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Here's a list of games that I am currently
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Chaostik Games!
You have come upon the gaming section of the site! Alright! Here, you'll find info on the games I'm involved in. So far, there's only one and it's only like 5% complete, so don't be in a hurry to see a complete project. I'm hoping to finish it before I graduate college in 2004. Bleh. You'll also find news here about gaming stuff. Of course, I'm not one of the gaming 'insiders', so don't expect too much. But if I happen across a juicy bit of info, I'll try to post it up here. Alright? Oh yea, I'm trying to come up with a catchy logo and put it up on the banner so it doesn't look so empty, but so far I haven't thought of anything good. I'm still thinking...
Metroid Prime Review
12/02/2002
First off, I'd like to say that this game is a LOT longer than it looks. That's why it took my more than two weeks to beat it. Okay. Now that that is out of the way, I'd just like to say that this game rocks. End of revew.
Just Kidding! Though this review is probably pointless because you've already read all the reviews from other sites and know that it's the best game ever created or something to that effect. Well, here's a new twist on things: I'm not a Metroid fanatic. In fact, I didn't even play any Metroids until Super Metroid and I just rented that. Though I think I beat it, I really can't remember because it was so long ago. So here's a review from someone who's not all into the Metroid franchise (though I've always thought Samus was a kickass character).
Story
Prime takes place before Metroid 2, but after Metroid 1. Samus has chased the evil Space Pirates onto a deserted space station. When she lands, everything is totally messed up. There are dead Space Pirates everywhere and she finds out that they are up to something that has to do with genetic engineering, though it's not exactly clear what it is. Things then lead Samus to the closeby planet of Tallon IV, which was once the homeland of the Chozo (the Chozo were the species that gave Samus her suit). She lands there and begins investigating what is going on.
Graphics
At first glance, Metroid Prime looks pretty good, but not fantasticly good. Things just look too... perfect. But then at closer examination, you can see a few things. A lot of texture work seems to have been put into the environments. Everything looks like what it's supposed to look like from the crumbling walls of the Chozo ruins to the firey pits of Magmoor Caverns. Really excellent detail was put into all the backgrounds. The enemies also look good. While most won't live long enough for you to marvel at them, if you take a look at a lot of the monsters you encounter, you can tell that a lot of work went into not only creating them, but designing them as well. They really look like something you'd run into on a far off alien world. One complaint I have is that in the later levels when you meet up with a certain type of Space Pirate, they just don't look that good. Though you can only tell in an up close shot of one in one of the cut scenes, he looked almost like something from Perfect Dark. It didn't seem like a lot of texture work went into that one. Okay... maybe that's a little too harsh, and maybe it's because the surroundings look so good, but he just didn't look that good. Though it doesn't really matter because they move around so face that you won't have time to look at him anyway. But besides that, all the models look amazing in this game. But the award goes to the Samus model... hands down. You'll want to save again and again repeatedly so you can see Samus in that sleek and sexy armor. And after every upgrade, it just becomes more and more sexy. After you get the last suit upgrade, Samus looks so awesome that you'll do a double take. You've never seen her look this good. And the last boss looks incredibly jaw-dropping. You'll want to fight it again and again just to look at it.
One major thing that Retro Studios put in that really makes this title shine are the little subtleties that litter the game. If you look up when it's raining, rain will splatter on your visor. When you're in a dark area and fire a charged up beam or missile, you'll see Samus's face reflected inside her visor. It's such a cool effect that I frequently did it again and again. Also, the little effects on your cannon are nice. Try charging up each beam and see what happens. My favorite is the Ice Beam that freezes up when you charge. Other things such as the different visors are great effects. When you put on the heat visor, everything is as it should be. Your guns are red, but when you switch to the ice beam, it turns a bit more blue. Enemies radiate a distinct pattern, but robots and machine enemies emit more heat so they are easier to track. In Magmoor, everything is hot, so when you look through the visor, everything is orange or red. It's awesome. Also, if something bright flashes in front of it, it will be temporarily disabled because it shorts out. Though I have to say the coolest visor has to be the X-ray visor. You can see the insides of all the enemies, through some walls, and coolest of all, the bones on Samus's hands. You can even see the bones of the hand inside her arm cannon and how the position of the fingers change depending on which cannon you're using. Oh, and did I mention it runs at steady framerate of 60fps? No? Well, it does! And it also supports progressive scan, though I didn't get a chance to test it out.
