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| Best and Worst Reused Game Mechanics |
| Tuesday, 23 September 2008 |
 It has now become common place if one game introduces some new kind of mechanic a rash of titles will follow suit and add the same feature to their upcoming titles. However some become so rehashed and tired that they quickly become old hat. We take a look both at the best mechanics that have stood the test of time and truly innovated as well as the ones that have been overused and used far to much.
BEST
Geo-Mod
The Geo-Mod technology first rose to prominence when Red Faction hit Playstation 2. The technology in the game allowed for destructable environments. Whilst it was not the game that first demonstrated such ideas it was the first to use it as a central gameplay mechanic. Whilst the technology was by no means flawless as it severly restricted what you could and couldn't destory it is definitly a worthy forefather to a new generation of games that employ similar tech to their engines. Call of Duty World at War for example will include such destructive environments with huts able to knocked down and such like, their implementation looks like it will open all kinds of possibilities for both single and multi player modes.
Cover Systems
The recent trend for cover systems has revolutionised the shooter genre. Gears of War on the Xbox 360 showed the way with its cover mechanics which allowed for its Even games such as Uncharted and GTA IV which don't quite nail the perfection of GoW but still benefit from the cover system which allows for a newer and more innovative style of play. It helps shoot outs feel more cinematic (especially in GTA) and stops shooters from merely being run and gun.
WORST
Bullet Time
Ok granted it is a good feature when well used but it has been overused. Introduced by The Matrix the concept quickly caught on and when Max Payne made the feature an intricate feature of the game it showed how games could use the tech. Since then title after title has been inspired by both and it has become one of gamings most common features. Almost every shooter of a certain vine uses some kind of slowing down time mechanism. Recent examples include Resistances Sniper Rifle. So why is it one of the worst? Simply put it has crept into so many titles and even into genres it has no real place in. Whilst the mechanics may not be exactly the same there can be little doubt they were inspired by this single idea and its a bit wierd to find such things now cropping up where they should have been. It earns its place in the worst section simply for being overused.
QTE's
Or Quick Time Events to give them their full title. When used at their worst they make action scenes interesting and offer a diversity in play that would otherwise be replaced by with hours of cutscenes. They first famously featured in Sega's epic Shenmue which had QTE's as one of its major gameplay mechanics. However their over use and poor implementation has led to them becoming the buck of many a joke. At their worst they show off skills and movements that the player can't otherwise carry out and they only highlight major flaws in a game. They can be exciting at times, but for example in the recent Star Wars; Force Unleashed game there are examples of it used to finish off bosses with moves that are well beyond the games bland move set.
Labels: Best and Worst, Features
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posted by flameboy @ 18:14  |
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| Best and Worst of Sonic |
| Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
 The Sonic the Hedgehog games have always been a mixed bunch. The dizzying highs, the shameful lows and everything inbetween. Sonic may not have had as much success as Mario in breaking into new genres and mediums but that doesn't mean the worryingly blue 'hog hasn't tried. Gamingcorner takes a look at which games have been a success and which ones should never have left the Sonic Teams office.
The Best
2D: Sonic and Knuckles (Mega Drive)
 Not only was it a good game in itself, it also allowed you to use Knuckles in the first 2 Sonic games on the Mega Drive. This essentially meant that you got 3 completely new games for the price of one. Plus the novelty of slotting a cartridge into another one was a novelty in itself.
3D: Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast/Game Cube)
 Sonic has always seemed to struggle when it comes to making the transition into 3D. The strange thing is that one of the first attempts actually got it right whereas most 3D Sonic games since have been dodgy at best. The 1998 game features multiple playable characters that are unlocked when they are met in the story. All characters stories run parallel with the other characters and reveal what happens when the characters are seperated. The game also adds RPG elements in its adventure fields by having items (some hidden) that unlock new abilities for each character.
Merchandise: Sonic Adventure Gamebooks
 The Sonic Adventure Gamebooks (no connection to the DC game) were released between 1993 and 1996 and were an interactive book. The player started at the beginning of the book and is given options at the end of the paragraph. For each choice there is a page number and the results of the choice are shown on the relevent page.
