Series Review: Crazy Taxi

Game: Crazy Taxi
Console: Sega Dreamcast/Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Hitmaker/Sega (AM3)
Release Date:  24th January 2000

Among the first 6 games I got for my Sega Dreamcast was Crazy Taxi, originally an arcade game brought to Dreamcast a year after its arcade release. After this it was ported to Playstation 2, Gamecube, PC, and later the PS3 and Xbox360. The gameplay revolves around being a taxi driver in a city somewhat similar to San Francisco. Retaining the arcade style gameplay, the player must seek out fares and deliver them to their destination against a time limit, receiving time bonuses and fare bonuses for fast and action packed driving.

Arcade mode features the original map used in the arcade version, which is fairly easy to navigate and learn, Original mode has a different map which is larger and features which are harder to memorize, and Crazy Box mode contains minigames based around driving techniques used in the main game. The first 2 modes can be played with either a time limit which can be replenished as in the arcade, or a fixed time limit which cannot be added to.

Sega were so impressed with the navigation system in Crazy Taxi they actually patented "An arrow in the sky to direct the player", and attempted to sue other companies using the concept. Having said that, gameplay is fast paced and fun, and the arrow does help (most of the time) to give a simple direction for the player to aim for, in their quest to reach the destination as fast as possible. The controls work well most of the time, a combination of the right trigger and B button being used to boost, alongside a couple of other button combinations for other techniques.

The physics of the game can be a little surprising at times, other cars and walls making your taxi shoot off quickly in different directions, but its something you get used to and can avoid with skilled play. In Original mode, the arrow is far less useful, and the destinations are in stranger places which are more difficult to find. It's a nice change-up once you've mastered Arcade mode's map, however I usually find myself pulled back to Arcade mode pretty quickly.

Crazy Box mode has a lot of good ideas for minigames and features some unlockable ones in a sort of tic-tac-toe style. It adds another dimension of play which wasn't available in arcades and shows some variation to the game. There are four cabbies to choose from, each featuring a different personality and style of taxi. Although they don't perform particularly differently to each other, its nice to have a selection and to change up the voice clips every now and then.

Graphically, the game looks fairly average with somewhat blocky cars and passengers, but nicer looking locations and destinations. For its soundtrack, the game features songs from The Offspring and Bad Religion, and though there's only 2 songs from each, they suit the fast paced play well even if they end up repeating after about 10 minutes of play.

Overall the Dreamcast version of Crazy Taxi works well, control and concept-wise, and although there's some physics irregularities and the Original map is weaker than the Arcade map, the Crazy Box concept works well and its a solid version of the arcade game with a kicking soundtrack and fun gameplay. Graphically it shows off some nice touches for the time, considering the PS2 and Gamecube were yet to come out, and it looks way ahead of the PS1 and N64.

Rating: 79/100  (Dreamcast version)
Grade: B

The Playstation 2 port of Crazy Taxi was pretty much direct with only a few changes in the voice acting and other minor features. What seems to suffer however is the controls, since the Crazy Dash combination (used to boost the car's speed for a short while) has been moved to the O and R1/2 button pressed together, which seems to be less responsive than the B/Right Trigger combination on the Dreamcast. As a result the game is harder to play well since the taxi is slower all the time you fail to hit the combination dead on.

Rating: 70/100 (PS2 Version)
Grade: C

Game: Crazy Taxi 2
Console: Sega Dreamcast
Developer: Hitmaker (Sega AM3)
Release: 6th July 2001

With a new jump feature, the ability to carry multiple passengers at one time, new cabbies and improved physics and graphics, Crazy Taxi 2 was more of an update than a sequel. There's more Offspring on the soundtrack, more minigames and more fun overall. The gameplay remains much the same as the first installment of the series, picking up passengers and getting them to their destinations in time, but this feels much more like a game for home console than its predecessor, which felt more like a converted arcade game.

Whilst its not perfect, the game seems to flow better than Crazy Taxi, it's more refined especially with the jump mechanic which is incredibly useful for avoiding the once inevitable collisions. The physics still aren't perfect, with unpredictable movements after crashes and against walls, however driving overall in this game feels more rewarding.

Graphically the game seems a little better, although there's no major improvement. There's more types of customer on the street, and different types of cars featured, from the first game. Musically, Crazy Taxi 2 features exclusively Offspring songs whilst playing, still a good accompaniment to the gameplay. Really this seems almost like it could have been an expansion pack to the first game, and in that way it's better but shares the same flaws and strong points. If you enjoyed the first game, however this is something to look out for.

Rating: 85/100
Grade: B

Game: Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller

System: Microsoft Xbox

Developer: Hitmaker (Sega AM3)
Release Date: 20th September 2002

With the sinking of the Dreamcast you'd have been forgiven for thinking that another Crazy Taxi game was out of the question, however just a little over a year after the sequel, a third game turned up on Xbox. Using maps from the previous 2 installments as well as a new area, Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, seems almost like an expansion pack for Crazy Taxi 2. The game features drivers from both of the previous titles as well as 4 new ones, however all drivers are only playable on their own maps. 

