Level Up: Roller Coaster Tycoon

Out of all the game genres, Sim games are the ones that divide my opinion the most. Some people avoid them with the reasoning of “Why would I play a game about real life?” Which I agree with, because even when you’re not doing something you do in your daily life, still you’re worried about the same kind of things: making sure you have money, keeping things clean, doing regular upkeep, etc. And yet, anyone who’s played them before will often admit they’re so addictive they’ve probably lost a full day in one gaming session. As a matter of fact, the back of today’s game is advertised as “Addictive! You won’t want to stop!” Let’s put that to the test with Roller Coaster Tycoon for the PC.

The designer Chris Sawyer took a great angle to the Sim genre: you take charge of something realistic, but yet very fun. Now, Spore is a cool concept, but it doesn’t really seem like a Sim game so much as a creature creator adventure. And the Sims has that problem I said in the start: it’s much like real life. Not to say that either of these games are bad, but if you set out to find a “fun Sim game”, Roller Coaster Tycoon does a good job at being both. Sim City, who came before it, also comes close, and it’s obviously the inspiration for Roller Coster Tycoon, but what sounds more fun? Worrying about roads and energy sources, or making roller coasters and watching people ride them?

So yeah, in Roller Coaster Tycoon you play the role of the owner of an Amusement Park. Depending on which campaign you picked, you’ll start with different conditions. You may want to start out with nothing at all, or you may want to turn something small but already started into a huge, national success. There are also “goals” in the game, but I don’t know anyone who actually played the game for them: you could go on and start building a whole new empire after accomplishing one, but most people I know grow attached to their parks and just keep building onto it.

As the owner, you get to pick what rides and attractions are placed in your park, and it is a very good feeling to place a new attraction and watch the little Sim people go for it right away. One of the main attractions Roller Coaster Tycoon offers for some rides is the ability to make custom tracks. So, if you’ve had an idea for a Roller Coaster you’ve been itching to see come to life, this is the game for you.

Of course, it’s not just as simple as “pick an attraction and watch people have fun”. Being in charge of everything comes with the responsibility of… being in charge of everything. You need to pick where to place the attraction, how much to charge to get on and how long the cue should be: all important to the success or failure of the ride. Beyond the rides you also need to make sure there are footpaths leading everywhere, decide what the entry fee should be, maybe do some advertising, take care of any landscaping that needs to be done, purchase land if you want to expand, make sure there are garbage cans for trash and hundreds of other little jobs you can probably think of. Oh, except for the cleaning, ride maintenance, security and entertainment: you hire people to do these things for you. However, since you’re also in charge of hiring, you do still play a role. While doing all this, you’ll have to watch your money and make sure people are actually enjoying themselves. Suddenly, this game doesn’t seem so carefree.

I consider Roller Coaster Tycoon a success of a Sim game for one big reason: I put off writing stuff about this game for several HOURS because I didn’t want to stop playing the game. Even with games I love like Mario & Luigi SuperStar Saga, I’m at least able to bring myself to save, write a bit and continue later. Roller Coaster Tycoon wouldn’t let me do that as I just had to keep playing and see what happened if I changed a price by a dollar. Next thing I knew it was midnight aaaannndd… I lost that save file… I’m playing this game on a newer Windows OS, so if you have the original game disk, you need to change the compatibility options to run as Windows 98 and disable the visual themes (this is done on the properties of the execution file). Alternatively, you can now download a deluxe edition (that includes the two expansions) on GoG.com, and there is a smart phone port expected to come out this year. Though the graphics and sounds are nothing to rave about, they still more than get the job done.  The interface works fine which feeds your addiction even more, though it can open a lot of windows. True, sometimes you’ll just be waiting for money or to get a new ride, and it might seem more fun to be doing something instead of managing something. But if you’re into Sim games at all, you’ll never want to get off this ride. I give Roller Coaster Tycoon for the PC 9 levels out of 10.

Level Up: Nintendo e-Reader Part 2

It’s time now to continue our look at the Nintendo e-Reader for the Game Boy Advance by looking at its content. As I explained last time, the e-Reader disappeared quickly from North American markets, lasting for only roughly two years. Still, you could release a whole lot of stuff within two years, but the e-Reader honestly had very little to offer, even if you DO count the Japanese exclusives. I don’t nearly have a complete set for it but I will be talking about what I managed to get.

