An age-old debate: 2d platformers or 3d platformers?
Honestly this question isn’t something I really need to think about: 2d all the way. I grew up with eight bit and 16 bit games and, as far as I’m concerned, they did the job nicely and still do today.
My experience with 3d platformers has been varied: I recall the first time I played Super Mario 64 on the N64 and, having enjoyed both Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros 3, experiencing some kind of culture shock: I had no idea what I was supposed to do with Mario or where I was supposed to go. Consequently much of my time in Super Mario 64 was spent running around like a headless chook. Latter still I found many 3d platformers seemed unclear as to not only where to go but how to get there: At times my experience with 3d platformers was awash with difficulty in distinguishing what was a ledge and what was scenery – And anyone who tells me they haven’t slipped up a complicated jumping onto something they thought they could hang onto is a liar.
I also didn’t appreciate the fact that much the graphics looked really ugly – a fact not helped years later as many fifth generation games have not aged well in the graphics department. And matters were not helped by a wonky camera that seemed to refuse to go where the player wanted it to.
And that pretty much sums up my feelings towards 3d platformers: Unclear paths, hideous graphics and a resentful camera. Major problems that, to me, was more than enough as a deal-breaker. And having come from the 16-bit era, these flaws came across as being a major regressive step – why try and ruin that which was working so well already? Indeed, these problems were, and still remain, the reasons why I loved 3d platforms: The screen moved with the PC, they looked nice (some even hold up really well today) and it was always clear where the player was meant to go (not to mention the thrill of finding new paths to get to the exit). That and they were tremendous fun to play.
Now that’s not to say that I’ve found 3d platformers that I’ve enjoyed – Prince of Persia Sands of Time comes to mind – but that had a great narrative and a fun time-rewind mechanic to back it up. In fact I’ve found that when a 3d platformer is offering something else, I will latch onto the ‘something else’ and lo and behold, I find I can really enjoy the game itself (ie Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, NiGHTS and God of War).
As for the 2d platformers, I love them and I still do. And I suspect I’ll still be enjoying them ten years from now. I still finding some being made today (Eversion anyone?) and they are still as compelling as ever. I think that is how I feel about the conflict between 2d and 3d – I’ve become so accustomed on 2d so for 3d to grab my attention it had better offer something else on top.
Your move 3d platformers
Showing posts with label Super Mario 64. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Mario 64. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Secret to the Success
Last weekend a friend brought it to my attention, years later, both Final Fantasy 7 and Ocarina of Time are still as popular as ever. They’re still highly rated and this popularity shows no signs of abating. Some may say this is because both games are kept in public eye through the DS revamp (for Ocarina) and SqueeEnix milking Cloud and co for all their worth but others may attribute the principle that a game that has lasted due to it doing everything right.
Which now brings forth a new question: What do we do now? The enduring popularity of Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 may suggest that the greatest game(s) of all time have been made and there’s little point trying to best them. And it would seem many other people agree.
Both games were essentially the end of a long period of evolution: Final Fantasy evolved over six games, developing things that worked and ditching things that didn’t. As a result, Final Fantasy 7 was the breakthrough hit and brought mass awareness to the end result. BUT! Whilst Final Fantasy 7 was a mass seller unlike any other, it also made millions aware of the formula. Indeed, once played Final Fantasy 7 one can’t really go back to the previous games as the formula is now obvious – and in the games since, the formula has been tampered with to mixed results. The evolution of the formula, and the pioneering spirit it comes with, is more or less now irreverent. Once you know what works, it kind of shapes the perception of future endeavors.
The same goes with Ocarina of Time. The original Legend of Zelda was, at the time, ground-breaking of it’s open-ended gaming. Link to the Past revved it up a notch with expanding the formula and introducing new concepts (not least the Dark World). Does this mean anything? Of course not. Why? Because the formula reached it’s zenith with Ocarina of Time. It made the formula work and sold like hotcakes. That’s not to say that both Oot and FF7 were doing anything new (the former expanded and improved the experiments of Super Mario 64 and the latter eschewed medieval/steampunk setting for cyberpunk) but in the end it was the result of years of evolution that nothing can possibly follow it. Thus every Final Fantasy game since has polarised opinions and people have been treating both Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess with more apprehension than eagerness. Maybe once people know the secret to one’s success the mystique surrounding the product tends to dissipate.