Crazy Box/Pyramid mode has been changed to Crazy X to incorporate even more minigames, a mix of old and new ideas, all of them play well and there's a good amount of challenge there. Graphically also there have been improvements with night effects and motion blur when moving fast. As the Original Mode map from Crazy Taxi is featured, its almost as if you're able to play the first game, with the benefit of the jump mechanic and multiple passengers added in Crazy Taxi 2. 

Musically there's a band for each level and tracks added from previous games as well as new ones. The newest level is based on Las Vegas and the surrounding area and plays well, even if getting lost in the canyon can ruin a turn. The level of challenge in the game seems to have dipped a little, on default settings but a quick play with the options can fix that.

Overall this has the best of the first two games, with better handling and the jumping/multiple passenger mechanic, with some of the music and new features as well. It'd have been easy to try something completely new with the move to Xbox but the Crazy Taxi series feels like it constantly improves and wanted to bring the new features back to the old levels. I think it works well on Xbox and is a suitable successor to the other games in the franchise.

Rating: 89/100
Grade: A

Overall the Crazy Taxi series is one of my favourites, it translated well to home consoles from arcade gameplay, never took itself too seriously and was always looking for ways to improve. With the addition of the crazy box minigames, there was enough gaming to keep players satisfied for hours. Strangely the ports of the original game never seemed to fare as well as the version on the Dreamcast but with a stellar sequel on the Xbox, the series ended on a high note.

Game Review: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (8 bit version)

Game: Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Aspect
Release Date: 1992

With a noticable lack of Tails compared to its Mega Drive counterpart, there's a continued theme in the Master System version of being different from it's 16 bit sibling. Different levels and bosses, combined with new gameplay mechanics not seen in the Mega Drive version of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 make this a remarkably unique addition to the series.

The story of the game has Tails being kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik, needing 6 chaos emeralds from Sonic to be released. Thus Sonic must get through each Zone, collecting Chaos Emeralds and defeating the robotic animals in his path, to get the good ending of the game. Failing to collect every chaos emerald will result in a bad ending, although it's still technically a completion of the game.

The levels are fairly innovative, with a good selection of things that weren't even included in the Mega Drive version. These include mine carts and hang-gliders which can be used to navigate levels. Unfortunately some of the implementation of these extra features can make the game frustrating to navigate, especially the handling of the hang-glider which takes some practice to master. Overall the level design is fairly good, if a little vague with telling you what you're required to do at some points.

The underwater zone of the game features some of the most frustrating gameplay and although movement generally seems faster than the first installment on Master System, underwater movement feels very slow and heavy. Coupled with the air bubble system for keeping Sonic alive underwater, it makes for three stages which may leave players feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

The visuals at times seem somewhat basic, even moreso than the first 8-bit Sonic title. Character sprites remain either basic or strangely ambiguous as to what Sonic is coming up against. Musically the game is more forgettable than the first, still with a decent array of songs, but most of them never seen or heard again in the Sonic series.

With 8 zones to navigate, the game is just as long as its predecessor. Each of the zones has a different theme and feel, but some of them work better than others. Favourites include Scrambled Egg Zone, and Gimmick Mountain Zone which have mechanics and gameplay that works well. The stages that I enjoyed less such as Sky High Zone and Aqua Lake Zone feature good ideas but ultimately fail to pull them off, making it either difficult or repetitive to clear the stages.

Overall, the Sonic games for the Master System aren't half as bad as you might expect them to be. This one is much more like its own game than the first installment, when compared to its 16 bit counterpart. The limitations of the Master System do play a big part in these games not reaching their full potential (after all the world's fastest hedgehog had to be slowed down), but if you can get past that, they're decent platformers that by today's commerical standards wouldn't exist.

While Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is more fondly remembered on Mega Drive for its 2 player gameplay and overall better graphics and soundtrack, if we look at the 8 bit version in terms of other Master System titles, there's some great features and level design and it works pretty well. Reviews at the time of its release gave it 90% or thereabouts, and although it hasn't aged well enough to hold such a high rating today I can see how reviewers then were impressed.

Rating: 74/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Ms. Pac-Man (Master System)

Game: Ms. Pac Man
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Midway
Release Date: 1991

The history behind this game was too interesting to pass up on writing about, so here's a little about it before my review. A year after the success of Pac-man in arcades, Midway (who had been Namco's distributor of the American version of the original game) decided to buy the rights to and modify a similar game into what became Ms. Pac-Man without any consent from Namco, who later aquired the rights to it, in a legal battle between themselves, Midway and Ms. Pac-Man's original designers GCC.

The game itself is incredibly similar to Pac-Man, for the most part, sharing many features and ideas. Changes to the original formula include slightly different mazes, more intelligent AI, Clyde's name being changed to Sue and different cutscenes of a romantic nature, targeted at female gamers between some levels. As the most popular american produced arcade machine, it's porting to several home consoles was almost inevitable and it fell to Tengen, producer of many an unlicensed game for the NES to convert Ms. Pac-Man for the home console market.