Let’s start with the Classic NES series that included 12 games from the early NES days. I got three: Balloon Fight, Ice Climbers and Donkey Kong Jr. I now have no reason to use these cards though, since I got them on my 3DS thanks to the ambassador program (of course, these would be the only three found in both collections…). These games deserve to be reviewed on their own, so I’ll talk more about how they’re ported. The changes are minimal, though there seems to be a few options missing, like the two player mode (THIS is the one thing you don’t let me use my link cable for?). There’s also no save feature for high-scores even if you store the game on the e-Reader’s memory. Along with the dot codes, the cards themselves have the rules, the controls, some tips and even the story for the game. So it’s like a helpful version of the instruction booklet conveniently always with the game.

Next up, I also have some Pokemon cards, which was what I was most excited about. I got two games, but those were from promotions, so it’s not like I found them myself. The first game is Machop at work, a single screen game where you crush boulders, and the other is Fire hoops, an auto scrolling game where you need to jump at the right time. In both cases, the sprite work is really good, making great use of a 32 bit system. The games are a little more than a distraction though, and once you hit the 100 point limit, there’s very little reason to play again. I feel like if they made a collection of these games separately on a GBA cartridge, it would have been better. I wasn’t able to collect the necessary cards for other games, however if you scan one card that is part of a game, it lets you know what else you need (for example, I have Corsola, but to play its game, I would also need Quilfish). There are other applications offered, such as a customizable music box and a timer for your card matches, and along the bottom of each card there is a second code which allows you to access Pokedex data.

Two more games I got through promotions are the Manhole-E and Kirby Slide games. The Manhole one is just a recreation of the Game & Watch game and the other is just a slide puzzle to promote “Kirby Right Back at ya”. Both aren’t very fun to play, look at or listen to and aren’t worth the money now.

But the real reason I decided to do a second part was to talk about the Mario Party-E game (terrible title by the way: Mario Part-E-E, Mario ParteeeEEE). This isn’t really a video game, but rather a card game with video game elements. The game is played with a deck of cards which includes coins to play cards, special cards that do different things and the superstar items, which you must collect for the end goal. Where the e-Reader comes in is with some of the mini-games and challenges. There are some games to earn added effects for the card they’re on or that can allow you to play the card for free. On average these games last like 10 seconds for each player. Why even include the e-reader option at all though? The duels could be settled with rock-paper-scissors and you could just ignore the free card options. Bottom line; if you want to play a board game, play a board game. If you want to play a video game, play a video game (like, maybe Mario Party?). This mix of both feels too forced.

So that is most of what I got for the Nintendo e-Reader: the only other cards I have are a couple add-ons for Animal Crossing and Pokemon that that I never used. All and all, it’s just very underwhelming. It’s obvious that Creatures Inc. really wanted to push this to succeed by making the Pokemon Trading Card game compatible with it and that was probable enough to sell a decent amount of units. However HAL labs and Nintendo didn’t seem to want to push it as much, and there is no third party involvement. I’m of the opinion that, if you’re going to make the customers pay so much for the add-on and make games for it so cheaply, MAKE A LOT OF GAMES. This was a really cool concept that was just wasted. Even if you can find an e-Reader for sale with everything I have offered with it, I still don’t think it would really be worth your time or money (especially considering how much they’re priced online). The e-Reader itself isn’t bad; it works fine and does what it was meant to do. But everything for it is either irritating or lacking. I give the Nintendo e-Reader Accessory for the Game Boy Advance 4.5 levels out of 10.