It does raise an interesting point though: Which is more important: The game that introduces a new idea or the game that actually make the idea work? Personally, my money is on the latter however reluctantly. It’s a fact true but not one I’m happy with. Think I’m wrong? Okay then: hands up who’s heard of Aerith Gainsborough. Right: now hands up who’s heard of Nei – yes all five of you.
Which now brings forth a new question: What do we do now? The enduring popularity of Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 may suggest that the greatest game(s) of all time have been made and there’s little point trying to best them. And it would seem many other people agree.
Both games were essentially the end of a long period of evolution: Final Fantasy evolved over six games, developing things that worked and ditching things that didn’t. As a result, Final Fantasy 7 was the breakthrough hit and brought mass awareness to the end result. BUT! Whilst Final Fantasy 7 was a mass seller unlike any other, it also made millions aware of the formula. Indeed, once played Final Fantasy 7 one can’t really go back to the previous games as the formula is now obvious – and in the games since, the formula has been tampered with to mixed results. The evolution of the formula, and the pioneering spirit it comes with, is more or less now irreverent. Once you know what works, it kind of shapes the perception of future endeavors.
The same goes with Ocarina of Time. The original Legend of Zelda was, at the time, ground-breaking of it’s open-ended gaming. Link to the Past revved it up a notch with expanding the formula and introducing new concepts (not least the Dark World). Does this mean anything? Of course not. Why? Because the formula reached it’s zenith with Ocarina of Time. It made the formula work and sold like hotcakes. That’s not to say that both Oot and FF7 were doing anything new (the former expanded and improved the experiments of Super Mario 64 and the latter eschewed medieval/steampunk setting for cyberpunk) but in the end it was the result of years of evolution that nothing can possibly follow it. Thus every Final Fantasy game since has polarised opinions and people have been treating both Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess with more apprehension than eagerness. Maybe once people know the secret to one’s success the mystique surrounding the product tends to dissipate.
It does raise an interesting point though: Which is more important: The game that introduces a new idea or the game that actually make the idea work? Personally, my money is on the latter however reluctantly. It’s a fact true but not one I’m happy with. Think I’m wrong? Okay then: hands up who’s heard of Aerith Gainsborough. Right: now hands up who’s heard of Nei – yes all five of you.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Degeneration (no.5)
And here we go with the next installment in this series. And what a time the fifth console generation was: A new contender stepped into the field and everything was turned upside down. How did this affect me? Funny you should ask…
Sony Playstation
Well there was no getting around it. If anything, the fifth console generation will be best remembered by the arrival of Sony in the console race. And unlike other would-be contenders, like the 3DO or the Jaguar, the PlayStation had the support of a major electronics company behind it and a cunning marketing plan clearly aimed at young adults. Right from the word go Sony had become a force that was pretty much here to stay.
For much the mid-nineties I was in high school and as a result, my interest in video games waned – true I did get abreast of what was happening but other times my focus was elsewhere. Yet even with my aloofness there was really no escape the Playstation juggernaut. I was surprised to see familiar franchises like Castlevania and Metal Gear get a new lease of life. I recall seeing ads for Final Fantasy 8 on TV and I was equally surprised to see PS1 games appear in my local music store. But even if my interest in PS1 was limited at the time, I do recall visiting friends (again) and playing Tekken and Loaded. I also recognised conversions of favourite arcade games (Darkstalkers), Windows 95 games (Return Fire) and adaptations of ace anime (Ghost in the Shell).
True my interest in video games had hit a low point but I knew what Playstation was and it was reason enough to get excited. I recall thinking what games I’d get if I got one (although I’d only actually play them in the next generation…..more on that later) so that must make for a positive sign. I remember seeing some of the stunning game cinematic and being blown away.
In retrospect though, there is something about the Playstation that doesn’t sit well with me. Remember in my SNES review how people will struggle to come with a best game that wasn’t made by Square or Nintendo? Well, it’s the same problem here.
Allow me to elaborate: One of the key reasons behind the success of the Playstation is that it was able to offer a home to a lot of third-party developers who were angry at Sega’s missteps and annoyed Nintendo’s restrictions. Thus, it’s clear to me that whilst a lot of familiar IP got a new lease of life many attempts to come up with something new didn’t go anywhere.
