November 2005

Sound Off Vol. 4: The Next Generation Online

November 8, 2005

Features / Opinion / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

I think it is safe to say that competition in the console world is here to stay. With things really starting to heat up for the next generation between Microsoft and Sony, the mudslinging is only going to get worse and worse. We are now a mere two weeks away from the launch of the Xbox 360. Microsoft has been getting everything ready to relaunch Xbox Live to take advantage of all the new bells and whistles they have been working. It is sure to be quite an improvement.

With the undoubted success of Xbox Live, one has to wonder what Sony’s plans are for the PS3 in terms of online gaming. Actually, we don’t really have to wonder because last week Sony [url=http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/11/02/186220.shtml?tid=230&tid=233&tid=10]announced[/url] that they are not implementing a central service for online gaming for the PS3. Say what? What that means for Playstation diehards is that they will face the same challenges for online gaming that they did this time around. There is no doubt that the concept of an open architecture could potentially produce great things, but the fact remains that Live works and is continuing to work.

Things only get stranger when you consider that the Sony execs seem to be confident that the PS3 will be the center of the digital home when it is released. How exactly do they plan to accomplish that with a device that has no central service to connect to? I sincerely hope that they don’t plan on trying to leverage the UMD format on top of pushing Blu-Ray.

Even better is the fact that Nintendo has announced a large-scale WiFi network for online gaming between DS owners. Nintendo is typically very reserved in rolling out technology that may detract from a true gaming experience, and here they are walking right past Sony in the online gaming arena.

Now I realize that an open architecture does work to some extent. For example, [i]Socom[/i] has been hugely successful in the online arena with [i]Socom 3[/i] hitting record numbers of gamers. The problem is those records aren’t even in the same league as the numbers of people playing on Live at any given time. With Live morphing into a central hub of communication, it seems like Sony would rush to create a revenue stream with endless possibilities. They aren’t, however, and nobody seems to understand why.

With the Xbox 360-packed with PC integration and a service backing it as great as Live-coming out an entire year before the PS3, does the PS3 even stand a chance? I hope it does. Competition is good for the consumers, but I have a feeling that Sony is about to get a taste of the medicine they dished out to Nintendo when the Playstation debuted. For now, I guess we will wait and see if Sony follows the path that Microsoft is carving, or if they decide to go their own way and get burned.

DK: King of Swing

November 8, 2005

Game Boy Advance / Reviews / by Chris Rasco Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/dkkingofswing/cover.jpg[/floatleft]While many would say that Nintendo is king of gimmicks, I would maintain that they are one of the few companies developing truly unique games. [i]Donkey Kong: King of Swing[/i] is the newest GBA game in a franchise that has very old roots. Nintendo uses this franchise yet again to bring a fresh type of gameplay to the GBA.

[i]King of Swing[/i] is not like any other [i]Donkey Kong[/i] game you have played before. Instead of developing yet another [i]Donkey Kong[/i] platformer (and why would they with the [i]DKC3[/i] release right on the heels of [i]King of Swing[/i]), Nintendo based this game on Donkey Kong’s often overlooked ability to swing.

Everyone’s favorite evil gator K. Rool has stolen the medals for the Jungle Jam festival, and it is up to you to swing your way through each of the levels and recover the medals while avoiding enemies and using only an arsenal of swinging methods to defeat others.

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/dkkingofswing/ss03_thumb.jpg[/floatright]The real unique part of this game is that you use the L and R buttons almost exclusively to control Donkey Kong. From the ground, pressing both shoulder buttons will make you jump. Once in the air, you will use the L and R buttons to grab onto various pegs and other mechanisms. Pressing either of the shoulder buttons while over a peg will cause Donkey Kong to grab the peg. Grabbing one peg will allow Donkey Kong to swing in a circle, while grabbing two pegs will stop your movement. There is a very slight learning curve to get the hang of swinging through the levels. Holding down both shoulder buttons will also allow you to charge and do a more powerful jump.