Level Up: Nintendo e-Reader part 1

Today, however, I feel like doing something a little bit different. Instead of reviewing a game, I decided to review a piece of hardware. Now, don’t worry, it’ll be a full review, but I’ll be talking about an accessory that helps you play more games on a pre-existing game console. These types of devices aren’t unheard of in the game industry; if I say “Sega CD”, I think you guys would know exactly what I’m talking about. However, it’s rare that they are a success, so how did this one turn out? Without any more hesitation, let’s talk about the Nintendo e-Reader add-on for the Game Boy Advance.
The Nintendo e-Reader was an accessory released in Japan in late 2001 and in North America in September of 2002. This add-on allowed you to scan specially encoded data on the sides of cards to access games or other features. The concept was pretty cool for a few reasons. First off, cards are a lot cheaper to make and distribute than video games. This meant, not only could they be cheaper for the gamers to buy, but it might be easier to get your hands on them. As a matter of fact, Nintendo Power took advantage of this by including a couple of games inside their magazine, and some of the official Pokemon Trading Cards also had strips of data (so yeah, you could get a video game inside your card game. Xzibit would be proud).Secondly, it was possible to add more content to some already existing games through the e-Reader. Get the right cards and you could have more levels, exclusive bonuses, tips, cheats or other neat stuff (kind of like DLC before it’s time).
The e-Reader itself was packaged with one game from the Classic NES collection (like Excitebike, Urban Champion or Ice Climbers). This was a unique (and relatively cheap) way to play old NES games on a newer system before the Virtual Consoles. There were also a lot of “mini games” and the Mario Party Card Game available for it. Games compatible with the e-Reader for extra content included Animal Crossing, Super Mario Advance 4 and most of the Pokemon games to come out around that time. With all this offered though, why is it that the e-Reader vanished from North American markets so quickly?
The e-Reader was actually a lot of hassle. For example, the classic NES games meant that you had to scan ten dot codes. If you planned on playing one over and over again, you could store one in the e-Reader’s memory and keep accessing it. However you could only store one at a time, so if you wanted to play a second e-Reader game, get your wrist ready to scan. Some of the smaller, mini games (like the Pokemon ones) required fewer cards, but the scanning itself can still be a pain. Sometimes you’ll get that one card that doesn’t want to scan, so you do it over and over until it FINALLY goes through. Plus you could easily lose or damaging one of the cards, and you really need them all.
But that doesn’t compare to how much stuff you need if you want to add content to a game. Let’s say you have a card that lets you import a design onto Animal Crossing. To get that design into the game, you’ll need the card of course, along with an e-Reader and a Game Boy Advance. You’ll also need a copy of Animal Crossing to load it and the GameCube (and a TV) to play it on. All that’s obvious, right? Well you also need the GameCube-Game Boy Advance link cable that’s sold separately. That’s a lot of work and money just to get a picture of Link.
So that’s the Nintendo e-Reader and  honestly, one thing I asked myself a lot while preparing this review was “What would I do differently?”. Well, I’d start by giving it bigger memory so it could store multiple games and not have to scan cards every time (I’m sure it was possible). Also, I would have included the GBA and GameCube to GBA link cables with the system to cut down on the cost, as well as make it a worthwhile bundle (including just one of those would have helped). But one drastic idea could have been not making it an add-on at all: just add a screen and a couple of buttons and you’d have a mini-system (yeah, the price would go up a bit, but it would have to be less than what the e-Reader plus a GBA were together at the time). Regardless, the e-Reader was a good and ambitious idea in theory, but practically it was too much hassle than it was worth. I don’t feel justified in giving the e-Reader a rank just yet though, as since it’s an add-on, so its full value comes with its content. So, how about we look at that next time?

