Linkstew

Just skimming the news for the week, here's what catches my eye:

• Crazy Taxi 3 is coming first, and possibly exclusively, to the Xbox. D'oh. But then again, I haven't particularly cared for what I've played of Crazy Taxi 2, so perhaps it's for the best. (See Benjy rationalize away Xbox's every advantage).
• Here are some pictures of Pokemon Advance. While I'm interested in this game, there's absolutely no getting around the fact that the graphics are very disappointing. There better be some rockin' GameCube/Game Boy Advance interaction to make up for the graphics.
• Oh, Mario Tennis (And Mario Golf, but that's less exciting) is coming to the GameCube. Mario Tennis for the N64 was a blast. Now where's Mario Party 4?
• The notoriously harsh Famitsu gave the GameCube exclusive remake of Resident Evil (known as Biohazard in Japan) a 39/40. Wowie. I might have to give this game a try, though I've never played any of the Resident Evil games to date.
• Finally, some Sony guy has some interesting ideas about where he thinks video game consoles will go. Here's my favorite imaginary scenario involving this idea: The PS2 becomes even more popular, to the point that it's considered to have a monopoly on video game hardware. Then, Sony gets in trouble for trying to sell TVs with its Video Game monopoly. Heh, one unlikely scenario amongst hundreds.

One year ago, the death of the Dreamcast was announced. I was very fond of that little white box, and that was a very sad day. At the time, I said that there were still a number of upcoming Dreamcast games that I was looking forward to playing. I was looking forward to Crazy Taxi 2, and Sonic Adventure 2, and Shenmue 2, and Phantasy Star Online.

But I never bought Crazy Taxi 2, because they removed the two player mode. (Though admittedly, my roommate picked up Crazy Taxi 2 on clearance from Toys R Us last week, but more on that some other time.)

I never bought Sonic Adventure 2, because it was announced as Gamecube bound.

I never bought Shenmue 2, because sadly it became an Xbox exclusive in North America, and I didn't get a chance.

And I never bought Phantasy Star Online, because I kind of lost interest in it.

In fact, I didn't buy a single Dreamcast game once its death was announced. I actually feel kind of guilty about abandoning the poor little fellow. It's not that I ever stopped liking it, it's just that the circumstances changed. Though I didn't buy any new Dreamcast games, my little white box got at least as much play as my even-deader N64.

So it goes.

So I just got back to my apartment in Berkeley, and I was tidying some things up, and making room for my new chair, and I realized that the situation in front of my TV needed some resolving.

So I moved my GameCube to where my Dreamcast once sat, next to my PS2. And I moved my Dreamcast to where my N64 once sat, next to my TiVo/DVD Player. And I moved my N64... into a drawer.

Shhh... He's not dead, he's just sleeping...

This actually makes me kind of sad. We haven't really touched the N64 since about July, when we were playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Mario Party 3. But since then... It's just gathered dust. I really liked that system... But I don't think I'll be waking him up any time soon, unless I happen to finally buy Zelda: Majora's Mask -- which happens to be the one last N64 game that I really want to play.

I don't know... It's silly. Even though I hadn't touched it for six months, I still feel bad about putting it away. Oh well. It's not like it's that put away -- it'd take me maybe three minutes to set it back up, if the nostalgic urge to play an N64 game really struck me...

I think I've already played this game for at least 10-15 hours, and it's everything I could have hoped for an more. The single player experience is vast, and the multiplayer options nearly infinite. It's ridiculous fun, and I'm so blinded by it that I honestly don't think I can write an unbiased review about this game. All I can do is urge you to at least try it once, even if you didn't like the original Super Smash Brothers on the N64. It really is a marvelously complete game, doing nearly everything it tries perfectly. 4.75/5

So in the place of a review, I'm going to nitpick the game to death. Um, vaguely ordered from most irritating to most irrelevant.