Sound
The original composer of Metroid is back in Prime. I can't say that his music would sound that good outside of the game (though some of it would), but it fits the mood of the game perfectly. The Space Pirate theme does get a little repetitive after a while, though, but it does get you pumped up and ready for action while filling you with a sense of dread all at the same time. Good stuff.
Sound effects are also great. Lots of cool monster growls and machine effects. You'll especially like the sound that the flying pirates make. That rocket-pack-y sound is just so cool. I also really like the effect the grapple beam makes. That *pshawwwwooooo* sound is awesome. Kinda almost as cool as a light saber sounds! Also, you get Pro Logic II here, which is, as always, a huge plus.
Gameplay
First off, when you hear everyone saying this game isn't a first person shooter, but a first person adventure is pretty much right. There are no levels in this game. Like all the other Metroids, it's just one big world that you have to travel back and forth through to beat the game. You will frequently see blocked off doors of places you can't reach because you haven't acquired the skill to get there yet. This is what really separates the game from a straight up FPS. When you think FPS, you think of something like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D where you basically mow down wave after wave of enemies, then get a key that opens a couple door and beat the level. Then it starts over again. While there are some intense shooting sequences in Prime, you can tell that it isn't the main focus of the game. The main focus was definitely put on the discovery aspect of the game. Getting new suit abilities of weapons that and then thinking back to place you've seen before that can now be unlocked. Sometimes when you haven't gotten an ability yet, it gets very frustrating that you've come all this way only to face a locked door, but that just makes you want to search for that one ability even more.
The puzzles in Metroid Prime don't exactly take a genius to figure out for the most part. Usually you'll just have to find a certain number of signs in a certain room and activate them all with your scan visor (more on the scanning later). But there are also a lot that take a little bit more than just looking around carefully. And most of these more difficult puzzles revolve around your use of the Morph Ball. Retro really took it to the limit with the Morph Ball in this game. You'll spend a lot of time as the ball and some enemies even require you to change into ball form to defeat them! Not only is it a good change of pace, but it's also ultra cool to look at. I only wish that Retro made more use of double bomb jumping. I only really had to use the ability once in the game.
Enemies in Metroid Prime are actually a lot of fun to fight. While there are the usual 'shoot-to-kill' enemies, there are also a lot that require you to target a certain area of their body, usually their back. And the AI is actually pretty smart. Enemies with weaknesses will try to hide them. In this case, these enemies will constantly turn around to face you. Bosses are also a joy to fight (if not a pain sometimes). Most bosses will require more thought than just pointing your cannon at them and firing. Usually you will have to scan them in order to find out a weakness, and then exploit it. Sometimes you need to read in between the lines of the description of the boss in order to find out how to defeat them. And many bosses are a pain in the butt to defeat, but the rewards are usually well worth is. One great example is the plant boss you encounter in the Chozo Ruins. It took me a while to figure out how to defeat it, but after I did, the reward was great. And be forewarned that the last few bosses are no walk in the park. It took me about an hour to defeat the second to last boss and the last one took me almost three hours. You'll need to master all of Samus's equipment and her abilities to defeat it.
This game is really heavy on the platforming. Yes, platforming from a first person view is incredibly weird and I have never seen it done correctly before, but now I have. I have no idea what Retro did, but platform jumping a piece of cake... well, not really. There will still be times when you overshoot your landing and fall a billion feet to the floor and have to start all over again, but for the most part it implemented very smartly. Props to Retro for that.
One very important and unique addition to Metroid Prime is the scanning ability. Samus is about the scan many things during the course of the game. Sometimes the scans introduce information about enemies, or open up doors to new areas, but a lot of times they are just to further the story. I love scanning everything, especially the Space Pirate computers. They are brimming with cool information about the plot and foreshadow many events to come. Retro has implemented a game completion system to encourage players to scan as much as they can. Many important scans are recorded in your log book for easy access to later and they also add up to the percentage of completion. The scan data coupled with the items and abilities you've found are totaled up at the end of the game to tell you your final percentage. After certain percentages, you unlock cool goodies and I think (I'm not sure), that there are different ending s depending on the percentage you complete the game with.
