Level Up: Freedom Force

Those of you who also listen to my Podcast versions might notice that there is a lot more writen here then what I say. It ends up that I like this game so much, I wrote an entire paragraph that goes over my time frame. So, enjoy an extended script this week!

Narrator: Once again, we join our hero, Leo Melanson, currently in the process of picking out the game for this weeks review. However, this week, he searches for the perfect game, one special enough to mark the anniversary of his birth. He looks around and finds that none of them quite do it. Then, he sees it, his shelf of PC games. Few, but mighty, he sees the perfect game to review. And so, he reaches up for it.

Leo: Almost… got it…

Narrator: and with one final stretch our reviewer holds in his hands this week’s game: FREEDOM FORCE!

Freedom Force is a super hero game probably unlike any you’ve played. It’s described as a “Real-Time Strategy RPG”, which means you’ll have a team of heroes adventuring around a map and attacking in “real-time”, but you also get strength, weaknesses, stats, and leveling like those you’ll find in RPGs. It’s a great mix because people who aren’t necessarily good at Real-time strategies, but good at RPGs (like I am) can be good at this game, and vice versa. (It also helps that you can actually pause and chose what you want to do). Each level has a certain amount of missions and objectives you have to complete before moving on, most of them being “defeat blank”. Completing your missions and making sure a maximum amount of bad guys are defeated with a minimum of casualties, makes you earn prestige to recruit new Super Heroes.

You interact with objects by clicking around. And when I say “objects” I mean EVERYTHING. You can talk with civilians, pick-up telephone poles to use as clubs and even destroy buildings. We can’t forget attacking the bad guys too. Attacking uses energy, which it refills over time. Usually, the more useful or stronger the attack, the more energy it’ll use. You can also chose to make the attack all around better by using more energy on it. Don’t forget, all attacks have a certain element behind it (going back to strengths and weaknesses) and some have certain effects. Learning how to use all of this to your advantage will make you an expert at this game.

The story is… Super Heroes. An alien race gives an energy X to human and… Super Heroes. That’s the best way I can explain it. Random villains start popping up at the same time super heroes do and our heroes do their best to stop them. They all have their own plans and ways to what they want to do, mostly take over the world (clip: M. Bison: Of course!). Really, if you’ve ever read a comic book or seen Super Heroes cartoons then you know what I’m talking about. They even go all out in the cut scenes and artwork to invite that comparison. Sure, there is this underlying plot with the alien race and someone quote pulling the strings unquote, but like everyone else, he just has his moment. So yeah, the story is Super Heroes. Admittedly its nothing too original, the heroes themselves seem like knock offs: MinuteMan is Captain America, El Diablo is the Human Torch, The Ant is Spider-man, etc… But the story is still really fun to play through if you like Super Heroes. And I lauve Super Heroes.

Now, one thing that is probably the most enjoyed from this game for most of the fans is this game’s ability to customize it. First off, you have the ability to make your own Super Heroes and bring them into the game. But it’s not just that: The game makers actually encourage Moding this game, so much so they released a program to let you do it! You want your own Super Hero design in the game? You can do it. You want to play your own story? You can make that happen too! Even if you don’t have the patience for it yourself, you can go online and look at the fan community and see what they have to offer. Encouraging a game to be this customizable defiantly earns some props in my books.

I just barely glazed over everything I love Freedom Force. I could keep going on about the story details, or the game play factors, or all of that stuff that makes this game just fun, but that would take hours since I love this game so much. This game was developed by Irrational Games, also known for making the well-received System Shock and BioShock games. It was published by Crave Entertainment and Electronic Arts (who once again managed to earn a mention in my reviews), but I believe the true credit does go to Irrational Games, especially since they later self-published the sequel; Freedom Force vs the Third Riech. But that’s a review for another day. To finish off, I would just like to say that I am honored to make Freedom Force the first game I give a full 10 out of 10 levels to.

