Gaming History: Light gun games

If you've ever been to a video game arcade, then you'll have probably seen at least one light gun gaming cabinet where players are tasked with hitting on screen targets by aiming a gun shaped controller at the screen and pulling the trigger. Many of these types of games have also received a home console port, intended to work with gun peripherals for their respective systems.

The first recorded light gun game in an arcade was Seeburg's "Ray-O-Lite", the objective of which was to shoot a duck (which was an actual moving target with a light sensing tube attached) with a gun that emitted a ray of light. When the light was detected by the sensor on the duck, it would count as a hit, the duck would fall, and a point would be scored by the player. While simple, this essentially describes the process of most light gun games in existence, even if the way that it is achieved has changed dramatically.

(Seeburg Ray-O-Lite Cabinet - 1936)

Sega's first successful game, in 1968 was also a light gun style title called Periscope in which players targeted cardboard ships. In addition to being the first arcade game to charge a quarter per play, the game featured both mechanical and electronic sound effects, viewing windows for spectators and a series of lights to heighten the player's immersion.

Nintendo too produced some notable light gun arcade games before their entry into the home console market; 1973's "Laser Clay Shooting System" almost saw the company go bankrupt with a 5 million yen debt due to the oil crisis at the time. It wasn't until a smaller, cheaper version of the cabinet was produced that it began to be successful. Another more famous light gun title by Nintendo is 1974's "Wild Gunman" which began life as an arcade cabinet, featuring full motion video of a cowboy challenging players to a duel. 

(Wild Gunman for Famicom - 1984)

When the Famicom was released in Japan in 1984, the Beam Gun (or NES Zapper as it's known abroad) was quickly released as an accessory for the console. By the 1985 release of the NES in the USA, the Zapper was bundled with the console. With 7 specific light gun games, and 18 in total that worked with the peripheral, it made a noticeable impact on gaming at the time, even if the market for light gun games was fairly small. 

Sega too attempted a light gun accessory with their 3rd generation console; the Light Phaser, which had 13 (slightly more varied) games specifically for use with it. These two light guns worked differently to the early models, creating a black screen on the television for a single frame, before displaying white hit boxes over targets for specific periods of time, to be detected by the guns. There are plenty of rumours that guns could simply be pointed at light bulbs and would detect hits, but unless a game's programming was particularly faulty, this was not the case. 

(Space Station Defender from Menacer 6 in 1 Light Gun Cartridge for Sega Genesis - 1992) 

The fourth generation of home consoles didn't have a great amount of light gun games, despite light guns being released by Sega, Nintendo and Konami. Sega's Menacer was compatible with a 6-in-1 cartridge and two other games on the Mega Drive, as well as 6 FMV style Sega CD games, making a grand total of 9 games. 12 games worked with the Nintendo Super Scope, and the Justifier had just 9 compatible games in the 4th generation.

Fortunately the drought of light gun games in the fourth generation didn't carry over to the fifth, with the release of the Namco Guncon, and a Konami Justifier for Playstation. Among the games that worked with the Guncon were Time Crisis, Resident Evil: Survivor and Rescue Shot. While the Justifier worked with less games, it supported Die Hard Trilogy, Area 51 and Silent Hill amongst others. With a resurgence of quality light gun titles, the fifth generation set up a better future for the peripherals.

(Time Crisis for Playstation - 1996)

The fifth generation light guns were also more accurate than their older predecessors thanks to a change in how they worked. They used Cathode Ray Timing which sends a signal across the screen as the gun times how long it takes to detect the signal, and some maths is done to work out the destination of the bullet and register it as a hit or miss, all in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately neither this technology, nor that of the previous two generations works with flat screen televisions.

As gaming entered the sixth generation in 1999, the Dreamcast light gun was released with its own D-pad and A and B buttons, as well as being one of the most accurate light guns to date. Unfortunately, the untimely demise of the Dreamcast just two years later meant that only 2 light gun games were released that are compatible with PAL consoles; House of the Dead 2 and Confidential Mission (which are both excellent). With Time Crisis 2 and 3 coming out on the PS2 alongside the new Guncon 2, it was evident that light guns weren't just a thing of the past.

(House of the Dead Overkill for Wii - 2009)

With the advent of the Wii, Playstation Move and Xbox Kinect (to a lesser degree), "light" gun games have made a comeback as popular titles with games such as Resident Evil 4, Red Steel, Call of Duty and Goldeneye 007 using the Wiimote as a traditional lightgun style device (although technically there's not any light involved, but rather bluetooth signals). There is a large list of Wii titles and Playstation 3 titles which use the controller as a gun peripheral (or support the Guncon 3 in the Playstation's case).

In the eighth generation of consoles there's not yet been a light gun game, or a peripheral (besides the Wiimote) which supports this type of game. Whether this is a sign that light gun games have run their course and virtual reality is now waiting to give the added immersion that we seek or just due to the fact that the current generation is less than two years old I'm not sure. There's been a constant stream of light gun games in arcades from the 1936 Seeburg Ray-O-Lite to 2011's Friction, and beyond, which I'm sure will continue. 

Fighting Game Double Header: Street Fighter: The Movie vs Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Game: Street Fighter: The Movie
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Incredible Technologies
Release Date: 10th August 1995

In case you haven't seen the "hit movie" of Street Fighter from 1994 which currently holds a 12% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's not very good. To be fair to the film it was never very likely to be, as most films based on video games struggle to be as gripping as their inspiration. What's interesting is that they made a game based on the movie, which is based on a game (specifically Street Fighter II). With "digitized" graphics of the actors from the film and a departure from the cartoon style of previous Street Fighter games, this Playstation 1 title seems almost doomed to be a disappointment from the start.

There are 4 modes of play to choose from; Movie Battle, Street Battle, Versus Battle and Trial Battle. The first two are the main modes which I'll discuss in more detail, Versus Battle is simply a multiplayer mode, and Trial Battle ranks players on how well they can beat up an AI opponent, and gives them feedback on their aggression and skill.