Conclusion
To tell the truth, though this game really is superb, there was something about it that made it seem really long. I was surprised to see that it only took my 17 hours to beat. But then I learned that the clock doesn't count the time you're scanning stuff, time looking at your log book, the map, etc. And you probably spend half your time doing that. And then add in the dying times, I'd say actually playing time is more around 30 hours. And that is a HUGE adventure for a first person title. Shooter or not. The only games that I think should take 30+ hours are RPGs. StarFox Adventures was just right at about 20 hours. And there's something about going back to places you've already been to that makes it less fresh and new. But even so, this game is all about opening new areas in places you've already been. And it's that knowledge that there might be a new awesome suit upgrade behind that white door even though you need to trek all the way back going through several different areas. But it's that little nagging thought in the back of your mind that makes you go back. And that's what makes this game so addictive. I guess that's what Metroid's all about, right? And because of this game, I'm prompted to go back and beat all previous Metroids. If you're a fan to the series, jump aboard. You won't be disappointed. If you're not, it's never been a better time to hop on the band wagon.
Game Breakdown
Developed by: Retro Studios, Inc.
Published by: Nintendo
Price: $49.99
Release Date: Nov. 19, 2002
Ratings Breakdown
Graphics - 9.3/10 - Excellent character models (especially Samus). Very atmospheric locations. Slightly less texture than there should be on some enemies and up close, things look a little less refined. Little subtle graphical animations make it look so realistic. You'll think you're Samus! Progressive scan compatible.
Sound - 9.3/10 - Tunes aren't exactly catchy, but fit in very well with the game. Sound effects are great. DPLII action!
Gameplay - 9.0/10 - Incredibly fun, though there's a lot of text to go through and searching, exploring, etc. No exactly an action game. Definitely leaning on the adventure side. Controls take a bit of time to get down, but are definitely very intuitive and spot-on.
Replay - 9.6/10 - Unlockable secrets. Connectivity with GBA's Metroid Fusion. Optional weapons to get, lots of stuff to scan. PLUS you get the original Metroid in all it's 8-bit glory if you beat Prime and connect with Fusion. This is what boosts the score up. Without that, I'd give it a 9.0, but it's still a long adventure.
Overall - 9.6/10 - I actually had more fun playing SFA, so why the higher score here? Well, I guess cuz this game is so refined and original that I have to give it a better overall score. This is THE MOST well thought out game ever created. Period.
Resident Evil 0 Review
11/18/2002
Resident Evil 0 not only marks the first new RE in quite a while, but is also the first original RE to hit a Nintendo console. Previously, the N64 got a port of RE2, and earlier this year, the GCN got a brilliant remake of the original Resident Evil. Both were fantastic. Resident Evil 0 follows in the classic tradition of all other RE games (except the funked out Gun Survivor games) and pits two characters against hordes of zombies, overgrown bugs, and other such nasties. Except this time, a couple things have changed. Most noticeably the ability to control both characters at the same time and the ability to switch to either on the fly. Also, gone are the magical item boxes and you can now drop your items anywhere you want. Do these additions make this RE the best yet? Read on to find out!
Story
Resident Evil 0 takes place before any other RE. It's essentially the story of Rebecca Chambers from S.T.A.R.S Bravo team. You know... the team that disappeared in and Alpha team was sent in to investigate in the original RE. The game starts with Bravo team flying of Raccoon forest much like in the first RE, but something happens and their engine blows. They are forced to land, and discover an upturned military vehicle with it's passengers dead. Things lead the S.T.A.R.S to believe a man named Billy Coen is responsible and go searching for them. You take the role of Rebecca Chambers, who after a while, finds Billy. After a short game of cops and robbers with Rebecca constantly trying to arrest Billy, they realize that they must team up together in order to get out of this zombie infested mess alive. The game takes you through many locations, some which you will recognize from past Resident Evils as Rebecca and Billy try to find out what's going on.
Graphics
As you should know by now, Resident Evil 0's graphics are powered by the same technology of the RE remake. In other words, the graphics are jaw-dropping. The pre-rendered backgrounds look gorgeous and sometimes are almost photo realistic. Check out the water in the pond outside of the church, or when you crawl on top of the train, look at the trees wooshing by you as the rain pours relentlessly at your face. It all looks so amazing. The backgrounds in the train are especially impressive. You can see lights periodically shine through windows as the train passes them and even though they are pre-rendered, you can see things like bottles and water roll about the inside of the train, affected by it's movements. The characters and monsters also look great. Rebecca, Billy, the zombies, and the rest of the RE monsters all look better than they ever have. For example, you can see the shine on the centipede boss's shell. There are also some small animations that I love. For instance when Rebecca can't push something, she gives it a try, then gives up and slaps the box she was trying to push. Or when you leave Billy idle long enough, he raises his hand and looks at the dangling handcuff from his wrist. It's great. I honestly can't find anything wrong with the graphics here. They're even better than the remake's graphics, which I didn't think was possible. The brief pauses between scene transitions in in-game cutscenes are gone, which is great news since they were kind of annoying in the first game. There are also a lot more CGs in this game than the last one and they look a bit sharper than the ones in the remake, but still lose out to CGs in games like FFX for the PS2.