Level Up: Dr.Mario & Yoshi

(Interestingly enough, I don't own either of these games. My roommate does however, so I borrowed them for this review.)

Let’s talk about a classic; Dr. Mario for the NES. I’m more then certain that everyone has heard of this game before, and if you haven’t *deep effect* SHAME! It’s been ported directly onto a few consoles, been put on a couple compilation games and has had a remake or two. Heck, Dr. Mario was even a fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee. And here’s why you should know about this game if you don’t.

Dr. Mario is a puzzle game, but probably the best puzzle game of all time. You play as Mario who, for no reason other than Nintendo told him to, became a doctor. He’s developed pills called “Megavitamins” which are composed of two parts of three possible colors (red, blue or yellow). He throws these pills in a giant bottle with static viruses of the same color inside. All you have to do is match 4 of the same color sections in a straight line (either horizontally or vertically) by rotating the vitamins 90 degrees and moving them left and right. But don’t forget, you’re megavitamins fall downwards and if you they clog up the entrance point, you lose, so act carefully, but quickly.

The graphics and coloring in this game are amazing for the NES. Dr. Mario came out in 1990, which was pretty late in the NES’ life, meaning the graphics were pretty much reaching its full potential. In this game, you got a nice vibrant variety of colors and well detailed objects. This is especially good for puzzle games, since you’ll most likely be staring at similar objects for addicted hours on end. The music in this game is some of the most recognizable ones in the world of video games. There’s of course “Fever” (which is often mistakenly just called “Dr.Mario”), one of the most popular scores from the game, but I personally enjoy every song heard in it. Even the menu songs are great! It’s amazing to see and hear that they put this much quality into the game.

And… that’s all I really have to say about Dr.Mario. So, how about now I talk about another puzzle game staring a Mario character on the NES? If you don’t what I’m talking about, I’m talking about Yoshi, and this time, I won’t hold it against you.

Yoshi works in a similar “blocks dropping down” where if the objects reach the top, you lose styled puzzle game which became popular after tetris. However in this game, you don’t control the blocks falling, you controls the ones they land on. The playing field is composed of 4 columns, and you can switch two at a time. If you can make a block land on a matching one, it disappears. But what does Yoshi himself bring to this game? Eggs. They drop down as halfs, bottoms and tops. If a top lands with no bottom underneath, it disappears and nothing happens. But, if a bottom landed and a top lands above it, they will close together, taking away all blocks in between them. Unlike Dr.Mario, this game has two modes of play, one “endless” style, where the blocks just keep coming, and another mode where you start with blocks already and you just have to make them all go away.

This game has a few weaknesses that make it far from the puzzle greatness of Dr.Mario. First off, it’s too easy and too basic. Sure in puzzle game it’s expected that things will get repetitive, but this one feels like it was made for younger kids. The next problem is the graphics. This game looks as if they took the Super Mario World sprites and downgraded them for the NES, and just made things look weird. Far from the great looking wonder of Dr.Mario.

There you have it, two puzzle games based off of Mario characters; one a true classic and another somewhat average. Dr. Mario is a must play for probably anyone who’s played video games, while Yoshi is more just for the puzzle fanatic. By the way, if you do want to check either of them out, they’re currently available on the Wii Virtual Console. I give Dr.Mario a 9.5 and Yoshi a 6.5 out of 10 Level.

Level Up: B.O.B.

I hope you’re all having happy holidays. To celebrate the times, I’m going to review one of my favorite gift games, Bob. (Audio clip: Becker: Bob? BOB?) Yeah, you know, BOB! *Music changes* (Voice clip: Reggie: OH! BOB!) He may not be the most recognizable game character, but he defiantly deserves to be remembered. So, let’s talk about Bob for the Super Nintendo.