There are 14 playable characters to choose from in total, provided that you're not playing in Movie Battle mode where Guile is the only available character. In this mode, after a cutscene, you begin by fighting M. Bison, the game's final boss in an impossible-to-win first battle. I'm not sure why this wasn't a cutscene; perhaps the developers wanted players to get an impression of just how tough the final boss is at an early stage.

After the M. Bison fight, players are shown another cutscene and given a choice of locations to go to. These don't really matter as wherever the player goes, they'll have to fight each character in turn before the final boss. There's a 50 minute time limit in Movie Battle mode, and the difficulty doesn't seem to be governed by the selectable difficulty on the options screen. No matter what's chosen, it's incredibly difficult to progress with the AI using cheap tricks and exploits to beat players.

The developers also forgot to program a way of quitting if you're tired of getting whooped. Instead of a continue screen, there's a cutscene which only allows players to go back to the last battle. All things considered, Movie Battle mode isn't that appealing at all.

Street Battle mode is the only redeeming single player feature of the game. It's what would be titled "Arcade Mode" in any other Street Fighter release, and while the difficulty can be a little on the easy side (although it's adjustable) it does play quite nicely. Despite the digitized graphics of the actors from the film, fighting feels as if you're playing Street Fighter II with a few frames of animation missing. Many of the same moves and stances have been carried over and all of the classic characters are available to fight with.

Players have a "Super" meter which fills as they damage the opponent. When it's full they can unleash their character's super move for large amounts of damage. Once a player defeats all of the opponents, a small ending cutscene plays and the game loops back to the start screen. There's no real unlockables or secrets in the game, save for a music video from the film once Movie Battle mode is defeated.

Graphically the game isn't particularly good at all; the character sprites are low detail and resolution, the backgrounds are barely animated and the entire game looks like it could have been pulled off on the SNES. While it was a very early Playstation title (a launch title in the US and UK), there doesn't seem to have been much effort to explore the capabilities of the console. The music which accompanies the game is fitting, if a little forgettable.

Overall Street Fighter: The Movie is mostly as you'd expect. A disappointing movie tie-in which seems to have been rushed through development and based largely on Street Fighter II, save for the graphics. The arcade mode is fairly enjoyable, but the Movie Battle mode borders on unplayable due to the cheap tricks of the AI and pointlessness of the choices, not to mention the movie based plot and cutscenes which don't really make sense.

Rating: 62/100
Grade: C

Game: Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Avalanche Software
Release Date: 6th December 1996

Featuring 36 characters, and levels from all 3 previous Mortal Kombat games fighting in 3 different game modes, Mortal Kombat Trilogy is more like a compilation than a new game. While the inclusion of 3 game modes might seem impressive, there's only one single player mode which is essentially an arcade mode, in addition to a 2 on 2 multiplayer mode, and an 8-fighter 2 player tournament mode. For a game on the Playstation, this is pretty disappointing.

Controlwise the game feels much like the original Mortal Kombat (and its sequels, I assume). The player has the choice of high and low kicks and punches, blocks, and special moves to win the battle. The AI in the game is fairly punishing, even on low difficulties (the final boss is almost unbeatable even on Very Easy) and at times cheap tricks such as constant use of one move are much more effective than proper tactics.

Despite having 36 characters to choose from, I've always felt that the Mortal Kombat series has an unnecessary amount of recolours (see: Scorpion, Sub Zero, Reptile, Smoke, Noob Saibot, Ermac, and Rain) and this installment is no exception with 8 versions of the the ninja characters. Added to the fact that no story is presented in the game for any of the characters, it's quite difficult to acquaint yourself with everyone. Another issue is that aside from their special moves and fatalities, many character's movesets are pretty much the same.

The arcade mode is pretty standard for tournament fighter games; you're faced with a series of opponents before fighting the final boss, however there are some differences. For instance there are endurance stages requiring players to fight more than one opponent in a single battle, and the continue screen takes you back to the main menu, requiring far more load time to get back into the battle than most games.

Graphically the game isn't much better than any of the instalments on Mega Drive or SNES, with the same motion capture look, and simple animated backgrounds. While there might be some slight improvements, the sprites are still low quality and sometimes this can cause difficulty in identifying how far away players need to be to hit an opponent. The music isn't anything particularly special and fades into the background behind the fighting action.

Overall Mortal Kombat Trilogy seems like it should be a better game than it is. It's character line-up is large, but uninteresting, it's moves are apparently updated from the arcade version, but I can't see much difference from even the original game. The graphics should be better considering the upgrade onto a 5th generation console, and the AI should really be better; if the player leaves their character standing still in the middle of battle, the computer player won't even attack them for a good 10 seconds. I've always found the Mortal Kombat games pretty disappointing but I thought this one might be better.

Rating: 54/100
Grade: D

Simple Series Double Header: Motorbike King and Snowboard Racer 2

Game: Motorbike King
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Tamsoft
Release Date: September 2004

Just as I feared that Simple Series reviews would end up becoming basically the same complaints repeated over and over again, D3 Publisher found new ways to disappoint me. Presenting Motorbike King; what can only be described as an anime inspired low budget racing game. Single player mode consists solely of 1 on 1 and Time Attack modes, and the only other play mode included is Two Player split screen racing.

Upon starting single player mode there's a choice of 3 "chicks" and 3 "dudes" to pick as your character, as well as 11 bikes which all seem to be basically the same thing, save for small design and stat changes. The only real option available to players after picking a bike is to start challenging opponents in the 1 on 1 race mode.

Upon starting the first race there's many observations that new players will make. The first is that the default viewpoint is horrendous and hugely impacts the player's ability to see anything of the road ahead of them (it also resets after each race), the second observation is that the handling on the bikes is pretty awful and getting around tight corners is almost impossible without coming to a near stop, and the final one is that in addition to racing the opponents, the game also expects you to do "tricks" which either slow your bike down or require a long stretch of straight road. Worst of all your opponent doesn't have to do any tricks.