Sound
As usual, Resident Evil 0 sports excellent sound effects. Each enemy has a particular sound, so even if you can't see them, you know what's coming. From the dragging, moaning zombies, to the soft thumps of the paws of the mutant monkeys hitting the floor, it's all there. The voice acting is also a notch above the rest of the Resident Evils. At least the two main characters are. Billy and Rebecca's voice actors do a pretty good job and you can see it's come a long way from the PS original's "master of unlocking" bit. When they talk to each other, it really sounds like a conversation. The rest of the VAs are okay. Most of the extra side characters sound a bit bad, but nothing that'll make you mute the game. The music (or lack thereof) is also great. Once again, Capcom plays on your fears by having no music in many parts. All you'll hear are the groans of machines in the background or the moans of zombies. And sometimes, you'll hear nothing at all, which is when things get pretty spooky. The upbeat, 'get the hell outta there' music is also great. No DPLII, though, which this game could REALLY benefit from.
Gameplay
Okay, so the graphics are great and the sound is good, but what about the game itself? Well, it shouldn't be too surprising that it you've played and enjoyed any other Resident Evil (again, barring the Gun Survivors), you're gonna like this one. 0 basically takes the classic RE formula and gives it a fresh new twist with the ability to switch between Rebecca and Billy on the fly as well as work together for the majority of the game. When the two are together, it works a lot like when Leon and Ada were together in Resident Evil 2. Your partner will attack zombies when the are around, though you can set them to be idle if you want. You can also set whether or not you want your partner to follow you around. It's best to have both partners together whenever possible, but there are times when they are forced to separate. When this happens both characters need to work together to regroup. These are the times that 0 really shines. It's great fun switching back and forth from one character to the other, completing tasks so the other character can do something. I just wish Capcom had done something to warn you that you were about to be separated at times. For example, there was a time when I used Rebecca to grappline hook up a hole, not knowing we would be separted for so long. So I just gave her some bullets, a handgun and an herb. But I ended up having to beat tons of zombies as well as try to outrun 2 hunters and grab items with them breathing down my next. There are parts where when the characters are separated, they can use a machine to transport items to each other, but I couldn't transport a shotgun to Rebecca in this case because the item was too large. So just be careful when you think your characters will be separated.
Both characters have special abilities, so you need to judge which character would be best for each situation. Billy is a lot tougher than Rebecca and can take a lot more hits. He can also push heavier objects. Rebecca can combine herbs and has a mixing set which becomes important later in the game. When they are close together, you can exchange items with each other. Though it sounds and plays pretty well, I think Billy is slightly overpowered. He can withstand tons of hits and stay in fine condition. Rebecca on the other hand, is totally weak. One chomp from a zombie can turn her from fine to caution. This is why you want the two to be together at all times. Also, you're going to have to do a lot of zombie killing in this game. Unlike other REs where most rooms had 2 or so zombies, it's not uncommon in 0 to have 4 or 5 zombies crowded in a room. It's basically impossible to run around them, so you have to use Rebecca and Billy to mow down through them. Because of this, in the beginning of the game, bullets are very very scarce. It took me a while to realize there was no way I could run through a room full of zombies, so I was running low on bullets and health for the first half. Then, in the second half, bullets and health became plentiful again. It's almost as if Capcom realized they had a really hard game on their hands and added in more items at the end to balance it out.
Another new feature in 0 is the ability to drop items off anywhere you want. Instead of having to run back to an item box whenever you need to pick up a new item and your inventory is full, you can just drop an item and come back for it later. It works pretty well until you amass more weapons and ammo. Every weapon in the game except your handgun and the magnum takes up two slots. Each partner can only hold up to 6 slots of items. I like to always have my handgun and bullets and a strong weapon and bullets with me as well as an herb or healing item. This already takes up 6 slots. While playing, you're going to run out of room in your inventory A LOT. And soon you'll be cursing the new system because you'll have to run all the way back to wherever you left your items to get something. There's even a part where you are forced to leave your items as you travel on to a new location. Capcom was smart about this, however. They knew players would be leaving things such as ink ribbons behind, so they a few ink ribbons next to almost every typewriter (save point) in the game. All in all, the item dropping system has its ups and downs just like the item box system. But after a little getting used to, I prefer the item dropping system. It requires a bit more strategy to manage your character's items, making it a bit more fun, but also frustrating at times.
