They say that you always remember the exact point when you encounter something new. Whilst, I do recall my first encounter with a console being the humble Atari 7800, whether it is Nintendo or Sega who got to me next is sadly lost to me. But I do remember my first encounter with a NES: My brother brought a friend around to visit and he brought this thing called a Nintendo around. And the very first game I witnessed being used on this device? A game called Kung Fu.
Original video located here. Accessed 25th July 2016
Looking back at this game, I have to admit that it's definitely not one of the brightest moments on the NES. My recollections of playing it involved a lot of cheap hits and insta-kills. Still, from a technical perspective, the graphics look impressive and the use of digitized speech is admirable. I will even admit that the in-game music is also kinda snappy.
But I think this game stayed with me because this was my first encounter with the 'rescue girlfriend as motivation' trope that gaming has relied on for countless times. And when compared to other instances that use this trope, ie Super Mario bros and Legend of Zelda, I think I had a greater investment in wanting the Player Character, Thomas, being reunited with the girlfriend, Sylvia. This may be attributed to that cutscene that appears in between levels commanding that Sylvia be rescued from Mr.X (man who comes up with such imaginatively named characters?!). Well, as a motivation, it certainly is effective.
Watching the video, I did finally get to see Thomas reunited with Sylvia - thus ending years of wondering XD But the ending text insists that this reunion will be short-lived. So what happened? Was there a sequel to this game? Do I even care?
Lately I've been playing a lot of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's a classic game I played to death back in 2006 during the glory days of my PS2 era but now I'm enjoying it on the XBLA and in full HD.
So how does the game look from the distance of ten years since I first played it?
To begin with, let's establish what Castlevania: Symphony of the Night meant for me: As you may have guessed from the years listed, I came to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night nearly a full decade after it was released. My reasoning was simple: I finally got a PS2, it could play PS1 games so why shouldn't I indulge in games that passed me by the first time around?
But really what I can say about Symphony of the Night that hasn't been said already? It completely revamped the series, it took steals from Metroid, it was a definitely 2D platformer when everyone was heading into the realms of 3D, and it boasts, without question, one of the finest game soundtracks ever conceived.
But what I will say is that game has aged remarkably well - and that's a statement I do not give out lightly when discussing the fifth generation. Symphony of the Night's 2D nature has served it very well: Whereas many 3D models of the fifth generation look blocky and hideous nowadays, the 2D graphics of Symphony of the Night look simply beautiful. And that certainly was a HD revamp highlights: Why, thanks to the HD graphics, I'm now picking up I never noticed before: I'm noticing just how detailed the animation for the Swordmaster power (Iron shield+Shield rod) is. And to apply such detail in a 'blink and you'll miss it' animation is something to be commended.
Other than that, the game is still as fun as ever and the soundtrack is still fantastic. Not much else i can add expect to say I guess this would be a textbook example of how to make a game that lasts.
Well the Steam Summer Sale is done for another year - But that means little to me as I live in Australia and I can tell you it certainly isn't Summer down here.
But anyway, I didn't buy anything this year. Strange I know, right? I could rely on the old excuses like 'I have too many games' or 'I couldn't afford anything' or 'I've only finished small amount of the games on my Steam account' but that type of thing would inspire accusations of BS.
But it is true. Maybe this is what happens when you have a Steam account for a certain amount of time and the initial thrill dies down. Maybe this is what happens when you realize that you have so many games attached to your Steam account and they aren't getting played. Myabe this is what happens when you have a real life and other things that require money.
Well we have a new Ghostbusters movie coming out soon so before it becomes the fandom's punching bag, let's talk about the previous claimant to that dubious honor: Ghostbusters 2.
Or to be more precise, the game I played that called itself Ghostbusters 2.
This was a game I played when I was a little tacker alongside my brother (more on that later) on the venerable Commodore 64. Unsurprisingly, this is yet one more title in the dubious field of 'movie-tie-in-game'. So naturally, we can expect the following: Not much of a game speak of and what little there is restricted to following the plot of the movie.
