Boxing Games Roundup: Round 2

In the previous part of this review I looked at larger than life, cartoonish arcade style boxing games. This however, is only one type of boxing game, the other being more serious fighting sports experiences. I'll be looking at six games released between 1996 and 2005.

Game: Victory Boxing: Championship Edition
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: JVC Digital Studios
Release Date: 1996

JVC are best known for making consumer electronics, but also dipped their feet into the gaming market between 1990 and 2001. From the outset, the Japanese influence in this game is felt heavily with a jazzy muzak accompaniment to its menus and the circle button used to confirm rather than X. There's also the classic Japanese gaming trope of there being far too much text before anything actually happens; the gym and character creation, and the promoter's opening speech mean that it's at least 5 minutes before players even get to fight - in a boxing video game.

That said, as soon as players begin to fight they'll wish that there were more menus and speech of any kind. The controls are so unresponsive that I had to check whether my controller was properly plugged in. Firstly the boxer's movement is controlled with tank controls; the boxer will move in the direction they're facing when up is pressed, regardless of ring position. This isn't easy to get used to and my usual style of dodging back and forth to avoid blows in boxing games is impossible here.

In addition to this button presses take forever to take effect; punches and movement can take as much as 3-5 seconds to actually happen onscreen after a button press, dependant on a boxer's 'speed' rating. This is absolutely infuriating as AI opponents seem to have no such trouble and make light work of flooring your fighter repeatedly. There's 3 bars in the middle of the screen which represent damage, punching power and something beginning with O, but the controls render the game basically unplayable and so there's not much point taking any notice of them.

Graphically the boxers in the game look like drawing mannequins whose poses can be changed to illustrate different body positions. The animation is generally poor with the knockdown animation being one of the most ridiculous I've ever seen in any fighting game, as the injured boxer slumps onto their face almost instantly as they're hit. The music of the game is weird; with jazzy music accompanying the fight, featuring repeated voice clips like "Don't lose your power!".

Overall Victory Boxing: Championship Edition is as close as you'll ever get to a Japanese budget Playstation boxing game without D3 Publisher or Midas Interactive being involved. It's obvious that the game was made early on in the lifespan on the console by developers who had little idea of what makes a boxing game fun or even playable.

Rating: 11/100
Grade: F

Game: Prince Naseem Boxing
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Codemasters
Release Date: 23rd October 2000

At a time when the Playstation 2's release was barely a month away, Codemasters saw it fit to release Prince Naseem Boxing for the Playstation. The game was called Mike Tyson Boxing in America, but other than this everything seems to be the same. Players can compete as any of the 16 featured "champions", none of who seem to exist in real life besides Prince Naseem himself, as well as 12 other fictional fighters. On the back of the box, the game claims to have 106 fighters in total, though I have no clue where the remaining 78 are hiding.

One of the main modes is simply titled World; a career mode of sorts where players climb the ranks, set their training regimen and use the calendar to determine what actions to take. The other main mode is Showcase, a knockout tournament between the 16 world champions, without any weight classes to decide who is best (spoilers: it's the heavyweights because they land the hardest shots).

Fights are interesting in that the controls provide two buttons for punches on the right hand side, and two for the left. On the whole if players can hit on the correct side and move around a little, winning should be inevitable, especially if many punches are thrown without a chance for the opponent to respond. It doesn't feel particularly bad, but would probably become somewhat boring with repeated fights.

There's a choice of viewpoints, though none of them are exactly what I'd have chosen, given free reign over the camera. The fighters are fairly unremarkable in their graphical quality; nothing close to Playstation 2 standards, but not too bad for the Playstation. The crowd and backgrounds however are fairly clearly 2D images stretched to look a little 3D, which is a little disappointing.

Overall Prince Naseem Boxing is a fairly average boxing game with a lack of licensed fighters and so a fairly boring experience. Bouts are too easy once players work out the best strategy for the game, and Showcase mode is hardly worth playing at all. The World mode can provide some replayability but there's only basic slider interaction and negotiations besides fighting.

Rating: 59/100
Grade: D

Game: Rocky
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Rage Software
Release Date: 18th November 2002

Although licensed games don't usually live up to their hype, there was always a chance that a game based on the Rocky franchise would be better than most of the licensed games pushed out based on things that are more difficult to make a game out of. With a wide roster of fighters to unlock, a movie mode which follows the chronology of fights in the Rocky movies and exhibition and tournament modes to make your own matchups with Rocky movie characters.

The controls are fairly simple and easy to remember, with two buttons assigned to high punches, two to low punches and modifiers to pull off hooks and uppercuts. L1 is used to dodge out of harm's way, and movement is a little slow but not too frustrating. Fights require a degree of strategy to beat, but usually cornering the opponent before unloading a flurry of punches will help the chances of winning a round. It's not often that players will be able to score a KO in the first couple of rounds as time moves very quickly, but this is more realistic. The training minigames in movie mode provide a little variety, and prove to be a fairly easy way of levelling Rocky up without too much effort.

Graphically there's some resemblance to characters from the Rocky films; even those who aren't well versed in the franchise should recognise Apollo Creed, and Clubber Lang. The sound is a mixed bag with some good voice acting, and some that isn't so good. There's some music from the films but I didn't hear Eye of the Tiger anywhere which was somewhat disappointing. It's a shame the only real sense of achievement in the game comes from Movie mode.

Overall Rocky isn't a particularly good boxing game; there's a lot of getting caught up in a tangle with an opponent, or the opponent almost running away when you're winning, but with the addition of character from the Rocky series of films, it's not that bad for a licensed game, and certainly bearable if you're a casual fan of the films.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Game: Boxing Champions
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Tamsoft
Release Date: 7th November 2003

Boxing Champions is part of the Simple Series; originally titled The Boxing: Real Fist Fight. It's a horrifically simple boxing game where players can compete in a tournament, head-to-head fight, or survival mode. All of which are essentially the same, save for what happens at the end of a fight; in survival and tournament mode, there's more fights to beat in order to clear the mode whereas head-to-head is simply a single 2 player fight. While the game doesn't look too bad when booted up, and the controls are fairly competent for a boxing game, it all falls apart when players begin to fight. There's no point in trying anything but the super punches, as they do huge amounts of damage and guarantee every fight to end in the first round. Boxers lock to their opponent, but there's a delay in turning to face them after the punching animation so it's possible to punch an opponent in the back of the head with enough button spamming.

