Top 10 Halloween Games

It's Top 10 Time again! This time we'll be centering around the spooky event of Halloween! Well, okay.... to be honest, Halloween isn't really that spooky, unless you have a costume phobia or you're frightened by M&Ms. But that's probably good, because the games on this list are generally pretty non-scary (it's hard to find creepy games without gallons of blood and flesh-eating zombies), but they're still a lot of fun to play on Halloween night. So here they are (once again in no particular order):

1. Animal Crossing

Once again Animal Crossing gets on the list, which isn't a surpsrise considering you can particapate in its own version of Halloween, with as much emphasis on the tricks as the treats. All of the villagers are dressed in Jack-o-Lantern costumes (they apparently have trouble thinking up original ideas), and if you talk to them with an item or a piece of clothing, they will turn them into a Jack-o-Lantern or a patched shirt, respectively. But if you can find Jack, a disguised animal look-alike, you could wind up with a great new piece of furniture. It's a lot of fun, overall.

2. Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie made it on a list again as well! This time it recieved the honor because of its completely awesome haunted level, Mad Monster Mansion. In true Banjo-Kazooie spirit, the levels starts off with a wonderfully sterotypical song that is as well-crafted as it is amusing. A large, old curch looms above a graveyard (with evil, walking tombestones that attack you), and a creepy maze of thorny plants winds its way through the dark, moonlit night. Litter the surroundings with bats, ghosts, skeletons to fight, allow you to morph into a pumpkin and hop around, and throw in a giant haunted mansion in the center of the whole place, and you've got one fun way to spend Halloween night.

3. Grabbed By the Ghoulies

Okay, now you must be thinking, "Grabbed By the Ghoulies. What? This is quite possibly the lamest Top 10 List I've seen". Well, as strange as the game may sound, it can actually be quite a bit of fun. Rare (the maker of Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country, and other famous games) made it, so you can expect fantastic visuals and superb music. Grabbed By the Ghoulies starts out in a dark, stormy night (of course), as Cooper (your character) wanders around in the dark, stormy night with his girlfriend, completely lost. They stumble upon an old, creepy-looking mansion (what else?), and unwillingly find themselves inside, with Cooper's girlfriend captured. The mansion also happens to be haunted (obviously). This gives you the task to rescue her, which is quite entertaining and funny. You'll run across all kinds of monsters and creatures, such as ninja imps (who leap around comicially while sterotypical "karate master" music plays), zombie pirates (what could be funnier?), and the Grim Reaper (who plays a guitar riff on his scythe whenever he successfully causes somebody to faint). It's a bit on the shallow side, but it's a great rental for the night of Halloween.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Four Swords winds up on the list due to its cool ghost-filled level, which is creepier than you might expect. You'll fight all manner of creepy foes in the graveyards that populate the level, and since it's multiplayer, you might oftentimes find yourself throwing your friends into harm's way so you can get out alive yourself. There's an especially interesting part where your only source of lighting is a huge beacon shaped like a skull that waves across the ground creepily, sort of like Batman's bat-shaped spotlight but scarier.

5. Luigi's Mansion

This is the GameCube's equivlant to the Xbox's Grabbed By the Ghoulies, though quite a bit better, I might add. The story is simple, but effective. Mario has disappeared, coincidentally right around the time he was investigating an old, creepy mansion. You've gotta love these great cliched story plots! Well, the mansion turned out to be haunted, and Luigi was given a powerful tool called the Pultergust3000 by a strange, old scientest by the name of E. Gadd. Using this vaccum-like machine, you have to explore the giant mansion and locate poor Mario, which is a blast. As Luigi loses health and gets more frightened, his even calls of "Marioooo!" turn into timid cries of "M-Mario?" and eventually into panicked "MARIOOOOO!!!!". It's perfect for a light-hearted Halloween romp.

6. Metroid Prime

This is the only game on the list that doesn't have anything to do with a haunted theme, but I'm still putting it on for one reason: The Space Pirate Base. If you're not familar with Metroid Prime, I'll sum it up quickly. You play as Samus Aran, the famous galactic bounty hunter, and journey through amazing locales, gathering new abilites and fighting off many creatures. It's technically an FPS, but it plays like an adventure, open-ended and mysterious. Anyways, the space pirate base is a deep, ominous lab for the pirates, and is almost pitch black. The Metroid Prime series is known for its phenominal ambiance, and the space pirate base is perhaps its finest work. The clink of Samus' metal boots are one of the few sounds you can hear as you slowly explore the darkened rooms, examining everything. They experiment on Metroids there, which are vicious, jellyfish-like bug creatures and latch onto their victims with terrifying speed, and begin to drain their life. You might see a few of these things behind the glass, remaining very still. You can take a few steps forward, thinking your safe, when-- SMASH! One breaks out of the glass and its frantic theme starts playing, and you're alone in the dark with a Metroid. Very bad. And that's not even with the space pirates themselves attacking!

7. Rayman 2

Rayman 2 has a very fun haunted-themed level in it, and while not particularily frightening, the game's visual style and slick gameplay make it quite memorable. Creepy hands will protrude from cracks in the walls, and bubbling, green liquid makes it dangerous to menuever. I really enjoyed it, as I did the rest of the game.