Graphically the game is very simple, owing to the fact that in 1991, the game was already 10 years old, and the art style of the original game. There's some flicker issues at times when interacting with ghosts, but as the player spends most of the game attempting to avoid doing this, its not too much of an issue. Audio-wise there's not as much noise as the original Pac-Man, but the game still features a significant amount of sound effects and some 8 bit tunes inbetween levels. Its fairly forgettable stuff and the sound effects can get old pretty quickly.

The game plays well on Master System, however and there's some new features not in the arcade version. Pac Speed Boost gives Ms. Pac-Man a much needed burst of speed to escape ghosts in pursuit of her, there's also different maze types (Large, Small and Crazy), and 2 player capabilities (Turn taking, Competitive and Co-operative). There's also only 32 levels compared to the 255 of the arcade original (although due to bugs in the game, it was difficult to make it that far).

The two player modes are an interesting concept, with one player as Pac-Man, and the other as Ms. Pac-Man. Colliding will result in repelling each other at speed across the screen (which can be used to your advantage in competitive mode), and it's possible to move so that both players are off screen, due to the maze being bigger than the screen area. While it's a different concept to the Pac-Man series, the two player modes don't feel too much more fun, and there's enough issues with playing in that way to give serious question to their inclusion.

All in all, if you're going to buy a Pac-Man series game, chances are you know what you're getting; Pellet Eating, Ghost Chasing, Yellow Sphere controlling retro arcade action. It gets repetitive, sure, and its more classic than it is great fun, but this port to home console adds a decent amount of new features, controls pretty well and doesn't look too bad. Ultimately there's some fun to be had with this, but it's not massively addictive.

Rating: 45/100
Grade: D

Head To Head Review: Eternal Champions vs Primal Rage (Mega-Drive Fighters)

Game: Eternal Champions
Console: Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1993

Often compared to Street Fighter II, this game features 9 fighters all vying for a shot at the "Eternal Champion" position (which is inexplicably up for grabs, considering the "eternal" part). It's a pretty standard 1 vs 1 fighter, with one player, two player and training modes and the main mode being a tournament based fighting experience. Controller-wise the game is like Street Fighter II in dealing with the 3 button controller, using the start button to switch between punches and kicks, but properly mapping the controls to 6 button controllers.

The character design in the game isn't bad, there's marked differences between each character's story, looks and movesets. In terms of stats, the characters are also fairly balanced which helps in two player mode, my only real complaint would be that none of the characters stand out as new in terms of concept or fighting style. With a total of 9 playable characters, its fair to say there's not much choice, comparing the game to later versions of Street Fighter II which featured 12, and then 16 characters.

Graphically, the game features fairly detailed backgrounds as well as good animation and character sprites, in this respect it's even better than Street Fighter II. There's a good choice of locations and consequently backgrounds to choose from, and overkill moves to end fights with, similar to the Mortal Kombat series. Musically the game features a good selection of tracks, which work well with the fast paced action of the game.

In the main tournament mode the game's main problem becomes apparent. One player battles are made almost impossible by a strangely high difficulty level, (through 20+ attempts I couldn't get to even the second battle) which cannot even be altered. This leaves only the two player experience to be enjoyable which luckily since the characters are fairly balanced, and the fighting in game is well programmed works well. There's also adjustable fight speeds, although unfortunately only 3; Slow (which is far too slow), Normal and Overkill (which is far too fast). Inbetween speeds for both of these would be greatly appreciated although Overkill does show just how the fast the Mega Drive can run.

Overall this combination of factors makes the game feel like a somewhat unfinished product. The fighting feels good, and there's a decent amount of moves and finishers. The game also looks and sounds good, so its a shame to have to quit one player mode out of frustration at there being no difficulty setting, and the game is only really saved by getting a friend of similar skill to step in as an opponent, under which circumstances it can be pretty fun. More fighters and a slightly faster fighting speed would make this game an unbeatable Mega Drive fighter, but as it is, it works and that's pretty much it.

Rating: 69/100
Grade: C

Game: Primal Rage
Console: Sega Mega Drive
Developer: Probe Entertainment
Release Date: 1995

Primal Rage features a choice of 7 different prehistoric animals to fight as, all fitting into the categories of dinosaur or monkey. This is an incredibly limited fighter selection, worse than both the original Street Fighter II on SNES and the game I'm comparing it to in this review, Eternal Champions. Also the characters aren't nearly as varied as the latter, in fact I'm not even sure that some of them are different species.

The main mode sees you beating other fighters to control various parts of "Urth", the landmap of the game, and convert worshippers who are promptly eaten by the player before the final battle. There's also a large amount of blood involved in gameplay, capitalising on the gore craze stemming from Mortal Kombat on the Mega Drive. There's two ingame health gauges, the health one represented by a heart and the condition one represented by a brain, which once drained, immobilizes the player for a while.

Gameplay isn't as good here as on Eternal Champions, there's less moves and the control system revolves around 4 buttons, to accommodate those on 3 button controllers (the start button is also used to attack). It's also slower overall, and the animation is more in the style of Mortal Kombat, but 3 years after it things should have advanced some. The backgrounds are also less detailed than Eternal Champions, again coming a year after that game, there's no room for excuses. Musically the game isn't too bad although I prefer Eternal Champions, this does feel more epic which suits the fighting prehistoric animals.

