kisrael

So McDonalds and Sega are teaming up to provide a series of six games in their happy meals: DailyGame has some more info, including some images. The six games are: Sonic's Speedway, Shadow Grinder, Knuckles Soccer, Sonic Action Game, AiAi Banana Catch, Tails Sky Patrol I'm not sure about Grinder and Action Game (both of which seem to feature only one button...) but the other 4 all seem to be good old dodge things or catch things LCD gameplay. I'm really curious about those two, actually, I've always had an interest in games that are playable with a single button... So here's my review of the first: Sonic's Speedway: Hardware The game is very toylike and robust feeling, with a blue and purple two part case (with SEGA, Sonic, and a checkered flag, and some cars engravd on it,) big red buttons, a power switch on the back (haven't seen too many of those in the Game+Watch influenced world of LCDs), and a tiny LCD screen-- like, an inch wide, 3/4 of an inch high. It makes little bleeps and bloops (and there is no mute button). Actually, the screen is better protected than usual, you can press your finger into it and get those cool rainbow patterns. Software The game is a traditional 'dodge the cars' driving game, arching to the right, with some interesting minor gameplay differences. For one thing, the game has an ending: there are 4 laps, each one faster than the last, and you get a little flag at the end of each of the first 3, and then a small game celebration at the very end. The player can take up to five hits before the game is over. I actually think overall this improves the game; it's not entirely trivial to beat, I usually take 2 hits or so by the time the thing is over, so I imagine a young kid will have to work a little bit to be able to finish. (The cars are more densely packed than I remember for this kind of game, with often only a single opening in a row, and sometimes you have to quickly doubletap to scoot from one side to the other.) You can make out Sonic's head in the car at bottom, so it's not just a case modification from an older game... Food (Wetware?) Good god, I had forgotten how bad a Happy Meal is. (Besides the fact it didn't come in a box, just a not-even-Sega-themed bag.) I wonder if the sound could have been better, even if it was just a piezzo speaker, like if they threw in a little meoldy or something. (It's a little annoying as it is, since it beeps everytime you pass a car.) And I'm not saying this as someone who dislikes fastfood; I'll definately have a Whopper Jr now and then, or Taco Bell. But the bun on this burger...man, like cardboard, and the gross hunk of american cheese not melted at all, and then the fries are so awful and tasteless, like little edible scoops for ketchup is all... Overall Overall this was a pretty decent little game. I think they improved the gameplay of an LCD classic. Unfortunately I'm going on a nutrition/detoxification/weightloss diet so unless they let you buy the toys seperately, I won't be seeing too much else in this series.

Crackpots! I got this game in a big assortment when I was reunited w/ my old collection, and was very surprised by it...I hadn't even heard of it before that point. Very good variation and inversion of the old "invaders" style gameplay, where the spiders come up (in different patterns) and you have to push the pots onto their heads... that last bit is a nice bit of indirection, relative to typical "just press firebutton to shoot"

Yeah, those scores are probably all relative, and the bar is higher in many ways for the GBA than it was for the GBC.

One review I read mentioned the Player is all the GBA hardware minus the controller and screen. Which is too bad; how cool would it be if they did it in software, and could do 4 player games on one GC, splitscreen...

Yeah, that's what I meant, what games is the GC controller bad for. Sports games in general or just that one?

You're right that all the systems are good. Don't agree about the PS2 vs. GC controller tho; the PS2 never feels ergonomic and has too many similar buttons, and the analog push buttons suck, though it's nice and symmetric. The GC I find super comfortable, w/ well differentiated buttons to boot. Plus there are for slots w/o a multitap, which means more multiplayer gaming. Don't know what 3rd party games you find the GC lacking for though, any examples come to mind?

Yeah, DK64 is better w/ a guide I'd say, just to make the collecting less tedious. Amen about DKC...in particular, it's a fun game to play w/ a non- or semi-gamer, you can help 'em along. I did that with an ex-girlfriend and w/ my Aunt. (the first hardly played any games, though my Aunt gets pretty good at various puzzle games like Tetris and its derivatives.)

So so. I remember two; one is a kind of brawl in a small arena, kind of interesting, and the other is a mediocre FPS shooter. Nothing to write home about, and I think the Boss Battle replay feature plus original DK and JetPac outshine it.

I forgot about those games! Don't forget Devil Dice. Those are some good puzzle games, but some of 'em are rather rare (Intellingent Qube, SPFII, and Devil Dice I think)--I know 'cause I got some of 'em for my Aunt and Mom, and it wasn't always easy.

I'm sure it does. Which doesn't mean everyone will find it enjoyable. Yeah, I've never been crazy about leveling up. I've had the same thing w/ Tetris Attack and GTA:VC. Yes, I'm sure it's a grand RPG. And anyone who likes RPGs will love it. The only RPG-ish games I like, though, are "action RPGs", where the combat is interactive. I really don't think it's the genre for everyone.

That is SO not neccesarily true. I think some people come to the game with an open mind, but don't get veyr far into it before growing really tired of all the boring monster fights. just 1 question. did you ever played final fantasy 7 complete out? or are you one of those "i-havent-played-final-fantasy-7-in-my-life-because-i-hate-playstation" guys? Did you read what I wrote? I picked up the real game, on a PSX, and gave it the old college try, but the boring battles got to me before I got a chance to be really involved with the story line etc, so I never got very far into it at all. Compared to what I had seen in terms of Zelda on the N64, the fighting was dull as dishwater, and stressful as I got too worried about doing the "wrong" thing. I like the semi-scifi theme better than Zelda's traditional fantasy theme though.