Now, the first thing I noticed when I played this game for the first time was the music, and I have to say, I love the music in this game. I think it has one of, if not THE, most underrated sound tracks on the SNES. The music sets the mood perfectly and just makes you want to kick butt. It’s just so bad. But sadly, as I’ve said, I don’t think enough people have had a chance to hear much of it. That’s why, instead of the usual one song playing in the back of my review, I’ve put together a medley of some of the scores heard in Bob. Oh, and just so you know the sounds in this game are wacky, but fitting, and rock just as much.

At this point you’re probably asking “Who is Bob?” Well, Bob is a teenager that lives in outer space. He isn’t human, but I don’t quite know what he is (he kind of looks like an insectoid robot to me). He also speaks the way the late 80’s and early 90’s depicted teenagers, much like Bill and Ted and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You know; lots of “radical” lingo. I wonder what Linkara’s 90’s kid would have to say about him. (Clip: 90’s Kid starts, but gets cut off) But of course, that’s not my character. Interestingly enough, his name is spelt B dot O dot B dot, but I haven’t been able to figure out what it stands for.

The story goes that Bob has a date, so he borrows his dad’s car. However, while on route, he ends up hitting an asteroid field and crashing on an inhibited meteor type thing. So now he needs to search the area, defend himself, find another car and get to his date on time. I’m serious, that’s the plot of the game: he needs a car to get to a date. That’s just so awesome that I couldn’t make it up!

The game play is similar to many Adventure shooting games, like Mega Man, Earthworm Jim and Metroid. Bob has a gun which he can load with different types of ammo, all awesome and useful for different scenarios. He also gets other gadgets called “remotes” in this game, which can do things like launch him upwards, make him invincible or destroy all enemies on screen (more or less the usual stuff). But most awesome of all, Bob can punch enemies with his fist, and if you could see it, you would crap yourself! His fist is about the size of his head! If I were facing Bob, I would be more scared of his hand then his gun. Mix all of this with excellent controls and you get a game that is F dot U dot N dot to play.

If I had to say I had one problem with Bob its that it doesn’t have a save feature. Like many games of that generation without the ability to save, it has a password feature. Sadly, in this game, the levels you continue from seem few and far between. Still, it wouldn’t be that bad, but some of the levels are so long and hard and when you lose all your lives 4 levels after your last continue point, it kind of deters you from playing again. Speaking of lives, I have an issue with that too. Every time you die, all your ammo and remotes get reset back to what you had at the start of the game. This means that, in harder levels where you’ll need a lot of bullets, you pretty much have to do it in one life. It definatly presents a challenge, but one that I’m sure many gamers will be willing to face in a game that’s this enjoyable.

Bob is awesome! Though he isn’t the most popular guy ever, everyone who’s played the game say they really like it. All the comments online about it go along the lines of “I remember playing Bob, he’s awesome!” It plays well, looks great, it’s really fun and we can’t forget about the music. If you want to play this game, it’s available for the SNES, the Sega Genesis and has been put on compilation called EA Replay for the PSP. Wait, did I say EA? That might explain why this game never saw a sequel... Well, I give Bob 9 out of 10 Levels.

Level Up: Lady Sia + Schedule announcement

Hey everybody, before I get started on this week's game, I just wanted to explain why it took so long for it to get posted up and why it's not on iTunes yet. See, I'm on vacation! I went back home and, sadly, I only have limited connectivity here. Furthermore, Word was wiped off my computer AFTER I wrote this weeks review, but BEFORE I could post it up.
While I'm talking about posts being late, the one scheduled for this saturday will probably be late due to the holidays (ironically, it's a holiday special...). Also, there will be none on January 2nd (this was planned in advance as a holiday break). A New Years special will occure on the 9th. After that, updates should continue regularly until further notice.
Anyways, you've waited enough, so here it is, this weeks review.

Talk about underrated games, I can’t tell you how shocked I am no one I know has heard of Lady Sia. Coming out in 2001, just a few months after the Game Boy Advance, this game was developed by RFX Interactive and produced by TDK Mediactive. Both these companies are technically now gone, but they should never be forgotten, just simply for this game. So, let’s look at Lady Sia for the Game Boy Advance.