Luckily unlike Eternal Champions, there's good difficulty options in this game; a scale of 1-20 being used to set difficulty to a precise level acceptable to the player, and allowing them to get better at the game. For two players, there's not many games where you can fight these kind of animals so it has appeal in that respect, however the choice of fighters and gameplay once again holds it back.

Overall Primal Rage is a good concept and the difficulty settings are as you'd want them to be in any fighting game. Graphically it's inferior in many ways and there's not as many moves or combos as many other fighting games. The heart and brain meters are a good idea, and work decently in game, but without more characters and a better overall fighting experience, the game falls flat as another half-baked concept. Its a fair amount of fun for two players, for a while but you'll most likely end up lusting for Street Fighter II.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Between the two games, there's a clear winner. Although the difficulty options on Eternal Champions make the one player mode a nightmare, it plays wonderfully with two players, and I'd only consider choosing Primal Rage over it, if I had no-one else to compete against. Both games could be improved and they're no-where near the peak of fighting games, however there are good ideas and features in both. Thankfully the gaming industry saw to it that later games had more fighters, and customisable difficulty settings as standard.

Game Review: Animal Crossing: Wild World

Game: Animal Crossing: Wild World
Console: Nintendo DS
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 5th November 2005

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Animal Crossing, it's a laid back game played in real time, in which you become a villager in a town, doing odd jobs and collecting items to pay off your mortgage. There's no real goal in the game, or timescale in which anything needs to be achieved. Other villagers will move in and out of your town and you can visit, interact with, befriend and give gifts to them whilst they are in your town. I'd say the goal of the game ultimately is to let yourself be relaxed and immersed into the game world.

Wild World was the 2nd series release inside of Europe (the 4th in Japan), and the first on a handheld console. The player begins by entering a variety of information such as the date, and their name; as the game is played in real time, the day/night and season cycles will reflect that of the system date and time as set by the player. The questions answered in the initial conversation will determine the player's facial features. Arriving in town, you're shown your house before working off some of the debt that owning it has put you in.

After this part however, the game is pretty much free-form and you can spend your days doing as much or as little as you like. There's plenty of activities to earn money from, or complete museum exhibits with including fishing, fossil hunting, and bug catching. Other interesting things to do include planting trees and flowers around the town and watering them in the hopes that they won't wilt. Weeds will also sprout in town from time to time and removing these will improve the villager's impressions of the town.

The gameplay is geared towards short to mid-length play sessions, everyday. My usual routine would involve finding the hidden fossils for the day, and the rock inside which lots of money is hidden before selling any fossils I had already put into the museum to Tom Nook (the shop owner), and checking up on his selection of furniture. Depending on how much time I had, I'd fish or bug catch for a bit, water the flowers and talk to my villagers amongst other things. Whilst this might not sound the most amazing of experiences, there's a certain charm in the virtual life you lead in your town.

Differences in Wild World, to previous installments of Animal Crossing include more player customisability and villager interaction than before, the player is able to use both the DS touchscreen and buttons to control their character, 72 new villagers as well as new fish and bugs to catch, a better space system than the previous acre system, and other more minor changes. Most of these are positive and advance the series in the right direction to encourage the player to continue to upkeep their town.

Graphically the game is fairly simple and cartoon based in style, and the town features a nice sphere effect as the horizon scrolls behind the player while they move up or down. Musically the game is superb, featuring a theme for each hour that passes along with other music for the inside of buildings and the ability to customise your town's theme which plays when interacting with villagers or entering buildings.

Overall, Animal Crossing: Wild World is a relaxing experience, something made to be picked up everyday, completed a little a time, with no overall goal or time limit. It builds on previous installments of the series, and adds new and exciting features. While some people would call this type of game boring or aimless, I personally think that it has a lot of charm and works well whether you have a few minutes to spare each day, or a whole lot more time. In a world of instant gratification in video gaming, its a reminder that working a little at something each day can build up to great achievements.

Rating: 84/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Motorstorm: Arctic Edge

Game: Motorstorm: Arctic Edge (Full Game Promo Disk)
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Bigbig Studios
Release Date: 9th October 2009

Just as the number of games being released seemed to be dying down in 2009, an improbable addition to the Motorstorm series (which already had 2 installments on Playstation 3 at the time) was released. The series features races between many different types of vehicle through offroad environments, winning various races to rank up and unlock further "festival events", vehicles and customisable parts for vehicles. This particular installment features races on snowy mountains and environments, in contrast to deserts and beaches of previous installments.

Festival mode is the game's main career mode, showing a spiralling ladder of events, which must be climbed to complete the game. There's 101 races to choose from in the whole of career mode, although with only 12 tracks in the game, you'll be playing a lot of each. Most races are straightforward multi-car circuit challenges, but there are a small number of other race types, unlockable through good performance in normal races. These are usually checkpoint or position based challenge races and work well for the most part.