The AI is super easy for the first few fights of any given mode, literally walking into your punches and going down in very few hits. After the third or fourth fight, something changes and it's suddenly almost impossible to win amidst a barrage of punches from the AI, and nearly all player shots are mysteriously blocked. The selection of boxers is pretty poor, and while not having licensed fighters is acceptable, they should at least be interesting if you're going to feature original characters. Movement around the ring is slow and every punch thrown has a long animation which means there's no quickfire element to the strategy of fights.

Graphically the game shows some promise with it's modelling of the boxer's bodies which look fairly competently made. Their faces however seem to be moulded from wax with very little expression or human features. Strangely the developers seem to have chosen rock music to accompany the otherwise silent bouts, save for grunts and hit sound effects. It's an odd atmosphere, and not one that I can say I like.

Overall Boxing Champions shows an overwhelming lack of effort in game design and programming with three main modes which are basically the same, a poor selection of fighters and an even less enjoyable fighting engine and AI coding. The fact that it's possible to completely circle your opponent and begin punching the back of their head before either boxer self rights is proof that no-one tested the game and it should definitely be avoided.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Game: Rocky Legends
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Venom Games
Release Date: 28th September 2004

Rocky Legends is clearly based on the Rocky game a little further up this review, released in 2002. There are some changes, but the overall feel and gameplay issues remain. The main mode features a climb up the rankings with the next 2 or 3 fighters available to challenge (though why anyone wouldn't go for the highest available is beyond me), until Rocky Balboa himself is available to fight. There's the option to train inbetween fights to improve stats, which has some effect on the player's performance within them.

Both players have a health bar and a stamina bar which refill over time when they aren't being hit or throwing punches respectively. The health bar refills far too quickly, and the stamina bar too slowly, as without a constant barrage of punches there's almost no chance of knocking an opponent out, but stamina ends up drained halfway through an opponent's health bar. Any attempt at strategically counter-attacking is trumped by the refilling health bar and it's far easier to simply keep launching the same attack over and over until the opponent falls down. Using just the body blow punch and uppercut button I easily saw my way through to the final fight of career mode.

Besides the career mode there's very little to do in the game, unless you're into fantasy matchups from the Rocky films. Boxers and locations can be unlocked but it'd take completion of every career in the game at least once, though it's nice that there are different options like Apollo Creed or Clubber Lang, rather than just a simple Rocky storyline. Graphically the game is pretty standard; the characters look like who they're meant to represent and damage can be seen on their faces and bodies after a few rounds.

Overall Rocky Legends isn't different enough from the original Rocky release to justify being another game. There's some different things to do, but as many of the original gameplay complaints remain it's almost like an update patch, the likes of which we might see in the modern gaming age. If it's a choice between the first Rocky game and this though, there's cases for choosing eitherway. Personally I'd go for the first due to the woefully easy career mode featured in Rocky Legends.

Rating: 58/100
Grade: D

Game: EA Sports Fight Night Round 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: EA Sports
Release Date: 28th February 2005

The most realistic game featured so far in this series of boxing reviews; EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 features many real world boxers from the past and present as well as the option to create your own boxer and work your way up the ranks. There are a few other modes alongside this but there's a disappointing lack of thing to do when compared to some of the other boxing games I've reviewed recently.

The controls are completely different from any of the other games previously featured also. Punching is mostly achieved with the right analog stick with a variety of movements and flicks equating roughly to punches. Two signature punches are mapped to the X and R2 buttons, and it's possible to land illegal blows such as elbows and headbutts with circle and L2, though these will disqualify players if too many are used.

The bars on the bottom left and right represent each boxer's health and stamina. The health bar goes down slowly and most boxers can take a real beating before they're out for the count. Defence is important in the game, and most fights can't be won without at least blocking or avoiding some shots. The worst feature of the game is its knockdowns; when a boxer's health is depleted the game enters a focused mode where they must defend themselves from harsh attack for around 10 seconds, after which time they recover some health. The AI is very tricky with this and will do its best to run away from players and avoid being hit and knocked down.

Most matches in the game end up being a real slog; it took around 200 punches to down an early opponent, possibly due to my use of stamina and constant combinations, but there didn't seem to be much other way to win the fight. Knocking opponents down doesn't seem to dishearten them much and it's common to get 4 or 5 knockdowns in a fight before actually reaching a KO. Players can also choose to tend to their own wounds between rounds with a minigame, or allow the cutman to do it for them.

Graphically the game looks pretty good for the Playstation 2 era; boxers are generally recognisible and this is the only game I've looked at that features a good amount of real world boxers for players to take control of. There's some music in the form of EA Trax, but none really stood out as fitting the game or being particularly enjoyable. The commentary and sound of the game works well with the broadcast format of newer EA Sports games.

Overall EA Sports Fight Night Round 2 isn't the perfect boxing game for the casual player; there's no arcade style silliness and fights are often long and difficult slogs which require just as much defensive skill as offensive power. In terms of the most realistic boxing game though, it does pretty well in showing the nuances of the sport.

Rating: 73/100
Grade: C

The Worst of PS2 Part 1: Eternal Quest and Daemon Summoner

A year or two back, I did a set of reviews called "The Worst Of Master System" highlighting lazy home computer ports and generally crappy games that made it onto the Master System. While there's crappy games on every console, I feel like the needs to be a special quality shared by a set of games to make them worth posting about in a set. The PS2 enjoyed huge popularity, selling over 155 million units and this meant a potentially huge audience for any games published on that system. Budget publishers like Midas, D3 Publisher, Davilex, 505 Gamestreet and Phoenix Games took the approach that they could make whatever they liked with a tiny budget, and put it onto shop shelves for £9.99 an they'd definitely make some money. Unfortunately the games that they put on the shop shelves have to be some of the worst PS2 games ever, if not some of the worst games ever, and this is what I'll be looking at in these posts.