This game is classic hack and slash platforming. Lady Sia looks to fight the invading T’soa army (I think that’s how it’s pronounced) with her trusted sword, used to chop all enemies down to size. Both the B and R button swing her sword, but in different ways, meaning you can use them to make combos. Another way you can get rid of enemies is your magic ring, which shoots a chargeable ball of energy. Although she does need to stand still to use it, she can shoot it off in any of 8 directions. There’s also few magic spells you activate by hitting button combos, but they’re hard to memorize and not useful enough to bother with. Using all your skills, you’ll help Lady Sia achieve peace by navigating through fun levels and taking down all who stand in you way. To put it simply, Lady Sia controls really well and the game play is fun.

The levels in this game can easily be compared to the ones in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s island. What I mean by that is that Yoshi’s Island had a score system at the end of each level, and so does Lady Sia: she’s scored based on how many gems she’s collected, hostages she’s saved, how much magic she has left and how much heath. Also like Yoshi’s Island, if you get perfect scores in each level of a particular world, you get a bonus level. However, unlike Yoshi’s Island, Lady Sia seems to have a small number of levels, but they are quite difficult, pretty much evening the time you’ll spend playing the game. An advantage that Lady Sia has for having fewer levels is that less of them seem pointless. Sure you can argue that in platformers, no level is pointless since you need to get to the end, but in this game, each level also has a mission to help reach your goal: meet with the members of the alliance, destroy the machines bringing in the invading army, etc… Playing through these levels would still be fun, but it’s nice to know that I also have a reason to be doing it.

The last aspect of the game I want to talk about is the enemies. I love the T’soa. I don’t know what it is, I just love them. Like everything else, they are wonderfully sprited, and beyond that, they’re also well designed. A lot, if not all, of them are anthropomorphs (half animals, half beast), so it’s also amazing that they’ve been able to take this old concept and still seem creative. Like I said, I don’t know what it is, but it’s rare that I meet a game with enemies I enjoy so much.

Seriously, I am still shocked that this game isn’t more popular then it is. It’s fun with very few flaws, and the few flaws are easy to overlook (most games need their imperfections, right?). I don’t know what cause this game to be overlooked like it was when it came out, maybe it was the lack of promotion, maybe it was because the companies that made it weren’t well known or maybe it was because it came out at a time when people were more interested in getting SNES ports for that same consol. Its unpopularity also caused the sequel to be cancelled, so this game is the only of its kind. If you see it in a store or an online game seller, I strongly suggest you buy it. I give Lady Sia for the Game Boy Advance 8.5 Levels out 10.

Level Up: Darkwing Duck

Well folks, it’s already Capcom time again. As stated in my Little Nemo review, it seemed that they had very original ideas for their game play in licensed games (other examples include Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Ducktales and The Little Mermaid). However, their Darkwing Duck game came off as a Mega Man clone. Was this a bad thing? No, but may cause some people to over look it. That’s why I’m not only about to review Darkwing Duck, but the Game Boy version, which is even less popular.

The Mega Man influence is undeniable. The feeling of jumping around and shooting your little circles feels just like the blue bomber’s games (didn’t Darkwing have a GAS gun anyways?). The you can select the levels you feel like doing, unlocking new ones each time you beat your current selection, with a final one after all are done. The stages themselves even scream of Mega Man, the way they look, the way they’re designed, everything. Even some of the enemies seem like Mega Man ones.

But once you scratch passed surface, you can see they did try to make this game different. The most noticeable difference is that DW has the ability to grab onto most platforms, ropes and hook like objects. This is one of the main aspects of this game, along with jumping around and shooting, and is used just as much, which really makes this worth playing, even if you have played Mega Man games. Beyond that, there are other things that make it different. These include (but aren’t limited to) the fact that Darkwing can only take 4 hits; he can use his cape as a shield against some attacks and can only have one alternate type of ammo at a time. All these make it so Darkwing Duck should be viewed as it’s own game and not JUST a Mega Man clone.