Cartoon: Sonic SATAM
 This cartoon got the nickname "SATAM" since it was originally shown on Satrday morning TV. The story was quite dark compared to other Sonic stories. Robotnik had established an empire and Sonic and chums were the last "freedom fighters". The characters ranged from an annoying cowardly French coyote to a Redneck half-robotic rabbit. Most episodes feature Sonic running around in Robotniks robo-city generally kicking arse and looking for his captured uncle. The awesome cartoon is made all the better by literally having the sun shine out of Sonics arse at the end of the intro.
Character: Super Sonic
 Everyone knew that some serious arse kicking was about to go down when Sonic went all shiny and yellow. Normally Super Sonic makes an appearance when all other characters stories have been completed and its time for the ultimate boss battle. Although in earlier games Super Sonic was available when Sonic collected all the Chaos Emaralds and gathered 50 rings. Players could then switch to him (which drained rings) to play through the normal Sonic levels.
The Worst
2D: Sonic (Game Gear)
 It's quite hard to pick a worst 2D Sonic game since they are all generally good. The Game Gear version is let down by flickery graphics and questionable gameplay elements. The main one being that Sonic is protected from pretty much everything if he rolls up into a ball. This doesn't work for real hedgehogs and it shouldn't work for falling spikes on the game.
3D: Sonic Labyrinth (Game Gear)
 Another Game Gear blunder was Sonic Labyrinth. Featuring slow gameplay and sluggish controls Sonic Labyrinth recieved poor reception upon its release in 1995. Dr Robotnik has stolen Sonics famous red sneakers and replaced them with the "slow-down boots". This raises 2 questions: firstly if Robotnik has manged to sneak into Sonics house, why doesn't he just stab him or something? Secondly, why doesn't Sonic just take the shoes off? These shoes prevent Sonic from running fast and jumping leaving only the spin dash to harm enemies. This makes for excrutiatingly dull gameplay.
Merchandise: Sonic Ketchup
 Back in 1991 when Sonic was huge, Daddies Ketchup got the licence to make a Sonic the Hedgehog ketchup. Featuring a horribly deformed Sonic on the label, people unforunate enough to use this stuff were forced to squeeze red paste from a funny looking blue hedghogs head. Not the most apatizing image in the world.
Cartoon: The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
 About as funny as a knife wound and badly drawn to boot. The story revolved around Robotnik and his lackys Scratch and Grounder trying to capture the elusive blue hedgehog and his twin tailed friend. Naturally "comical" hijinx ensues. Sonic and Tails also seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with chilli "dawgs" and the phrase "lets speed keed". Awful.
Character: Big the Cat
 Some sort of giant retarded purple cat thing with no real part to play in anything. Big first popped up in Sonic Adventure. His story centres around him trying to find his frog friend who seems to have done a runner since he has swallowed a chaos emerald. Not only was his story a little boring, his levels were as well. All his levels involved fishing. No running fast in an adrenaline fuelled race to the end of the level, just fishing. No one goes to a racetrack to watch people walk around it. Likewise no one buys a Sonic game to kick back and enjoy a peaceful spot of fishing. And dull fishing at that. There's only so many times you can watch the "special" purple git lose a frog and catch him again. His end boss was a bit clever though but it was too little, too late.
Oppinions? Feel free to discuss it in our Forums.
Labels: Best and Worst, Features, Sonic
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| posted by Goafer @ 11:00 |
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| Best and Worst of Steam |
| Tuesday, 19 August 2008 |
Following on from yesterday's Fanning the Flames, we take a look at the best and worst of Steam. Eternity's Child has hit Steam and you can now decide for yourself whether it deserved that infamous 1/10. In the meantime we look at the rest of the indie and casual games out.
BEST
Steam has proved itself to be the premier digital distribution for PC and has been littered with a wealth of great titles. Below are our top picks.