Game: Eternal Quest
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Tamsoft
Release Date: 21st May 2003

Eternal Quest is a primitive Action RPG game published by Midas and part of the Simple Series by D3 Publisher. Players begin their quest at the top level of a 50 level dungeon, on a mission to beat the final boss on the lowest level. At the start of their quest they have only a basic sword and a bell that takes them back to the top level of the dungeon. There's only one attack that can be used with sword, and a simple defend command which is far too difficult to use, timing wise. Later on in the dungeon, throwing weapons can be acquired, which are limited in number but can be handy.

There's a few different enemies than can be encountered such as "Wing Bones", "Poison Bug" and "Magic User", all of which look like incredibly generic fantasy game enemies that could easily feature in another game and not look out of place. Players gain Exp for defeating enemies and can level up, though there's not a noticeable difference in power level. There's also quite a few items and weapon upgrades that can be collected by players to aid them in beating enemies. The real issue with the game is that none of the exp, items or weapons collected whilst exploring carry through with players for use in later runs through the dungeon.

This may sound fairly standard for some Action RPG games, but the enemies are fairly hard from the start, and actually causing any damage to them can be difficult with the game's controls and limited attacking options. If you're unlucky enough to be facing more than one enemy at once, not only will they all attack in sequence, essentially blocking your character from even attacking, but if you are lucky enough to attack, your character will only focus on and attack the last enemy that hit them, making it almost impossible to strategise.

The dungeon itself is a randomly generated series of halls and passageways with some warps and only one pathway to the lower level on each level. The textures and look of each level is slightly different, but only thanks to a randomised colour tint on each level, which when combined with the rave like electronic music that accompanies gameplay makes it seem more like a nightclub than a dungeon. Everything about the game is graphically unimpressive, and it's honestly difficult to see what you're doing at all times in the game.

I suppose this style of game is most easily compared to "The Binding Of Issac" in that players make their way through decending dungeons, attempting to beat enemies and collect items in order to power up, but there's really no motivation for players to continue; at any moment your progress could be erased by an unfair random generation of 3 enemies right next to you. The fighting mechanics hardly work and the storyline is about as uninteresting as they come. Added to the fact that the game sounds more like a 90s warehouse rave than an Action RPG, it's easy to see that there wasn't much effort put into this. This wouldn't even make a particularly good flash game.

Rating: 33/100
Grade: E

Game: Daemon Summoner
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Atomic Planet
Release Date: 31st March 2006

Set in what appears to be Victorian England, Daemon Summoner presents a gothic tale of vampires and monsters as a backdrop to its first person shooter style gameplay. Players attempt to unravel the mystery of a fairly boring and nonsensical story about a man's wife who was turned into a vampire. Much of the game is spent chasing her about directly, attempting to get rid of monsters who get in the way, but ultimately the game isn't interesting nor rewarding enough to consider continuing.

The gameplay itself is boring, forcing players to wander around maze like levels, killing easy to defeat monsters and attempting to fulfil level objectives that are vague and easily failed if players get the wrong idea. While the horror mood is good, there's nothing legitimately scary about the game as a whole, and nothing particularly fun about the gameplay.

Graphically the game is decidedly average at best for 2006's standards, and the environments are very wooden and 2 dimensional (sometimes literally as you can occasionally see through them). There's limited music and although sometimes the sound effects do a good job of creating a tense atmosphere, the voice acting lets the game down completely and makes it more comedic than anything else.

Overall Daemon Summoner is an attempt at a survival horror/first person shooter mix that suffers from a lack of imagination, graphical quality, voice acting talent and general story interest. There's tons of better horror games on the PS2, and tons of better shooters. While it's playable, there's really no appeal to any kind of gamer, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Rating: 40/100
Grade: D

Simple Series Review: Police Chase Down

Game: Police Chase Down
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Tamsoft
Release Date: 17th February 2004

It's been a while since I last played a game from the Simple Series, but having found this gem recently I couldn't resist giving it a try. Players are challenged to take the role of a motorcycle cop protecting a VIP inside of a limousine which is under attack from bad guys on bikes and in vans. There are 10 missions in total which are set across the 3 locations featured; City, Highway and Desert. While there's a different road layout for each mission, the developers could clearly have tried a little harder with the theme of each locale.

Controlwise the game doesn't make it easy for players; steering wavers between complete understeer and turning on a dime, making any precision driving difficult, and all 4 of the featured characters bikes are slow to accelerate. Shooting is controlled with the R1 button, but it's anybody's guess as to where your character will want to aim; sometimes it's at the target, other times there's a strange curve on your bullets and it's hard to hit anything. Luckily motorcyclists can be knocked off their bikes with a simple collision and even the vans can be defeated with enough hits.

Graphically the game appears to use the same engine and assets as Motorbike King in some parts, and the overall quality is on par with that game (which is to say it's pretty bad). There's nothing particularly unforgivable in the visual department, but the animation and general feel is cheap as ever. Soundwise generic rock music is used to accompany the gameplay, which works stylistically but doesn't add much to the overall experience, especially as many annoying sound effects play over the top of the music, to alert players to anything and everything the game considers important.

Overall, with only the one mode to choose from (unless you count Result Mode, where players can see the grades they attained on previous missions), Police Chase Down is a classic example of a Simple Series game. Very little gameplay, fiddly controls, and an overall cheap feel. The difficulty isn't too high, but there are some moments when enemies pull out guns which can do a lot of damage, or you're asked to clear mines from in front of the limo that can be frustrating. On the whole, I'd avoid any Simple Series games as a rule, but this one is at least playable... for 10 minutes or so.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

12 Days of Midas (and other Budget games): Day 9 - Super Slammin' Dodgeball

Game; Super Slammin' Dodgeball
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Access
Release Date: 2001

As the only entry in the 12 Days of Midas to be from the Simple Series, you might expect Super Slammin Dodgeball to be slightly worse than even the most hideous budget games featured so far. At first glance that definitely appears to be the case, with mediocre cartoon images featured on the box art and menus, and a choice of Single Game, Tournament and Tutorial modes available from the main menu.