The plot is basic: Saint Canard has broken out in chaos, with DW’s enemies each attacking their own section of the city. You’ll fight recognizable characters, such as The Liquidator, Bushroot, Quacker Jack and my personal favourite (Sound clip “Megavolt”). There’s also Professor Moliarty and even an original character for the game, Wolfduck. Of course, all of this leads to the climactic showdown against none other then Negadu- Steelebeak? Ok, no, stop the review! *Music stops* How can NegaDuck not be in this game; he was one of Darkwing’s baddest enemies! Not having him in the Darkwing Duck game is crazy! Sure, there was this plot about F.O.W.L., but you could of just changed all of that to “The Fearsome Five”: You already fight the 4 others and NO other member of F.O.W.L. except Steelbeak. NegaDuck would have been the obvious choice. They could have also added a secret final fight where he absorbs the other’s powers like he did in that one episode. I mean… Moliarty? Wolfduck? No NegaDuck? He would have been so easy to sprite too! Let’s just go to the next part of the review!

This game is also fun to look at and listen to. As I said earlier, the game’s look has a definite Mega Man inspiration, but it’s defiantly blended well with Darkwing Duck style and feel: that wacky, yet semi-serious style. You’ll want to jump and move around just to watch him do it. The music is exceptional with a jazzy feel throughout the game, even in the high tense parts. Both of these set the mood perfectly for the adventures of a duck in a cape that’s taking down his enemies.

This is a great port of an NES game. Even though I can notice differences in the levels with the short bit I’ve played of the original, it doesn’t really matter when it’s this good. It’s not only fun, but it’s the type of fun that makes you want to beat the game so you can shut it off and beat it again! Long story short, don’t over look this game for any reason: don’t do it because it’s a licensed game, don’t do it because it’s a port and do it do it because it’s like a Mega Man clone. Don’t even over look it cause it lacks NegaDuck! I give Darkwing Duck for the Game Boy 9 out of 10 Levels.

Level Up: Buster's Hidden Treasure

Tiny Toon Adventures was a great show. Even long after it was over, I continued to enjoy the wackiness in the reruns. The video games based on it however are… hit or miss. To pay homage to such an influential show, I’m going to review one of the “hits”: Buster’s Hidden Treasure for the Sega Genesis.

The first thing I noticed about the game was that it seemed a little derivative, especially since it’s on the Genesis. Think about it, blue woodland creature that’s very fast and is a great jumper… on the Genesis. Sound familiar? (Sonic music plays) But I do think it’s all just coincidence, what other abilities would a rabbit have? But really, the game isn’t that similar to Sonic. The levels seem designed for jumping instead of running, Buster has the ability to slide, wall jump and call on one of his friends to kill all enemies on screen, there’s a world map, the carrots you collect don’t give you lives and your health is determined by how many hearts you have. It’s not really ripping off any one platform game; it’s kind of like a little bit of all of them and pulls it off quite nicely.

The controls aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… Average. All the buttons are quite responsive and controlling direction is easy, so I can’t really bash them much. But, the slide is difficult to use at a time when it would be useful, jumping can end too suddenly and running starts up slowly. It doesn’t help that, once you start getting momentum, the level will throw you an obstacle just to ruin it.

Speaking of annoyances with running and jumping, here’s the sound effect Buster makes when you jump *plays* and here’s the one he makes if you’re running and you jump *plays*. Yeah, get used to it, since you jump a lot in this game.

