Ben Jacobs

Clubhouse Games

October 20, 2006

About time, is really all I can say. This is the multiplayer game that I have been waiting for on the Nintendo DS. It offers dozens of simple, fun games that not only can be played with single card wireless, but over WiFi. From chess to blackjack to darts, [i]Clubhouse Games[/i] has a little something for everyone.

Every single game on this card plays exactly like you think it would, employing the touch screen for every action. At first, the names of some of the games are a little disconcerting. What I always called ‘Speed’ is called ‘Spit’ here and there are many other examples. Thankfully, there is Stamp mode, which is what the single player game is mostly made up of. You play through every game in the Clubhouse, getting a feel for them all.

Don’t know how to play Rummy? No problem! Every game has its rules extensively written out in a very useful help system. Every game, even the more obscure ones, can be puzzled out via the rules system. Thankfully, every interface in [i]Clubhouse Games[/i] works together to create a cohesive system. When you are reading the rules, the game will tell you if it is your turn. This becomes especially useful when you are chatting. Yes, [i]Clubhouse Games[/i] has in-game pictochat. While you are writing to your friends, it will inform you when you need to make a move. It all comes together to be both enjoyable and easy to use.

All of these features are present in [i]Clubhouse Games[/i]’ robust online mode. Wifi play is supported in over 30 of the games present. They also play exactly like they do in local wireless or single player mode. Unfortunately, you can’t pictochat with strangers, just people on your friend list. Also, each game has its own lobby, so finding a game in some of the more unpopular offerings is a little difficult. Texas Hold Em always has competition going, though.

Some of the offerings in [i]Clubhouse Games[/i] are a little dry, however. The version of Battleship is a little broken. Texas Hold Em lacks an “All-In” feature. Billiards is painful to play and almost embarassing. There are plenty of little gripes to be made about all the games in this package, but for $30 dollars, you are getting a lot of gameplay. The interfaces are clean, and multiplayer is an absolute blast. Hell, my mom steals my DS now to play Solitaire. This game is sure to be very popular with anyone who just wants something simple that they know how to play.

Metroid Prime Hunters

August 31, 2006

DS / Reviews / by Ben Jacobs /

The handheld first person shooter market is decidedly thin. Unless you’re up for a game of [i]SOCOM[/i] with one analog ‘stick’ or are hankering for a 16 player game of [i]Faceball[/i], you’re going to come up short. Nintendo thinks they have found the answer to all of your FPS woes by implementing a touch-screen interface on its wildly popular handheld. The good news is that it absolutely works. The bad news is that it will take you about an hour to realize that.

Most of you who have a DS probably got a demo of this game with it, and the premise remains the same. There are several control options for both right handed people and southpaws. You can use the touch screen pen, the thumb strap, or a strangely intuitive setting that uses only the buttons. For the true experience, you definitely need to play this game with the thumb strap; the problem is that that peripheral no longer comes with your DS. Beat up your brother and steal his DS Phat thumb strap if you have to because it truly makes this game. Find a comfortable way of holding the system, possibly propped up on your leg, and within an hour, it feels as comfortable and accurate as a Keyboard and Mouse combination.

You are going to need that accuracy because this game is hard. The enemy hunters you meet in the Adventure mode are going to really test your skills. The single player mode is surprisingly robust, considering the focus on multiplayer. You travel to a variety of planets, battling enemies and other [i]Hunters[/i] in your search for wildly hard-to-find alien artifacts. The story is weak, but many of the weapons and abilities from the Gamecube releases find their way to the DS, including the Scan-Visor. There is a story to be found in this game, just like in Prime 1 and 2, if you want to look for it.

The graphics manage to push a lot of detail out of the Dual-Screened-Handheld-That-Could. The environments are large and varied. One minute you are in a space ship, the next on a fiery planet. The particle effects manage to make the game look a lot prettier, while never slowing it down. In fact, the game runs at a smooth frame rate all of the time. The Metroid series has always been known for very ambient but good music, and [i]Hunters[/i] delivers in this aspect as well. You’ll notice a lot of familiar themes from the other Prime games.