As tutorial mode is literally a slideshow of images detailing the game's controls, and Single Game mode is essentially playing just the first round of a Tournament mode game, it's safe to say that there's not a great deal of content included. Even the options menu has a pitiful amount of things to fiddle with, difficulty being the only one that affects gameplay in any way.

Gameplay follows the general rules of Dodgeball in that any player hit by the ball without catching it is out of the game. Catching a throw doesn't result in elimination, however and players often cross the centre line of the court without consequence. The strangest change to the rules is the inclusion of three players from each team along the sides of the court who are also able to eliminate opposing players with their throws, but don't need to be eliminated in order to win a match. I can only assume these players were included in order to speed up gameplay and eliminate the need for rules regarding out of bounds throws.

The controls are simple and allow for anyone to quickly master the game, but this also means that there's no advanced strategies to use. Beating the game is fairly straightforward; players must win 6 games to become champions and then play a final game against "The Elementals" who appear to be a race of alien Dodgeball players, to become the best team in the world. Once the game has been beaten once, players can play as The Elementals.

Graphically the game uses 2D sprites which while more primitive than other games of the time is probably a good decision as budget games never really got the hang of good looking 3D graphics. The art style is bearable, and although there's a lot of reused sprites throughout the game, there's a strange Mega Drive era feel to the visuals. The music behind gameplay doesn't really fit the action in any way, but its better than complete silence.

Overall while the Dodgeball action is generally enjoyable in a flash game sort of way, the lack of depth and unlockable content cripples the game's replayability. I felt like I'd experienced everything the game had to offer after 20 minutes or so, in which time I'd completed Tournament mode twice. Perhaps with a little more to do, and some deeper strategy, this could have been a hidden gem, but that's a lot to expect from a Midas published title.

Rating: 38/100
Grade: E

Simple Series Quality Test: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 vs Rollercoaster World

Game: Rollercoaster Tycoon 3
Console: PC
Developer: Frontier Developments
Release Date: 26th October 2004

As one of my enduring favourites in the 'tycoon' series of games, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has many fun features and enjoyable aspects, whereas games which attempt to imitate its success without even putting in half as much effort do not. In this double header review I'll first take a look at RCT3 and what makes it fun, and then assess whether or not Rollercoaster World, published by Midas Interactive quite lives up to the same standard.

In Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, players attempt to either build a successful theme park within a specific scenario with cash, theme and time limitations, or  play in sandbox mode where money is no object, and players can go about building anything they like. There are many preset buildings and park features that can be selected and placed, such as gift stands, thrill rides, scenery, preset rollercoasters and even smaller items such as bins, plants and themed items. In addition to this, rollercoasters and park transit rides can be custom designed by players, to pretty much any specification they'd like.

The game screen may seem a little cluttered with options on first glance, but there's a lot of options which need to be accessible when designing parks. At the top of the screen, information is displayed about the time of day, general mood of guests, the current financial situation and speed of the game. The options at the side allow players to check the park's finances, staff, rides and other stats, as well as build new coasters, rides, attractions or park features. Each of these menus has various submenus for themeing and different kinds of options.

The bubble in the bottom left appears when players are placing paths or building a new rollercoaster, and allows various options to be changed. Guests will generally only walk in areas where paths are laid, allowing players to direct them through the park in a sense. In the bottom right bubble, options for the selected ride are available such as opening or closing it, pricing information, the colour of its cars and track, stats and break down information. There's a lot of detail featured in the game, but it serves to allow players to make better decisions in scenario modes.

The scenarios featured in the game are interesting, and worth a try if that's your sort of thing. Personally I prefer to play in sandbox mode and create whatever I can think up, both in terms of parks and rollercoasters. Players are given a huge area to build their park in, and although there are height limits, they're pretty extreme and you're not likely to hit them unless you're trying to. There's several types of coasters to choose from, and almost anything is possible with the creation tool.

The business simulation aspects of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 are also enjoyable; better parks attract more guests, and advertising campaign or getting awards also contribute to the number of people passing through. Players are able to click on any guest they wish to see their thoughts about the park and rides they've been on. The hiring and firing of staff for the park is another aspect of gameplay (especially in scenario mode); entertainers or park officials who are in a bad mood may have a negative influence on guest moods also.

One of the best and most charming aspects of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 is the ability to ride the rollercoasters you've created in a first person view. There's some fun to be had in attempting to copy a real world coaster and then seeing how well it matches up. The build mode is well balanced; it's not so freeform that building a functional rollercoaster is difficult, but it's not so rigid that every creation seems to be similar either.

Another great feature of the game is the ability to plan events such as fireworks displays, at a certain time of the day in any part of your park. Coupled with the themed rides, objects and scenery, this makes for a good way to personalise your park. Each time I've played the game, I've been able to explore different ideas, layouts and ride possibilities, which is hugely important to replayability.

Graphically the game looks very nice, with a mix between cartoon styles up close and a more realistic look when zoomed out. The menus are clearly laid out and although sometimes it can take a bit of digging to find the required options, this is only due to the large amount of variables. The day/night cycle is a nice touch, especially for players wanting to emulate "Fright Nights" with a horror theme. Musically the game features an upbeat accompaniment to park building and overseeing events while allowing players to experience the atmosphere when zoomed in. These combine to provide a general feeling of excitement.

Overall Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has all the content, options and design tools to give players a huge amount of control over how their theme park turns out. Whether playing to the limitations of scenario mode in an attempt to run a successful park or just building the park of your dreams, the game has all of the tools needed to shape a unique and personal experience. There's not much more you could ask for from a theme park building simulation game.

Rating: 78/100
Grade: B

Game: Rollercoaster World
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Bimboosoft
Release Date: 21st May 2004

And so to Rollercoaster World; surely even a simplified version of RCT3 would be the best game I've played in the Simple Series so far. Well, just like Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 there are 2 main modes; Challenge Mode and Management Mode. They're somewhat different to Scenario and Sandbox mode, however. Challenge Mode has players designing different types of rollercoasters to meet certain speed, thrill and safety ratings, in a sort of grid based view, while Management mode is a little more like RCT3, though not a lot.