Ask anyone which was the best PS1 game and they’d say either Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy 7 or Metal Gear Solid. Beyond those big three it’s a struggle to come up with something else. Aside from Gran Turismo and maybe Tomb Raider it’s a struggle to come up with any real franchise starters. Sure the afore-mentioned ‘Big Three’ may have gone their own direction but they still started from somewhere else nonetheless. Granted Sony may have at least tried to say something new with their blitzkrieg marketing campaign but in the end, what put them on the map was a bunch of old faces given a facelift.
But whatever misgivings I may have about the Playstation, there was no denying it was a hit and was here to stay. It got me excited and changed gaming forever. And that is indeed an achievement that can’t be ignored.
Sega Saturn
And thus the honeymoon ended….
Like most people, my status as a Sega fanboy pretty much died with the Saturn. As mentioned above, my interest were being diverted elsewhere and Sony was proving to be an attractive prospect. Plus I was aware of Sega’s failed add-ons, the Mega CD and the 32X, that didn’t really go anywhere. But even when I saw Saturn games in the stores, there was a part of me that realised that the Sega of then was different one to the Sega that gave us Sonic and the Megadrive.
Nevertheless I still kept an eye on things that were happening in the Sega camp. And in retrospect the Saturn did have some potential. Aside from the prospect of having conversions of then popular arcades (Virtua Cop 1+2 come to mind), at least Sega tried to bring new IP to the table. Sure not all of them were successful (ie Bug and Clockwork Knight) but in some cases it worked in their favour. I recall seeing Nights into Dreams and thinking it had a degree of beauty unlike anything I had seen before. I was also impressed with the creative designs that went into the Panzer Dragoon games.
Indeed much has been written about how complex it was to program games for the Saturn but it is only recently that I found out how many of the unique designs for some games came about only because the programmers were working within the limitations that faced them. And it’s interesting to see, in retrospect, the contrast between the Playstation and Saturn. Whereas the former favoured sci-fi-esque landscapes (Final Fantasy 7+8 and, to a lesser extent, Metal Gear Solid), the latter seemed to go in a direction leaning to fantasy/steampunk (ie Panzer Dragoon and Shining Force 3). This was indeed an idea, and an identity, that had potential so it’s indeed a disappointment that it wasn’t pushed further.
Ultimately, there isn’t a lot I can say about the Sega Saturn. I didn’t buy one and in retrospect, it proved to be a wise move. True it may have turned me off Sega for a long time, like most people, but it was more a natural progression of life than a betrayal. But now, like many historical revisionists, I have to give Sega some credit: They were trying something new. Through the complexity of the Saturn’s programming, they realised the necessity to build new IP and tried to say something new and unique with the tools they had at their disposal. True, a move like that would prove horrifically risky for any company – more so when said company is losing vital ground and left withering in uncertainty. But in the end, the Saturn ended up with a truly unique game library and that in itself is worth some credit.
N64
I hear people say today that the N64 wasn’t as big a seller as its predecessors. But most likely those people were from the US. During the late nineties I remember knowing many people who owned one of these – In fact now that I think about it, the people who owned an N64 outnumbered those who owned a PS1.
For many people, the N64 was another turning point in the history of gaming: It was the epitome of the fifth generation and many people today can recite tales of their childhood spent playing Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. But I personally have a different perspective of the N64 – you see it represents me the things I didn’t like about the fifth generation.
Don’t get me wrong: I have fond memories of going to friends’ places and playing against each other in Goldeneye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing. I also played Super Mario 64 too. But for me the 3d age was here in full effect and the N64 represented the unease I felt at the time.
I recall playing Super Mario 64 for the first time and found it hard to get into grips with – the wonky camera didn’t really help much either. Most of the time I spent playing Mario 64 involved me running Mario around like headless chook wondering what the hell I was supposed to do next. During this time I played other 3D games, some before Mario 64, and at times I found them unwieldy and no fun at all to play. And such a disgust did indeed influence my playing of Mario 64.
Secondly, whereas I felt the SNES had beautiful graphics (and still do), much of the 3D graphics took a lot of getting used to. Compared to it’s predecessor, the models on the N64 looked hideous! They were badly constructed and looked less like proper graphical models and more like a bunch of random squares thrown in together. To me, this seemed an awful step backwards to what the SNES had accomplished and made me feel put off by the fifth generation and wondering if things had truly taken a turn for the worse.