8. Super Mario 64

Have you ever played the haunted level in Super Mario 64? Scariest Mario level. Ever. There is, of course, a huge, creepy mansion that you must go into, complete with ghosts, haunted books, and even a living piano that clamors random notes as it chops at you and lunges around the room. That thing scared the heck out of me when I first saw it. But the scariest part of the level is underground in a sewer-like tunnel with water all over the floor. You can faintly hear strange, creepy, carnival-like music somewhere down there with you. When you come to a door, you can tell the music is coming from behind it. Upon opening it you find... several hundred horribly decomposed zombies with axes! Ha! Just kidding. This is a Mario game we're talking about. It actually turns out to be a merry-go-round filled with ghosts, which is scary enough! The whole deal isn't actually scary, but it is for a Mario game, and has a strange way of being creepy without really being frightening.

9. Super Mario World

The classic Super Mario World haunted castles are great fun, and sometimes mind-boggling. With a mesmerizing soundtrack, these special levels give you the task of navigating the misty, oftentimes confusing walkways of the ghost house, trying to make it to the end alive. There are strange paths that lead in endless circles, and almost always a puzzle to solve if you want to get to the end.

10. Timesplitters 2

While not generally a scary game, there is a way to play this customizable mutliplayer-focused FPS in a rather scary way. First, select the abondoned hospital as your map. The put a bunch of computer-controlled zombies in. Set the rules to now weapons and one-hit kills. Turn off the lights, turn up the volume, and you're all ready for a very interesting Halloween night. NOTE: This is a lot better with a second player.

Well then, there you have it: 10 perfectly good games to play on Halloween night. While very few of them are very scary, cut me some slack, it's very hard to find a good scare when it comes to video games (other than, like I mentioned, ultra-violent horror games). Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that. And sorry for posting this after Halloween, but I was too busy playing Grabbed By the Ghoulies on Halloween to post this.

NiGHTS Into Dreams

Total Score: 9.2

Introduction:

NiGHTS Into Dreams is a game I've known about for years but never tried. It was one of the most popular games for Sega's Saturn, and one that has always intrigued me. After seeing it referenced in Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Pinball Party, I felt like I knew the world of NiGHTS in a way, even though I had never actually played the game. I was very impressed with the music style and one of a kind fantasy theme, and I really wanted to try the actual game. When I finally acquired a Saturn, I picked up a copy of NiGHTS Into Dreams along with it. What did I think of the highly anticipated fantasy-themed Sega game? Read on!

As for the story, NiGHTS Into Dreams pulls together a nice tale. It is a journey set in the magical land of Nightopia, which is apparently the land where you go when you dream. Your characters, two children named Claris and Elliot, have been beckoned into this mystical place by NiGHTS, a likable, purple, jester-like being who lives in the nighttime world. NiGHTS needs their help to overthrow Wizeman, the evil ruler of Nightopia. You see, Wizeman plans to break into our world and most likely cause major havoc, so it's up to Claris, Elliot, and NiGHTS to stop him.

Gameplay: 9

The core gameplay consists of flying through magical courses as NiGHTS, collecting a certain number of blue chips, inserting them into the Ideya capture, and making it back to a gazebo-like thing (called Ideya Palace, I do believe) with your fresh new Ideya before your time limit goes up. This happens several times, each time altering the course you take, and then the stage ends. Then you face a rather bizarre boss, known as a Nightmare, and then finish the stage. Yes, it sounds a bit odd when I say it like that, but I really can't make it any clearer. Of course, there's a lot more to it than that. I'll first explain how movement works, to the best of my abilities.

NiGHTS Into Dreams plays on a 2D pane with a 3D perspective. You start a level by walking into Ideya Palace and magically changing into NiGHTS, and then you take flight! You can fly up, down, left, right, anywhere in between, and loop-de-loop through the course, pulling off stunts while gliding through rings and avoiding enemies. The feeling of freedom while soaring through the sky is fantastic, and never gets old. If you run out of time, you drop to the ground and change back into Elliot/Claris (depending on which story you choose) and have to finish your current task on foot. (I'll talk more about this later.)

Upon completing a stage, you will be rewarded a rank, much like in recent Sonic games. Every lap around the course gives you a rank as well, totaling into the final score. How well you defeat the boss at the end of the course also weighs in. Half the fun is trying to top your previous score, by going even faster and pulling off even better moves. The best way to rack up points is to collect the blue chips as fast as you can each lap, snag the Ideya, but before finishing up the lap, use your leftover time to collect extra chips and score even more points. This gives you a really fun period to do crazy tricks and push it as far as you can before the time goes out, because the penalty for running out of time is very harsh… it almost assures you an F rank for that round.

The game also has a lot of really cool touches, like special segments where NiGHTS can bobsled, swim underwater, and more. Flipping all around, doing loops and tricks through rings, using enemies to your advantage by swinging off of them, and all the aerial freedom you are given is the one of the best parts, with lots of little strategies and stuff. Another large part is the link system. Once you fly through a ring, grab a chip, etc, you'll get the first part of your combo, which is called a link. If you can make it to another object in a short amount of time, it raises up to two, then three once you reach another, and so on and so on. It becomes great fun to see how high you can get your link number, and an important part of getting good ranks.

