Tag Archives: Gameplay

Coins in Mario Kart 8

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After 1 month, I’m finally done with summer camp! And while it was an awesome month, I’m glad to be back home, sitting at my computer and typing this blog post up. I was originally going to just do a little update, but I’ve been wanting to write about this since I left for camp: coins in Mario Kart 8.

I’ve enjoyed almost every game in the Mario Kart series since its inception, and Mario Kart 8 is the first one that I don’t really enjoy playing. I’ve only really played it once. There are a number of reasons why I don’t like this game (all gameplay related – the visuals and music are phenomenal, I think the biggest reason is the re-inclusion of coins from Super Mario Kart.

For those of you who don’t know, in Mario Kart 8 you can have up to 10 coins. These coins increase your maximum top speed as well as your boost speed. If you are hit or you fall off the map, you lose 3 coins. This opens up a couple problems right off the bat:

Speedier Karts/Bikes/Characters are better:

I love Toad. He’s one of my favorite Mario characters. However, he’s a light character, so he’s pretty slow. Normally, this is offset by having better acceleration and off road speed. With coins in play, having less coins than a speedier character/kart almost always results in me trailing farther and farther behind. Without coins at least I can try and get some items or do some skillful drifting to catch up, but that’s more difficult when you have 4 coins and they have 7 and are cruising on ahead considerably faster than you.

Rubber Banding (or same place syndrome):

Because of how significant the speed boost is from coins, the rubber banding from items is diminished in its effectiveness. Given two characters of same character and vehicle, one with 10 coins can go about the same speed as one with 0 coins and a Star/Mushroom. That’s absolutely ridiculous, and can sometimes lead to what I call Same Place Syndrome. Let’s say you’re in 2nd place, and you get hit with a red shell and a green shell at 10 coins. You now have 4, and people speed on by you with more coins. If this happens, you may find yourself in 6th/7th/8th place for the rest of the race. This has happened to me and a bunch of people I’ve observed playing a lot, and it’s incredibly frustrating when you feel like the items can’t help propel you forward just because you’ve got less coins.

Conversely, if you’re in first with 10 coins, sometimes you can rocket so far ahead of the pack (assuming they’re not collecting coins like you are) that being hit with two blue shells won’t even come close to putting you in 2nd, especially since one of the items you get commonly in first place are a coin item that gives you two coins.

The first lap becomes a coin collecting contest:

The first lap, I think, is pretty crucial. The players that collect more coins will stay at the top (unless combo’d hard by items), and those that don’t will find themselves struggling until they collect more for the whole race.

It’s disappointing that a game I was really looking forward to has, in my opinion, an awful mechanic for what the series stands for. It looks great, plays great (controls are amazing), and has a memorable soundtrack, but coins really take a lot of fun out of the game for me. I will say that I think coins are an amazing addition to Time Trials, as I think strategic collection of coins leads to increased depth in that area, but otherwise, coins need to go.

Just Sayin’.

My Super Smash Bros Wii U/3DS demo consensus

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E3 has come and gone, the Super Smash Bros. Invitational has passed, and I got to play both the 3DS and Wii U versions of  the new Super Smash Bros. game (which I will be labeling as “Smash 4“). Here’s my take:

NOTE: This game is not in its final stage. It is still in development! Mechanics can (and probably will) change.

What is it like?

It’s like Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Brawl). It felt less floaty and faster, but it definitely retained the Brawl feel. The music and the overall look is great. The move streaks are an awesome touch, and I’m loving some of the new characters. I only got to play as Kirby (my old Brawl main) and Villager, but I had fun playing both!

Also Smash Run is going to be the best mode of all time.

Game Mechanics:

The Good:

– A lot of people were complaining about aerial landing lag, but I didn’t see a lot of it. With both Villager and Kirby, landing on the ground with an aerial felt exactly like it did in Brawl. I was still able to link Kirby’s Back Air -> Forward Tilt, which requires little landing lag on the Back Air. Some characters have a lot of landing lag (See: Marth), but overall the game didn’t look like a total lag fest when landing with aerials. I have no idea why everyone’s complaining when it seems to be only a few characters.

– The hit lag, while more than Brawl, feels really satisfying when you hit. Grabbing someone also feels satisfying.

– Air dodging into the ground produces significant lag. This is great because it used to be an incredibly safe option in Brawl, and now it can be punished. Also they appear to be much shorter, which is great.

– The jab finishers are really cool. I hated all the rapid-jabs, so I’m glad they’re gone.

– Hit Stun can’t be canceled with an air dodge. Combos do exist!