Of course now, in 2011, such a contemptuous view has been softened (somewhat): Sure we can whinge about the camera on Super Mario 64 but at that point many of the developers were trying new things and coming into grips with this new technology. Indeed, it is interesting to see many of the things they tried in Super Mario 64 get reworked, and improved, with Ocarina of Time. And in a way, it could be said that both Nintendo and Sega were going through an experimental phase at this point in time, trying to find what works. But in that case, Nintendo proved more successful.
So in the end, despite my initial mistrust, I can now use the Virtual Console to download games for the N64 and can play them with fresh eyes. And despite my annoyance with wonky cameras, I can see there was some beauty within the beast.
If this write up seems a bit bland that’s because during the fifth generation my youthful enthusiasm for gaming consoles was in a period of remission. Sure much of it comes in the form of unease towards the innovations of the fifth generation (as with any new technology) but ultimately, it was more a natural progression of life: You find new things, you embrace them for so long until you then move onto other new things. And this case, the real world demanded attention: I had left secondary school and ahead lay college and, eventually, University.
And in retrospect, gaming of the fifth generation represented, for me, a transitional period. The seemingly untouchable Nintendo was beginning to try out new ideas and technology and, as before, everyone was taking note. The former heavyweight Sega had been crippled but was also in an experimental phase, trying out new ideas and ways to get the point across. And the newcomer Sony welcomed in many giants in from the previous eras to ride all the way to the top. The once, two-horse race had now opened up to three and, by the generations end, had revealed three very different outcomes for each contender.
But as I said it was a transitional period: Many of these changes I remained oblivious to with my attention being diverted elsewhere. Thus I went off gaming for a number of years. But little did I know, gaming itself wasn’t going to give up on me that easily….
Sony Playstation
Well there was no getting around it. If anything, the fifth console generation will be best remembered by the arrival of Sony in the console race. And unlike other would-be contenders, like the 3DO or the Jaguar, the PlayStation had the support of a major electronics company behind it and a cunning marketing plan clearly aimed at young adults. Right from the word go Sony had become a force that was pretty much here to stay.
For much the mid-nineties I was in high school and as a result, my interest in video games waned – true I did get abreast of what was happening but other times my focus was elsewhere. Yet even with my aloofness there was really no escape the Playstation juggernaut. I was surprised to see familiar franchises like Castlevania and Metal Gear get a new lease of life. I recall seeing ads for Final Fantasy 8 on TV and I was equally surprised to see PS1 games appear in my local music store. But even if my interest in PS1 was limited at the time, I do recall visiting friends (again) and playing Tekken and Loaded. I also recognised conversions of favourite arcade games (Darkstalkers), Windows 95 games (Return Fire) and adaptations of ace anime (Ghost in the Shell).
True my interest in video games had hit a low point but I knew what Playstation was and it was reason enough to get excited. I recall thinking what games I’d get if I got one (although I’d only actually play them in the next generation…..more on that later) so that must make for a positive sign. I remember seeing some of the stunning game cinematic and being blown away.
In retrospect though, there is something about the Playstation that doesn’t sit well with me. Remember in my SNES review how people will struggle to come with a best game that wasn’t made by Square or Nintendo? Well, it’s the same problem here.
Allow me to elaborate: One of the key reasons behind the success of the Playstation is that it was able to offer a home to a lot of third-party developers who were angry at Sega’s missteps and annoyed Nintendo’s restrictions. Thus, it’s clear to me that whilst a lot of familiar IP got a new lease of life many attempts to come up with something new didn’t go anywhere.
Ask anyone which was the best PS1 game and they’d say either Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy 7 or Metal Gear Solid. Beyond those big three it’s a struggle to come up with something else. Aside from Gran Turismo and maybe Tomb Raider it’s a struggle to come up with any real franchise starters. Sure the afore-mentioned ‘Big Three’ may have gone their own direction but they still started from somewhere else nonetheless. Granted Sony may have at least tried to say something new with their blitzkrieg marketing campaign but in the end, what put them on the map was a bunch of old faces given a facelift.
But whatever misgivings I may have about the Playstation, there was no denying it was a hit and was here to stay. It got me excited and changed gaming forever. And that is indeed an achievement that can’t be ignored.