And now we come to a very intriguing feature, known as the A-Life. There are a bunch of little creatures called Nightopians, who each have their own individual traits. There are tons of little aspects built in, such as A-Life being able to mate, sadly being to portal them into another dimension by doing a paraloop (which is basically a loop-de-loop) around them, and more. At first, I just didn't get it. The best way to get a good view of them is from the ground, but the ground controls are odd, and a giant alarm clock chases you around the whole time, threatening to end your game. I found the whole experience to be sort of messed up.
But after giving it a chance and spending some time with it, I really enjoyed it. First off, although the ground controls are sort of clunky, the game allows you to climb up anything on the map, allowing easy passage anywhere. And after figuring out how to do a triple jump, the going was a lot easier. And the alarm clock is pretty easy to avoid. As for the Nightopians, NiGHTS Into Dreams pulled off a very interesting addition. Each one has a special action, such as flying upside-down, singing, or just being happy. If two Nightopians get together, they might mate, creating an egg. You can hatch eggs by either walking into them on foot or grabbing them with NiGHTS from the air, and when you do, a brand new Nightopian is born!

One of the coolest aspects of the A-Life is how the music changes depending on the Nightopians' moods. If you hatch lots of eggs and the Nightopians continue to mate, they will get happier and happier, slowly changing the background music to a cheerful tune. But if you paraloop them a lot, or scare them in some other way, they will become angry, and a less enthusiastic song will begin to form. All in all, the addition of the A-Life makes the imaginative world of NiGHTS Into Dreams even more unique with a whole little community living on the surface. It also makes it fun to drop down to the ground!

Graphics: 9

The graphics when flying around as NiGHTS are really nice, and enjoyable too, with a kind of mystical feel. All kinds of vibrant scenery and interesting objects scatter the worlds, including a snowy level with a big train track twisting all over the hills, a pleasant garden with fountains and sunny skies, and a desert canyon with machinery everywhere. It's very inspired and colorful, and fits the world that Sonic Team dreamed up great. Although the graphics while walking around on foot are technically pretty messy, they're never really unpleasant, and still keep a consistent feel. For some reason the technical faults just really don't matter in the world of NiGHTS.

Sound/Music: 10

Ah, perhaps the best part! The music, not surprising for a Sonic Team game, is outstanding. It fits the mood perfectly, and is very catchy and memorable. It can be whimsical and fun during the main levels, and then a fast piano or guitar can kick in during the boss fights. The A-Life changing the tunes as you play actually gives the music gameplay, which is quite a feat. I wish I could elaborate, but… what can I say? You have to listen to it. It's truly awesome, and a real joy to listen to. The sound effects are also top-notch, adding to the overall experience.

Value: 8

Although very short in length at first glance, playing around with the A-Life and trying to get better ranks will keep you entertained for quite some time. The more you play a stage, the better you'll get, and it's quite thrilling to whoosh through a level, getting your combo higher and higher. One problem is that it's not exceptionally cheap these days, I think somewhere around $25 last time I checked, although I could be wrong. But a great addition is something that I wish more games did: You can use the CD as a soundtrack! It doesn't have all of the tracks (due to the large number of music combinations from the A-Life), but it has the boss themes along with other tracks.

Outro:

The sum it all up, NiGHTS Into Dreams is a pleasant ride through the world of Nightopia, with lots to see along the way. Although a bit small at first, once you relax and spend some time with it, you will be rewarded with a fantastic game for the Saturn, and an inventive one at that. There's something special about NiGHTS Into Dreams that really makes it a fun experience. It's relaxing, addictive, and overall a really wonderful game, and one that would be worth checking out.

ESRB Rating: K-A (No descriptors)

TGG Rating: E (No descriptors)

Although these days the game would recieve an E rating instead of ye olde K-A, ESRB still rated the game correctly. There's nothing in the game that could even be considered offensive.

Video Game Essay

About a month or two ago, I was instructed to write an essay (the topic of my choosing) for on online writing course I was taking. Naturally, I chose video games as my topic. Since that ties in so nicely with this blog, I'll post it here in case anybody is interested in reading it. It deviates slightly from my usual writing style, as the rules and regulations for writing the essay were more strict than I'm used to. Therefore I really had to try to cram all my information into reasonably short parahraphs, which was fully against my rambling nature. But regardless of all that, here it is:

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“Video games are teaching kids to kill!”
The alarming-sounding phrase has been coming from concerned individuals for years. When a parent’s son settles down to try out a new video game, what does the parent see? Glazed over eyes intently staring into the TV screen for hours on end, just for the sake of beating the game's next level. It seems to be a never-ending cycle of pressing buttons, running, and shooting. Rinse and repeat. There must be better things he could be doing. This kind of activity can’t be good for anybody. Well, interestingly enough, nothing could be farther from the truth. Many people believe that video games are shallow, and lead to violence, antisocialism, and addiction, yet ignore other primary issues in the player’s life. Video games actually teach you how to think, allow you to explore rich literary stories, and give you opportunities to learn in many subject areas. In fact, they oftentimes go deeper than textbook-like disciplines, and are truly art as they become deep, creative experiences for the player.

First, the general public’s perception is that video games cause addiction and aggression. However, a player’s environment, parents, and values not only determine what games the player chooses, but can change the effect of the game itself. For example, all of the gamers I know are not affected in a negative way by video games, as they all lead balanced lives and have strong moral values. Players that experience problems with video games are usually those that have existing troubles in their lives. Doom, a known violent video game, has been a speculated cause for the Columbine shooting. However, the teen shooters had many negative, violent aspects in their lives, including bullying and depression. Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Danny, 15, died at the Columbine shooting, blames school shootings not on video games, but on a society that tolerates, even glorifies, violence. He said,
"We teach students that anything you want to do is up to you and you can decide whether anything is right or wrong."
While Doom might have been a part of the tragedy, the actual outcome was not due to the game, but to the people playing it.