If you can manage to win three of the 1 on 1 races, then three more will unlock with more difficult opponents, who have better skills and bikes. There's the option to upgrade your own bike which helps speedwise, but tends to make controlling them far more difficult than it already was. The opponent designs are pretty shoddy, and there's no storyline or reason as to why you're racing them. There's next to no depth in the one player mode, especially since there's only 6 tracks in total and the 1 on 1 races are literally all there is to do besides time trials.

(Mondo Oowada on the right anyone?)

Graphically Motorbike King could probably have been on the original Playstation. The textures and details are all pretty low resolution and unimpressive. The game sometimes slows down to around 10 frames per second when there's too much going on, and this makes for an even worse experience. The music included on the game can best be described as "general rock". It's uninteresting, uninspiring and about as average as the game itself.

Overall I can see no reason why anyone would want to play this game. The racing experience is bad, the character designs are poor, the bike and track selection is tiny, there's no depth to the game, the graphics are nothing special, there's various places where you can get stuck completely, and you're probably better off playing Hang On on the Master System for a realistic bike racing experience.

Rating: 14/100
Grade: F

Game: Snowboard Racer 2
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Atelier Double
Release Date: 7th November 2003

Snowboard Racer 2 is a game of very limited options. There are 4 game modes, 8 tracks in 4 locations, 4 characters with a couple of bits of clothing to unlock each, 12 tricks (4 of which don't even work) and 7 choices of music to accompany your gameplay. The controls are less than intuitive with the triangle button being used to accelerate and no option to crouch before jumping. Tricks are very basic and take a long time to initiate, if the game even detects your button presses at all.

The four game modes are Race, Trick, Chase and Halfpipe. The first three take place on the 6 mountain tracks, and require players to go as fast as they can, get as many trick points as they can, and catch a snowboarding snowman respectively, and the Halfpipe mode takes place on one of the two halfpipe courses which are fairly similar.

(Excuse the picture quality there's hardly any evidence of this game existing)

Controlling the snowboarders is a little difficult at times although they'll never fall off their boards entirely, no matter how hard you smack them into a cliff face. The AI players in races and trick contests often perform far better than players could ever dream of doing, and not only are the tricks listed in the manual assigned to strange button combos, but 4 of them don't work, and the other 8 take a good second or two to actually start doing, by which time your snowboarder has landed.

Chase mode is a nice addition in that it gives players a break from the other 3 gameplay modes, but the Snowman you're tasked with chasing after is pretty fast and can be difficult to catch, and the concept as a whole gets old fast. A two player mode where one of the players controls the snowman would have been interesting, but instead both players chase the snowman.

The graphics of the game actually warrant it being on the Playstation 2, with some nice snow effects and better human models than in other Simple Series games, but there's still a lack of interesting objects or features in the landscape. The music of the game is pretty much all mediocre rock, which doesn't seem too out of place, but doesn't add too much either.

Overall Snowboard Racer 2 clings to the heels of games like SSX and tries to offer some of their fun, but fails to do so due to its controls, game modes and lack of options as a whole. There's very little enjoyment to be had on any of the game modes and gamers would be better off picking up any of the SSX games if they're into snowboarding.

Rating: 22/100
Grade: F

Game Review: Bit.Trip Complete

Game: Bit.Trip Complete
Console: Nintendo Wii
Developer: Gaijin Games
Release Date: 16th March 2012

Bit.Trip is a series of rhythm games which use a pixel based graphic style and features gameplay inspired by classic arcade titles, in addition to some original ideas. Bit.Trip Complete for the Wii features all 6 games in the series which were originally available via the WiiWare service. Although each game features different controls, ideas and objectives (save for Beat and Flux which are very similar), there are some unifying features of the series.

Each game features modes which change depending on the player's performance. While there are a different number of modes between games, the main ones are Hyper and (which is the starting mode), Nether (which takes the player to a basic black and white version of the game without music or distractions). Anything above these levels adds new musical elements and visuals to the games. If a player continues to do poorly whilst on the Nether mode, they will lose the game. Adjusting the difficulty levels of individual games allows players more chances before hitting the Nether level.

Most games have 3 levels, the last 2 of which are unlocked when players reach them in normal play. The only exceptions to this are Bit.Trip Fate with 6 levels, and Bit.Trip Runner with 36. I'll be reviewing the games in order of original release, and giving independent scores as well as a final overall score.

Bit.Trip Beat

Bit.Trip Beat blends Pong with a rhythm game, firing blocks at your paddle on the left side of the screen in patterns, for you to hit back. The paddle is controlled by tilting the Wii remote, which gives the feel of analog movement that players got with older pong consoles. Themodes are used as gameplay areas which the player can move between depending on their performance. Hyper is the starting level, if players do well they move up to Mega, and if they do badly, they move down to Nether, which is devoid of any distractions such as effects and music.

There are quite a few different types of blocks including ones which stop and wait a little before continuing toward your paddle, blocks that bounce several times and blocks which make up a line that must be hit with precision to ensure all of them are returned. Even on the easiest difficulty, the first of the game's three levels is quite a challenge to beat, and it's necessary to complete the first level to progress to the second, so unless you're willing to put in a lot of practice, there's content which will stay locked. In a way I was glad that the game wasn't letting me win, but as there's no checkpoints or continues given to the player to aid them in getting past even the first level it seems a little too challenging.

Rating: 7/10

Bit.Trip Core

Bit.Trip Core has a retro arcade feel to the gameplay, requiring players to intercept blocks passing across the game screen at the correct time. From the base in the centre, players can shoot up, down, left and right to hit blocks passing across each gap. There are a few different blocks which pass through, but the game is mostly about multitasking and being able to spot patterns of blocks early so as not to miss any.

Just like Bit.Trip Beat, Core is fairly difficult to progress through, even on the easiest difficulty level due to the lack of checkpoints and long stages. The bar in the bottom left of the screen keeps track of how far players are through the stage. As you can see there are 8 individual parts to the stage, which takes about 10-15 minutes overall. Keeping concentration and performance up for this long can be challenging and it seems as if the idea is to learn the patterns to progress further.