Sega Saturn
And thus the honeymoon ended….
Like most people, my status as a Sega fanboy pretty much died with the Saturn. As mentioned above, my interest were being diverted elsewhere and Sony was proving to be an attractive prospect. Plus I was aware of Sega’s failed add-ons, the Mega CD and the 32X, that didn’t really go anywhere. But even when I saw Saturn games in the stores, there was a part of me that realised that the Sega of then was different one to the Sega that gave us Sonic and the Megadrive.
Nevertheless I still kept an eye on things that were happening in the Sega camp. And in retrospect the Saturn did have some potential. Aside from the prospect of having conversions of then popular arcades (Virtua Cop 1+2 come to mind), at least Sega tried to bring new IP to the table. Sure not all of them were successful (ie Bug and Clockwork Knight) but in some cases it worked in their favour. I recall seeing Nights into Dreams and thinking it had a degree of beauty unlike anything I had seen before. I was also impressed with the creative designs that went into the Panzer Dragoon games.
Indeed much has been written about how complex it was to program games for the Saturn but it is only recently that I found out how many of the unique designs for some games came about only because the programmers were working within the limitations that faced them. And it’s interesting to see, in retrospect, the contrast between the Playstation and Saturn. Whereas the former favoured sci-fi-esque landscapes (Final Fantasy 7+8 and, to a lesser extent, Metal Gear Solid), the latter seemed to go in a direction leaning to fantasy/steampunk (ie Panzer Dragoon and Shining Force 3). This was indeed an idea, and an identity, that had potential so it’s indeed a disappointment that it wasn’t pushed further.
Ultimately, there isn’t a lot I can say about the Sega Saturn. I didn’t buy one and in retrospect, it proved to be a wise move. True it may have turned me off Sega for a long time, like most people, but it was more a natural progression of life than a betrayal. But now, like many historical revisionists, I have to give Sega some credit: They were trying something new. Through the complexity of the Saturn’s programming, they realised the necessity to build new IP and tried to say something new and unique with the tools they had at their disposal. True, a move like that would prove horrifically risky for any company – more so when said company is losing vital ground and left withering in uncertainty. But in the end, the Saturn ended up with a truly unique game library and that in itself is worth some credit.
N64
I hear people say today that the N64 wasn’t as big a seller as its predecessors. But most likely those people were from the US. During the late nineties I remember knowing many people who owned one of these – In fact now that I think about it, the people who owned an N64 outnumbered those who owned a PS1.
For many people, the N64 was another turning point in the history of gaming: It was the epitome of the fifth generation and many people today can recite tales of their childhood spent playing Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. But I personally have a different perspective of the N64 – you see it represents me the things I didn’t like about the fifth generation.
Don’t get me wrong: I have fond memories of going to friends’ places and playing against each other in Goldeneye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing. I also played Super Mario 64 too. But for me the 3d age was here in full effect and the N64 represented the unease I felt at the time.
I recall playing Super Mario 64 for the first time and found it hard to get into grips with – the wonky camera didn’t really help much either. Most of the time I spent playing Mario 64 involved me running Mario around like headless chook wondering what the hell I was supposed to do next. During this time I played other 3D games, some before Mario 64, and at times I found them unwieldy and no fun at all to play. And such a disgust did indeed influence my playing of Mario 64.
Secondly, whereas I felt the SNES had beautiful graphics (and still do), much of the 3D graphics took a lot of getting used to. Compared to it’s predecessor, the models on the N64 looked hideous! They were badly constructed and looked less like proper graphical models and more like a bunch of random squares thrown in together. To me, this seemed an awful step backwards to what the SNES had accomplished and made me feel put off by the fifth generation and wondering if things had truly taken a turn for the worse.
Of course now, in 2011, such a contemptuous view has been softened (somewhat): Sure we can whinge about the camera on Super Mario 64 but at that point many of the developers were trying new things and coming into grips with this new technology. Indeed, it is interesting to see many of the things they tried in Super Mario 64 get reworked, and improved, with Ocarina of Time. And in a way, it could be said that both Nintendo and Sega were going through an experimental phase at this point in time, trying to find what works. But in that case, Nintendo proved more successful.