Second, an innumerable amount of subject areas in life can be discovered through video games. According to BBC News’ article "Video Games ‘Stimulate Learning’", kids who play video games such as Age of Empires and Sim City 3000 have increased abilities in several subjects. Agreeing with this fact, Pam Laricchia said in her article "Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Video Games", her son learned multiple skills applicable to real life via gaming. I myself have learned much from video games, including math, geography, history, zoology, tactics, logic, thinking skills, decoding, writing, English, compositions, and even cooking.

Third, video games not only educate, but engage the player in something even deeper. Although I was rather creative even before discovering video games, my creativity expanded to great measures afterwards. I found new topics to write about, I became more interested in music, and I even began making my own games. Video games can take your interest and magnify them. They have a power to express real art and music just as much as any other form of media. Shadow of the Colossus, one of the most artistic games of all time, is piercingly beautiful in emotion and in aesthetic design, and plays not like a shooter but like a true adventure. Games such as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind offer not only beauty, but immeasurable depth. In Morrowind, players can create their own character and can do (almost literally) anything they wish to attempt in the world the game presents. A character-creating system, a fully-functional world to explore, hundreds of books about Morrowind’s lore, realistic yet fictional plant life that can be used for cooking recipes, and thousands of other possibilities exist in just this one game. Explaining even one tenth of Morrowind’s world could take paragraphs upon paragraphs.

If people took the time to research, play, and really understand video games, they might see more than the button-mashing, shoot ‘em up stereotypes, and recognize the real depth and value of gaming. In fact, players are probably learning more with their games than they are in the classroom. As James Paul Gee said in his article High Score Education, “Young gamers today aren’t training to be gun-toting carjackers. They’re learning how to learn.”

Metroid Prime: Hunters

Total Score: 6.8

Introduction:

Metroid Prime: Hunters… the first Metroid game for Nintendo’s wildly popular DS, and quite different from all other Metroid games before it. It isn’t a 2D sidescroller, but it isn’t quite like the Metroid Prime games (though it greatly resembles them). Sure, MPH puts you into a first-person perspective and sends you through various locations, solving puzzles and shooting giant bugs, just like the Metroid Prime games, but something is different this time around. Rather than collecting lots of different upgrades and exploring sprawling locales, you will travel to a series of planets (one level per planet) and traipse through fairly linear environments in a quest to reach the boss at the end. So then, if it plays like Metroid Prime without the exploration element, what makes this Metroid installment stand out? One word: online multiplayer. Okay, so those were two words, but nevertheless, MPH stands alone as the world’s first (and as of now) only multiplayer-focused Metroid game. But the question is… does this idea work for Metroid? Read on for the answer! At least my answer, that is.

Gameplay: 7

MPH takes Metroid Prime’s first-person viewpoint and hands it over to the intuitive stylus’ command. No longer to you hold a shoulder trigger to automatically lock onto an enemy. In MPH, you use the stylus to manually aim for yourself, similar to most other FPS games. Luckily, the stylus works very well for the job, and the controls are quick and responsive. The triggers are used to fire your current weapon, and double-tapping the screen allows you to jump. Accessing a control panel of sorts on the bottom screen lets you tap various switches to change your weapons and change to your alternate form (more on this later). That’s pretty much all you need to know to play the game… it’s simple, yet effective. Trying to find a comfortable way to hold the DS and aim with the stylus at the same time occasionally gives me a bit of trouble, but overall, it works just fine. It kind of makes you wonder why more developers aren’t making more FPS games for the DS.

Well, the controls hold up, but how’s the actual gameplay? Pretty good, actually. I’ll start with the single-player mode. As I’ve mentioned before, the story mode is built up of a series of levels, each one being a different planet. You’ll fly to these various planets via Samus’ famed orange starship, which doubles as a helpful save point. You’ll embark on each quest with a goal in mind: find and destroy the vile boss lurking deep within. You’ll travel through corridors, fight all manner of bugs and turrets, solve puzzles, and overall feel like your playing a little slice of Metroid Prime. A cool element is how you can change into Samus’ familiar morhpball form at will with a tap of the touch screen, which is Samus’ alternate form. This is certainly fun in its own right, having a portable version of Metroid Prime and all, and it’s especially enjoyable during the early sections of the game. It’s overall just really fun, with all the cool kinds of things you’d hope a Metriod game to have, such as the ability to scan objects, the doors that open when you shoot at them, and dangerous battles with monstrous foes. Unfortunately, the experience begins to get… repetitive. Each level ultimately plays out the same: Land in your ship, find the boss, kill the boss, escape from the planet before the immediate area blows sky high. It’s certainly a far cry from the type of exploration-oriented gameplay that other Metroid games have delivered. Even the bosses begin to repeat themselves! It’s just kind of pathetic to face the same two bosses over and over again. Although it’s fun for a while, it’s just not enough to stand up on its own as a Metroid game. Of course, that’s where the multiplayer comes in.