– The new ledge mechanics to prevent sharking are cool. I’m actually on board with the whole “kick-off” mechanic, too.

The Bad: 

– No dash dancing. I think this is something Smash 4 needs so that the primary movement isn’t air-based.

– Throws are really odd. It’s very hard to follow up with them and it doesn’t really put the thrown opponent in a bad spot so it feels like they’re always the less superior choice. A few characters, however (MegaMan and Villager are the two that come to mind) have some follow ups out of throws.

– KO’ing takes a very long time. I saw people live up to 150% from Smash attacks.

– Auto sweet spot ledges with Up B.

And that’s really all I have to say about it. Overall, I’m really hopefully for Smash 4. I was worried I wasn’t going to like it, but after watching the Invitational and playing both versions myself, I can confidently say that I’m very excited for this game!

Just Sayin’

REVIEW: Ghost Trick

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About a month ago, a friend suggested I purchase a game called Ghost Trick for the Nintendo DS. He hooked me by saying it was one of the best stories he’d ever seen. Curious, I decided to make the purchase, and I found myself with an absolute gem of a game.

Plot:
 
I won’t spoil this plot because I think it’s something everyone should try, but it is incredible. It starts out simple enough: you’re the ghost of a recently killed man, and another ghost, Ray, tells you to save the girl that is about to be killed right beside your body. It goes on from there. Really, it’s one of the finest plots I’ve ever experienced, and it’s all character-driven. There is only one external factor, and it’s the coolest twist ever. 
 
Characters:
 
All the characters have their own unique personalities and hidden motives for things they’re doing in the game, and it’s cool to see how they all come together to create the plot. My favorite has to be Missile, the dog that Sissel comes in contact with.
 
 
This is a really cool feature. As a ghost, Sissel has the power to manipulate small, inanimate objects, and has the ability to go back to 5 minutes before a person’s death and try to change it. The changing of someone’s fate is the core mechanic in the game, as Sissel must utilize his abilities to manipulate objects to change the past, and thus the future. This comes in the form of puzzles you must figure out, and I have to say, some of them were pretty challenging.
About midway through the game, you’re able to utilize another ghost ability – switching objects with similar shapes.
The only problem with Ghost Trick is the lack of re-playability. Once you figure the puzzles out, you know what to do and you already know how the mystery unfolds, and so replaying it takes away from so much of the game.
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Ghost Trick is a gem. It’s a game I had never heard of until suggested to me, and I’m glad I decided to try it, and it easily has one of my favorite game plots of all time. This game proves that games can have a deep, meaningful story, and still be an interactive success. If you like puzzle games or a good story, definitely pick this game up!
Score:
 
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Gameplay: 7/10

Just sayin’

REVIEW: Beat Hazard Ultra

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I really didn’t want to write a review this week, but I’m having the hardest time finding something to write about and I already missed last week’s post since I was with my girlfriend all week, so I’m resigning myself to writing a review. Here we go!

Beat Hazard Ultra is, literally, a top-down shooter (think Asteroids) with music. It’s similar to Audiosurf in one very crucial way: you can use your own music, and that’s one of the main hooks of this game. Combine these two qualities and you’ve got yourself a great time killer!

Atmosphere (Music/Graphics):

Beat Hazard Ultra has a very modern-day Asteroids feel to it. None of the models really stood out, but what does stand out are the effects. The game pulses to the beat, and whenever you destroy something sparks fly from it and pulse as well. Really, I could call this game Asteroids: Club Edition and you’d get a good feel for how this game looks. Now, the cool thing is you can set how intense the pulsing is: from 50% to 200%.

Don’t use 200%.

The only problem with the effects is seeing the enemies can legitimately become hard when you’re on higher difficulties and the pulsing sparks, the ships, and your ships fire (which, by the way, also pulses) all blends together in one huge mix of lights and enemies. It’s cool to look at, but not only does it increase the difficulty, but it will seriously strain your eyes thanks to the strobe-like effects. In fact, the game’s title screen even warns you that it has some serious strobing in case you’re prone to seizures. I’ve gotten a headache a couple times when I had it on 100%, but at 50% it’s much easier on the eyes.

The music is a not really something I can write about because you can use your own (except for one of the achievements which requires you to play all of the built-in music), but for those wanting to complete said achievement: I liked some of the music, but I’m heavily biased towards house/electro/etc… so the rock and metal songs were really unpleasant when I played them. I haven’t touched them since I got the achievement (even the dance ones), though, because I can play anything off of my iTunes library.

