't that hard. After playing through the first thirty games, you can unlock the V2 of it, in which the tune is faster, more complex, or there is more controls.
Sound:10/10 - The sound in Rhythm Heaven is great. It was meant to be a music game, after all. The songs range from techno-electronic style in a space shoot-em-up, to a pop song in which you clap along with monkeys, to the Do-Re-Mi tune in the very first level. It matches each level great, and is really fun to listen to over and over again, there is a huge variety of songs.
Graphics - 8/10 - The graphics are well done, suited to the game, sort of cartoony and a mixture of 3D. There's only one drawback, is that they're sort of sketchy, and they could have done more with the 3D apart from one level.
Story - N/A - There is no story, it's just a bunch of minigames.
Replayablity - 10/10 - Like I said above, there are V2's of games, and 10 remixes, with the last remix, being a collection of every single game. You can constantly replay them to get a "PERFECT" on each one and recieve a medal, which you can use to unlock minigames, or time waster toys. You could play over and over again and not get tired. At least for a while.
Overall - 9.5/10 - I would round this up to 10, as it is a great game, almost perfect, but just missing out on one drawback, graphics. If you have the chance, pick this great game up for the DS, it's not to be missed and you'll play it for a long time. And if not, at least for a longer time than most other games.
The review section.