MPH allows you to face an unlimited supply of random human opponents by means of the DS’ Wi-Fi multiplayer support. You can jump into a game in a matter of moments, with your choice of a variety of bounty hunters (including Samus Aran), all with a unique weapon and alternate form to bring to the table. From sniper rifles to health-sucking electrical guns, there’s a good variety to the weapons, but nothing specifically new. The alternate forms are an interesting twist, and each character has his or her own special weapon and look when in this form. With a smattering of maps and modes, the multiplayer experience if certainly fleshed out, and quite obviously the focus of the game. The maps are well-designed, and the weapons are cool enough. The game keeps track of your wins and losses with something they call a “Hunters License”. It awards you stars and ranks for your dominance in the battlefield, and allows you to view other players’ license to motivate your competitive spirit. In theory, this all works very well. You get to fight up to three other people at a time in battle, options being fully-customizable, with tight gameplay in a Metroid-themed FPS. Not a bad deal, eh? Well, as great as this might be, it certainly has its flaws. Unfortunately, the flaws are a little too numerous than I’d like.

First of all, it takes longer than you’d hope to get a game going. Although a match is easy to set up, it takes a while to let other players join the game. You’ll get very used to the menu’s low-key and groovy song as you sit, waiting for players to join your battle, sometimes only to discover that everybody left before it started, forcing you to start all over. Mind you, it doesn’t take an exceptionally long time to get started, but it’s enough to get on your nerves sometimes. Once you get into your match and your opponents are ready (all of which have either ‘Z’, ‘X’, or ‘Trace’ in their username), you’ll all vote for the map you wish to play and the battle is on. However, this is where the trouble begins. At least my trouble. You see, in MPH Land, everybody creams me. Nobody seems to be up to a good old fashioned power-beam firefight. The favorite weapon seems to be the ‘Imperialist’, a cruelly-crafted sniping weapon designed for headshots. This would be okay if players would just use it as a long-ranged weapon for sniping points, but everybody seems to enjoy using it in close-range combat. So often I see my opponent mindlessly hopping up and down in front of me, and by the time I realize what they’re doing, I’ve been sniped in the head and they’re off to trick me again when I respawn. This weapon is so often overused by newbies, due to its ease of use and raw power, and by experienced players, who know how to get headshots in the twinkling of an eye, close-range or across the map. The alternate form is another thing that seems to be overused a lot. Some players just use it constantly, which can get sort of annoying, especially when they know exactly where to find the "Death Alt" powerup. This handy little tool allows your alternate form to kill any player in one hit. I was killed six times in a row by this weapon in just one match yesterday.

This could, of course, happen so much because I might stink at the game. I’ve never been much for honing in perfect, mechanical skills and always using the “best” weapon, which might be why I’m so poor at the game. Players will develop automatic, seemingly-motorized techniques involving using certain weapons, grabbing health, and changing into their alternate form, and then they do it all over again. Lather, rinse, repeat. I just don’t like playing like that. I enjoy multiplayer that lets me run around a big map, collecting weapons and launching crazy assaults on the enemy. I don’t care whether I defeat my opponent as much as I hope to do some insane things in between. Unfortunately, this causes me to lose again and again, each round getting more frustrating than the last. I've heard that there are lots of strategies and tactics to the game, and maybe there are for some people. But if the tactics are there, they're deeply buried under repetive attempts on my hunter's life. I've lost countless matches, many times admitting defeat and giving up for good. But then I'm back agian in an hour, ready to face my next opponent, hoping that it'll turn out different than the last one. The game claims it matches my skills to the skills of another player, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. If and when I finally find an opponent I can beat (usually the weakest of the weak), I feel sort of bad for dooming them to the never-ending cycle. Of course, more often than not, your losing adversary will disconnect before losing, so as to not goof up his or her record. Luckily, the game keeps track of your disconnection record as well as your wins and losses, so there’s a reason to not just up and leave when the going gets tough. I’ve also heard tell of cheaters all over the place, using cheating devices of some kind I suppose, though I’ve never encountered these villainous beings myself to my knowledge.

But I don’t want to be unfair to the game. There are many people who love this game (I, personally, know somebody who plays it regularly and absolutely loves it), and the type of gameplay that it presents could certainly appeal to some. And if you don’t want to face random people all the time, you can play however you want to with a friend. It includes download play, but you can only choose from a limited selection of options and maps, and the player downloading the data can only play as Samus. Of course, if you both own a copy, all the options that you’ve unlocked are open to you. But all the same, the multiplayer seems to get a bit old after a while, and there are better multiplayer FPS games out there. And again, a lot of the negatives could be due to my dislike of “hardcore tactics” and my shockingly mediocre skills, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it hurts the gameplay.

Graphics: 10

Top-notch stuff here. Next to Nintendogs, I’d say it’s the best the DS has to offer. The character models, explosions, scenery, enemies, lasers, and just about everything else looks phenomenal. The DS is really showing its power here, and it’s pretty darn good. It can look a little grainy at times, and perhaps even lack a little color, but for the most part, it’s all great.

Sound/Music: 8

True to Metroid’s unique style, there’s plenty of techno-type stuff and ancient chorus-sounding music. It fits the mood well, and boy do I know that menu song well. The sound effects are all nice-sounding and Metroid-ish, and are surprisingly good when wearing headphones. Since charging up a weapon makes an audible noise, doing so might ruin a good stealth attack, or give away your hiding position. You can also hear other important noises all around you, which actually effects and enhances the gameplay. There isn’t a lot to report here, but what it has is well-suited to the game and sounds great.

Value: 8

This fully depends if you enjoy the multiplayer or not. The single player will probably take no time to blow through (though I lost interest in it partway through), but the multiplayer has unlimited replay. Lots of modes, characters, and maps will make it last a long time if you don’t get frustrated like me. I’m not competitive at all, actually, so I rarely get frustrated with games, but this one did the trick. But regardless of this, if you enjoy the multiplayer, you’ll get a ton out of this game.