Unusually for Playstation 2 racers the control system defaults to using the shoulder buttons to accelerate and brake, instead of the usual X and O buttons (although there is the option to use these). I assume this is due to the Motorstorm series having originated on PS3, the controller of which features triggers for the lower shoulder buttons. Personally I like this control scheme, not only does it make the game feel more unique but having grown up playing Dreamcast, its almost homely. Another feature of the racing is the unlimited boost, the only catch being that using too much of it will cause you to explode which means that tactical use of the boost is key to winning .

With 10 racers on the track under normal event circumstances, the action can become a little frenzied, especially since vehicles range from motorcycles to large trucks. There are lots of different paths that can be taken on all circuits, the fastest depending on your vehicle type and stats. In the event of a player crashing, the game shows a slow motion clip of the crash before resetting the player to the track. Gameplay is fast and extreme, to match the play environment.

The graphics are fairly detailed and very good compared to other Playstation 2 titles, with a lot of nice features including lens flare effects and snowfall. Stylistically the bright colours bring the extreme themes of the game to the forefront. The vehicles also have customisable parts and paint jobs although it feels like there's a lack of real personalisation that can be done. The fact that there's 9 different classes of useable vehicle probably did have an impact on this, however.

It may become apparent whilst playing through career mode that the game's AI is incredibly easy to beat in earlier races, requiring many major slip-ups on the player's part to even come near to losing a race. Once first place is secured it seems, it's almost a sure bet that the player will win. In later stages of the career mode however, the exact opposite of this problem occurs; races are almost impossible to win, and the AI seems to be almost cheating to maintain its lead.

Besides the career mode, there's also multiplayer, time trial and free race modes, all of which offer a different spin on the racing experience. With 192 developer times to beat, the time trial mode feels almost too much of an effort to beat all of. The only reason you might even think of attempting it is for the in game achievement that doing so unlocks. The game's soundtrack features an assortment of electronic and rock songs which provide a suitably energetic accompaniment to racing.

Overall the racing experience in this game is exciting and having so many different types of vehicle on track at the same time with the possibility for huge crashes makes for an adrenaline filled ride. The difficulty and repetition in career mode, however really seem to damage the game's playability. Once you've raced on the same track 7 or 8 times, it's hardly worth trying a more difficult race. Added to the poor amount of vehicle customisation options you're left with a racer that provides a good experience in patchy doses.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Commodore Plus/4 Games Review #1

For those of you who aren't aware, Plus/4 is a console released in 1984, by Commodore. The games are on cassette tapes which are read and then loaded by the Datasette addon, which is connected to the console. On average games take 5 minutes to load into the system's memory from the cassettes. For these it may seem as if the scores are very harsh, but as these are being ranked against all games I have previously reviewed, some of them may have been great for 1984 but in the present day, they just don't compare and so whilst its fun to play and see what games were like back then, they must be fairly and accurately assessed. Also as the NES was released in Japan in 1985, there's not much room to say that "games of the time were simpler" etc.

Game: Space Sweep + Invaders
Console: Commodore Plus/4
Developer: Mr. Micro Ltd.
Year: 1984

Space Sweep (I'll get to invaders later) is a space shooter of sorts, you control a ship and attempt to navigate the vast reaches of space without hitting meteorites, or literally anything else on the screen. Instant death is the penalty for those unable to avoid the obstacles, although there are five lives at the beginning of the game. The targets for the player to shoot are "satellites" (although its hard to tell what they are), and doing so earns points. Beyond this, there's a limited amount of fuel and if you're able to survive long enough to run out, you'll need to refuel at the mothership. Beyond this there's not much else to gameplay; you survive as long as you can in order to obtain the high score.

In terms of gameplay, the controls are pretty average by Commodore Plus/4 standards although gamers used to more modern controls might struggle at first. The game's difficulty in avoiding obstacles is quite high and this makes for fairly short attempts with each life. Graphically it's fairly poor, not a lot of the obstacles look like anything but boxes, and initially its difficult to tell what's what.

Space Invaders, is a version of the classic game that most people will be familiar with. Graphically its a little different from the Atari version, but it plays pretty similarly. Shooting and moving is surprisingly smooth and while the graphics seem a little odd if you're used to Atari's version, I'd contend that they're better than the original in some ways. There are 9 different difficulty levels, although approaching either end of the scale is a bad idea, 1 being far too easy and 9 being impossible. The invaders shooting patterns are odd also, with a rain of shots at some points and absolutely none at others. 

Soundwise, there's the classic decending tones and shot noises, nothing really too spectacular. Its pretty playable overall, and the better of the two games on the cassette. I can see Commodore's intention in putting two space themed games on a single cassette, but neither is incredibly impressive, even for the time. 

Rating: 29/100
Grade: F

Game: Speed King
Console: Commodore Plus/4
Developer: Mr Chip Software
Year: 1986

Speed King is an interesting, if utterly unplayable game. Released a year after Sega's Hang On, the game follows the same basic principles. You play as a motorcyclist, racing around a circuit (although here you play for position at the end of the race). Just like Hang On, hitting any other racer or obstacle will slow you down and cause you to reset on the track. There are a lot of ways this game is worse than Hang On, however. For a start the graphics are bad even for 1986 with the player looking more like a blob than a biker. Soundwise also there's only the droning of engines to accompany the game.