There are 5 challenges in total in Challenge Mode, each with its own type of rollercoaster to construct. Players must stay within certain height and turn angle restrictions while building in a strange quadruple view; showing the coaster from above, beside, onboard and another view which I couldn't quite get my head around. Once the track reaches the station players may test their creation, and if the car gets back to the station they're then scored against the target ratings to see if the level has been passed.

Needless to say, this mode is pretty shallow with only 5 challenges, as well as being restrictive in terms of what can be built, and not a lot of fun. After quite a few tries, I wasn't able to get past the second challenge and so decided to give "Management Mode" a go. After a fairly long and boring tutorial (there's one for Challenge mode, but it's shorter), players are allowed to place attractions and custom rollercoasters in a style vaguely resembling RCT3, but there's no real depth to anything as the burger stands, restrooms, arcades and other attractions cannot be interacted with by guests.

Even guests themselves can't be viewed from the overhead mode and require players to change to "Free Walk" view to be seen. It's not worth the effort though as in this mode, despite being able to walk around the park as you please, everything is a low resolution 2D picture. Attractions, scenery, facilities and guests alike are blurred, immobile and generally unimpressive. There's some element of being able to earn money for guests entering your park in Management Mode, but it's really not worth it when you can't see, hear or get feedback from them.

The only thing the game does seem to have going for it is the ability to ride the rollercoasters you've created, just like in RCT3. It's just a shame that the camera is far shakier and the action far less exciting. Graphically, nearly everything else is a low resolution 2D image and even the few things that aren't could have been rendered on the original Playstation. The music featured in the game is annoying and repetitive.

Overall Rollercoaster World can hardly even be called a Rollercoaster Tycoon clone, due to the gap in quality. Neither Challenge Mode nor Management Mode has any hint of excitement, and the "Quickride" Modes where players can see the sort of coasters they can make almost seems to be taunting me with the type of creations it claims are possible. Yet again a Simple Series game fails miserably at something which should have been easy to emulate.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Gaming History: The Simple Series

For today's Gaming History article I'll be taking a look at a series of games that for the most part I wish didn't exist. It's filled with badly programmed, poorly designed rubbish and makes up just over 5% of the Playstation 2's entire Japanese library with 165 releases for the console alone. In total there have been 401 Simple Series releases across 11 consoles, with Sony's original Playstation and PS2 receiving most of the titles.

You may well ask how a company can manage to release 401 terrible games and stay in business, after all many other companies have gone into liquidation after far less failures, but the secret is in the budget. D3 Publisher don't develop many of the games themselves, but instead pay tiny developers who have no prior experience or talent to create titles for them for next to nothing. Once these are complete, they're put on sale for the budget price of 2000 yen (for the PS2 series, anyway) and the costs are recouped even if only a small percentage of gamers purchase the titles.

(The Sniper 2 for PS2 - The first simple series game I played)

Not all of the Simple Series games released in Japan made it over to Europe, but thanks to Midas Interactive (who already had their own line of terrible games established in PAL regions) 83 PS2 simple series titles were published over here. Since playing The Sniper 2, my first encounter with the Simple Series as a while, I've made it a personal challenge to find a game that I truly enjoy from the series.

So far I've not had much success, despite many attempts to find something I'll enjoy. I've even got a stack of Simple Series games that I've not yet reviewed because I've got nothing better to review it seems. It's pretty easy to spot a simple series game out in the wild; games with a generic title, published by Midas Interactive, or worse 505 Gamestreet are very likely to be from the series. In fact, in Japan every game starts with "The" and has borders to identify it as a Simple Series game. This results in rather silly title translations such as "The Tennis", "The Shooting" and my favourite "The Swim Meet of Covered Woman".

(Party Girls for PS2 aka The Swim Meet of Covered Woman in Japan)

Part of the reason the games aren't enjoyable is that graphically they're very basic, and unappealing. Many of the games in the PS2 simple series look as if they belong on PS1, and even use assets from other games if they can. I understand that these games were developed on a tight budget and thus can't afford the high level of graphics that we've come to expect of our consoles in the modern age, but there's a general lack of effort in most, if not all titles I've played so far.

Another general criticism of Simple Series games is their depth; often the play modes offered are very similar to one another and included only to give the illusion of more content. Menus have very few options, and most of the games can be completed in a single sitting. I'd perhaps expect this of games on simpler systems, back in the NES and Master System days, but to hardly fill a single layer CD when the PS2 has all the space of a DVD available for games is disappointing.

(Deadly Strike for PS2 - One of the worst beat 'em ups ever)

Before playing the Simple Series, I was under the impression that there were some genres that it was almost impossible to make a bad game for; racing, beat 'em up and fighting games for example have many examples of mediocrity, but not too many outright bad games. Whether through a lack of effort or a lack of funds though, D3 Publisher seems to manage to ruin one aspect of the game or another. With racing games, the steering is always horribly difficult to work, with beat 'em ups, the AI has no clue what it's doing and with any other game there's always a key component that doesn't quite work.

With many Simple Series games to check out, it's possible that I'll find a gem at some point and perhaps look a little more favourably on the series as a whole, but it's important to keep in mind where D3 Publisher are now, having published most of the Simple Series between 1996 and 2009. The Simple Series itself has luckily ground to somewhat of a halt, The latest game was "Family Party: 30 Great Games" for the WiiU, which was a universally panned launch title, wasting no time in putting shovelware on the console.

(Earth Defence Force 2025 for PS3 - The most successful export of the simple series)

The most notable games to come out of the Simple Series are without a doubt those of the Earth Defence Force series. What began as a Simple Series game of slightly better quality than most is now a series with full price titles that are almost as buggy as simple series titles. Most of the games hold a rating of 69 or less on Metacritic, indicating a fairly poor level of quality despite not technically being a part of the Simple Series anymore.