Outro:

The final word is this: Metroid Prime: Hunters is a fun but short single-player game and a well-done but ultimately vexing multiplayer game. I find it hard to recommend it too much, but I also find it hard to warn against it. The game had good qualities, no doubt there, and Metroid fans will certainly find some kind of enjoyment from it. However, its unconventional venture of the series will no doubt bother those very same fans, so perhaps it’s safest to say “try it and see”. If it sounds like I’m unsure of myself, it’s because I kind of am. I found a lot of things to dislike about MPH, but I can’t be sure that everybody else would find those same faults, unlike other games that have obvious faults. It's more of how the game plays, and how the players play, that bothers me. At any rate, you’ve heard my two cents. I hope it helped.

ESRB Rating: T (Animated Blood, Violence)

TGG Rating: E (Violence)

ESRB struck again with with an all-to-harsh rating for MPH. The extent of the violent is shooting bug-like creatures with a laser blaster. The graphics, although incredible for the DS, aren't realistic enough to be very violent at all. When you shoot an enemy, it blows into peices for a moment and disappears. I never noticed any blood, even when I looked for it. The multiplayer is even less violent. Even though you fight humans and humanoid aliens, once a character dies, he/she simply vanishes into thin air. There's certainly no blood. So MPH pretty much deserves an E rating.

Nintendo's Keynote Speech

Hello again, blog readers! Today I come to you with no review or article of my own, but instead, a video of Nintendo's excellent keynote speech from the Game Developers Conference 07. The keynote was given by Shigeru Miyamoto (pictured to the left), who talked about Nintendo's philosophy, his views on today's video games, and a lot more. In case you weren't aware, Miyamoto is currently Senior Marketing Director of Nintendo and General Manager of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development. He is also the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, and more, which is enough of an incredible accomplishment on its own. From his influence on the industry to his brilliant ideas, Miyamoto is very respected by gamers and non-gamers alike all over the globe. But I'm not going to spend all day telling you how great he is... trust me, the guy who introduces him does enough of that.

Instead, I'll just post the link and highly recommend watching his keynote. Whether you want to learn about what Nintendo believes, figure out how video games can be a truly wonderful thing, find out more about video games in general, or if you're just a gamer like me who wants to know what Miyamoto has to say, you should really, really watch this. You might be surprised to see what somebody from the video game industry has to say.

(Just click on Nintendo Keynote - GDC 2007)

Video Games: They're Not All "Pac-Man"

This post consists of my reply to a comment on the Sonic Gems Collection review. A mom asked me to explain the positives of gaming, and was wondering if there are rewards attached to it that "even a mom can love". This is my answer, and with any luck, it helped. I'd say it's big enough for a full entry, so I thought I'd post it here. Enjoy!

Video games are much deeper than what meets the eye- much deeper. There are whole worlds underneath the exterior... incredible sights, amazing stories and plots, things that make you really think, and a lot more. And yes, you can learn a whole lot from them. But the really great thing is that that's not the intention. When games are made (at least the really good ones), they're usually not created as learning software, which is a very good thing. If it takes place in the medieval ages, the designers might research what that time was like in order to make a realistic experience, and if you learn something from it, it’ll most likely be something that helped draw you into the game as opposed to stiff learning.

An excellent example would be Advance Wars: Dual Strike, a strategy game for the Nintendo DS(which is Nintendo's current handheld system). I plan to post a scenario from that game in a later entry, so you might want to read that if you’re interested. Advance Wars is a game is all about strategies, and you could learn plenty from it, but the point of the game is to deliver a really well-done strategy experience, which is a task it succeeds in to fantastic measures.

Another example, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). KOTOR is an RPG (role-playing game) that takes place in the Star Wars universe, allowing you to create your own character right off the bat. Once you design your appearance, you can edit all of your stats, such as your health, agility, how well you fight with certain weapons, and many others. The story is incredibly interesting, just as good as any novel you might read (and probably better), and the game allows you to be anything you want and do anything you want. You can meet people, talk to them, get involved in the tale, and so much more that it’s hard to get down on paper. Everything you do affects something in the galaxy, and it’s amazingly open-ended and enthralling. There are so many things you could “learn” from the game, and it all works so well.

Another example is Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. This game puts you in the role of a farmer in a little area called Forget-Me-Not Valley. You plant, water, grow, eat, sell, combine hybrids, and research crops. You can tend to animals by milking cows, giving horses their needed exercise, raise chickens, and a lot more. You can also fish, harvest, sell, explore, speak to the villagers, make friends, and way more. You could learn quite a bit by playing this game, and all of this is implemented in a way that simply brings the game together and makes an excellent experience. They don't launch you into endless mini-games that teach you how to water crops and how long horses need to run every day. No way. They just let you do what you want... explore. It’s not stilted, it’s not artificial… the designers just took real life and made a game out of elements from it, with a healthy dash of fantasy.

Any skill you could hope to learn in a classroom could be learned (to an extent) in a well-done video game. I’ve found math, geography, history, zoology, tactics, logic, thinking skills, decoding, writing, English, composition, and even cooking, along with more in games I’ve played. And again I feel the need to say, although those things are all in games, they’re not inserted in fake ways. They’re just in there because they’re part of life, and video games can go far beyond the run-n-gun gameplay that it gets unfortunately stereotyped for. I have explored so many lands, enjoyed so many moments, and loved so many games over the course of my gaming. Of course, that’s not to say every game is incredibly complicated and mind-boggling. Most of the classics are action games, such as Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, and there are tons of fun yet simple games out now. Some are relaxing, some are humorous, some are exciting and thrilling, and there are hundreds of other kinds. The just-plain-fun games are some of the best… there’s just nothing like getting a giant Koopa shell combo in Super Mario World. There’s really a lot of variety.