The gear system gives you a choice of 6 gears, although it doesn't reset upon collision, so you'll find yourself having to keep coming down through the gears to get started again. Crashes occur very often, as opponents come through from behind you to overtake, and as the sides are instant crash zones. Ultimately the racing isn't particularly fun, the graphics are bad even for the era, the difficulty is ridiculous and the choice of tracks seems to make almost no difference to what is onscreen.

Rating: 4/100
Grade: F

Game: Powerball
Console: Commodore Plus/4
Developer: Mastertronic
Year: 1986

Powerball is a simple game, where the player guides a ball along a series of platforms, in order to get it across the screen. The main reason you'd want to beat the game is that it says on the cassette packaging that there's no chance you will. The game difficulty is pretty hard, due to the controls being a little off, mixed with the bouncing mechanics of the ball. While it's not terrible, if the difficulty doesn't stop you from playing within about 5 minutes, the boredom will.

Graphically, the game is pretty simple too, and although some things are distinguishable as household objects etc., most things don't look great. Soundwise also, there's only a simple tune at the beginning and the ball's bouncing sound effect. While it's playable, its not something I'd come back to or even try to complete as even for Plus/4 it feels lazily made.

Rating: 12/100
Grade: F

Game: Prospector Pete
Console: Commodore Plus/4
Developer: British Software
Year: 1986

Prospector Pete is a puzzle game, where the player controls the titular character, who has to mine treasures underground, whilst avoiding "meanies" and floodwaters, controlled by the current level they have followed Pete's tracks to. With quick strategy, thinking and planning the player can set a course which helps Pete to collect all of the items before the flood waters get to him. While this can be fun, the same strategy works for basically every level, and the game does get repetitive after a short while.

While the graphics aren't anything that advanced gaming technology, its easy to see where you are and what you're doing. Soundwise, there's not a whole lot to the game, besides a digging sound and some effects for when the level is finished. Overall its a simple puzzle game that has a little play value, and controls fairly well.

Rating: 24/100
Grade: F

Game Review: Sonic The Hedgehog (8 bit version)

Game: Sonic The Hedgehog
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 28th December 1991

While the best known game under this title is June 1991's Sonic The Hedgehog for Mega Drive, there's also a lesser mentioned version for Sega Master System based somewhat on the gameplay of its namesake. While the Mega Drive game is 16 bit, this version has to stick to the Master System's graphical, processing and audio limits, which are 8 bit. Despite this, the game manages to pull off a fairly decent impression of the 16 bit game, as well as having its own charm and a few faults.

Just like the Mega Drive game, this version sees you controlling Sonic The Hedgehog through various stages (many of these different to those in the 16 bit version), collecting rings and defeating enemies and ultimately Dr. Robotnik. There's not a real explanation of the plot in game, and besides the fact that Robotnik is attacking you at the end of stages you're left to guess as to why he's the bad guy. There are 6 zones in all, each consisting of 3 acts with a different incarnation of Dr. Robotnik at the end of each zone.

Although graphically inferior to the 16 bit version, there's still lots of bright colours and everything is still pretty clear. Some flicker does occur, especially on complex parts or when Sonic has certain powerups but its not too hard to see what's going on, on the whole. The game's backdrops and levels are nicely varied with different locations for each zone and types of enemy that can be encountered there. Added to this there are also pinball-like bonus levels for having collected a certain amount of rings in a level.

The game plays a bit slower than the Mega Drive version, and can feel a little underwhelming for the "fastest hedgehog in the world" at times, but after a little while of playing it seems far more natural. The controls work well with Sonic's simple moveset; running, jumping and spin attacking are all he's really capable of here. There are plenty of different types of level to use these on however; scrolling, vertical and underwater just to name a few.

Musically I'd personally say the game is one of the best sounding on the Master System. The sound hardware in itself isn't the greatest but you can hear that a real effort to translate what is heard in the more complex 16 bit versions of the pieces into the versions in this game has been made. One of the stages even influenced Tails' theme in Sonic Adventure, which is impressive. Some sound effects in the game are better than others, its mixed overall but functional in terms of working with the gameplay.

The level design in the game is good, working around some of the restrictions for the Master System seems to have produced results which work well at challenging the player and providing a different set of levels to the Mega Drive version for players to beat. It would have been easy for Sega to release a simple scaled down version of the 16 bit game, but it seems they wanted to make this more of an experience than a watered down version of another game.

Overall, although the Mega Drive version of this game has superiority in almost every category its not worth letting this charming and frankly very playable version of the game slip under the radar. Not only is this one of the best games for Master System (especially in terms of platformers), it showcases the graphical and musical capabilities of the system like no other game. While there are some slight issues with the game, its a solid installment and a must play for any true Sonic fan.

Rating: 81/100
Grade: B

Indie Game Review: Off

Game: Off
Platform: PC
Developer: Mortis Ghost
Release Date: 2008

Off is an indie RPG released in 2008, that was made using rpgmaker2003. Alongside the RPG elements in the game, there's exploration of various environments, puzzles and a rich (if a little vague) storyline which leads to thoughts of what the true meaning behind the game is. The player controls The Batter, although it's made clear that the player is an entity of their own, and is not playing as The Batter but merely choosing his actions. As the plot is so vital to the game, I won't reveal anything major in this review.