Level Up: Serious Sam

First person shooters are a touchy subject now a day. Whenever the topic of the stagnation or lack of creativity in the industry comes up, first person shooters (or FPSs) are normally the first to be targeted. I’ve had some people say that they like “modern” games less simply because of this genre’s popularity. However, this wasn’t always the case: the old FPS games (like Doom or Wolfenstein 3D) were regarded as some of the most innovative of their time simply due to how it was pulled off. But things changed with GoldenEye 007 and the explosion of 3D gaming. The game I’m reviewing today is a 2001 release, but inspired more by the earlier games of the genre.  Let’s looks at Serious Sam for the Microsoft xBox.
The releases of Serious Sam honestly confuse me. The version I played on the xBox is known as Serious Sam. However, the original on the PC was released in 2 episodes (“The First Encounter” and “The Second Encounter”). This confused me when I heard about Serious Sam 2, as I wondered if that was “the Second Encounter”. Furthermore, the GameCube and PS2 got “Serious Sam the NEXT Encounter”. Is that just the Second Encounter, Serious Sam 2, a wholely different game or just a port of the original?! Well upon looking it up, it seems to be an original game exclusive to the two consoles that don’t have any other Serious Sam game on it. What genius came up with that? Boy, I didn’t think I’d ever have a hard time figuring out where a game with no numbers or subtitle falls within its release history.
The xBox version wasn’t just notable for packaging the two episodes into one; there were obviously going to be some other changes. One that may have been necessary was cutting the size of the levels (however, I have to say that it doesn’t feel small on its own). Also Serious Sam looks different than in the first encounter, no longer wearing his sun glasses, has a T-shirt instead of a muscle shirt and seems generally redesigned in an ironically less serious manner. This is mostly all done to look less like Duke Nukem, and I feel it fits the tone of the game a lot better (he looks and acts a bit like Rocko from Undergrads now actually). They also added a life system (though I was never low on lives), tweaked the save points, put in auto-aiming and did a few other things to polish up the game a bit.
This is obviously not the deepest game ever made. However, it does have a lot of personality and that goes a long way. Serious Sam is just hilarious every time he gets to talk. Again, much like Rocko from the Undergrads, it’s funny when things don’t quite go as he expected. He’s not an over cool guy like Duke Nukem, but he tries. For many reasons (most of which were laid out in the Jimquizition’s “Too cool for cool” episode), this makes him a much better character. You really want to help this guy succeed, because even though it would seem it would come to him, you know he needs a little effort put into it.
Likewise, the game play isn’t astounding, but it is very likable. You’ll walk around and shoot whatever gets between you and your goal (in this case stopping the alien overlord Mental). However, the aliens are a lot of fun to kill, mostly because they are designed in very creative ways or are at least entertaining to look at. The weapons are fun to use too: you get everything from just a pistol to lazers. It’s satisfying to mow down a whole rush of enemies or take down the big guys with these tools. However, stronger level variety could have helped this even more: though there are some ice, fire or alien invasion levels, too many of the ones I remember are basically a desert or field. The levels themselves are very well designed and laid out though, and hide enough wacky secrets to encourage replay.
What else can be said about Serious Sam after saying that Developers Croteam and publishers Gotham Games made a great affectionate parody of Duke Nukem and other popular FPSs of that time? True, the graphics aren’t amazing, but it could easily be claimed that it was to make Serious Sam look like the game it was emulating. Also, the enemies are still unique and distinguishable amongst each other. The music is always fitting for whatever moment is going on, and the voice work for Sam is hilarious in terms of acting and timing, so the audio gets a big plus from me. The plot isn’t very deep, but sometimes you just want to be entertained; if there’s such a thing as a “popcorn movie”, there’s gotta be the same thing for games (I ate cheezies while playing this, can “cheezies video game” be a thing?). Though it could also use more in terms of cut scenes or level variety, for what we get, I’m seriously satisfied. I give Serious Sam for the xBox 7.5 levels out of 10.

Level Up Confessions: Dig Dug

*Regular Level Up theme starts, five seconds in, static hits and it stops. Video game confessions theme song starts up.*

“This is Stephan. Stephan works at a 5 star restaurant called the Pixel Palace. There, some of video game’s most popular characters come in to have a drink. Sometimes, they share stories, and even secrets. For as we all know, what the bartender hears is confidential. Isn’t it?”

So I’m sitting there tending bar when in walks in someone I see from time to time, Dig Dug. Well, I didn’t really SEE him walk in, fella’s kind of short, but I did hear him come up to the bar. Feet walking, make a distinct sound for some reason. I told him once he should get it looked at, but he just doesn’t really see the problem.

Anyways he sits on a bar stool, orders a mudslide and just sits there. Normally the chap is quite chatty but today he was just looking in his drink. So, I decided to ask him “something on your mind, buddy?” Well he just let out a big sigh and tells me “today I killed again”.

Now, this was a side I hadn’t seen of the guy. I know he kills dragons and… tomatoes with scuba gear or something, but I didn’t know it could get to him. So I lean on the bar and I say “Well lots of video game characters kill, it’s in their programming or something- not to sound racist, but I don’t know how it really works with you guys”

Dig Dug stops me and goes “Oh no, not in my game, I LOVE doing that.” I go “Oh.” He keeps on going “Pumping the dragons full of air until they blow up to bits, guts flying everywhere, nothing left where a monster once stood.” I had never thought of how violent the game could actually get. Can’t think of a worst way to die now.

“No” he says to me “I killed someone who was just at the park”. I stood back straight up and asked him “Well why did you do that?” Dig Dug was deadly silent, his face shifted from sad to serious, looked me straight in the eyes and said “he called me Funnie”.