Gameplay:

As I’ve said before, this game is very much like Asteroids. You’re a ship that flies around shooting asteroids and enemy ships. Sometimes you’ll get a boss, which is a beefed up version of an enemy ship, which are fun, and there are ‘mines’ which prevent you from shooting for a few seconds. As you play, you gather “super bombs” that clear out the entire screen, multipliers for score, and POW and VOL power ups, which increase the volume of the song and the power of your ship’s bullets. If you max out both, you reach ‘Beat Hazard’, meaning you’re at max power and the effects are maxed out. It’s a very simple game.

There are perks which can be unlocked by collecting money (like an ultra beam or shield), as well as unlockable difficulties, which are, unfortunately, pretty easy once you get a sizable number of perks, but that doesn’t take away from the fun because the more difficult it is, the more the screen explodes with lights and sparkles.

There’s also a survival and boss rush mode. The boss rush mode is really fun because at some point you find yourself with 5 bosses on-screen, and they’re all huge – it gets really hectic.

There’s also multiplayer, but I haven’t actually played that mode, so I won’t talk about that.

All in all, Beat Hazard Ultra is a one of those games where you play a couple songs and you’re satisfied, but you’ll keep going back because you’ll want to play to new music you get! If you’ve got some cash to spare and love music, consider picking up Beat Hazard Ultra!

Score:

Atmosphere: 9/10

Gameplay: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Just sayin’

REVIEW: Bastion

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After Steam’s Summer Sale (my poor wallet!), I came to the conclusion that I have way too many games to play, and so, after beating Pokémon Conquest, I jumped right into a new game that I should’ve played a looong time ago: Bastion. Bastion solidifies my belief that indie games, while shorter than most big console games, can be so much more satisfying when you take care to empower the strengths of your game.

Plot:

The plot is actually fairly straightforward. The Calamity, an event that turned the world upside down and inside out, has just happened, and you, The Kid, go to the Bastion, which is where everyone agreed to go in case something terrible happened. When you get there, you find that only you and a lone stranger have survived, and you’re tasked with building the Bastion. As you go looking for the cores that will power the Bastion, you find Zulf and Zia, two Ura who survived the Calamity, and learn some history of the world. The Ura and humans (or Caelondians, as they’re called), were once in a war, and after the Caelondians won, the two races worked for peace. However, the Mancers (a higher council in the city of Caelondia), didn’t like that there was even a chance of war, so they started working on The Calamity. I won’t spoil all of it for those who haven’t completed the game, but there’s a few surprises thrown in there. A very solid plot, and something that definitely moves the game along at a nice pace.

Characters:

The four main characters are all very interesting. You really only hear The Stranger (real name Rucks) talk, as he narrates, but you hear about everyone through “dreams” your character has. While you don’t interact with  them aside from hearing Rucks talk about them briefly while you’re at the Bastion, the dream sequences provide from backstory for each and ives you a picture of what they were like. In that sense, you do see the characters change and grow as the game progresses, especially once you hit the halfway point. I don’t want to spoil anything since it makes the dream sequences that much more satisfying, but they all have personalities despite not really interacting with them during the game itself.

Atmosphere (Music/Graphics):

Bastion’s music is fantastic. It’s atmosphere is fantastic. Everything involving these two things are fantastic. The enemies, the world, the history – it all blends together so well. All the little things about the game where Rucks tells you the history of every level before the Calamity struck is fascinating, and really immerses you into the world of Bastion, and the music just makes it better. It goes along with every stage almost perfectly, and it’s one of those I highly recommend you purchase and give a listen to even if you haven’t played the game.

Gameplay:

There’s something to be said about, “choose your own difficulty” games. Most of them offer you really deep gameplay, and this is no exception. In Bastion, there comes a point where you find a shrine and can invoke various idols to change the difficulty. These idols range from enemies moving faster to them them becoming invisible for a short time, and the beauty of the system is you can mix and match any idols you want for a unique difficulty every time. And the more difficult the game becomes, the more experience and money you earn. It’s a satisfying system, especially since none of them (except maybe the one that causes enemies to reflect attacks) are ridiculously hard. Having all 10 idols on is definitely a challenge, however.

Now, let’s talk about weapons. You get to choose from a myriad of weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and the best part is they’re all balanced – you can use almost any combination and come out victorious, which I think is fantastic. You find the weapons as you go, showing you their strengths and weakness throughout the level. And to make sure you really see how good each weapon is, there are proving grounds for each weapons that grant you special skills for that particular weapon if you reach first prize.