The Batter starts in Zone 0, with the game premise being explained followed by a series of puzzles to gain access to the next part of the zone. There are 3 zones which need "purifying" by The Batter, each featuring a different element as their main focus and many cartoon like enemies which are fought in RPG style battles using normal attacks, "competence" moves and items. There are also items found and bought across the stages to improve the players stats, and that of their add-ons which fight alongside The Batter.

The battle system uses a time based turn system, where the player must wait for a meter to charge before attacking (as must the opponents). This makes the combat similar to turn based RPG's, although there are slightly different strategic options coming from this. Combat flows pretty well although every now and then you're stuck waiting for your attacks to recharge and hoping that the opponent doesn't attack inbetween. There's various status conditions that can affect battling parties, and The Batter and his add-ons can be levelled up to learn new attacks and gain more HP and CP.

Musically the game is very atmospheric, featuring some desolate soundscapes, jazz influenced battle music in places, as well as using layered whispers and more unnerving music later on in the game. Soundwise, important NPC's have their own soundclip when talked to, as well as battle sounds and other effects. These all add to the overall feel of the game and the immersive quality of the gameworld.

The environments are interesting to explore, and their meaning can be debated once the whole story is in context. Once all of the zones become purified, the game enters its second part; each zone can be explored again to gain a secret ending, or just to see the effects of purification before entering "The Room". I can't say a whole lot about the second part of the game without giving things away, but I will say that its heavily plot driven, featuring somewhat easier battles than the boss purification battles of each zone in the first part of the game (although this might have been due to overleveling on my part).

The character design in the game is interesting and its style, both graphically and in enemy design. The atmosphere can be somewhat unnerving sometimes both musically and with the appearance of gradually more disturbing enemies toward the end of the game. The plot is open to a lot of interpretation as not a lot of facts are given to the player, but it adds interest in having to figure out what's going on.

Overall Off makes for an interesting plot driven RPG game with a solid battle mechanic, engaging characters, enemies and storyline and plenty of room for working out what it all means, if anything. Simple both graphically and musically in a lot of places (although both have areas in which they are more detailed), the game's atmosphere draws you into the story, and experience. For this type of game, it has a fair bit of length and is enjoyable from start to finish, especially for RPG fans.

Rating: 80/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Super Crate Box

Game: Super Crate Box
Platform: PC
Developer: Vlambeer
Release Date: 11th May 2010

Super Crate Box is a fast paced shooter game for PC (although its also an app for iPhones etc.) where the aim is to collect crates with weapons in, which will replace your current weapon, whilst avoiding enemies raining down from above and patrolling across the level, or shooting them to get rid of them. If enemies reach the fires at the bottom of the screen, they become angry and move even faster. Playing as various pixel representations of characters (including an astronaut and a chicken), you're set a target number of crates to unlock the next goodies.

Unlockables include new levels (3 in total), weapons (13 in total), characters (14 in total), and game modes (3 in total). The real important category of unlocks here is the weapons. As the main of the game is collecting crates, which change your weapon when collected, you'll be seeing all of them in fairly equal quantities, once unlocked. The clever thing with this game mechanic is that you'll need to plan what you're going to do once you get each weapon, but you can't plan ahead since you don't know which weapon you're going to get.

The game's graphical and music style is 8-bit, simplistic and stylish. There's only 4 different types of enemy (6 if you count recolours), but the game's frantic pace and variety of weapons works well with the simplicity of the graphics and enemy types. Knowing which weapons are good at clearing the room helps to strategize across the 3 different levels, and any more variables may just offset the balance of quick decision making and fast paced action.

That's not to say the game has great replay value, its fun and somewhat addictive for a while until you get frustrated, or bored of the repetition. Gameplay boils down to alternating between crate runs (getting as many crates as possible in a short time) and clearing the room of enemies when a decent weapon turns up. The game's simplicity is it's selling point and its weakness, but at least its not attempting to dress itself up as something more grand, how often do we see fairly simple games attempting a long, pointless narrative?

The 3 levels that there are, are well designed and pose slightly different challenges to the player in terms of clearing the room of enemies and positioning themselves, although there could have been more levels in game, the same concept applies almost universally across levels so without a radical change in level design, more would add nothing. The music itself is energetic, to suit the game and goes well behind the scenes, the sound effects are inoffensive also.

The other unlockable modes feature tweaks to the gameplay, adding more enemies into the equation for a more difficult challenge. Practice makes perfect though, once you know how to use each weapon, these are decent additions to the game and play pretty well. All-in-all Super Crate Box isn't a video game epic, but something more akin to a well made flash game, with good gameplay mechanics and addictive challenges. Its simplicity both invites you to play and allows you to decide when you've had enough "collecting boxes and shooting stuff".