And then there was Multiplayer. The multiplayer options in this game are just too many to name. It features a slew of characters to choose from, which you must unlock in single player mode before you can use them. Every character has their own ‘morph-ball’ mode, which is distinct for each character. They provide the range of attacks that you would expect from any PC first person shooter. The sniper is a personal favorite. The modes run from standard death match to King of the Hill style. [i]Hunters[/i] supports Wifi-connection, and it is always pretty easy to get a game going. Beware, however, because the online mode is very competitive, and you would be better off to bust your chops in single player first anyway.

[i]Hunters[/i] isn’t just a DS version of [i]Metroid Prime[/i]. It manages to pack a single player campaign that, while it isn’t on the level with the Gamecube releases, is still a very strong product. The multiplayer is really where the meat of this game is, and if you have friends with DSes, there are enough options to keep you busy for months. It might feel a little awkward at first, but give the controls an hour and you will be happy with the result. I’ll see you online! Go easy on me…

New Super Mario Bros

May 29, 2006

DS / Reviews / by Ben Jacobs /

Nintendo fans have been waiting for so long for a new side scrolling Mario game that they’d probably take anything at this point. However, the fine folks at Nintendo have seen fit to not only deliver a new proper [i]Super Mario Bros[/i] game, they delivered one that is absolutely amazing. The game screams old school from its 2D gameplay to its multitude of throwbacks to the Marios of yesteryear. This game is easily one of the best the DS has seen, and one of the most enjoyable handheld titles in years.

So what is [i]New Super Mario Bros[/i]? It’s a whole bunch of what’s old with a pinch of the new. You take your classic [i]Super Mario[/i] gameplay with elements from every iteration of the series and add a few new tricks. You got your running, your jumping, and your fireflowers. Mario also learned a whole bunch of new skills while in the third dimension. Now you can jump off of walls, butt-stomp, and even do the triple jumps from [i]Mario 64[/i] and [i]Sunshine[/i]. These new elements blend seamlessly with the old. On top of the new moves, there are a few new items too; the ability to turn super small, super huge, as well as become a Mario-Troopa as it were with a shell of your own blend just as well as the new moves.

It is this blending that makes the game truly a delight. The 3D graphics don’t look out of place at all, and allow Mario to be a lot more expressive in his movements than when he was 2D. The game is simply a delight to look upon with the controls being spot-on. I’ve heard a lot of mention of Mario being too ‘floaty’ in this iteration, but I played all the previous Mario games just to check, and the difference is not even worth noting. Mario moves with a weight to him, which is exactly how the control has always been and should always remain.

The level design in previous Mario games was an absolute joy. Everything was deliberate, with no cheap tricks to try to throw you off. It is in this way that [i]New Super Mario Bros[/i]. is a breath of fresh air. After playing [i]NSMB[/i], I realized how spoiled we were by the Mario games. Coins aren’t hidden in out of the way places where you have to check every nook and cranny. No, there’s a deliberate flow to each level. If you’re a clever gamer, you’ll see the way to go immediately. The levels are also highly varied. There are periods of the game where you get a new type of enemy in every level. The designs go from absolutely clever to downright difficult and each are a joy to play.

You might be concerned with difficulty and I can say with a level of certainty that [i]New Super Mario Bros[/i]. is exactly on par difficulty-wise to the other games in the series. You will die; A lot. But you will probably never run out of lives. The game is very generous with lives. This is not a change to the formula, nor is it a bad thing. The challenge lies in figuring out how to beat levels, not having to repeat section you’ve already beaten.

With brilliant graphics, gameplay, and level design, [i]New Super Mario Bros[/i]. drops a gigantic POW on the handheld gaming world. The issues with it are small. The save system is sometimes inconvenient as you can’t save whenever you want but only at certain check points like opening a coin-path or beating a castle, but was never an issue when I played through. The DS’ sleep mode comes into play here. The DS’ other features are used very sparingly. You get a nice progress bar to tell you how far you are in a level and you can use the touch screen to drop a stored item onto Mario. These gripes are very very minor and should not stop every single human being from playing this game. It is an instant classic and no gamer should be without [i]New Super Mario Bros[/i].