Rating: 5/10

Bit.Trip Void

Bit.Trip Void requires a nunchuk to be attached to the Wii Remote, or for the player to use a classic controller. This is so that they may move their block around with the control stick. The aim of the game is collect black blocks (which make the player's own block larger), and avoid white blocks whilst doing so. At any time during play, players can pop their block down to its original size and claim points for however large it got.

Stylistically this game resembles a bullet hell shooter, in that players must dodge many white blocks on screen at any one time, while getting into a good position to collect the black blocks. It's fairly intuitive and easy at first, but the difficulty soon picks up. This is the first game in the collection to feature checkpoints between different stages, making it easier to progress to the next level. It's also one of the better games in the collection as a whole.

Rating: 8/10

Bit.Trip Runner

Bit.Trip Runner is possibly the most well known of the games on this collection, as it has spawned a sequel for Xbox 360, PS3 and WiiU. The idea of the game is to control the series mascot, CommanderVideo through a scrolling stage where obstacles appear and must be navigated. Things start out simple with jumps and obstacles to slide under, but soon get more complex with kicks, springboards and blocks needed to keep CommanderVideo running.

One of the biggest downsides to the game is that there are no checkpoints. Players can fail at the final obstacle and still be sent all the way back to the beginning to try again. It's true that this is reminiscent of retro games (as are the difficulty and graphics of the games on this collection), but it's difficult not to be frustrated by longer stages. With 36 levels, this is by far the most fleshed out game in the collection, and the only one to receive a proper sequel.

Rating: 9/10

Bit.Trip Fate

Bit.Trip Fate is a scrolling 2D shooter with elements of a rail shooter, as CommanderVideo can only be moved back and forth along "the vibe" whilst targeting enemies using the Wii Remote's motion control. There are various powerups to collect which improve your shooting power, and a few different types of enemies, each of which drop items which contribute toward increasing the player's mode. Getting hit by enemy bullets will decrease the player's mode.

I found this to be the least interesting of all the games on the collection as it isn't driven by a rhythm element, there isn't a lot to do besides shooting, and and none of its 6 levels are particularly different from one another besides their locations. Although there are boss battles at the end of each part, these aren't as interesting as they could be, and overall the game remains disappointing.

Rating: 5/10

Bit.Trip Flux

The final game in the collection, Bit.Trip Flux is a strange addition to the series. While all of the other games had completely different styles and objectives to one another, this game plays just like Bit.Trip Beat with only a few minor changes. The first is that the game plays from left to right instead of the other way around, all blocks are white, so it's a greater surprise when they do unexpected things, there are new block types, and checkpoints have been added.

I don't think that these additions are enough to distinguish it from Beat as a completely seperate game, but it serves as more of a level pack and reminder of the first game in the series. The checkpoints are useful as they save 10-15 minutes of work being lost due to silly errors, and new patterns and block types give the formula a new lease of life.

Rating: 8/10

Graphically the game presents itself in a simple style with bright colours and interesting backdrops which offset the pixel graphics and basic shapes nicely. Sometimes the game screen can get a little cluttered with effects and bright colours, but this is more a design choice than a mistake. Musically the game features pieces influenced by retro gaming, and most tunes are simple and rhythmic in nature.

Overall Bit.Trip Complete is a useful gathering of all the games in the series which allows players to experience all 6 games without having to purchase them individually. While all of the titles exhibit different playstyles and concepts, the style and tone of the collection as a whole unifies them. Many times whilst playing, I was reminded of retro games due to the appearance, concept, and difficulty of the titles included. While the lack of checkpoints in some games is frustrating, it does hark back to an era where there weren't any.


Rating: 77/100
Grade: B

Game Review: Space Invaders Anniversary

Game: Space Invaders Anniversary
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Taito
Release Date: 30th April 2004

I'm fairly certain that anyone reading this review will be aware of the video game "Space Invaders". Often cited as a classic of arcade gaming, it was indeed a big hit in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Included in this PS2 collection are 9 'variants' of Space Invaders, accessed through a menu room which is based on an arcade. There are also some extras included such as posters from the original game's promotion and design documents.

The 9 variants of Space Invaders included are 3 tabletop versions of the original Space Invaders; one black and white, one in colour and one with colored cellophane over the black and white version, an upright version of Space Invaders, one tabletop and one upright version of Space Invaders Part II, Space Invaders VS Mode and Doubles, and finally a 3D version of Space Invaders. As you've probably thought to yourself already; that isn't 9 different games of Space Invaders, it's 5.

(Space Invaders, the Cellophane version)

Each machine has several viewpoints from which the game can be played, however there's only one viewpoint (shown above) which allows players to actually see what they're doing. The others are at too much of an angle, or too far away to see the small bullets being fired up at the invaders. In terms of gameplay both the Space Invaders and Space Invaders Part II machines are incredibly similar, and while faithful to the original game, I see no need for 6 versions of the same arcade game when games such as Return of The Invaders, and Super Space Invaders '91 have been omitted.

Space Invaders VS Mode can be played either against the computer or a friend. The object of the game is to shoot the other player's turret through the field of invaders which appear for both players. Player 1 appears on the bottom of the left screen and the top of the right, and Player 2 appears at the top of the left screen and the bottom of the right. The space invaders theme feels a little forced into this game. Space Invaders Doubles looks the same as Space Invaders Part II, but with two player controlled turrets and regenerating rows of invaders for added difficulty. It can also be used as a more challenging single player mode if the other machines are too easy.

Space Invaders 3D is the main event of the collection as the game seems to have been made specifically for inclusion on it. Players control the turret from a different choice of views to the other machines which include a first person view, from underneath the turret and a standard view. While this version of the game does hold the most excitement for actually daring to change the formula a little, it's far easier than any of the other versions and after a while feels like the same thing as all the others.

There are 9 different documents to look at in the "History" section including promotional and design materials. Many retro gaming collections have more to look at including artwork and interviews, so the amount to do is fairly disappointing. The in game options let players to choose how many lives they start with and when extra lives are awarded, but don't allow many other changes to gameplay.