Rating: 63/100
Grade: C

PS2 Poker Games Triple Header: World Poker Tour, WSOP '05 and '08

Before I start this review I thought it'd be good to talk about what makes a good poker game, since of course the core gameplay is based around your own decision making and the results of it. The most important aspects of this kind of game is really about how well the AI plays, how nice things looks graphically, and how well it simulates actual poker. Of course there's no soundtrack or music in the main game, but sound effects can be just as important and will break the mood if done badly. So with this in mind, here's the games;

Game: World Poker Tour
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: 2K Sports
Release Date: 18th October 2005

World Poker Tour is the only game in this review to focus on the WPT rather than the more largely recognised World Series of Poker. Career mode in the game allows the player to play through satellites to go through to final tournaments, or if they have enough money to go ahead and buy their entry into the final tournament straight away. There's 100 people in each final tournament, and the computer eliminates 6.25% of the competition (or thereabouts) each hand, leading to a somewhat easy way to make it into the money in tournaments.

The player models aren't great visually with most of the faces looking strange, and the function to change the mood your player is showing a good idea, but not ultimately useful. AI players who aren't licensed pros are given pun based names (for example Mary Adalitlam and Liv Toregrethis) which cheapen the feel of the game somewhat, in addition to the "casinos" which look more like someone's living room, with more tables and chairs. The player voice clips make the players sound like bad losers when they fold and add virtually nothing to the realism.

The game's poker engine is pretty solid, the AI players are sometimes easy to read but on the whole play decently. The blinds in tournaments rise surprisingly quickly, probably to go alongside the fact that a fairly large percentage of players is eliminated each hand. As a result, the play doesn't feel true to actual tournaments, and is more of an arcade poker experience. A 100 person tournament might take up to 30 minutes to complete, but more due to the fact that the AI takes a while to decide what it'll do than anything.

Overall tournaments become a waiting game, trying to get 2 or 3 good hands to double up with to reach the final table than playing good poker. Its lacking visuals and voice acting make for frustratingly bland play, and as all tournaments in the season are the same size and variant of poker, there's virtually no variety. The game feels fairly unenjoyable both for those who play a lot of poker and those who don't.

Rating: 53/100
Grade: D

Game: World Series Of Poker
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Activision
Release Date: 31st August 2005

2005's Official World Series of Poker game features 26 events over its career seasons, with 6 variants of poker, and tournaments ranging in size from 49 players to 6660. Obviously this is a much richer calendar than World Poker Tour, and although many more variants of poker are available on WPT, they are not in the main career mode. There's also no satellite events to get into the series events which saves not only time but effort and luck, for the main events themselves.

The control system on this game is also superior to that of WPT, with a directional approach to decisions and then a confirmation press of the X button, as opposed to the scrolling control system which left much room for error. the player is also able to skip through hands, at their own pace if they wish to, whereas WPT had players selecting either to fold and view the entire remainder of the hand, or fold and skip to the end.

Graphically the players look better in this game than WPT, and the style of the WSOP broadcast show fits the game well, even if commentary can get a little repetitive. As with the other game, the majority of voice acting is poor, but AI player names are randomised from actual names and so the game can be taken more seriously. Off-table elimination in this game is handled more accurately in this game also, rather than a set percentage of people going out per hand, the number decreases with your hand play and almost halves when new players move across to your table in bulk. 

With 9 players per table, and a nicer casino backdrop (although it is just the one), WSOP 05 provides a nicer control system and all round AI in a good presentational style. The mathematics behind the elimination process ensure you can play tournament poker more accurately and the varied number of players at each event as well as the multiple forms of poker available in career mode give it the edge over WPT. There's a nicer player editor and achievement chip system in place too, in this game. 

Rating: 65/100

Grade: C

Game: World Series Of Poker 2008: Battle For The Bracelets
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Activision
Release Date: 25th September 2007

This installment of the WSOP series takes the realism to a new level, with interiors of many Vegas casinos, gameplay closer to that of real tournaments and actually having to press a button to look at your cards. The directional decision making system is kept in the game but the visual layout receives a change, as the main screen shows both the table as a whole and the player who the action is on.

Career mode features a choice of difficulty levels, which decide how many tournaments are open to the player to enter, at the beginning of the season. Assuming you choose Pro difficulty, there are 43 events on the season calendar, with even more variants of poker than the 2005 version, including HORSE and 6 handed tournament poker. Playerwise, the tournaments vary between 54 and 9720 players, bringing realism to the fore.

One of the main problems with gameplay is that due to the realism, tournaments progress very slowly and while this is true of real poker tournaments for the most part, sometimes the pace can feel too slow. Graphically however, the game is sharp and pro likenesses look good for the most part, the voice acting is better, and the AI plays pretty sharply with quite a lot of play types and clever moves up its sleeve.

Also included in the career mode are cash games and a "Beat the Brat" mode, on which players can challenge pros heads up. Overall this game is a lot closer to real poker than either of the others, it moves at a slower more realistic pace and maybe that's not a good thing. After all if you wanted to play poker for real, surely you'd go out and do so; most of the time I want more of a fast paced experience than this in a poker video game, but with so many other features this is certainly worth playing if you're looking for a realistic poker experience.

Rating: 68/100
Grade: C