So in the end, despite my initial mistrust, I can now use the Virtual Console to download games for the N64 and can play them with fresh eyes. And despite my annoyance with wonky cameras, I can see there was some beauty within the beast.
If this write up seems a bit bland that’s because during the fifth generation my youthful enthusiasm for gaming consoles was in a period of remission. Sure much of it comes in the form of unease towards the innovations of the fifth generation (as with any new technology) but ultimately, it was more a natural progression of life: You find new things, you embrace them for so long until you then move onto other new things. And this case, the real world demanded attention: I had left secondary school and ahead lay college and, eventually, University.
And in retrospect, gaming of the fifth generation represented, for me, a transitional period. The seemingly untouchable Nintendo was beginning to try out new ideas and technology and, as before, everyone was taking note. The former heavyweight Sega had been crippled but was also in an experimental phase, trying out new ideas and ways to get the point across. And the newcomer Sony welcomed in many giants in from the previous eras to ride all the way to the top. The once, two-horse race had now opened up to three and, by the generations end, had revealed three very different outcomes for each contender.
But as I said it was a transitional period: Many of these changes I remained oblivious to with my attention being diverted elsewhere. Thus I went off gaming for a number of years. But little did I know, gaming itself wasn’t going to give up on me that easily….
Monday, July 4, 2011
Link! He come to town!
Well it's finally happened: I got off my arse and sat down to play Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Virtual Console.
It may have been a long time coming but, truth be told, I'm something of a newcomer to the Zelda games: I never played them during the respective heyday of the NES/SNES/N64 and the only way I heard of Link and Princess Zelda was through write-ups, artwork and that lousy cartoon in the eighties (not the best source but still...).
So it's only been in recent years that I've become a fan of the Zelda games: I played Link to the Past and it was pretty much all over. Since then, I've played the original LoZ, Twilight princess and have cosplayed as Link - I even managed to persuade my partner to cosplay as Zelda to match! However there was the issue of Ocarina of Time....
Why is that an issue? Simple: it was a case of intimidation. In the time since my proper introduction to the Zelda series, Ocarina has grown in status as one of, if not THE, greatest games ever made. People younger than me now recognized it as an integral part of their childhood. Personally, I downloaded Ocarina (and Majora's Mask) back in 2009 but it is only now I actually committed myself to beating this game.
Again, it's a simple matter of discovering things in my own time, knowing the reward will be sweeter for it. And in the case of Ocarina, people revere it on a level comparable to Jesus so that knowledge is indeed enough to put one off. Indeed, this is not the first time I've been intimidated by game only to have the experience soured by other people telling me how it's going to be.
Grumbling aside, how's the game going insofar? Actually it's quite enjoyable. Sure the controls are bit disagreeable at times and the camera is utter rubbish but all in all, Ocarina of Time is turning out to loads of fun. And it's aged quite well which is more than can be said for other games of the fifth generation *coughMario64cough*.
So from here - who knows? Guess I'll have to go deeper into Hyrule to find out...
It may have been a long time coming but, truth be told, I'm something of a newcomer to the Zelda games: I never played them during the respective heyday of the NES/SNES/N64 and the only way I heard of Link and Princess Zelda was through write-ups, artwork and that lousy cartoon in the eighties (not the best source but still...).
So it's only been in recent years that I've become a fan of the Zelda games: I played Link to the Past and it was pretty much all over. Since then, I've played the original LoZ, Twilight princess and have cosplayed as Link - I even managed to persuade my partner to cosplay as Zelda to match! However there was the issue of Ocarina of Time....
Why is that an issue? Simple: it was a case of intimidation. In the time since my proper introduction to the Zelda series, Ocarina has grown in status as one of, if not THE, greatest games ever made. People younger than me now recognized it as an integral part of their childhood. Personally, I downloaded Ocarina (and Majora's Mask) back in 2009 but it is only now I actually committed myself to beating this game.
Again, it's a simple matter of discovering things in my own time, knowing the reward will be sweeter for it. And in the case of Ocarina, people revere it on a level comparable to Jesus so that knowledge is indeed enough to put one off. Indeed, this is not the first time I've been intimidated by game only to have the experience soured by other people telling me how it's going to be.