Graphically the look of each Space Invaders game is faithfully reproduced, and the menu room has no significant problems. The sound effects in each game are from the original game also, but unless you turn down the "bgm" in the options, the sounds of every machine going at once will accompany gameplay. It's a shame that the 3D remake of Space Invaders didn't get some new music besides the original in game sound effects also.

Overall Space Invaders Anniversary seems to be less of a celebration of the franchise's history and more of a recreation of the arcade experience from when the first two games came out. The sound effects of other machines as you play, choice of viewpoints from outside the machine, inclusion of a cellophane version and tabletop and upright versions of the same game hint at giving gamers who remember the original arcade experience some nostalgia. Unfortunately this means that for anyone else, the collection is a few very similar versions of Space Invaders and not much else.

Rating: 50/100
Grade: D

1 Year Anniversary Special: A look back at the best and worst games I've discovered

If you'd told me a year ago when I started this blog, that it'd still be going now and that I'd have played and reviewed over 270 games in a year, I probably wouldn't have believed you. While I do usually try to finish things that I start, my album review blog is evidence that I'm easily distracted. Anyway I'm grateful to anyone and everyone who has read one or more of my reviews; to have over 12,000 pageviews on here means a lot.

When I started the blog, the idea was to stop me from resorting to playing the old favourites every night and start discovering something new. With this in mind, I thought I'd take a look through the games I'd reviewed this year which I had no idea about until I went to review them and pick out the 5 most pleasant surprises and the 5 worst disappointments. I'll start with the best games as discovering them was essentially what this blog was designed to have me do.

#1 - Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)

Although I was a huge fan of Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast, I never got around to giving it's sequel on the Xbox a proper go. What I found was a game that built upon the formula of the original, allowing both newcomers to the franchise and fans of the series to enjoy an experience which evokes the feel of the first game and brings new ideas to the table.

While thesedays it's probably easier to get hold of a Dreamcast, Xbox 360 or PC copy of Jet Set Radio than Jet Set Radio Future, I think there's definitely a case for playing and enjoying both. There's a lot of things that could have gone wrong in making Jet Set Radio Future, and upset fans of the series, but I think on the whole, the game's production was handled well and is a must play original Xbox title.

#2 - Super Smash TV (Mega Drive)

Super Smash TV is a game that embodies everything excellent about the 4th generation of video games consoles. Released for both Mega Drive and SNES, the game presents itself as a gameshow in which players must shoot their way through hordes of enemies and earn prizes, working their way through a series of rooms, collecting weapons and upgrades to finally beat the boss of the level and total up their winnings. 

While one player mode is fun, playing with a friend allows for the type of teamwork which isn't often seen in video games thesedays. One player controls the movement of the contestant, and the other controls the direction in which he shoots, necessitating communication, forethought and lots of practice at the game. This is the sort of game you can bust out when a friend asks if you have anything fun to play, and end up wasting a good few hours on. 

#3 - Toy Story (Mega Drive)

While most licensed video games are disappointing due to a combination of movie inaccuracies, poor gameplay and rushed development, Toy Story for the Mega Drive managed to avoid all of these problems and deliver a fun, movie accurate(ish) experience with varied and interesting gameplay. Its platforming levels are well designed and intuitive, as well as being nicely offset by a variety of racing, first person and other ideas. 

Not only is Toy Story an impressive game for the era both in terms of graphics and gameplay, but it allows players to work through the story of the film and experience the best moments and scenes for themselves. There's not really much more you could ask of a video game that's based on a popular film, and because of this it's one of the best. 

#4 - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyperstone Heist  (Mega Drive)

Another licensed game to make it into my top 5 is TMNT: Hyperstone Heist. It's SNES counterpart "Turtles in Time" is well known as a great Beat 'Em Up of the 4th generation, but this game gets far less attention, and it's difficult to see why. While there are some big differences between the two, it holds up pretty well against other similar games of the era, and is definitely worth a play. 

With two players the gameplay improves even further, and there's a good hour worth of Beat 'em Up goodness before you reach the final boss. With the option to have the turtles in either comic book or animated series style, the only real letdown is the quality of the soundclips included. Nonetheless this is just as good as Turtles in Time, in my opinion. 

#5 - Sonic Colors (Wii)

In recent years, new instalments in the Sonic the Hedgehog series haven't exactly been getting the best of reviews. In particular Sonic Heroes, Sonic '06, and Sonic Unleashed met with lukewarm critical reception. Aware of this, I tentatively began my playthrough of Sonic Colours, but quickly discovered that as long as you're using the Gamecube controller, it's a pretty excellent return to the sort of gameplay I remembered from Sonic Adventure. 

With a few new features and additions, I was glad to see that Sonic Team had opted to focus the story entirely on Sonic, make use of an overworld screen rather than level hubs, and use some actual humour in the game. While it still could have been a little better, it gave me hope for the newer Sonic titles and pleasantly surprised me. 

Fresh from this enjoyable experience, I was pretty excited to try other Sonic titles; perhaps they weren't as bad as people said and could actually be enjoyed? This brings us nicely onto the games that I discovered this year which I'd been sort of excited to try, and then hugely disappointed by. The first of which is;

#1 - Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

Just as I was starting to think that the recent harsh criticisms of the Sonic franchise may have been unwarranted, I started to play Sonic Unleashed. Within the first few levels I was aggravated, frustrated and generally disappointed. The night levels were tedious, the day levels were either short or constantly attempting to kill players through poor controls and most of the gameplay was spent running around hub worlds or collecting more sun/moon medals to unlock other levels. 

Everything good about Sonic Colours hadn't yet been thought up, and most of the game seemed like filler to make up for its lack of core gameplay. I thought that completing the game might have made me like it a little more, but the story ended disappointingly and the final battle was pretty anticlimactic too. Overall the game was a huge let-down. 