Puzzles in RE0 are just about the same caliber as other RE games. You know the drill: find a box, find a key, open the box to get an object that you combine with another object to place in a door to open it. That kind of stuff. There are a few puzzles that will make you scratch your head, though. One is type of math puzzle toward the end of the game where you need to try to supply power to a grid. Another one is where you need to figure out the pecking order of a group of animals. Other than that, though, the puzzles don't require too much thought.
Controls are another thing that stays true to the original game. And to most that's a bad thing. Resident Evil is famous for their clunky control mechanics and many people want them to implement an analog sensitive control style like Devil May Cry or Eternal Darkness. I agree that a control like this would be great, but honestly, these controls aren't too bad. I'm not saying this because I'm used to RE controls because this is the first time I've ever used the classic controls. For the remake, they had a control 'Type C' that mapped movement to the R button. A light press on the button would make the character move forward. Press until it clicks and your character would run. I really like this system because the main thing that makes RE's controls so weird is that pressing 'up' will make your character move forward relative to them, not to the screen. So if your character is facing the screen and you press up, the character will move towards the screen. But after about 10 minutes of playing with these new controls, they started to grow on me. And after about 30 minutes, they felt like second nature. Just give it some time and you'll be okay.
Another thing to note is the difficulty level of this game. It's noticeably shorter than the remake (remake took me about 17 hours to beat, Zero took me about 10), but I think overall, it takes longer. This is because the difficulty level seems to be jacked up. I died countless times and there were a lot of times I was stuck in the same spot for hours because I kept dying and restarting to the same point only to die again. It gets really frustrating. Also, a new monster in Zero is the leech zombie. These things take at least 6 acid rounds to destroy and they basically have no recoil so if you hit them; they just keep coming. You're better off running from them, but there are times where you can't get around them. They always appear in tight corridors or in front of important items, so you need to risk your neck to get them. Capcom obviously did this on purpose to maximize difficulty. But they were also sympathetic and usually the rooms they are in become obsolete one you grab that item. And Capcom also opened up new routes around the monsters once you pass them. Another thing to note, the last boss is not pathetically easy like other last RE bosses. It's actually a little hard to beat since for one thing, you don't have tons and tons of herbs stocked up in your item box when you fight him, and you now need to worry about yourself and your partner. How Capcom implemented teamwork at the final boss was great. I'm not going to spoil it, so you'll need to beat the game yourself!
One thing that really bugged me about this game was that I just wasn't scared of it. Resident Evil is know for it's tense moments where you feel something is going to jump at your out of that window or something is going to fall from the ceiling, making a loud noise and scaring your socks off. This feeling is what I call 'my Biohazard sense tingling'. And I'm sorry to say, but my Biohazard sense rarely tingled in this game. Is it because I've become more attuned to Resident Evil and now know when something's going to happen or is Zero really not as foreboding as the others in the series? It's up to you to decide. But I think it might be a mix of both.
Of course there are a few extras to keep you coming back. Like extra costumes and a mini game. I'm sure there are more too, I just haven't gotten them yet.
Conclusion
Basically it all boils down the the same old Resident Evil formula. If you enjoyed previous outing, you're going to enjoy this one. Zero injects enough things to keep it fresh and makes it feel new, though it really isn't. The character zapping system is a great innovation, though it doesn't really change anything dramatically. Only when the two get separated do things get really interesting. Zero's a bit harder than any other RE I've ever played, but that's okay. It's not overly difficult. I actually started playing on easy, but quit about 30 minutes in because it was way too easy. Normal is the way to go. Dropping items is a cool new feature, though it comes with it's own problems and annoyances. Also, I just wasn't as scared here than I was at other RE games. Zero has it's share of problems but despite them, it still delivers a bunch of fun and an intriguing storyline. I can't wait for Resident Evil 4 because it's going to be a complete overhaul...or so Capcom says. We'll have to wait and see.