• Grabs/throws are... much trickier to use effectively.
• There's no random character select option.
• When you successfully finish an event match, it should advance the cursor on the event selection screen to the next event, instead of keeping it on the same event. This one really irritated me.
• There's no replay option to review glorious or hilarious moments after the fact.
• There's no option to exclude certain stages from the random stage select.
• Not all of the old levels returned from the N64 game. Notably, I miss Hyrule Castle and Saffron City.
• DK's ground slap (down+b repeated) makes a lot of the single player challenges overly easy. Notably, all but the Cruel Melee of the Multi-Man Melees become pretty trivial with this ground slap.
• There should have been four taunts for each character instead of one, or ever direction on the d-pad should have been taunt instead of just up.
• On the character select screen, they should have put Princess Zelda next to Ganon, above Link, so that the four Zelda characters formed a square, instead of being a sidways L.
• The Gargantuan event stage was a brilliant idea, but unfortunately the stage that the event took place in wasn't suited to the purpose, and the holes in the stage make the fight end pretty quickly.
• The load time between the title screen and the same menu seems like it could have been shortened. (Mind you, it's only about a second and a half, but every other menu transition is instantaneous, so it's noticeable as being slower.)
• Ach! Kongo Jungle features a remix of the D.K. Rap from the introduction of Donkey Kong 64!
• There should be a stage in which Lakitu flies by and dangles items from his pole.
• It would have been way cooler to have Young Link rendered with the Cel Shading art style from the upcoming Gamecube Zelda instead of just having him be a smaller, faster version of link. (And it wouldn't be that out of place, considering some of the other ridiculous graphic contrasts in this game. Birdo sprite reused directly from Super Mario 2? Mr. Game & Watch? Cel Shaded Pokemon Floats? Believe me, it would have been a cool bonus.)

Er, since I've now made that great big list of nits, I guess I note a few of my absolute favorite moments I've come across so far.

• Kirby's new monochrome color scheme was fantastically retro, and really made me smile.
• Mr. Game & Watch is even more fantastically retro, and very deceptively cool.
• The amount of nostalgia here is staggering. Notably, it's made me really want to get to that one last game on my N64 "To play" list: Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• When we first started the game up, it noticed the Pikmin save file on my memory card and gave me the Captain Olimar trophy. It was a very nice touch which made the whole package seem that much more polished.
• When Slippy (from Star Fox) has his few spoken lines, he sounds a lot like Towely (from South Park).
• The Gargantuan event stage was such a perfect idea.
• The Pikachu Pokeball duel event was also great fun.
• Melee is such a perfect word for this game.

Finally, yes, I still want another sequel. I just want more characters. Heh.

There's been three installments in the Mario Party series to date, and I've played and enjoyed them all. In brief, Mario Party puts you and your friends in control of various Nintendo mascots on a map which looks and acts just like a board game. You roll a digital die and move your spaces, choosing a path when there's a fork in the road, attempting to sabotage your opponents with items you've picked up along the way, and gathering coins and stars by landing on the right square at the right time. If that sounds boring, don't worry, because that's only half the game. After every round, a small game takes place -- sometimes it's a matter of hitting a combination of buttons as much as possible, sometimes it's memorizing a pattern, sometimes it's a matter of precision, still other times it's a matter of russian roulette.

Yes, it's a simple formula. Yes, it's possible to play just the mini-games without futzing around with the board game. Yes, it's a game that isn't fun in and of itself, but which is fun because you're playing it with your friends. If you regularly play four-player games, and you're actually getting tired of Smash Brothers or Tetris, etc, then this is a perfect addition to your game library, and is well worth the money. If you're solely a solo-gamer, then you can spend your money on something better suited to your unique habits.

The graphics in all three versions of Mario Party are about the same, as there's only so much that the poor little N64 is capable of. There are subtle enhancements as the series progresses, but they're hardly worth noting. Luckilly, Mario Party is also a game which doesn't need stunning graphics. It's only a framework to having a good time with some friends.

The sound is good throughout, with lots of catchy little musical tunes. Notably, the intro theme from Mario Party 2 frequently pops into my head and brings a smile to my face. On the other hand, the character voices are used a little too often (though it is not as bad as the insanity in Super Mario Advance), and if I hear Toad shout Ya-Hoo! one more time, I'm going to go nuts. But on the whole, the sound and music doesn't get in the way of the fun.

As hard as it is to explain, the theme went from very lighthearted and whimsical in 1 and 2 to dark in Mario Party 3. It's not a bad change, it's just an unusual change. I think the main difference is the music is a little darker, which leaves a subconscious residue coloring my view of the rest of the game. I don't mind the darker mood, but while playing Mario Party 3, I did find myself craving the lighthearted fun of Mario Party 2 from time to time.

As far as the mini-games go, they come in all shapes and sizes, and between all three Mario Party games, well over 100 little games have been introduced. Most are good, but as with any sample that large, there are a few rotten ones. Every time "The beat goes on" came up, for example, we would all let ourselves lose, just because the game is so annoying. And each of us has mini-games that we excel at, and games that we can't do well at for any reason.

If you're only going to play one of the games, I would recommend 3, because it had a lot of enhancements added. It has more mini-games, more modes of play, and more variety in the board game element. If you were going to try out two, I would suggest 2 and 3. It's not worth your time to try all three at this point, though.