#2 - The Sniper 2 (PS2)

The game that began my interest in the Simple Series, The Sniper 2 introduced me to woeful budget titles which have about as much content as an Atari 2600 game. With boring cutscenes, rubbish gameplay and the credits rolling after every single mission, this game makes Pac-Man look like GTA V in terms of content. The only reason it isn't #1 on this year's worst of list is that I wasn't particularly looking forward to it before playing (although I was still hugely disappointed). 

Apparently there's a "The Sniper" for Playstation, which has the potential for being even worse, but I can't see a game being much less interesting than this. I challenge anyone to enjoy a single moment of this horrible affront to gaming. 

#3 - L.A. Rush (PS2)

When I was about 11 years old, I used to watch the MTV show "Pimp My Ride", and during the advert breaks, they'd advertise this video game. I used to think about how cool it'd be to customise your own cars, and get the West Coast Customs crew to hook you up with the latest audiovisual equipment, paint and neon undercar lights. 

It turns out that besides being an extremely mediocre street racing game with a laughable plot and horrible controls and AI, the customisation is automatic, meaning that the player has no choice whatsoever as to the changes made to their car. It's lucky that I bought Juiced with my PS2 instead.

#4 - Need For Speed Prostreet (PS2)

I'm undoubtedly a fan of the Need for Speed series. Underground, Most Wanted and Carbon are some of the best street racing games available for the Playstation 2. Need for Speed Pro Street brought such confusing change to the series that I wasn't really sure what to think of it. For a start, events and races were contested at race days instead of on the streets (which is odd considering the title), car customisation was minimal, and most of the normal race types weren't present. 

The worst offence of all was the AI which was so easy to beat that the game invited you to "dominate" your opponents instead of actually bothering to programming them to be competitive. The game ended up as a strange race day simulator type idea, which didn't really impress me at all. 

#5 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PS1)

As a licensed game based on a film, you'd expect Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to at least vaguely follow the plot. Instead, it skips the first half hour or so of the film, goes off on a wild tangent as soon as it can, and meets up with the plot just before the final battle. Many of the most memorable scenes from the film are missing from the game, and those that remain are done so badly that it's hardly worth them being there at all. 

In addition to the problems above, the game is horribly short, and horribly frustrating at times. Growing up, I only really knew of the Game Boy Color version of this game, which is a whole lot better. I'm sure I'd be far less interested in the Harry Potter series as a whole if I'd have owned this in my childhood. 

Anyway, through the good and the bad games I've enjoyed my year of video gaming and reviewing. I hope that you'll continue to read my reviews in the coming year and find out what new games I enjoy (and don't). All that remains is for me to thank you for reading my blog and to ask that you share my reviews with your friends (and enemies, who cares?) to get meaningful and interesting videogaming discussions started!

Game Review: The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

Game: The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Console: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 4th September 1992

The last of the 2D Zelda games for home console, A Link to the Past expands the experience from the original "The Legend Of Zelda" on the NES to give an experience truly worthy of the increased power of the SNES. Like most if not all Zelda games, the story follows Link on a quest to first obtain the Master Sword and then defeat Ganon to stop him from using the power of the triforce to send the world into darkness. To do this, the player must guide Link through various dungeons which are filled with enemies and puzzles.

Although the game was one of the best selling SNES games and had quite a following, the Zelda series wasn't quite as popular as it is today. Players of the SNES era were used to Zelda games being fairly difficult both in gameplay and puzzles. As there was no internet they'd have to use their initiative, tips from friends or a strategy guide for help when they got stuck. Around midway through the game, I decided that it'd be a good idea to use a strategy guide to aid me, rather than getting completely lost in huge dungeons.

Players are given a fairly good idea of what needs doing in the game; there's numbered points on the map to signify the location of dungeons, important characters often give hints as to useful locations, and there are plaques located in temples which also give advice. Each dungeon is accessed through the overworld; there are 3 in the Light World, and 8 in the Dark World, although the game requires you to constantly switch between the two worlds which feature the same basic map with changes to the locations and landscape in various places.

In the overworld there are shops, NPC's and creatures which roam around and can either be ignored or damaged by whatever weapons Link is carrying. Usually between each dungeon there are a few Heart Pieces (which increase health for every 4 found), or weapon upgrades to be found, so it pays to explore. Some of these upgrades however are pretty much mandatory, which means that exploration also is, unless you're aware of everything that needs to be done (or following a guide).

The dungeons themselves range from being short and fairly straightforward at the beginning of the game to long and complex at the end, which makes for a decent difficulty curve that goes perhaps a little too far upwards towards the end. I found myself referring to the strategy guide quite a lot nearer the end, as the way forward was unclear and the dungeon was already filled with advanced enemies which could deal a lot of damage to Link.

The problem with this is that is makes the game difficult for those unfamiliar with the series to pick up and play, especially without a strategy guide. The amount of item pickups and upgrades, combined with navigation of the dungeons, general strategy and "Zelda logic" means firstly that all players must take pretty much the same route through the game, or face being significantly underpowered, and secondly that without having previously completed the game, you'll need a strategy guide or tons of patience after getting lost.

Link acquires various weapons in his travels, most of which are staples of the Zelda series such as the Master Sword, Hookshot, Bow and Arrow. There's also the Hammer, Boomerang, Cane Of Somaria, Magic Cape and Mirror Shield which have various uses in the dungeons. With the large amount of collectible items comes the expectation that you'll know when to use them, and I must admit that there were times when I had to refer to the guide for a particularly inventive use of them.

At the end of each dungeon is a boss which has a weakness that Link must exploit to beat it. Most of the bosses in A Link to the Past are pretty easy, especially the last 3 or 4, which is a disappointment. I don't necessarily think that ultra-hard boss battles would be any better, but after a hard trek through a long dungeon, defeating the boss in 2 minutes flat is an anticlimax.

The world of A Link to the Past is well fleshed out and interesting, with plenty to do and find. It's especially impressive when you consider when the game was released, and the Light World/Dark World idea also works well. When combined with the story, these factors give the game a unique charm and appeal which can't be found in later (or earlier) instalments.