Outside of Simple series games, D3 Publisher have been involved with many cartoon and movie tie in games, most notably Adventure Time: Explore the dungeon because I don't know! which wasn't particularly well received at all. As another full price game from D3 Publisher, this more than anything proves the point I'd like to make about the Simple Series and D3 as a whole. If none of their games were ever released, gaming would be none the worse for it. In fact, it might even be slightly better for it. Avoid D3 Publisher, Midas Interactive and 505 Gamestreet games if you can, and leave the painful task of playing them to me.

Pinball Games Roundup

Recently I've noticed rather a lot of pinball games in my collection, so what better way to review them than with a cross-console comparison roundup? There's a good spread of eras, starting with the NES and if you're really into your pinball games, I've already covered Pokemon Pinball and Sonic Spinball in a review.

Game: Pinball
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 18th October 1985

By no means the first pinball game (the Atari 2600, Intellivision and probably several other consoles had one), Pinball on the NES is the first to my knowledge that could be defined as genuinely enjoyable. While it's still pretty basic and visually unimpressive, the core gameplay and table features are in place to make an interesting pinball table. There's a choice of 2 game modes, A and B, the difference being that A has floatier and less challenging ball physics than B which seems to be for more experienced players.

Although there's only one table to play it, it's full of features including a slot machine style bonus display, a multiplier button, targets, cards to turn into a royal flush, and chicks which can be used to gain extra ball savers for the sides of the table. The control is decent in both modes, although I personally prefer Mode A as it usually leads to a longer game.

Graphically the game is very simple, but it's possible to see all that's happening and each feature of the table is clearly laid out. The music of the menu screen is pretty average, and the sound effects in-game are standard NES fare. Overall this is at the very least playable, and could possibly provide an hour or two of fun for players, though there's not a huge amount to do as there's only one table on which to play.

Rating: 34/100
Grade: E

Game: Psycho Pinball

Console: Sega Mega Drive

Developer: Codemasters

Release Date: 1994

Psycho Pinball ups the stakes for the 16 bit era by providing 4 different pinball tables, sub games, mini games and speed/difficulty options to suit every player. The table themes are wild west, underwater, halloween and amusement park. While the first three are played as single table games, the amusement park table can provides access to any of the other three through tents which transport the player's ball to its destination table. This can be a fun feature to chain together many turns, as long as the player has the skill to actually get to another table.

Controlling the main game is simple, as the left direction button and C are used for the left and right flippers respectively. When a sub game is initiated, it's usually controlled with the A, B and C buttons, and can range from a shell game, where players must guess what cup an object is under, to a game of skill where players must catch ghosts. The final type of control is used for the minigames which are much more elaborate than the subgames, and require regular platforming controls. All aspects of the game control fairly well and at no point does it feel unintuitive. 

Graphically the game is colourful and in somewhat of a cartoon style; the design gives a good overall atmosphere to the game and links each of its tables together well. The music of the game is very enjoyable and adds a lot of character; each table has its own theme which reflects its theme. My only complaint of this game would be that aside from the minigames, all players can try to do is get a high score; there's no bonus goals, objectives or unlocks to keep one's interest.

Overall this is an enjoyable, if slightly shallow pinball game, with a small but interesting range of tables and minigames. The amount of options offered is a nice bonus, with everything from Slow to Psycho speed. While there wasn't much like it around at the time of its release, I'm sure there are better pinball games to come in this review.

Rating: 61/100
Grade: D

Game: 3D Ultra Pinball 2: Creep Night
Console: PC
Developer: Sierra
Release Date: 23rd September 1996

Creep Night was the first Pinball game I played as a child, as a demo of the game had been included on some educational software I had. The game has a horror theme and features goblins, ghouls, skeletons and more over its three tables; Castle, Tower and Dungeon. All 3 play fairly similarly as the object of each is to complete 5 tasks, assigned to the player once the ball is accurately hit into a series of gates. While this may sound complex, it's not particularly hard to do.

One of the main draws of this game is the amount of extra bonuses and areas there are on each table; the castle alone features 3 sets of flippers as well as a singular one on the left hand side. There's also plenty of targets, doors and other things to hit, in addition to the 5 tasks required which range from protecting your ball from a wraith to squashing zombies, to chasing a goblins on an atv. The amount of imagination that seems to have gone into designing this is impressive.

Graphics are probably the game's weakest area overall as most textures and effects look fairly dated. It's still easy to see what needs to be hit, but an HD remake of the game wouldn't go amiss. The musical accompaniment to Creep Night is stellar and forms a lot of the game's uniqueness. The mischievous feel to the theme of the castle level hints at the coming chaos brought about by all manner of monsters and ghosts.

Overall Creep Night hasn't aged particularly well as a game; it's three tables seem pretty similar to each other and the graphics could easily be improved. At times the ball feels as if it magnetically gravitates towards certain items which may help or hinder the player. Despite this, the gameplay, music and design of the tables are still enjoyable and hold at least an hour or two of fun for players who are new to the game. If you're into 90s PC games, then this is definitely a game to check out, otherwise it's an interesting curiosity.

Rating: 64/100
Grade: C

Game: True Pinball
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Digital Illusions
Release Date: September 1996

True Pinball features 4 different tables which can be played in 3D or from a top down view, and feature police, baywatch, extreme sports and viking themes respectively. Each table is fairly small and most feature a lot of ramps and ball runs, with a few minigames here and there. Overall they're not as exciting as the tables of Creep Night or Psycho Pinball.

Controlwise, the game is a little strange; the right d-pad button is used to control the left flipper, and the square button is used for the right flipper. While this isn't too hard to get used to, it'd be nice if players could redefine the controls as desired. Each turn seems to be significantly shorter than most pinball games also, with some only lasting around 20 seconds, despite players best efforts to keep the pinball in play. When playing in top down mode, the ball seems to move far faster than it does in 3D mode which, when added to the scrolling effect makes gameplay even harder.

Graphically the game looks nice, especially for an original Playstation game. There are bright colours and nicely detailed graphics on each table. The music which accompanies gameplay is different for each theme and most, if not all music is enjoyable and fits well with its table. Besides getting a high score on each table, there's not a lot more to do in the game, nor anything to unlock which means there's not a great deal of replay value either.