And of course, the weapons can be upgraded. You can upgrade each weapon 5 times, and they’re all pretty ridiculous once they get maxed out. The BEST part about upgrading is there are two upgrades per level, and you have to choose one or the other (an example: more critical hit chance or more flat power), which makes you think about what kind of upgrades you want for the current level you’re going into.

There’s an in-game challenge system that gives you money for completing them, and that’s nice. Some of the challenges are difficult, and some you achieve as you progress. The small ones add up, though, and since the upgrades can get a little costly, it’s good money to have. Plus, it helps you master each and every weapon!

And the final part about the gameplay that I LOVE are the spirits. They’re drinks that, when consumed, grant you abilities (such as more health, life steal, etc…). Some of them grant you huge bonuses while also giving you a bad side effect, and the versatility of them allows you to mix and match spirits (you can only have so many equipped at one time) with your weapons, giving you a really unique way of fighting.

All of these things comes together to create a truly deep combat experience. I enjoyed every second of it!

If you’re looking for a game that offers you deep gameplay alongside great atmosphere, get Bastion. Get it right now since it’s only $15, which is a steal considering how great this game is. You won’t be disappointed!

Score:

Plot: 7/10

Characters: 8/10

Atmosphere: 10/10

Gameplay: 10/10

Final Score: 9/10

Oh, and the DLC for the game (a new mode and a new dream sequence) is completely free.

Just sayin’

REVIEW: Limbo

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Another review! Since school’s ending (my finals week is this week!!), I’ve had a lot more time to play games, so I’ve actually been getting around to playing some of the games in my backlog. Today, I’ll be reviewing a game I purchased during Steam‘s Christmas Sale last year – Limbo.

Plot:

Let’s dive right in with me saying this: I don’t like open-ended and subtle narratives. I hate them. I like to have my narratives laid out in front of me with character as the more subtle element. That aside, Limbo’s plot is fairly simple: you know that you play a boy who is seemingly in Limbo (at least, that’s what I thought), who is looking for his sister. Although simple, that’s enough for the game to be enjoyed.

You do see a few things – a giant spider, dead humans, and even ones that are alive and hostile. What they mean, I have no idea, and this is my problem with subtle narratives – it’s all up to interpretation, and I don’t like that. The ending is the same way (and it’s rather abrupt), so you never actually find out what the story is – you’re supposed to interpret it for yourself. But, despite my distaste for these kinds of narratives, Limbo does do a really nice job setting its world and narrative up, and it really adds to the replay value for those who enjoy these kinds of narratives.

I don’t like it, but Limbo does it very well.

Atmosphere (Music/Graphics):

This is by far my favorite part of the game. Everything’s laid out to you Noir style, so you’re given only black and white, and it is stunning. The faded out backgrounds in grey, the lights and darkness at the end of puzzles, the lighting effects with blurs and shadows – all of it is simply fantastic! It really sets and maintains the mood of the game throughout the entire experience. I especially loved the character model. The few musical compositions are great, and they really invoke emotions when you do hear them since they’re during critical narrative parts of the game. Throughout most of the game, all you hear are sound effects, but those are fantastic background noise, especially once you get to the more city-like areas and you hear the gears and crackling of electricity. It was a game that I felt benefited greatly from the quietness of not really having a soundtrack.

I really can’t say anything more – you simply have to experience it yourself. I think this right here is enough of a reason to replay (and buy) the game.

Gameplay:

I was looking up plot details to see if anything official had been released (there hasn’t as far as I know), and I came across “trail and death” as a style of game, and I think this was a good way of categorizing Limbo. Some of the puzzles I died multiple times just to get the timing right, but while some may find this kind of game frustrating, I enjoy it. The checkpoints where nicely set, so I never felt like I had to do something I had just done over and over, and the difficulty wasn’t even bad – many of the puzzles were thought-provoking, and I enjoy that in a puzzle-oriented game. It definitely has replay value, but knowing the puzzles already does detract from it unless you enjoy time attacking.

Overall, Limbo delivers an excellent experience for those who enjoy puzzle games and a more subjective narrative. I would recommend it to anyone, especially since it’s so cheap! It’s indie games like this that I will continue to buy because they’re always good!

Score:

Plot: 4/10

Atmosphere: 10/10

Gameplay: 9/10

Overall: 7/10

Just sayin’.

P.S.: Limbo is currently part of the newest Humble Bundle that is out right now. It’s for a limited time, so I suggest you go get it – it’s got a ton of great games PLUS Limbo, and you get to name your price!

Go here to get it! — http://www.humblebundle.com/