Game Breakdown
Developed by: Capcom
Published by: Capcom
Price: $49.99
Release Date: Nov. 12, 2002
Ratings Breakdown
Graphics - 9.7/10 - Beautiful beauty. In-game models look almost CG quality. The CGs look a bit better than the first game, but still a little grainy.
Sound - 8.5/10 - Very atmospheric sounds and music. Could have totally benefit from DPLII, but it's missing.
Gameplay - 8.3/10 - Same old RE formula. Character zapping adds a welcome shift as well as item dropping. Nothing really changed, though. Relatively less scary than any other RE I've played. Controls a bit clunky at first, but you get used to them.
Replay - 6.7/10 - About 10 hours on normal. Leech Hunter mini game, extra costumes and more keep you coming back once in a while. Only one main game, though.
Overall - 8.6/10 - If you hate RE, stay away. Otherwise, come and have a good time!
Picture Gallery
Resident Evil 0 Preview
11/13/2002
Finally got to sink my teeth in RE0. I gotta say, it's great. The ability to control both Rebecca and Billy is a great addition to the classic RE gameplay. Though it doesn't really change it in any major ways, it gives it a little twist that keeps it fresh and fun. Also, the ability to drop items wherever you want comes in handy when you need to get that item, but can't pick it up. Item management between the two characters is pretty important since you no longer have the magic boxes to transport your items to you. I'm looking forward to see if it becomes a drag to run all the way back to where you left that ink ribbon or that first aid spray. I hope it doesn't. One thing to note, though, is that Control Type C from the RE remake is gone. Type C was the one where pressing R would make your character move. Pressing lightly would make him/her walk and pressing it hard would make him/her run. Now, the classically weird RE controls are back. Though they're not as bad as everyone says. I'm a big RE fan, but I've never played an RE using the classic controls. Since I only have Nintendo systems to start with, my first RE outing was RE2 for N64 where they had an option to move your character whichever way your point the stick. Instead of the classic 'up goes forward' it was up goes up, left goes left, etc. And pressing back would just make your character automatically turn around and start running in the opposite direction. The next RE game I played was the RE remake for GCN where I used Type C, mapping movement to the R button and the analog the change direction. It was easy to get used to. This is the first time I've used classic controls. It took about 10 minutes for me to get the feel of it, and about 30 for me it to grow on me. Now it feels pretty natural.
One thing to note. No matter how scared you are, do NOT play this game on easy. It is WAY too easy. In ten minutes, I had amassed more than 100 bullets, gotten mauled by 2 dogs, and bitten by a zombie, and was still in fine condition. And this is with Rebecca, the weaker of the two. Billy was practically invincible. It's just no fun cuz you're not scared for your life, running low on ammo and health. I restarted after about 30 minutes cuz it was too easy.
So far I've played about 1 or 2 hours. And I love it. It's not totally different from any other RE, which is fine by me since I love the RE formula. The controls will take getting used to, but it'll be alright. So far there are a few things you'll notice if you've gone on other RE outings. Like locations you'll recognize, characters, and stuff like that. Looks like RE0 is another winning addition to the RE family. Look for a full review in the coming weeks.
Final Fantasy X-2 Info
11/01/2002
Hey there. I came across some more info about the sequel to Final Fantasy X. The name is officially Final Fantasy X-2. There have been rumors of a 'Yuna Version' and a 'Rikku Version', but Square has said there will be only one version of the game. An official website has been put up for the game. It is: http://www.playonline.com/ffx2/index.html. Go check it out. It's only in Japanese for now, but there's some cool pics and stuff there. I got this info from Eyes on Final Fantasy
Game Review:
StarFox Adventures
9/26/2002
After what feels like a bajillion years in development, StarFox Adventures is finally here. Was it worth the wait? Uhh... DUH! YES! StarFox Adventures was born as a game called Dinosaur Planet originally for the N64. It had totally original characters. Then the StarFox license was suddenly dropped on it and it became StarFox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet. At the end, they got rid the Dinosaur Planet part and what we got is the final product: StarFox Adventures.
SFA is no ordinary StarFox. In fact, it is anything but. StarFox games are known for their vehicle driven shooting. In SFA, you rarely spend any time in a vehicle. And the flying missions are pretty much an afterthought to the main game, but that's okay since the main game is an absolute gem.