Overall True Pinball may have featured impressive graphics and gameplay for its time on the original Playstation, but to me it feels devoid of many features and its tables feel far too restrictive for fun gameplay. Of course if you're into pinball games then it's worth a go, but if you're searching for the most fun pinball game out there, it's safe to give this a miss.

Rating: 54/100

Grade: D

Game: 3D Ultra Pinball 3: The Lost Continent
Console: PC
Developer: Sierra
Release Date: 1997

The sequel to Creep Night Pinball, The Lost Continent boasted 15 tables worth of pinball excitement as well as a fully fledged story adventure to accompany gameplay. In terms of control and play style, the game is similar to its predecessor and generally features target areas which the pinball needs to be hit into, and minigames which require the player to do a little more than in Creep Night, often using the same controls as the main pinball sections to navigate paths, shoot dinosaurs and more.

Unfortunately it's not all good news; there are three sections to the game and the first table of each section is a large and fairly difficult one. Assuming players are able to progress, the next four tables are far smaller and feature easier goals, acting more as mini-tables and objectives than a fully different table. The best way to experience the game (or so I found) was to play in Practice mode, and work through each table that way, otherwise it was too easy to run out of lives attempting to beat the first level.

Graphically the game is a little more impressive than Creep Night, but retains some of the 90s PC game feel in its visuals. The music isn't quite up to the standard of the catchy tunes of Creep Night either, but there's some solid tracks, and the voice acting that's included isn't terrible. Although it's not easy to play through the game as intended, even playing the levels in the correct order in practice mode allows the player to view how nicely the story ties everything together into more of a pinball/adventure game.

Overall the enjoyment of this game comes from both the pinball aspects and completing minigames which allow the player to progress. Although pinball purists (they must exist somewhere) won't be impressed by the smaller, shorter tables, I think that they add a far more exciting adventurous feel to the game than if it had just been 3 tables, as Creep Night was. If you're looking for something more than just a pinball game, this is recommended.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Game: Pro Pinball: Timeshock
Console: PC
Developer: Empire Interactive
Release Date: 30th September 1997

Pro Pinball: Timeshock features one fast paced table with a time travel theme, in addition to several minigames and modes. The object of the game is to get the high score as usual, however exploring various continents, visiting different time periods and completing dot matrix minigames are also secondary aims which contribute towards getting the high score, and players completion of these is displayed after each ball is lost.

Table features include several ramps, a crystal in the centre, a multi-ball storage and distribution system on the left, and the dot matrix style screen which displays minigames. These range from controlling a minecart and collecting "awards" to climbing up Mount Rushmore; some games are controlled via the flipper keys and others progress according to the events happening on the pinball table itself.

Graphically the game looks very sharp and crisp in its detail and seems to be well ahead of its time, compared to home consoles. There's a different musical theme for each time period as well as some bonus themes, all of which are fast paced and enjoyable. Although the overall difficulty may seem a little high at first, it's easy to build up a lot of bonus points and rewards from minigames and objectives.

Overall while Timeshock only features one table, compared to Creep Night's 3, or The Lost Continent's 15, the table featured is of high quality and was designed to excite players. This doesn't quite make up for the lack of variety once you're used to the table itself, but with great music and graphics, coupled with the fast paced action of the game, there's still a lot of enjoyment for those who enjoy pinball.

Rating: 66/100
Grade: C

Game: Pro Pinball: Big Race USA

Console: PC

Developer: Empire Interactive

Release Date: 31st December 1998

Big Race USA unsurprisingly plays very similarly to Timeshock, as they're both in the same series. The table has as many if not more features and the graphics has received quite an upgrade also. There are more settings including difficulty, table angle, flipper strength and appearance of wear and tear which are nice to see, even if games are usually played on the default settings.

Despite matching Timeshock for features, I found the action to be less interesting and mainly centred on one or two parts of the table. This table was also harder to pick up than some others, requiring a quick read of the rules before starting to gain an understanding of what could be done in its two modes; In The City, and On The Road. Despite the ability to move between cities whilst playing, after the first two or three it began to feel rather samey. 

Graphically the game is slightly better than Timeshock, which is impressive; the level of detail and reflections in the pinball itself give some extra polish to the visuals. Musically I found that the game struggled, playing tunes and voice clips twice as fast as they should have been, resulting in a strange low quality sound most of the time, though this could have just been my computer.

Overall Big Race USA isn't a bad pinball table/game, but it does suffer from monotony at times. The graphics are the biggest draw, though gameplay is also fun for a while. Of the four games included in the Valuesoft Pinball 4-pack (the 4 PC games in this review), I'd say that I enjoyed it the least.

Rating: 60/100
Grade: D

Game: Pinball Power
Console: Sony Playstation
Developer: Littlewing
Release Date: 1st September 2000

While the PC pinball games in this review seem to have had decently sized budgets, Pinball Power is the first budget game of the roundup. With just 2 tables, a Knights of the Round Table theme, and RPG elements it's an interesting idea that doesn't ever really take off. In each table there are objectives to complete, most of which are as simple as hitting a certain part of the table. Once an objective is complete, the table enters multi ball mode for a brief period, allowing players to score more points.

The controls for the game are pretty sound; the left button on the d-pad controls the left flipper, and the circle button controls the right flipper. The ball feels as if it moves too slowly to replicate proper physics, and there are often awkward pauses when the table holds onto the ball for longer than you'd expect. High scores are easy to achieve, and there's no real challenge to the game as a whole.

Graphically the game doesn't look too bad, but I'm not a huge fan of the decision to block half the screen with an information banner, as the play area is significantly smaller because of this. The music that accompanies gameplay is fairly generic and doesn't fit particularly well with the Camelot style that the game purports to have, though in truth neither does the first table.

Overall the game doesn't play particularly well or fast; the only real enjoyment comes from multiball mode. Everything else about it is decidedly average and to be expected of a budget game. There's very little to do on each table and it ends up being about as exciting as pinball on the NES, only with much better options available from the same time period.