But most people aren’t wary about video games because the games might not be fun. There are plenty of reasons why people avoid them, and even lobby against them. Violent games, addiction, antisocialism, and more come to mind. But obviously those aren’t automatic side effects, though many people think they are. I’m not an antisocial and violent guy who’s addicted to video games at all (unless I have an evil Mr. Hyde side of me that I’ve never noticed), and I think I’ve learned a few things about video games as well.

First off, pacing is pretty important. It can be easy to get carried away when you get a couple of really great titles and totally lose track of time. Of course, that can be fun sometimes, but you gotta watch it. A lot of people just play games when they can for as long as they want, and that definitely works for some. But I have a lot of time to spend how I want, so when I first started playing, I used a timer, and in fact, I still do to this day. It’s not necessarily very strict, since I play a lot more when I get a new game or want to get back to an old one, but for the most part, I play a little more than about 45 minutes every other day.

[NOTE: Since my brother and I almost always play at the same time, that actually gives me an hour and a half to play, as opposed to 45 minutes, as we both get 45 minutes.]

I think this helps to pace myself and generally keep things interesting… I could easily spend hours every day playing all kinds of games, but if I did that, they’d eventually get pretty old and I would doubtless begin to spend too much time with them. Of course, some games just don’t work with a timer. Games like Animal Crossing and KOTOR would be impossible to play with a timer ticking away. I usually donate blocks of time to those games occasionally without being timed. And sometimes I don't finish all my time and save it for later, or I might play extra if I'm really in the mood for a certain game... I'm not too strict. But overall, I use that system. So my main advice here? A timer helps.

Next up, game content. ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) does a pretty good job at rating games, and they have a helpful website too (www.esrb.org). Paying attention to the games’ ratings is crucial, since that will tell you generally what to expect in terms of violence, language, etc. I’ll give a quick list of the ESRB ratings and my experience with them, because they’re not always 100% accurate.

EC (Early Childhood): This rating is for games that are geared towards a young audience, and is quite often a learning software of some sorts.

E (Everyone): When you see this rating, you can pretty much be sure that ANYBODY can play the game. You might still want to look into it if you’re unsure, just in case (especially some older games), but overall, don’t worry about it.

E10+ (Everyone 10+) This is ESRB’s new and practically useless rating. It’s supposed to be in between E and T, but most E10+ games that I’ve seen should still be rated E, and there are still plenty T games out there that should be rated E10+. So regard this as a slightly less mild E game... Well, for the most part. I've also seen an E10+ game that probably deserves T.

T (Teen 13+) This rating can really vary. I’ve seen several games with a T rating that are about as mild as an episode of Looney Tunes, and I’ve seen some that have blood, language, and guns. Self-research is key with this rating, so looking into each game you consider is my recommendation. And remember, if you're ever wondering about a game, chances are I'll know about it.

M (Mature 17+) Sorry, but I can’t help you much here with this one. I never play M-rated games and don’t plan to. But if your son is only 5, I doubt this should be a problem, as most M-rated games are really quite violent.

AO (Adults Only 18+) I have no idea what these games contain, and I probably don’t want to. Most gaming stores don’t sell them at all.

Hopefully that list helped, and if you have any questions about a specific game (or even just a general one) send it in. The more questions the better, they really help (but I guess I’ve stressed that point enough).

As for how I go about looking into a game (as far as ESRB type stuff is concerned), I usually check ESRB’s website first. If it’s either E or E10+, I don’t have to worry about it. If it’s T, I check the specifics, and if it’s listed as having, say, violence and mild language, I’ll look into it more. After reading some reviews, checking out some screenshots, and maybe watching a gameplay video or two, I’ll either decide against it or give it a rent (and if I’m sure about it, buy it). A great website to look up games would be www.gamespot.com, I use it constantly. So if a parent is going to let their kid get into games, then it’s really important to get involved. I guess you have to gauge your own level of how much you think you need to monitor it.

Another thing that stops people from getting into gaming is the antisocial part of it. This can definitely be true for some individuals, as playing games alone could really pull you out of this world. I, personally, haven’t really ever experienced playing games alone very much, since I’m almost always doing it with my brother, who also happens to be the only person in the world (that I’ve met) who can rival me at Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.

[NOTE: I've recently had a fairly long period of playing games alone while my brother was out of town. This gave me a nice chance to settle down with a game or two I've been wanting to put some time into and get into them. Although it was fun at first, after a while... it kind of got lonely. I mean, playing games alone a lot (even with wonderful, uplifting games like NiGHTS Into Dreams, which is what I was playing) eventually made me want to get back to reality. I mean, when you're playing with someone else, you're talking back and forth and enjoying it the whole time, but playing alone really takes something away from it. Maybe I'm just not used to it, and it was fun for a while, but I think gaming is much better with somebody else is there with you. But back to what I was talking about.]