Super Smash Brothers Wii Announced!

May 10, 2006

News / by Ben Jacobs /

The internet is being flooded with news of the new Smash Brothers game, entitled “Brawl”, for Wii. It won’t be a launch game, but it includes a special guest character: Solid Snake. Also, it features Pit, of Kid Icarus fame!

Source: [url=http://revolution.ign.com/articles/707/707504p1.html]IGN[/url]

Fable: The Lost Chapters

February 26, 2006

PC / Reviews / by Ben Jacobs /

Let’s get this out of the way first: [i]Fable[/i] is a game directed by Peter Molyneux. He promised all kinds of cool things that did not end up in the final release. Boo hoo. Get over it. Now, with all of that over and done with, what we have is one of the PC’s best action RPGs in a long time. If you played the original Xbox version of [i]Fable[/i], you’re not going to see very much that is new. There are a few notable editions, but [i]The Lost Chapters[/i] is the same game you played on the Xbox a year ago. Now, PC players can join in on the fun.

PC gamers do not get to enjoy the hack-and-slash games that their console brethren get to very often. The click-fest genre has been quite dry since [i]Diablo II[/i], so it turns out that [i]Fable[/i] is a very welcome addition the PC library. The core gameplay of [i]Fable[/i] is what you would expect. You click with the mouse, and as a result, things die. There are many ways to cause this death. Huge swords, accurate long bows and powerful magical spells round off your character’s abilities. Most likely, you will pick one of these specialties and stick with it for the majority of the game, as specialization is certainly the way to success.

The combat system is not very robust, even given the large array of abilities you can pick from. You will most likely pick one of the three and use it almost exclusively. Melee fighters have a definite advantage over the magic users and archers. They are capable of building up much larger combos much quicker and are generally more fun to play. The gameplay when the player is utilizing magic or arrows requires a lot of running away, which unfortunately causes a lot of difficulty because of the game’s seemingly broken lock-on system. (Not the only thing that the game borrows from the [i]Zelda[/i] series, the system for locking onto characters just simply does not work very well.) You will lock onto one character and then be harried from the back, and there is no easy way to switch away from the character that you are targeting to another one quick enough. Combat forms the bulk of [i]Fable[/i]’s gameplay, and as a whole, it is satisfying.

If [i]Fable[/i] does not shine in an amazing combat system, what does it do well? The main draw of [i]Fable[/i] over another game is the rich world in which you will be traveling. As a young hero in a world of competing heroes and lesser folk, you will have to earn your mettle with gradually more difficult missions. Through the use of a hub guild, the player will go on quests. Completing quests awards experience points, money and prestige. The experience points can be put into learning new magical spells, toughening up your character or making him more agile. The game does not explicitly have classes, but there are three categories for growth which epitomize the classes of Fighter, Thief and Magic User. The money can be used to buy new weapons, gifts for the ladies and even a few houses. Earning prestige will make your character more memorable. Crowds will cheer for popular heroes as they pass, and grateful women will throw themselves at you. Prestige also earns you access to more advanced quests.

It is this interaction with the people around you that makes the game at once a great victory and a terrible tragedy. The groundwork is clearly here for a more advanced game system, with more clear consequences for good and evil actions, but the game does not really tackle these subjects. Your actions have clear results. Guards will try to stop you from committing crimes, and killing indiscriminately will affect an alignment stat. After many hours with [i]Fable[/i], the interaction with NPCs becomes surprisingly shallow. You can make friends, fall in love, get married and perform quests for people, but there isn’t a lot to it beyond that. The game is thankfully short in this regard. Just as you start to bore with the NPC interactions, the game is over.

Aesthetically, [i]Fable[/i] really works. The graphics look beautifulA

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