Graphically the game has its own style which fits well with the game and features vivid colours in both the Light and Dark overworlds as well as the dungeons. While it's far more simplistic than any Zelda games that came later, it takes the 2D instalments of the series almost as far as they can possibly go in terms of graphics. The music of the game is also impressive, featuring one of the most memorable versions of the theme tune, as well as many other classic pieces.

Overall A Link to the Past is well remembered by gamers, who hail it as one of the best SNES games ever released. I would agree with this, but add that since then its appeal to gamers who are new to the series may have declined slightly. The controls and puzzles of dungeons are still as good as ever, but the difficulty of later levels and the patience needed to find each item and upgrade necessary for completing the game can be offputting, especially with easier 3D instalments of the series out for all but the WiiU.

In short this is a good game if you have the time and effort to put into completing it, and don't mind referring to a guide every now and then. It's definitely not a good starting point for gamers new to the series, or even something I'd recommend to those who haven't played it before, unless they're well versed in Zelda games already and it's because of this that the game will be fondly remembered by most who have played it, and fairly unappealing to those who haven't.

Rating: 87/100
Grade: B

Famicom Game Double Header: Yoshi No Cookie + Twin Bee

Game: Yoshi No Cookie (Yoshi's Cookie)
Console: Famicom (NES)
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 21st November 1992

I recently aquired a Famiclone console which allows me to play Famicom (Japanese NES) games. To test it I decided to buy the cheapest decent looking game on eBay which turned out to be this. Yoshi's Cookie is a puzzle game where players can move columns up or down, and rows left or right to match cookies. Once a whole row or column is filled with the same type of cookie, it will disappear. The aim of the game is to get rid of all of the cookies on screen before the new ones that are added by the computer reach the edge.

The game bears a few similarities to titles such as Tetris and Columns, but has the added advantage of essentially being able to move any tile anywhere, as long as the player has the time to do so. There are 10 rounds of 10 levels included in the game, with a cutscene between each round. The speed of incoming cookies increases as time passes in each level, which makes getting a good start critical to completing levels.

Graphically Yoshi's Cookie is simple, but still fairly impressive for the console. Mario is well animated and detailed in the top corner, and the cutscenes and cookies themselves are nicely defined. While there's not much story contained in the cutscenes, it's nice to have a short break from gameplay and it gives the game a little more depth. There's a choice of 3 pieces of music to accompany gameplay, all of which are moderately enjoyable but definitely suited to gameplay.

Overall the game is a good puzzler with a slow but steady difficulty curve which ensures players of all standards can enjoy the game. With multiplayer and level select options, there's a good amount of replayability even with its lack of story or variation to the core gameplay. The fact that I found it hard to tear myself away from the game to review it should be a good indicator of how well it performs despite being basic.

Rating: 55/100
Grade: D

Game: Twin Bee
Console: Famicom
Developer: Konami
Release Date: 4th January 1986

Bearing many similarities to Fantasy Zone by Sega and released at a similar time both in arcades and on home consoles, Twinbee is a shoot 'em up in which the player controls a ship armed with bombs and bullets. There are several powerups which can be acquired through collecting differently coloured bells which appear onscreen once a cloud has been shot. There are 5 stages which will loop once completed and increase in difficulty.

The powerups included are differentiated by the colour of the bell collected; Yellow gives a score bonus, Blue increases ship speed, White gives a double-shot, Red gives a shield around the player and Green makes mirror ships around the player which are also able to shoot. Bells must be shot and juggled to make them change from yellow to any of the other colours. If the player is hit in the middle of the ship, they will lose a life, but if the sides are hit only a bomb throwing arm will be lost. Once both arms are lost, bombs cannot be thrown until an ambulance is met and collected.

Graphically the game is colourful and includes many cutesy and surreal enemies to shoot. Most items are clearly defined and there's only very slight flickering in later levels. For a shoot 'em up, it's fairly easy to see what's happening onscreen. The music is simple but appropriate for the game, with the only real complaint being that it pauses to play a tune whenever a powerup is collected, leading to a disjointed feel occasionally.

Overall when compared to its closest rival, Fantasy Zone it seems to have a little less character, quirky charm and replayability, despite being a fun game. The powerup collecting dynamic is interesting and adds to gameplay, forcing players to juggle their bells to collect their desired effect. With just 5 levels, it's fairly easy to beat with a little practice, but remains a good starting point for the series.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

Game Review: Eyetoy Play

Game: Eyetoy Play
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Studio London
Release Date: 4th November 2003

While I've been aware of the Eye Toy's existence for quite a while, the last time I played one was several years ago, at which time I dismissed it as a simple kids add-on for the Playstation 2 (this may have been due to being forced to play the window cleaning minigame with my younger cousins at some point). Now that I'm older and perhaps a little wiser, I thought I'd give the device that seems to have inspired the Kinect, (a major component of the Xbox One gaming experience today) a chance.

There were three main minigame collections for the Eyetoy which made use of its motion detection capabilities and other features; Eyetoy Play 1, 2 and 3. I'll be taking a look at all of them in due course, and seeing just how good the motion control of yesteryear was. From what I can tell so far, the picture can be a little fuzzy but the overall detection is good as long as there's nothing on the wall behind you. Menus are easy to navigate and only require players to hold their hands over buttons for a set amount of time to press them. There are 12 games included in Eyetoy Play;

Beat Freak

The first game included is a simple rhythm game where players must touch the speakers in the corner of the screen when a disc is in the centre of them. Sometimes two speakers must be touched simultaneously, but mostly the discs appear one at a time. With a selection of four different songs to "dance" to, there's some replayability in the game and while the game can get physically tiring, it's only to be expected from accessories like the Eyetoy. The routines themselves are fairly straightforward and make musical sense; some aspects have been "borrowed" from the Dancing Stage game series such as combos and a performance meter. Overall this is exactly the type of game you'd expect to find and it performs pretty well at what it's designed to do.