Grumbling aside, how's the game going insofar? Actually it's quite enjoyable. Sure the controls are bit disagreeable at times and the camera is utter rubbish but all in all, Ocarina of Time is turning out to loads of fun. And it's aged quite well which is more than can be said for other games of the fifth generation *coughMario64cough*.
So from here - who knows? Guess I'll have to go deeper into Hyrule to find out...
Monday, February 21, 2011
Showing one's age
I use my Wii almost exclusively for the Virtual Console (and I swear I'm not the only one who does so). For me, it is the means of catching up on stuff that I missed out on the first time around - Indeed adulthood certainly makes way for a whole lot more freedom than one's teen years.
However, it is interesting to note that looking back, some games that may have seemed ace at the time haven't really aged well. The greatest offender here is Super Mario 64. Now, I've played Super Mario 64 many times and actually find it quite enjoyable. I recall when it was released it was universally praised and many people crediting it (and even now) as being the game that took the then new technology of 3d environments and made it fun. HOWEVER! Looking back at it now, the problem of the crummy camera functions are glaringly obvious - Indeed, this has been such a problem you have to wonder how Nintendo, who have prided themselves in game design, could have gotten away with it. And how many people can overlook this problem to, then and now, dub Super Mario 64, the Greatest Game EVAH.
Indeed, it is interesting to consider how many games can be loved on their initial release only to be condemned (with venom) years later. The backlash is interesting indeed, exhibit the kind of betrayal one would think they are dealing with Marcus Brutus, Benedict Arnold or Judas. Sure nostalgia may play it's part but I don't buy that: Nostalgia only provides a positive experience that people are trying to find every since but as such an experience is a unique one, such a quest is a doomed mission. And if the first few games one plays had such an important part in one's perspective I'd be playing the Commodore 64 version of Double Dragon over Beatles Rock Band but this is not the case.
It is interesting to note how many games have staying power within an industry where everything moves so quickly: Technological advancements get developed quickly and, as such, gamer's attention is quite limited and fickle. I still enjoy games from obsolete consoles (give me Secret of Mana over any recent JRPG any day) and for good reason: They work. They have great ideas, attention to detail, efficient design and a technical spark that makes the game enjoy a lifespan far longer than it's parent console.
It makes me wonder what people ten or fifteen years from now are going to think of the games going around at the present time. Compare Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario World: they may look like they've come from different planets (pun most certainly intended) but that's fifteen years of technological advancement right there. So when you consider Gears of War 2 you have to wonder what things are going to look like in in 2025.....
However, it is interesting to note that looking back, some games that may have seemed ace at the time haven't really aged well. The greatest offender here is Super Mario 64. Now, I've played Super Mario 64 many times and actually find it quite enjoyable. I recall when it was released it was universally praised and many people crediting it (and even now) as being the game that took the then new technology of 3d environments and made it fun. HOWEVER! Looking back at it now, the problem of the crummy camera functions are glaringly obvious - Indeed, this has been such a problem you have to wonder how Nintendo, who have prided themselves in game design, could have gotten away with it. And how many people can overlook this problem to, then and now, dub Super Mario 64, the Greatest Game EVAH.
Indeed, it is interesting to consider how many games can be loved on their initial release only to be condemned (with venom) years later. The backlash is interesting indeed, exhibit the kind of betrayal one would think they are dealing with Marcus Brutus, Benedict Arnold or Judas. Sure nostalgia may play it's part but I don't buy that: Nostalgia only provides a positive experience that people are trying to find every since but as such an experience is a unique one, such a quest is a doomed mission. And if the first few games one plays had such an important part in one's perspective I'd be playing the Commodore 64 version of Double Dragon over Beatles Rock Band but this is not the case.
It is interesting to note how many games have staying power within an industry where everything moves so quickly: Technological advancements get developed quickly and, as such, gamer's attention is quite limited and fickle. I still enjoy games from obsolete consoles (give me Secret of Mana over any recent JRPG any day) and for good reason: They work. They have great ideas, attention to detail, efficient design and a technical spark that makes the game enjoy a lifespan far longer than it's parent console.
It makes me wonder what people ten or fifteen years from now are going to think of the games going around at the present time. Compare Super Mario Galaxy to Super Mario World: they may look like they've come from different planets (pun most certainly intended) but that's fifteen years of technological advancement right there. So when you consider Gears of War 2 you have to wonder what things are going to look like in in 2025.....
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