Of course, many of you younger tykes may scoff at the notion of playing an ancient Commodore 64 game but I can assure you that a) the Commodore 64 was capable of far better games than this and b) the problems that befall current 'movie-tie-in-games' existed back in 1989 and have since been never properly solved.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Observe, if you will, a longplay of the full game:
Original video located here. Accessed 4th July 2016
As you can see, the game consists of three sections that follow the movie closely: First, we have a Ghostbuster (Ray?) descending down the shaft into the Van Horne subway tunnel to retrieve a slime sample. Next, we have the Statue of Liberty striding through New York with it's flame torch defeating swarms of ghosts and finally we have the Ghostbusters themselves confronting Vigo at the museum.
It's certainly a creative and varied approach to game design yes but does it work in practice?
Of course not.
You see, the biggest problem with this game is that the gameplay and controls are a disaster. You, the player are expected to use both the joystick AND the keyboard at the same time!
In the first section, the single-button joystick is used to control the Ghostbuster but the keyboard is used to select the right item to use. And good luck choosing the right item when things are getting hectic!
Later, in the second section, the joystick controls the fireball but the keyboard is used to control the direction of the New York populace who are collecting the slime of the defeated ghosts. That may sound easy in practice were it not for the ghosts marching on the ground and killing off your dudes! And good luck keeping track of everything happening on both the ground and the air!
As for the third section, I didn't see it that often: That second section was more or less a killer for me.
With controls like that you really needed a second person to play this game. And that's where my brother came in: We joined forces to play this game with him on the joystick and me on the keyboard.
We never succeeded in beating the game however. Our attempts were dogged by the tough difficulty, the frustrating gameplay and the unreliability of our gaming partner. That Second Section in particular was really an exercise in frustration even with a second person helping out. Example: I needed to catch the slime form the defeated ghosts. But kept missing big batches of it because of the ground ghosts blocked my path. Could I get my brother to help out and shoot the ground ghosts? No, because he was too tied up shooting the ghosts in the air....
In addition, on the few times we did make it the the third section, I relying on a guide, tried to convince my brother that Janosz (the first enemy) with the slime gun/pack, Vigo (the second enemy) had to be defeated with the Proton Pack. But my brother never believed me.
Still, watching this video I take comfort in the knowledge that I was right.
Of course, this is just one more addition to massive pile of 'movie-tie-in-game' that plague gaming history. Mind you, I will concede that they all can't be the 'lightning in the bottle' success that was Goldeneye but they could at least try and put some effort into it.
Another announcement emerging from this year's E3 is that the Quake IP is being dusted off and being revamped as a new game. I suppose all 90's IP's are having that done to them so such news shouldn't come as a surprise. But such news would be a good enough excuse to talk about my own experiences with Quake.
I will be blunt: When I first came across the first Quake in the mid-nineties I wasn't thrilled. Far from it: I HATED it. At the time, I played Doom a lot and was impressed by Duke Nukem 3d's pushing the envelope of what a 3d shooter could do. That being said, Quake looked old and tired.
Growing with games, I learned a vital lesson from a early age: Amazing graphics can't make a game on it's own, for it needs engaging gameplay to back it up. And that was the problem I had with Quake: It just looked like Doom but with a new coat of paint. But this new coat of paint wasn't that remarkable what with drab colors and an overdose of green. Furthermore, it was baffling as to why people talked up the graphics when the character designs looked dull and hideous. Therefore I never could grasp why people were ecstatic about this game.
Eventually my hostility towards Quake softened in three fronts: 1) I discovered the mod Navy Seals Quake and found it much more enjoyable, 2) I played Quake 2 a lot and found it a much more tense, exciting and satisfying experience next to it's predecessor and 3) One can't disagree with the thrill of playing Quake deathmatches on a LAN. Still, why people revere Quake like they do is something that still eludes me.
So unlike Doom or Duke 3d, I have no real attachment to Quake. Will I pay any attention to this new game? Well, I would be interested to see if something new will be done - if anything.
But most likely I will see this game becoming yet another faceless shooter in an ocean of them and dragging the name of a once glorious IP down with it.