Rating: 30/100
Grade: E

Game: Kiss Pinball

Console: Sony Playstation

Developer: Take 2 Interactive

Release Date: 25th April 2001

2 and a bit years after the release of Big Race USA came Kiss Pinball, a Playstation pinball game based on the band "Kiss". Featuring 2 tables and extremely fast paced gameplay, the game uses a top down 2D style rather than the 3D style of most modern pinball games. Especially considering the large time gap between this and the PC games/True Pinball, you'd have expected Take 2 (who were about to release GTA III in the same year). 

There are four game modes offered on each table; Novice, Regular, Arcade and Tournament and these change the number of balls players are allowed, how long the ball saver is on for, and random effects on the table. Unfortunately due to the speed of the game the only real useful mode is Novice, which allows the ball saver to be on for quite a long time, otherwise games last all of 2 minutes, with each pinball quickly heading out of play. This isn't just a skill issue either, the game is incredibly difficult to play at the speed given.

The two tables are fairly varied but don't feature nearly as much to do as the Timeshock or Big Race USA tables, leaving players to hit the same few targets over and over again. Graphically, the game isn't up to scratch, looking as if it could have easily been on the Super Nintendo. The music isn't bad, though it isn't licensed kiss tunes, but rather generic rock n roll. 

Overall Kiss Pinball is pretty poor; without the Kiss theme you'd be left with a tepid pinball game that's hard to control and doesn't even feature that much to do. Unless you're a mega Kiss fan, I can't see a reason to even play, let alone own this. There's far better pinball games out there, and I'd rather play anything else. 

Rating: 31/100

Grade: E

Game: Play it! Pinball

Console: Sony Playstation 2

Developer: Play it

Release Date: 10th November 2003

Featuring 11 unlockable tables, challenge and freeplay modes, and an american theme, Pinball by Play It seems to offer a little more than your average budget game. Table themes vary from Baseball to Cowboys to Space Exploration, all with a nice amount of features and unique twists, though remaining fairly straightforward in comparison to Creep Night and Timeshock. The gameplay is solid although the ball can seem to travel slowly a lot of the time. 

Challenge mode sets players a target on a set table, which when surpassed will unlock another table and target in its place. The first 8 tables or so are fairly easy and hold a decent level of challenge on the whole, but after this things get rather difficult due to new features which make scoring harder. In all the time I've owned this game, I don't think I've managed to get past a certain point because of this.

Graphically the game is bright and cartoonish, but lacking detail in places. It's never too difficult to see where the ball is on the table, but some targets and features can be hard to spot. The music chosen to go behind the game seems to have been inspired by the american theme, with 50s and 60s style swing and blues music accompanying the action. This helps the game achieve a retro feel and portray the age of pinball popularity a little better.

Overall while it still feels a little budget in places, Play It Pinball provides a good level of challenge, progression and variety to pinball gaming. The controls and tables are good, though the ball speed and graphics could be improved a little. If you're looking for a cheap, varied game then this is probably your best bet. 

Rating: 74/100

Grade: B

Game: Pinball Fun
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: HuneX
Release Date: 25th June 2004

With some of the frankly mediocre titles already featured in this roundup, you may wonder what sort of things a Simple Series game could do to be even worse. For those that don't know, the Simple Series is a set of around 150 Playstation games which were developed on the cheap and released by D3 Publisher in Japan. Some of these were then localised and brought to Europe by Midas Interactive or barely localised and brought to Europe by 505 Gamestreet. This game falls into the latter category.

There are 3 pinball tables to choose from; Attack the Dragon (an RPG theme), Love Songs/Idols (a dating sim theme), and Operation Thunder Storm (a generic action theme). Each of these tables is as desolate as the next, featuring at most 8 things to hit, and no real direction as to what players should be doing. Taking the Dragon Attack table as an example, players must hit a target 6 or more times to bring out a dragon which must then be hit a few times, in multiball mode. Once this has happened, it disappears and the process begins again.

Graphically the game is incredibly poor and could probably have been handled easily by the original Playstation. Textures are low resolution and detail, and there's very little in the way of effects. The music featured is a very short loop for each table, and really isn't anything special. The control isn't that bad, but as there's nothing much to aim at, it may as well not be.

Overall this is the least complete pinball game I've played, despite featuring 3 tables. Pinball for the NES at least had interesting features and things to do; there's a complete lack of that in this game. I've come to expect the worst of the worst from 505 Gamestreet published Simple Series games, but this really is a poorly translated, horribly designed, badly programmed piece of trash.

Rating: 5/100
Grade: F

Game: Gottlieb Pinball Classics
Console: Sony Playstation 2/Sony Playstation Portable
Developer: Farsight Studios
Release Date: 26th July 2006

Owning a game on two platforms is often interesting as there are differences between the two versions that can make them better or worse than their counterparts. In the case of Gottlieb Pinball classics however, there's very little difference between the two versions, so for the majority of this review, I'll be talking about the PS2 and PSP versions as the same thing. Both games give players a choice of 10 tables, based on real tables manufactured between 1932 and 1993.

Because the tables are based on real world models, gameplay on most, if not all of them are enjoyable due to the different features and themes on display. The game uses the shoulder buttons to control the flippers, with the analog sticks being used to control the plunger and tilt functions. The pinball feels slightly too light at times, which is disappointing from a game calling itself "The Most Accurate Simulation of all Time" on the cover.

Graphically the game is impressive both on the PS2 and PSP, although the home console version has the upper hand when comparing them directly. All of the tables are bright and interesting and feature good themeing and variety. Musically the game is bearable, save for the pseudo "Pinball Wizard" theme on the menu, which made me wish they'd just licensed the song if they had wanted it so badly, instead of teasing at the chords of it.

Overall Gottlieb Pinball classics acts as a museum for classic pinball tables, which can be played in a selection of different modes. While I feel that this sort of pinball suits handheld games consoles better than home consoles, the slight improvement in graphics and frame rate on the PS2 version mean that both are fairly matched.

Rating: 71/100
Grade: C

In conclusion there's a wide range of pinball games on offer, across a large range of consoles. The best games seem to have a variety of feature packed tables, or at least consistently good themeing, and great gameplay. Surprisingly a budget title came out on top, as Play It! Pinball received the highest score, but it was able to set itself apart from other budget pinball titles in this roundup by offering the best gameplay.