In SFA, you play mainly as the leader of the StarFox team, Fox McCloud. It's been 8 years since the defeat of Andross in StarFox 64 and a lot of things have changed. The SF team isn't in demand anymore (presumably cuz they did too good a job of cleaning up the universe. How's that for irony?). Since they are mercenaries, without any jobs, they have no income to keep their high tech stuff in good order. You can tell because the Arwins and Great Fox are no longer shiny like in SF64, but are dirty (albeit very cool looking) much like the ships in Star Wars. Falco has left the team in search of some adventures (too bad he missed out on this one!), Peppy has retired and Slippy has decided to get out of the Arwing and sit back in Research and Development. Things are looking pretty boring when suddenly General Pepper calls them and tells them of Dinosaur Planet which has been invaded by the evil General Scales and managed to literally break the planet apart. It's up the Fox to put it back together. And with that, SFA begins.
Right when you start playing, the game feels very VERY familiar. And for a good reason. The game engine feels like a rip off of the N64 Zeldas. Heck, Fox even holds up items he finds like Link did in Ocarina of Time. The similarities are endless. But hey, I'm not complaining because the Zelda engines were, in my opinion, the best 3D adventure engines in the history of video games. And it works just as well in SFA. The only mind boggling thing left out was the thing that made Zelda's engine so awesome: the Z-targeting. In SFA, Fox will automatically lock onto an enemy when his staff is out. The good thing is that you can break right out of a lock it you don't want to fight by pressing B. So it's really no big deal. This system works extremely well in SFA, so I'm not gonna complain about it. On complaint I do have with the otherwise great engine is that you cannot lock onto all enemies. This is especially annoying with flying enemies because you have to manually aim upwards to hit them.
The fighting in SFA looks extremely cool, but at heart is very simplistic. All you do is hammer the A button while rotating the analog stick in various directions and Fox will bust out a cool combo. There are about 3 or 4 different combos I found and they all do about the same amount of damage. They really are just for looks. I wish they would let Fox learn some new combos as he went along, but it's alright as it is. This is because the fighting is only second to the main adventure and puzzles.
The puzzles in Fox are actually not too hard to figure out. But some are actually pain to accomplish. And some puzzles, you are given no hints as to what to do. Actually, there is only one puzzle like that. I was lucky to solve it because I got no help in what to do. I just guessed. But the rest is very Zelda-like. Lighting torches, pushing blocks, hitting switches, finding items. It's all there. If you ever get stuck, just call Slippy and he'll basically tell you what to do.
One big gameplay element is your buddy Tricky. Fox can tell him to stay, search from items, and breath fire, which are all essential to your missions. And he's kind of fun to have along to play catch with when you're bored. Heh.
One thing about the gameplay is that the Arwing missions seem really tacked on. It's like they just threw em in to keep the game StarFox-y, which is okay, I guess, but I wish they made em better than 'Fly through x gold rings to open the force field!'. Also, though the end of the game was great in it's own right, I was still kind of let down. But I was also greatly pleased. Kinda strange to explain. You'll find out when you get there.
Okay, so the gameplay rocks. What about the other stuff? Heh. You shouldn't have to ask. The graphics are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! There were three things that really impressed me.
1) The fur on the animals. I have no idea how Rare achieved this effect (nor would I understand it if I did), but it truly looks amazing. Fox is fuzzy where's he's supposed to be fuzzy and felt-y where he's supposed to be felt-y (like his ears). At the risk of sounding totally wierd, I'm gonna say that Fox is sooooo cute! I officially declare Fox as the first video game character I want as a pet. I just felt like patting him on the head and scratching his ears while I was playing. No joke.
2) The water. The water in this game looks awesome. It looks beautiful! I can't describe it. It just so.... liquid-y! Even my roommate, who think GameCube sucks, said that he thought the water looked fantastic. How about that? Haha. One thing about the water, though, is that unlike Mario Sunshine, it doesn't seem to refract images, but that's okay. It still looks great on it's own.
3) The expressions. Yes, Fox is a fox, but he really displays emotions like a person. Rare really went all out here. Each and every expression of all the main characters is great. I LOVE the look on Fox's face when he gets a new item. From happiness, to impatience, the surprise, it's all there! I love it!
Other things to looks out for are subtleties. Fox's ears waving in the wind, his tail swishing around. They all look wonderful. The environment effects are great as well. Day turns into night and back into day. It rains, it snows. When it's hot, you can feel it. At Volcano Force Point, it just looks HOT!
A few complaints about the graphics though (sorry, it's not perfect). The main thing is that there are some shadows that look really jaggy. There are only a few of them, but when I see them, they're really distracting since everything else looks so smooth. It was most annoying when there was such a shadow on a poss. It looked like a bunch of dark squares all over him. Annoying indeed.