Gaming with somebody else can be a lot more rewarding too, especially when multiplayer is involved. But even if you don’t have somebody to play with, I’ve noticed that oftentimes games can make you more social. For example, instead of spending time in a back room during some kind of family holiday, a DS allows you to sort of hang out with everybody and even have something to talk about. When I have a friend over, it’s always a good thing to do, and it’s a good conversation starter for when you meet somebody new. In fact, Nintendo’s new console, the Wii (strange name, I know, but we’re all having to get used to it), is specifically created to have games that anybody can play, even the non-videogame-adept, allowing everybody to try it out. (It’s also just really cool.) Of course, I'm more on the hard-core side of things, so their philosophy of simple games occasionally annoys me, but in the ends, Nintendo is awesome since they make deep games as well. So once again, a negative video game stereotype can in fact be a positive, if you take the time to understand it.

So in the end, video games can be a very, very good thing. I know I’ve learned a ton from them, and they even get me interested in things I normally wouldn’t care about (like how Madden allows me to hold a slightly decent football conversation). Civilization is a game that could completely get you into history or geography, or a Call of Duty game might get you to look into World War II. Or take writing for example. I do a lot more of that because of game reviews, FAQs, general discussion, and stuff like that. In fact, by writing this article, I learned that 'Looney Tunes' is not spelled 'Looney Toons'. Video games go beyond what most people can see from the outside, and contain whole worlds. But that doesn’t mean they’re “right” for everybody. Maybe they would draw you in too much, or if you don’t have enough time to understand and monitor them, perhaps they’re not worth messing with. I guess it all comes down to knowing yourself and how much would be a good thing. At least that’s what I’ve picked up from my experience (and countless miscommunications). And I'm definitely very happy I discovered video games... heck, I'm ecstatic I discovered them. They've brought me much more good than bad.

By the way, the ESRB Logo is copyrighted by the Entertainment Software Association, and they've got all the rights reserved, and the ESRB rating icons are all registered trademarks of the Entertainment Software Association, I have no association with them or anything, and all that stuff. So nobody sue me.

Top 10 Christmas Games

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! It's that time of year again, and the lights are up, the carols are in the air, and in certain regions, snow is falling. Um... actually, I got really pressed for time and didn't get around to posting this until several days AFTER Christmas. But I'm guessing you already know all of this, so I'll cut to the chase. I'll be showing you the Top 10 games to play during the Christmas holidays (in no particular order), so enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

1. Animal Crossing

This is the #1 game that captures the Christmas magic, yet the game somehow manages to avoid that fact. You see, there are colored lights in the trees, decorated fir trees to put in your home, and even a reindeer dressed up as Santa Clause who delivers gifts. When it's snowing, the music is remixed with jingle bells, and the animals are in good cheer. The funny thing is... the game refuses to call it Christmas. The obvious Christmas Trees are called Festive Trees, the Christmas Season is called the Festive Season, and Christmas Day is called Toy Day. It's actually kind of funny how hard they're trying. But regardless, it sure feels like Christmas in Animal Crossing, and it can add onto the holiday, especially if you buy gifts for the fellow users and animals.

2. Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie gets on the list since Freezeezee Peak (spelling please?) is themed after a winter wonderland. A giant snowman towers above in the center, while a pile of wrapped-up presents decorate a corner. There's snow falling all over the place, and an icy cold lake swirls about. There's even a Christmas Tree that you can go inside, and the little Christmas Light Guys need your help to light it up. It's great fun.

3. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

The snow falls gently in Forget-Me-Not Valley, and you can spend a quiet Christmas with your virtual family and virtual friends under a blanket of virtual snow. (By the way, don't forget about your real ones... they probably wouldn't appreciate that.) But anyway, saving up crops for the winter and enjoying a nice homemade meal is really great in this game.

4. Ice Climber

How could I not put this one on the list? You climb a mountain of ice the whole time for crying out loud! Enjoy the chills and NES fun with this game.

5. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Kirby got in the Top 8 Thanksgiving Games list because of his appetite. This time he's getting in because Kirby 64 lets you play through a Santa's Workshop of some sorts. You can jump around a conveyor belt and look around outside and stuff like that. Pretty cool... literally.

6. Paper Mario

During a certain part of this game, you get to visit a nice, snowy, little village with lots of penguins. It's a pleasant little place, and very enjoyable. Of course *slight spoilers ahead* you end up solving a light-hearted murder mystery in the town, but it's still nice. *end of slight spoilers*

7. SSX 3

Ahh... just feel that winter air! This game is just perfect for Christmas when you're flying down a crystal-clear mountain. Okay, well, not perfect... when one of the more annoying characters trash talks you and knocks you off your feet, ruining your great run, it's not all that good for Christmas... but still, it's great. I can't listen to "Good Times" without feeling a delightful winter chill.

8. Sonic 3D Blast

This game has a good "Winter Zone" as a level, which is Christmas-y enough, but no more than any other game. What makes it really good is the music! Great, wintry songs full of fun and... snow! I'm talking about the PC version here, and if you put the CD in a CD player, you can use it as a soundtrack! Very cool.

9. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition

Although only the demo is available right now (the actual game comes out next month, which is also next year), it still has a LOT of snow. And that's why it winds up in the Top 10 Christmas Games list. Tons and tons of snow. You can kick it around, watch it fly into the air, jump into large drifts, all kinds of stuff. Just watch out for the angry bugs that live in the cold environment.

10. Clubhouse Games

Once again, Clubhouse Games gets on a list. As I said before, it's perfectly suited for family gatherings. If your relatives aren't interested in fighting giant insects from Lost Planet or figuring out how to pull of monster tricks in SSX 3, chances are they'll be right at home with a good game of cards.