As you play through adventure mode, you will collect bananas which will become an integral part of your survival during some of the more difficult levels. Pressing B will dock you 10 bananas and restore one of your life hearts. Pressing A will make your character ‘Go Bananas,’ which is basically just invincibility (that costs you 20 bananas). As you travel through the levels, you should also be on the lookout for various items such as medals and diamonds.

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/dkkingofswing/ss06_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]In addition to adventure mode, there is also single and multiplayer Jungle Jam, which are various types of races that pit you against the CPU or a number of your friends. You also have the option to play as various other members of the Kong family such as Funky, Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, and Wrinkly Kong.

[i]King of Swing[/i] really is a unique game that will keep you entertained in short bursts while on the go. It doesn’t have awesome graphics or terrific music, and it may even lack a ton of variety, but it’s fun for the occasional game. If you’re looking for something to play on short trips, then be sure to give [i]Donkey Kong: King of Swing[/i] a look, but don’t expect a deep story or a ton of variety.

Romancing SaGa

November 8, 2005

PlayStation 2 / Reviews / by Mike Carabajal Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/romancingsaga/cover.jpg[/floatleft]Role-playing games: probably the most protected genre to video game fans. Usually, these games come in series, so when you change something, the gaming community goes nuts (see [i]Final Fantasy[/i] magic systems). Well, of course, the big dogs on campus are Square Enix-if you think RPG, you think Square Enix. It’s that simple.

Now, the [i]Saga[/i] series goes back a ways, though I’m not too familiar with it. I do know that previous incarnations did not get the best of reviews, and as I have gotten older, I pick and choose my 40+ hour games very carefully. As a big fan of character design, when I saw the art direction in [i]Romancing Saga[/i], it naturally piqued my interest. So it was only a matter of time before I got a hold of the game. When I did, I found a favorable RPG experience.

[heading]’I don’t trust actors'[/heading]

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/romancingsaga/ss03_thumb.jpg[/floatright]It’s funny that the movie [i]Team America[/i] comes to mind when I saw the character design. They look like puppets, mixed with super deformed anime art. It was a weird look, but one that grows on you. The game itself is beautiful. I really fell for the character design itself despite the strange direction it took. However, [i]Romancing Saga[/i] does a great job of immersing you in a world full of dungeons, villages, and big royal cities. Small things like thugs, paupers, and beggars are around the corner in the slums, and of course, the stuck-up type, in the nice part of town. Good detail to the NPCs, most of whom have interesting stuff to say, and you WILL be talking to them a lot.

[heading]OK, kid, just go[/heading]

The strange thing about this game is while it does have a central story arch (which you have to find), the game is pretty freeform. It keeps you on tab, however, so it’s nothing like [i]Morrowind[/i] freeform but pretty loose for an ‘attack, magic, item’ RPG. You choose from the get-go one character to play and then you take on his or her story. You will, of course, run into the other main characters and get to learn some cool backstory on them as they come and go. I love party members, so when I was able to pick up various members (and boot them) from pubs and various places, I was excited. It’s always cool to travel around with a diverse party, and especially one that looks cool. Of course, you can tell the generic characters from the actual real party members-but hey, the more, the merrier.

As far as quests go, you just have to look, ask, and pay attention. Sometimes upon arriving in a town or village, something will trigger; thus you must investigate. Other times, you can pick up jobs from some shady folks or just offer a lending hand. Again, it’s all up to you. You can spend hours just not doing anything in particular, looking about to find what to do. That frustrated me a bit, but when I got on an actual quest, it was dungeon crawling as usual.

[heading]Classes! Battles! Dungeons![/heading]

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/romancingsaga/ss05_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]I love the class system used in [i]Romancing Saga[/i]; you must speak with various mentors in towns to learn new class abilities. Like most RPGs, learning some classes and leveling them up will get you some other classes. So you really get to make your characters personalized. There are a lot of classes as well, so those of you who are particular can really plan ahead. Good stuff here.

The battle system is pretty cut and dry, although each time you use your weapon, it wears. Also, you must save BP in order to perform special attacks (mages, that means you). So you just can’t go out there swinging your best material because you will find yourself fighting with your hands and not being able to do much of anything. Trust me, it happened to me.