Onto the sound. Most of the game is voice acted, so how's it sound? Thankfully, it's no House of the Dead, but it's also no Metal Gear Solid. I'd rank it around the same quality of Final Fantasy X's voice acting. Which means it isn't the best but it sure isn't the worst. You won't wince as you hear them speaking. It sounds pretty natural, actually.
The music is also pretty good. It's not the best, but the tunes are quite catchy. I especially like the song that plays when you pause the game. I know, sounds wierd, but that song is really good! Also, the ever present StarFox theme sounds great as well.
Alright. I've said all I have to say about this game. If you're looking for a great adventure game to keep you busy until Metroid Prime, this is it. If you liked the N64 Zeldas, you have absolutely no reason NOT to get this game. Don't brush it off because it's a Zelda clone. SFA is great in it's own right. In fact, it's my favorite game on the GC. But don't expect it to be a huge, epic quest like Zelda, because you can beat it in about 20 - 25 hours, but you sure are going to enjoy it while you're doing so. The only reason you should even consider not getting this game is if you hate 3D adventures or are expecting this game to be a shooter like the previous StarFox games. Other than that, go get it already! It's sad because Rare's last (and first) game for the GameCube is just an example of what kind of games us Nintendo fans are going to miss out on and what kind of quality titles the XBox will get to become stronger than Nintendo. I hope the Big N knew what they were doing when they let Rare go.
StarFox Adventures Breakdown
Developed by: Rare
Published by: Nintendo
Price: $49.99
Release Date: Sept 23, 2002
Rating Breakdown
Graphics - 9.5/10 - The FUR! The WATER! It all looks so gooooood! Bright, vivid colors, beautiful environments, etc. The most beautiful game ever! Some blocky shadows keep it from a 10.
Sound - 8/10 - Above average voice acting, and catchy tunes. Good stuff.
Gameplay - 9/10 - Excellent. If you liked Zelda, you will love SFA. Arwing missions are a bit tacky.
Replay - 7/10 - It's a bit adventure, but not huge. A 25 hours quest will keep you busy. Cheat tokens are there to get you to come back. You'll want to pop this one back in every couple years to remind yourself of this gem, but nothing to keep you continuously playing.
Overall - 9.5/10 - Awesome game. Best on the GameCube thus far. You'd be cheating yourself if you didn't get it. And for goodness sake! Don't boycott it just because MS bought Rare! You'd only be hurting Nintendo!
Picture Gallery (click to enlarge)
Final Fantasy X: Another Lord
9/26/2002
For those of you who don't know, in Japan they released a new version of FFX called FFX: International. With it came a DVD with extra features including a new epilogue. The epilogue was very open ended in felt like it led into a sequel. Well, that sequel is pretty much official now. The sequel will be called Final Fantasy X: Another Lord. At the Tokyo Game Show, promotional posters were shown of Yuna in new garb. I think it is scheduled to be released in Japan at the end of this year. No news on localization, but they BETTER!
I got this info from www.eyesonff.com
Here's the poster.
It's about the third or fourth post down in an attachment. You can also read around the boards for a bit more news and opinions from gamers.
Nintendo Loses Rare
9/19/2002
Ummm... yea. To Microsoft. Well, it wasn't really a 'loss' cuz Nintendo didn't really want em. They said that Rare wasn't worth it financially cuz they were only making a small percentage of profit for Big N. Me sad. Me mad. SAAADD!!! Oh, and this is NOT a rumor. It is true. I got it from various sources like IGN, Gamespot, and a couple magazines as well.
Nintendo Gamecube Price Drop!
Hey. I came upon this little bit of info today at IGN. Looks like Nintendo decided to follow suit as Sony and Microsoft both dropped the prices of their systems. PS2 and X-box both went down $100 so they are now $199.99 (the price the Gamecube used to be at), and the PSone is only $50! Wow! One big thing the GC had going for it was it's low low price in comparison to the competition. It was a whole $100 cheaper. But with the recent drop of the other big boys' prices, I guess Nintendo decided to play it safe and drop their system $50 so now it's $149.99. An excellent deal, if I may say so myself. I'm glad I decided to wait to get a GC. Now there's nothing holding me back. I think I should go get one this weekend! And with the extra $50 saved, I could get another controller or something! Awesome! To read the IGN story I got this at, go here.
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