Audiosurf
Audiosurf was a revalation back when it was released back in February this year. In Audiosurf players control an anti gravity ship similar to those found in the likes of Wipeout, F-Zero and Fatal Inertia. The aim of the game however is unlike the aforementioned games, instead you navigate the game's tracks collecting coloured blocks known as cars. The innovative part is where the blocks are generated from. Any DRM free music can be imported into the game and played along to, along with this are some tracks that come included in the package notably the Orange Box soundtrack and songs by independent artists. The game has an almost mesmerising feel to it and playing it can make listening to your prized music collection even more of a joy. This game truly has to be played to be believed.
Everyday Shooter
Created in just a few months by Jonathon Mak, this game is a twin stick shooter with a difference. Like Audiosurf it is inventive in it's use of music, each level has its unique own song playing in the background. Each song is created specifically for the game and as a whole they all feel a part of the same package. Mak himself has compared his work to an album and the common traits and themes they seem to share help back up this view. Everyday Shooter also has a gorgeous hand drawn look to it, with each level having a truly special look to it.
Sam and Max
Before Sam and Max came along the point and click adventure genre was as good as on its knees. However Telltale Games revived the genre with their episodic Sam and Max games. Now on its 3rd Season the franchise has proven to be a hit with its wicked sense of humour, cheap cost per episode/season along with a cracking plot and interesting and varied gameplay.
WORST
Every "platform" has its fair share of awful games not worth your time, Steam is no different.
Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
An unimaginative TV cash in that has little in the way of redeeming features. It's based on the TV show of the same name that has been sold in various formats across the world. Is not in the least bit fun and suffers even further in comparison when compared to the likes of Buzz and Scene It. When you also consider where both of these franchises are heading with Buzz Quiz TV and the sequel to the original Scene It this game falls even further off the grade.
Ninja Reflex
Also released on Wii this PC port suffers by comparison as much of the appear of the game is in the motion controls. The game is somewhat limited with just 6 different modes of play repeated over and over again and it is hard to justify purchasing when there are far more comprehensive mini game collections out there.
So does Eternity's Child deserve a place on this list? At this point with the final version of the game having been launched and the general consensus seeming to be that it does deserve the poor scores it recieved means it will indeed appear on countless worst games ever lists. Look out for our upcoming review to see what what we thinkLabels: Best and Worst, Features
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| posted by flameboy @ 19:13 |
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| The Best and Worst of Mario |
| Monday, 11 August 2008 |
Hot on the heels of our latest Fanning the Flames feature we take a look at the best and worst of the Mario titles, the games Nintendo should be taking forward with them and the games best left in the past and consigned to the scrapheap.
3D Platformers
Best - Mario 64 (N64)
What can be said about SM64 that hasn’t been said before? Mario’s first 3D outing is given the honour of defining the 3D platformers. Every one of them owes a debt in one way or another to Mario whether it’s the perfect analogue stick controls, the faultless camera controls or the idea of platforming collection based missions outside of the usual A to B premise. (Donkey Kong 64 however famously took collection far too far). The title was jam packed full of little nuances, stand out levels and inspiring moments of brilliance which many games since have failed to come close to matching. There have been games since that have come close to its brilliance and those that have even built upon and surpassed various elements of the game but it will always be remembered as the definitive 3D platformer. Yes the recent Super Mario Galaxy was sublime but Mario 64 has to be remember for everything it did for 3D platforming and for shaping the direction the genre has taken ever since.
Worst - Mario Clash (VB)
Mario Clash was a Virtual Boy game that was headache inducing (usual for the console) though also because of the migraine-inducing gameplay. It was basically a 3D update of the original Mario Bros game and involved clearing a stage of it’s enemies. This entails a boring and dreary mechanic of getting koopa shells and throwing them either into or away from the screens and trying to hit other enemies and knock them into the pit. Where it all comes tumbling down is that Mario cannot aim for love nor money, resulting in what looks like a prefect throw go hurtling past an enemy. The game had 40 levels although oddly no save system meaning you could pick to start on whatever level you choose to. The graphics, despite their red nature, aren’t actually that bad - with Mario’s model being relatively well detailed and some of the levels platforms showing good attention to detail. However none of this helps to make up for a 2D game that never should have strayed into the 3D world of the Virtual Boy.