Money is a tad bit hard to come by, so you must go searching for chests in various dungeons, forests, and such. You learn proficiencies that can be used outside of battle-these will help you get to places and uncover hidden things. Save your money because these proficiencies are what get you more bank roll.

[heading]Square Enix, baby![/heading]

Yes, I’m a bit biased-so what? Although I can tell it like it is, [i]Romancing Saga[/i] is not the best RPG I have played, but it’s damned good. I found myself at work wondering which class to take and whom to give it to. When a game does that to you, it’s done its job. In a world with a lot of cookie-cutter RPGs, [i]Romancing Saga[/i] is a breath of fresh air. It’s worth a rental if your wary, but a purchase if you’re a fan.

Zatch Bell!: Mamodo Battles

November 8, 2005

PlayStation 2 / Reviews / by Ben Jacobs Make a comment! / Tweet it!

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/zatchbellmb/cover.jpg[/floatleft][i]Zatch Bell!: Mamodo Battles[/i] is not the worst anime-inspired game ever to hit consoles. The Super Nintendo is home to a slew of these. However, recently, the fighting-game genre has seen some high-profile titles based on anime that both perform well as a video game and offer a lot to fans of the anime. The [i]Budokai[/i] series comes to mind. Unfortunately, [i]Zatch Bell[/i] is simply not one of these games.

I am not a [i]Zatch Bell[/i] fan. I have never seen the anime, and frankly, after playing this game I am not sure I ever want to. I gather from the cutscenes that there are puppet thingies involved. Zatch would like to become king of these ‘Mamodo,’ and he needs a human counterpart to help out. There is even some sort of major battle going on to see who gains this Mamodo throne. This plot is thrown around in a story mode that lacks any sort of depth or charm. The cutscenes feel like they were ripped straight out of [i]Fire Emblem[/i] but subtract any interesting plot or genuine feeling. The story mode is extremely confusing. It has you wandering around menus and heading into areas with absolutely no indication of where you are supposed to go or why you are supposed to go there. You will spend a large amount of time selecting a place to go, reading a lame cutscene, and then trying another one until you find a place to fight. Extremely poor.

Speaking of fighting, this is a fighting game. [i]Street Fighter[/i] didn’t have a good story mode either, so why can’t [i]Zatch Bell[/i] still hold up? Unfortunately, the fighting in this game is not the bee’s knees. You control, basically, two characters: a Mamodo and his/her human helper. The puppet people beat the crap out of each other while your human person can cast spells to cause a lot of destruction. That is it. You can punch and you can zap things. There are very few moves to speak of, but [i]Super Smash Brothers[/i] this is not. You will spend half of your time in fights trying to get your character to face the right way, so you might not even notice the lack of a depth in the fighting system. Throw in some blocking and it is back to the old-school fighting days before crazy things like ‘balance’ and ‘combos.’

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/zatchbellmb/ss02_thumb.jpg[/floatright]So this game has to have something good going for it, right? It does. The game looks spectacular. The character models all look like the anime drawings. The attacks are well animated and interesting to look at. There is even a neat soundtrack you can jam to while you hit the attack button for the 1151st time. What the characters may lack in development (it is hard to tell from this game), they make up in personality. Knees shake, expressions are made. The game comes to life. It controls pretty well, too, except when you happen to move the wrong way and start attacking the air. They are responsive at the least.

I think anime fighting games are a great concept. Who doesn’t want to see their favorite characters beat the tar out of each other? If you are a fan of [i]Zatch Bell[/i], wait until this is in the bargain bin. Everyone else should steer clear for good. There are much better fighting games you could be playing.

Man am I behind on news…

November 7, 2005

News / by Mike Carabajal Make a comment! / Tweet it!

Those of you that would care about this probably already know. However it looks like Star Wars Galaxies (damn shame that game sucks) is getting a total reworking. General lack of interest (despite its expansions) has devs rewriting it for a more streamlined game. Supposedly it will be more intuative, you know not the whole grind like MMO’s are known for with marcos and all that other funky MMOy things.

Either way, MMO’s suck. But hey im just one man, with an opinion.

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