Or, instead of trying any of the N64 installments, you can wait until Mario Party 4, which is due out on the Gamecube some time next year. What I would like to see in a Mario Party 4 is a return of the lighthearted feel of 1 and 2, with the systems of 3, and all of the mini-games from the first three games (yes, even the bad ones, because bad is subjective) as well as a ton of new games. With the new Gamecube mini-dvd format, a single disc will be able to hold all of those games and more.

If you enjoy playing video games with a lot of your friends, then one of these three games is for you, and at the very least you should give one a rent. Any one of them earns a 4/5 on it's own merits.

I came home this evening, fully intending to work on the site, but found my internet in less than working order. So I sat down on the couch, turned on my Nintendo, and set to beating The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. My how I'm productive (in a sense) when I don't have the Internet to distract me.

Though it took me more than a year and a half to beat the game, it was well worth it. In retrospect, spreading this high quality game out over such a long time was a perhaps the best thing I've ever stumbled upon. In fact, my only regret was that my roommate Michael started the game about three weeks ago and beat it before I did, but I guess that's what happens when you don't have school and only work three days a week.

There's not a lot I can say about this game, other than that it's one of the best games I've ever played. Sure, in a lot of places I found myself saying "This is nice, but I liked how they did X in the SNES Zelda..." However, this game was a better package. The world was more thought out, rather than being elements tossed onto a map. Everything had a name. And the game felt epic. Standing outside of a castle as the sun sets, or hanging off the edge of a cliff as the camera dramatically zooms out to show just how high up you are...

Sure, it doesn't quite have the mass appeal of Tetris, for example, but it was still an incredible experience which anybody who plays video games would enjoy. The story is fantastic, the game play is brilliant, and the graphics really stretch the N64 to it's limits. Sure, the graphics are a little... blocky... compared to today's standards, but given the limitations of the hardware, they're really impressive. Where the game shines, though, is the control and game play. This game is how all 3D adventure games should play. The Z-button lock on/camera recenter was a brilliant innovation, as were the context sensitive action buttons. Everything about the game play experience is incredibly polished. I never found the camera somewhere inconvenient, and if it was, it was fixed with the quick press of a button. I would be happy if every game I ever played used the control scheme of Zelda 64. It's that good.

The game flows nicely, and offers a huge world for the player to explore, but doesn't make traveling the world impossible. And once you've beaten the game, there are a ton of side quests you can go back and complete, minigames to play, and secrets to find. I never even played the fishing game. Almost every boss was original and unique, and the game required using every tool in Link's arsenal in one way or another. And with few exceptions, the puzzles were well crafted without being trivial or impossible.

Anyway, it's a very good game, and now that I've gotten it out of the way, I can finally move on to some other games I've been wanting to play. I'm already looking forward to playing the sequel, Majora's Mask -- but I might still come back and try tie up some of the unfinished details I left in The Ocarina of Time, because it's fun to play without being irritating. This game alone is worth buying an N64 for (there are several others worth playing as well, mind you), and it's more than worthy of a perfect score on any scale.

Wow, there's been a whole stream of game news lately that's made me smile. First up was this ign article which suggests that Japanese release of the Xbox may be delayed until 2002. This is hugely significant, considering how important Japan is in the console business. The N64 did moderately well in the US, but it's failure in Japan left Nintendo being one of the few providers of software on the N64. Sure, Microsoft has a lot of US developers on it's side, but without Japanese developers out of the gates (pardon the pun), their box is going to be a tough sell, I think. Unless they incorporate their Ultimate TV TiVo ripoff service into the system as well. That'd be an interesting combination, actually. Maybe I should hold off on getting a TiVo for awhile, yet.

Anyway, the next great piece of news was that Nintendo has further solidified their Game Boy Advance release plans. This article mentions the exact release date (June 11), the price, games that will be available for the japanese launch in two weeks (Oh, F-Zero and ChuChu Rocket... Hell yeah!), and has a link to pictures of the colors the unit will ship in. Hmm... I'm torn between Arctic and Glacier, though I'm leaning slightly towards Arctic.

Next, there was the announcement that the American release of the Nintendo GameCube is on track for the month of October. This is a hugely important announcement, because it basically confirms that the GameCube will ship this year. You see, the N64 got delayed for far too long while Super Mario 64 was finished. This gave Sony a long time to take over the game world, and left Nintendo, the former king of the hill, playing second fiddle. I want the GameCube released as soon as possible, availability of games be damned. If you release it, the games will come. It's also important that they release it asafp because the PS2 will have been around for nearly a year in the US by the time the GameCube is released. Then, of course, there is the urgent need to beat Microsoft out the door. Hopefully Microsoft doesn't surprise E3 by announcing an August Xbox release...