2D Platformers
Best - Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)
There are so many games that perhaps could lay claim to this title; the original Super Mario Bros. for the way it defined the 2D platformer, or perhaps Super Mario World for being the ultimate refinement of 2D Mario, or how about Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, with it’s gorgeous canyon drawn backgrounds? Despite all these titles’ claims to the title. There can be only one best 2D platformer; Super Mario Brothers 3. After the slight sidestep that was the Doku Doku Panic remake Super Mario Brothers 2, the world was introduced to this beauty. Nintendo decided to go back to purity of the original and build upon those mechanics. Adding an overworld map added depth, as players planned their route hoping not to bump into Hammer Bros or even worse Koopa’s airship. In the levels themselves the innovations continued, with the new power ups in the form of suits. The frog and tanooki were awesome - but the most incredible and gaming changing was the racoon suit. It opened a whole new level of movement around the levels and coupled with the new scrolling system (which allowed the player to go backwards, up, and diagonally beyond the usual flat plain) gave an entirely new sense of freedom, which was needed to discover some of the well hidden secrets the game had to offer. SMB3 was perhaps the biggest cultural phenomenon in gaming at the time, resulting in more merchandise being released than you could shake a Goomba at; lunch boxes, clothing and of course the Super Mario Bros 3 cartoon. Although it had dreadful voice acting, it helped to retell the Mario story via other media and was perhaps the only TV show that kept kids away from their NES.
Worst - Hotel Mario (CDi)
Actually more like a Puzzle game, but it’s original conception as a sequel to the sublime Super Mario World and its own position as perhaps the worst Mario game of all time means it simply has to be included in this list. Nintendo famously allowed two of its key franchises - Mario and Zelda - to appear on Phillips’ CDi machine. This ended up leading to some of the most derided games in both franchises' history. One of the first titles planned was Super Mario’s Wacky Worlds, intended as a game set in the real world which would use and improve upon the superb mechanics of Super Mario World. However this proved to not be possible with the CDi hardware so the games assets and resources were transferred over to Hotel Mario... and what a mistake that proved to be. The title did actually have a similar structure to Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, though instead of visiting the Koopa Kids’ castles, the mission was to bring down their hotel empire. The story was presented by poorly animated cartoons with awful voice acting. Once these were over, the game was simple puzzle solving, with a littering of Mario universe characters coming out of their hotel rooms to cause trouble and prevent Mario from reaching the elevator to the rooftop boss battles. These battles were not even close to the worst boss battles from previous Mario games. These were uniquely bad. Never before has "steaming turd" so aptly described a video game.
Sports
Best - Mario Tennis (N64)
Now this was a tough call. Camelot bring a lot of class and pedigree to their Mario Golf series, meaning their two entries in that series were both in contention. However the slow paced nature of these meant that multiplayer could sometimes become tiresome with four players. Whereas the fast paced tennis gameplay made four player sessions an incredible, long lasting and highly enjoyable experience. The sheer pace and exhilaration of a match clenching rally is something only a select few tennis game have ever managed. Nintendo attempted to build on this game with the GameCube sequel Mario Power Tennis, however the overpowering nature of the power ups meant the game never hit the same level of portraying one of the worlds greatest sports.
Worst - Mario’s Tennis (VB)
The second Virtual Boy title to feature as a “Worst” nominee and (the also second of only two Mario games that hit the system). For everything that Mario Tennis did right, Mario’s Tennis did wrong. It had too few gameplay modes and what you did play wasn’t up to much; Awful animation, awful AI... just plain, well, awful. There was a two player mode via linking up two Virtual Boys, but the link cable never saw a release making the option some what redundant. As usual with Virtual Boy games it was also headache inducing. The game was also too slow and had none of the excitement needed in a tennis match making this game one of the worst sports simulations ever.
Karting
Best - Mario Kart DS
Karting could technically fall into the sports section, but such has been the influence of the series that we consider it more than deserving of its own category. Mario Kart DS is arguably the best in the series. It dumped all of the GameCube versions' unnecessary features and added some of its own. Mario Kart DS added a wealth of new tracks as well as including some classics. One feature taken from Double Dash!! however was the option to use different karts, each with its own unique shape and stats, with drivers free to pick any vehicle they have unlocked. The greatest addition to this title however has to be addictive wifi multiplayer, which surely has to be one of the most played games on the DS’ online service. Great graphics and tight, responsive controls help to polish off a fantastic title and a must-have for every DS owner.