Like I said, this game has a world map. This means that you can go back to replay levels, which is great because there are secret levels throughout the game. Because there are so many levels to play through, this game has a password system (since a save feature was apparently rare on the Genesis). It’s good they got around it, but they’re quite long and repetitive. Just to show you, I’m going to read one, but the Bs will be replaces with the normal jumping noise and the Ls with the running jump. Ready? BBBQ LLDL DLBB LDLL DLTM See? I haven’t done the exact calculations, but I’m sure the code could have been shorter. At the end of each “section”, there’s a boss. Often, it’ll be one of the other tiny toon characters under the control of Professor Gene Splicer. They are way too easy, enough said.

One thing that I really liked about the game are the graphics. They really capture the look of the show. They’re stylish and smooth. The colors are vibrant and clear. The different poses are well pulled off and it really brings the fun of playing this game to the level of fun watching the show was.

I am not doing this game justice. Despite all the flaws it has, it’s really an enjoyable gaming experience. It combines so many familiar game play elements so well that trying to find all the different paths and levels in this game becomes just as entertaining as playing them. If you liked Tiny Toon Adventures or platforming games, I strongly suggest that you give this game a try. I give Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure 8 out of 10 levels.

I’m Leo Melanson, and now you know the score.

...and now the review’s done!

Level Up: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage

(Audio will no longer be posted here, I'll explain soon)

I have to admit, I like Spyro the Dragon. Even though he’s marketed towards younger kids, I still enjoy most of his games. So, today I’ll be talking about one of my favourite Spyro games; Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage for the Playstation.

The game starts with Spyro saying that he needs a vacation (from what, I have no idea) and goes through a portal. However, instead of reaching the sandy beaches of Dragon Shores, he ends up on the distant world of Avalar. There he meets Elora, a faun, Hunter, a comic relief type cheetah, and the Professor, who built the portal to get Spyro there. He also meets Ripto, an evil sorcerer who was also accidentally transported there by the professor. Ripto has taken over most of Avalar and the one thing that can stop him is a Dragon (for some reason), and although Spyro is small for his species, he’s up to the task.

The levels are well designed. It will normally have you have to follow the residents of the land around once, help them out so you can continue and reward you with a talisman needed to eventually move on and finish the game. However, the levels are not linear. There is the path that you have to follow at first, but afterwards you’ll see there is a lot more space to explore. There are 400 gems and a few orbs for you to collect in most levels, and though some are on that first path, most aren’t. Since they both eventually become necessary, you’ll want to find most of them. Though the gems are just found on the ground, most orbs are not. Most of the time you’ll have to talk to a citizen of the level and do a favour for him and he’ll reward you with an orb.

The levels grouped and divided into areas called home worlds. These also have orbs and gems to collect, but no talisman to find. They are also significantly bigger than most levels. These home worlds make it so you can adventure around the levels available in any order you want so long as you complete all of them so you can move to the next home world. At the end of each home world is a boss (otherwise, there are none in the game). The bosses are a piece of cake and shouldn’t be a problem for most gamers.

All this is fun, but I have to say the best things about this game are the controls, which is important in platformers (especially in 3D). In this game, Spyro has the ability to breathe fire, jump, glide, run and ram stuff. The L and R buttons are used to adjust to camera and this game works with the analog stick Playstation controllers. I highly recommend using it by the way because the analog stick gives you better control while running. Running like that moves the pace of the game to a whole other level so you will want to use it most of the game.

If I had to say I had a problem with the game, it’s that this game is too easy. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since this game seems made for kids, but it takes away from the replay-ability of the game. See, in a game like this, the replay-ability lies in finding all the orbs and gems in each level and home world. But this game is often so easy that you can easily find everything on your first visit to a level if you just adventure around a bit (exceptions for when you need a skill you can only use later in the game). Like I said, this isn’t a bad thing, but when I beat and find everything so easily the first time, it doesn’t make me want to play it again after I finished the game.

This game is great. It’s a great 3D platforming game that makes you want to get everything right away, since you often know you can. The animation is also fun to watch, making up for the Playstations graphical limitations with cartoonishly exaggerated movements. The only downside is its lack of a challenge so I feel I have to take away some of its score. I give this game 8 out of 10 levels.