That is SO not neccesarily true. I think some people come to the game with an open mind, but don't get veyr far into it before growing really tired of all the boring monster fights.

Well, you can get a sense with this thread: Pluses: Very cool bosses, good level design, the original DK and JetPac (early Rare game for this one old UK system) Minuses: an awful lot of collecting, some inherent goofiness. My suggestion would be to play through it with a FAQ or walkthrough or guide of some sort. Also, is this one of those games that required the expansion pack? Make sure you have that if so.

I haven't seen the site yet, but I think it's also been proving that the right amount of swearing--even if seemingly gratuitous--can make something much much funnier. Case in point for me: the South Park Movie, in theaters at least. I have NEVER heard an audience laugh so much.

No, don't buy it. I was in your shoes like a year or two ago. Mostly I really wanted to play "Unholy War", an unoffical sequel to Archon, by the same people (who also did Star Control...) And I figured there'd be a bounty of other fun cheap games. Except for some Arcade Paks (most of which you can get the equivalent of elsewhere) there has been VERY little to bring me back to this system (not liking Final Fantasy's and their endless random boring battles.) Just vast loads of shovelware, and versions of game styles done better on my beloved N64. What I'd do is wait a while more 'til you can get a PS2, and then you could play any PSX game that catches your eye. As well as GTA3 or GTA:VC, which for me have been the only really strong reasons to justify keeping the system.

I thoroughly enjoyed DK64. The variety of playing as different Kongs was fun. The final boss fight was hard (have to beat him with each Kong) but very memorable. You can even go back and play some early Rare computer games, and a nice arcade version of the original Donkey Kong. I agree. The game was a bit heavy on the collecting side, but was very polished overall, with a lot of variety in the different boards. I particularly admired the ability to go back and redo any beaten boss fight, which really are the "money" parts of most games. I wish Metroid, Zelda, et al would throw that in as a feature. I wrote a boss-only FAQ for this game, introducing strategies that I hadn't seen in the other FAQs, but it was rejected at GameFAQs. Anyway, I jammed through this game w/ a guide in like 2 1/2 days STRAIGHT...at the end it messed with my 3D perception a bit, I'd walk outside and the buildings next to the street would look a bit too tall, and cars would seem to recede too quickly as they went past...it was odd. I've had recreational chemicals that have had less of a noticable effect.

Just a reminder, I think Worms Worl Party has the edge just by virtue of letting each player have their own controller (also allows people to share controllers, if need be) Not as good as the PC version however, esp. because it left out some of the cool napalm barrels and the like.

I dunno, the trouble with "any age group" is that it makes sure everything is kid friendly, you lose your ability to say "this is for adults". It's happened w/ movies. NC17 was introduced because-heck-maybe there are some things worthwhile for adults that kids aren't ready to deal with. The beautiful movie "Henry and June" kicked it off...adult in more than ways than our culture calls adult. But, NC17 quickly got the same damn stigma as X, so we're back to the usual gamut of what's safe to play in Iowa. (And Walmart has a similar effect on videogames)

Yeah, I know. But a 486 could handle HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of corpses (well, I'm thinking of the last level of Doom II actually) without breaking a sweat. I'd put on a cheat code, let it play itself for like half an hour with monsters constantly generating, and it was fine. I think it crashed overnight though... Huh, good to know, I won't bother with Doom itself then, but maybe I'll try II.

Haven't tried it, but my one complaint with GBA doom would be that they don't let shot corpses linger...that was one of my fav parts of the original, being able to see where I'd been, like a trail of breadcrumbs. I took my week old GBA w/ busted pixels in and upgraded to the SP...

Yeah, often CGI prerecorded, as opposed to the N64, who had to do its CGI scenes on the fly... (and Conker's BFD stands out for having an INSANE amount of voiceover recorded...) One thing, I wouldn't blame Nintendo for handheld gaming's kiddy image. Handhelds are inherently kiddish because it gives kids independence, traditionally (though this is changing a bit) kids are less likely to have their own TV, so a handheld keeps 'em from needing the family television. Also, our culture is generally a bit too quick to divide things into adult and kiddy. Like comics...just for kids, or urban hipster artsy types. Only in the last decade has general gaming started to be more acceptable for post-college age guys...probably because they're the first generation who grew up with better-than-pong games, and saw little reason to give 'em up.

Damn it, I just got a GBA not even a week ago, and already there is a small vertical line of perpetually green pixels. Can I take it back or is it too late?

The games that get the most play these days are multiplayer: Quake III (despite its DESPERATE lack of a "quick start" option) and Worms (the World Party version, not Armegeddon, since with Armageddon for some odd reason you have to pass around a single controller) Powerstone and Powerstone 2 are also terrific 2- and 4-player brawlers, respectively. Very goofy and flashy and fun. SF Rush 2049er, racing and car battles. Chu Chu Rocket, 4 player maddness And my single one-player pick, that unfortunately would probably cost more than you paid for the system to get, is Bangai-O. Amazing 2D oldschool fun, fills the screens with hundreds of bad guys, missiles, and explosions all at once;

Hey. Technically, "those germans" could just be those germans...not "the germans", as in all germans...

Even simpler: "This statement is false." Stuff like this actually destroyed the faith in math of many mathematicians in the first half of the 20th century.