Speaking again of Microsoft trying to steal the thunder, the second beat of Windows XP is due in mid-march, a convenient week or two before Mac OS X ships to the wild. However, the relase of Mac OS X is now finalized and being readied for shipment, according to this article, and I can't wait to put it on my spacious new hard drive. I can't believe how many complaints I've seen about it not having a DVD player, though. This article discusses why the lack of a DVD player, among other things, isn't as big a deal as people think it is, and what the purpose of this release of OS X is.

I wrote a short novel? It wasn't a very interesting one.

I just read this editorial over at n64.ign.com, and I found it really interesting. And I really agree with it. If I were Nintendo right now, I'd want to retarget every unreleased game possible at the Gamecube to sell systems. And yes, I understand how mildly hard moving basically complete games from one system to another would be, but I still think it would be a good idea.

Oh what a horrible, terrible day it is that brings both Final Fantasy IX and Skies of Arcadia, games which have been nearly equally anticipated by me for very different reasons.

First, Final Fantasy IX. By the mere nature of being the latest and greatest Final Fantasy, and the last Final Fantasy on the accursed PlayStation (The only reason I own one is because of those Square Bastards (Flash Warning. Just another reason they're bastards. Too bad they make such good games.) And from all accounts, this Final Fantasy is at least as good as the last.

Next up, there's Skies of Arcadia, which is the first real RPG for my current favorite console, the Dreamcast. The graphics look good, and much much smoother than Final Fantasies, though there looks to be less hand generated art. Tradeoffs. Oh, and as I listened to the voice acting during some of the video clips, I was again glad that Squares games have avoided bad voice acting by simply having none. However, it still looks like a good RPG, even if it's got a blemish here and there.

Oh, and what a horrible, terrible world it is where I probably won't have time to play those games until after finals. Of course, I'll have time over Thanksgiving to play, but since my brother's PlayStation is on the fritz and he hasn't bought a PS2 yet, and as I'm not carrying a Dreamcast on the train, I'll have to play another game that's in my queue: Last Month's The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on his N64.

And then there's Shen Mue which just came out for the Dreamcast, which I'm interested in. The scope of it's story appears to be on the scale of an RPG, but it's gameplay seems to be everything. It sounds pretty good, but I'll probably wait until I've cleared out the backlog on my "things to play" list. Oh, and of course there's still Pokemon Silver, which I'm gradually chipping away at. No worries about it, though, because it's far less absorbing than any of the above games.

So then Pi and I went over to Ben's the next night, where we ended up playing some Smash Brothers (Surprised? You shouldn't be.) and a little bit of Gauntlet Legends. OA and Mike were also there, as was Lang. We had Pizza and hung out, and then someone suggested we go over to Mike's and watch Election. So OA and Pi and I went to Mike's and we watched Election. Later, after OA'd left, Pi and I watched Cruel Intentions, which wasn't bad, though it wasn't great. I enjoyed it, at any rate.

So after Election, I asked a simple little question. "Can I try out Soul Calibur and see why everyone says it's so incredible?" And that I did. And it was incredible, and I was so impressed, that after playing until 7:30 AM (and taking a break for Cruel Intentions), I went to Wal Mart and bought a Dreamcast and Soul Calibur.

It's a really incredible game. The attention paid to detail is amazing, the animation of the characters is excellent, the graphics are beautiful, the speed is incredible, and so on. In short, it was worth it. And it'll help diminish the popularity of the heathen Street Fighter Alpha 3 which was popular on my floor last semester.

MMmmmm.... 19" inches of nice pretty Soul Calibur fun.

However, while Soul Calibur is amazing, the Dreamcast itself is another story. The machine itself is small and boxy, and to make matters worse, it sports a Windows logo on the front. On the bright side, it features four controller ports, which is one of the many things that the N64 innovated. Speaking of Controllers, the Dreamcast controller is really annoying. The buttons on the right are placed a little higher than I'd like, as is the joypad on the left. This forces my hands higher than I'd like on the controller, making the first joint on my fingers rub painfully against the underside of the controller. And if the joypad is too high, then the analog stick is insanely hard to reach. On the flip side, having two expansion slots in the controller is nice, even if the controller feels flimsy and light when there is nothing in those slots. So that's a quick run down of the machine. Soul Calibur is very fun, though. Now all I need is a playstation to play all the Final Fantasy games I have...