Worst - Mario Kart: Double Dash (GC)
While by no means terrible, the two passengers idea didn’t really work out. Chuck in a load of unbalanced character specific items and the game felt a lot more random and a lot less skill based. Undeniably one of the better looking Mario Kart, with great character animations in the karts and varied and colourful, and a smattering of well designed levels means, this game isn't without its redeeming features.
Handheld Games
Best - Super Mario Land (GB)
Before this title was released much was made of whether the murky green screen of the Game Boy could really do Mario justice. Gunpei Yokei's title proved all its doubters wrong arguably providing one of the best Mario platformers out there. Cracking level design with some original new enemies and situations helped this game along as did the iconic opening music (which was unfortunately remixed into a song that hit the UK music charts). The title also added shooting levels which have not really caught on with the rest of the series (though Super Paper Mario had one level that included space based shooting) despite actually being highly playable and a welcome addition to break up the main platforming levels. Hopefully the rumours of a Virtual Console service for the DS will ring true and see a reintroduction of this title to a new generation.
Worst - Wario Master of Disguise (DS)
Not technically a Mario handheld title, but it's still in the universe and unfortunately is remembered more for what it got wrong than what it got right. Wario’s first DS outing abandoned the gameplay mechanics that had served him so well in the previous Wario Land titles. Instead drawing on the premise of Wario taking various disguises but this fulls down owing to the awful symbol recognition used to switch between the various guises. Unfortunately a little too often it will for recognize your drawing wrongly, resulting in annoyances such as facing a boss dressed in the ineffective artist costume. Couple this with some generic and just plain boring platforming and you are left with a title that leaves a lot to be desired.
Miscellaneous
Best - Mario Paint (SNES)
Mario Paint is at its heart just a simple version of Paint. However add in a delightful mixture of Mario inspired features and a bundled in mouse helped round off a nice package. It had all the basic paint feature but also the ability to create various stamps (Nintendo Power in America helped users to do this) as well as the option to create animations, however a lack of being to distribute these movies (other than record them to VHS) meant a lot of fantastic creations have likely never been see. Following on from the animations option Mario Paint also contains perhaps one of the best and easy to use music editors ever; go on Youtube and watch “Mario Paint Halo” if you’re in any doubt as to what can be achieved on it. The mouse helped make it a joy to control and edit everything and also meant the inclusion of the mini game Gnat Attack to show off the precision that mouse control could offer.
Worst - Mario Teaches Typing (DOS/Windows)
As an alternative to this title perhaps consider buying a stopwatch and opening Word, timing yourself and using word count to help calculate your WPM (Words per Minute). Imagine a kid’s excitement on Christmas Day and unwrapping a Mario game only to say “What... I have to type words on a keyboard to make him break blocks and kill Goombas? There’s no joypad?” The characters jumped and squashed enemies just like you expect, but all the fun was taken out of the game by the fact that you had to type out words like APPLE and ELEPHANT to get Mario, Peach or Toad to go through the levels. Nintendo didn’t actually create this, instead licensing out the Mario rights, which just makes the game reek like the cynical cash-in it is.
There are of course plenty of other honourable mentions that didn’t fit into these categories; Luigi’s Mansion for its unique and fun Ghostbusters style (and also for the fact it righted the wrongs of Luigi’s first solo effort, the awful education history title Mario’s Missing). It's a crime, but we didn't manage to squeeze in any of the RPGs, though Super Mario RPG on the SNES was a major contender for the Misc category (though it’s lack of release across the world ruled it out). The Paper Mario titles definitely deserve a mention for its fantastic fan humour that litters each of the games. Finally, Wrecking Crew for NES needs to get a bit of screen space for it’s destructive mayhem - plus the semi-introduction of Wario in the form of Construction Foreman Spike and for its great level designer which was relatively unheard of at the time.Labels: Best and Worst, Features, Nintendo, Super Mario
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| posted by flameboy @ 12:00 |
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