Rating: 7/10

Kung Foo

The oddly misspelled second game on Eyetoy Play is Kung Foo. Players must react to an onslaught of onscreen attackers, and come into contact with them before they reach the area in which the player is supposed to be. The controls are responsive and the game is fast paced and fun, stepping up the difficulty quite nicely in its 6 stages, and final boss battle. Bonus stages involve breaking boards in the corners of the screen, but these are less responsive and harder to hit. Overall while the game is short, it's fun and makes great use of the Eyetoy's capabilities (which is pretty much all you can ask of games on this collection). The only downside is the game's length.

Rating: 9/10

Wishi Washi

While window washing doesn't sound like the most enjoyable of activities, with the addition of some powerups and a time limit, flailing your arms around has never been quite so rewarding. Although this is a pretty simple game, and there's no real progression or end goal to achieve, it once again makes use of the Eyetoy camera in a way that could not be replicated by a controller and so succeeds in a fundamental aspect of design. Overall this is a game that players will easily tire of, but it's good for younger participants.

Rating: 6/10

Keep Ups

Keep Ups is another simple game, similar to the real life game of "keepie uppie", with only the use of the player's head. The aim is to keep the ball airbourne and away from the bottom of the screen for as long as possible, and do as many touches of the ball of possible in that time. Occasionally characters will appear in the windows at the side of the game, who will loft the ball in a different direction and score more points for the player. The player detection is usually accurate and can tell whether players make an effort to head the ball properly or not. While this is a pretty simple concept overall, it works well with the Eyetoy concept.

Rating: 7/10


Boxing Chump

Boxing Chump requires the player to stand sideways on the left side of the screen, rather than facing forwards in the middle. The objective of the game is to defeat your opponent, a robotic boxer, by hitting it in areas of the body which it isn't guarding. Your stamina bar can be recharged by moving about inbetween rounds and overall it works pretty well. I didn't quite understand why the game felt the need to stop every now and then for a "Break" before letting us continue to box, but this didn't get in the way of the gameplay too much. It's harder to get a good rating on this game than some others but its not impossible.

Rating: 6/10

UFO Juggler

Multitasking is the main skill used in this game, as players guide UFOs from the launch bays at the bottom of the screen up to the top without making them overheat, leaving them for too long, or allowing them to collide. There's also an enemy ship to avoid but it'll only freeze your UFOs in the air momentarily rather than destroying them. Players get 3 chances before it's game over, and this game makes a particularly nice change of pace within the collection; it's far more precise and skill based than most of the games up to until this point.

Rating: 7/10

Slapstream

And so to the first game I dislike on this collection; Slapstream. The objective is to get rid of the rats which appear on top of the clouds, without hitting the bunny girls who appear in the same way.  While it's easy to see which is which and a simple swipe at the rats will get rid of them, the Eyetoy seems to think I'm in a lot of places that I'm not. The wall behind me isn't exactly bare, but it's hard to find a large enough space to play in front of, and this hasn't affected any of the other games. As a result however, I can walk out of the room once the game starts and still be told off for hitting the bunny girls instead of the rats.

Rating: 3/10

Plate Spinner

Plate Spinner is another game which focuses mainly on multitasking; you're asked to keep up to 4 plates spinning at the correct speed, as well as defending them from attack by monkeys. Plates can go both too slowly and too fast, although there's not a lot of distinction between the two, and I often found myself speeding up a plate which was already going too fast due to the confusing animation for excess speed. The monkeys would have been a good addition if players only had to keep the plates spinning over a certain speed, as usually you'll be far too busy concentrating on keeping the speed just right to worry about small animals knocking plates down.

Rating: 5/10

Boogie Down

The second rhythm based challenge on Eyetoy Play after Beat Freak, Boogie Down is another game which is seriously affected if you don't have a green screen behind you. In addition to not being especially responsive anyway and using a strange beat system where you're expected to go straight after the demonstration, rather than waiting a beat, anything in the way of the camera will be detected as a wrong movement and lose you points, ending your game much sooner. I'm aware that the Eyetoy instructions say to clear the wall behind you as much as possible but having done so, I'd say that it needs an excessively clear surface behind you to pick movements up properly for this game.

Rating: 4/10

Ghost Catcher

Ghost Catcher requires players to spot and follow ghosts around with their hands to get rid of them before they fly off the top of the screen; once 3 have escaped the game is over. While they can be quite hard to spot, this isn't such a bad thing as it gives the game some much needed challenge. There's a boss stage at the end of the game, much like Kung Foo which provides a nice change of pace, but it never stops feeling simple as a concept.

Rating: 6/10

Mirror Time

In case you're wondering, the above screenshot is the correct way up; as the game's title would suggest Mirror Time mirrors the player in both the vertical and horizontal axis as well as being able to flip them. The objective of the game is to hit the green spheres at the side of the screen whilst avoiding the red ones. You're given 3 chances and between each round, a robot flips one part of the screen in an attempt to disorientate you. Despite being simple, Mirror Time works incredibly well and is one of the most fun games on the collection.

Rating: 9/10

Rocket Rumble

The final game featured on Eyetoy Play is Rocket Rumble where the player must detonate fireworks by waving over their position and then quickly use the detonators at the side of the screen to make a light show. Only fireworks of the same colour can be detonated in a group, unless a special "bridge" firework is used. This adds a little depth to the game, although really all there is to do is attempt to get the high score. Overall it's executed well, despite being a short and simple concept.

Rating: 8/10

Graphically the game retains a cartoon feel with its imagery, although most of the game screen is occupied by the player for most games. The sounds and voice acting included in the game is mediocre at best but doesn't really impact on the core experience. Alongside the games, other bonus modes are featured on the disk such as an underwater theme, and various other backdrops for players to experiment with.

Overall Eyetoy Play offers almost exactly what you'd expect; a selection of minigames which demonstrate the features and uses of the Eyetoy accessory. Naturally some of the games are better than others, but there's none that stand out as being unplayable. Most feel cut short by time limits or a limited amount of levels, but there are good ideas present in nearly all of the minigames. If you own an Eyetoy, there's no reason not to own Eyetoy Play. It may not be "hardcore" gaming, or even regular gaming, but it's party game style fun.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C