“Excuse me?” I said, I cocked my head a bit “You killed a guy for calling you funny? Sounds like a complement to me.” He says “No, not funny like a clown, I didn’t amuse him. ‘Funnie’ as a last name. He called ‘Dig Dug Funnie’” I was still confused, “Dig Dug Funnie OOOOHHH!! ” I said “Like Doug Funnie from the show on Nickelodeon” I started doing the theme song, you know *imitates it* but at that point he hopped on the bar and threatened me with his tire pump.

He calms down a bit and then sits down and starts explaining to me. Apparently once the Nickelodeon show came out, anyone with the name “Doug” was mocked because of that show. I said “But your name’s not Doug, it’s Dug, as the past tense to Dig. If anything people should referencing that dog from Up!” “They did” he says “They would randomly look away and go ‘squirrel’, and they asked me to inflate their balloons too.” Cause, you know, he has the tire pump. But apparently they forgot about that Dug and “Doug Funnie” stuck. It was on the air for over 8 years apparently. Can you believe that? I mean, I know it was owned by Nickelodeon, and then Disney, but I thought it was pretty boring. And the characters designs… just bizarre.

Dig Dug goes on “And I WISH people still made jokes about that dog; that dog was interesting, he was a hero. What was Doug Funnie?” I stopped a bit and thought of the best way to describe him. “A loser?”. He shouts “EXACTLY! How would like for people to hear your name and all they can think of is a loser.” At that point I sort of understood.

“But to be so enraged as to kill someone?” I ask him “That’s… that’s a bit of an overreaction. I mean, you said so yourself, people make that joke to you all the time. You need to find a better way of dealing with it. Plus, if people hear why you killed those people, it’ll just spread the word about the joke more and you’ll hear it from everyone”

“That’s ok” he said “After that latest ‘incident’ in the park, I figured out a way to deal with all these emotions. See,” he says leaning in “I invited someone here tonight.” I looked around the bar wondering who could help here. And that’s when I saw him walk in; Doug Funnie himself.

Of course it was a little hard to recognize him at all. I mean Doug just looked TERRIBLE, unshaven, dirty clothes- a real wash-up. I lean to Dig Dug and I ask him “he’s the guy you invited over?” He says “Yeah, but he don’t know it’s me, it was anonymous on his answering machine.” Which makes me think Doug is doing quite badly, because it was “answering machine” instead of “voice mail”. But I don’t know, do people still use answering machines now?

Anyways, Doug is standing around, looking for someone to signal him. Stumbling quite a bit, didn’t seem to know where he was- I think he was “on” something if you know what I mean. Dig Dug and I watched him for a bit before I got curious and asked him “Why did you invite him here anyways”. “Because I knew” he says “I knew he’d be even more of a loser now than he was before. Now, who cares about Doug Funnie? And since his TV series was split between two companies, do you think he’ll see money from that easily? He has almost no legacy.”

He goes on “Me, I gots a legacy. My original game is going to keep getting remade and rereleased over and over again; game collections, Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console, whatever. Plus all the other games in my series AND I have a side series, Mr. Driller. My game is a classic, I was even in Wreck-It Ralph; that is some good Disney coin there. Doug, who was owned by Disney, is getting nothing from ‘em”.

I nodded my head and put my arm on his shoul der. He said “I know, no matter what people call me, I am not that loser.” It was a beautiful moment of self-realization. I would like to think he grew past it all at that moment. … Of course, after a few second of silence, he jumped off his stool, a shoved his tire-pump into Doug Funnie’s behind and popped him like a cheap balloon.  He starts yelling “Not so Funnie anymore” and “This is for years of hearing your name!” He kept going on like a crazy person until the bouncers had to drag him out. So much for the moment of self-realization…

At that point my shift was over and I traded off with Dominique. He saw a bit of what had happened and asked what he missed. I explained it to him and… he seemed to understand. I mean, I don’t quite get why someone would be that mad, but Dominique did. Maybe he knows someone who went through something similar, I don’t know.

What I do know is that you see a lot of strange things as a bartender and you see a lot of strange things at the Pixel Palace. So, I see a lot of strange things as a bartender at the Pixel Palace, and that aint no lie.

Level Up: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

When I reviewed Super Mario RPG, I mentioned that it was one of the most demanded games to be ported onto the Game Boy Advance. However, with the relationship Nintendo had with Square at the time, it was clear that probably wasn’t going to happen. The demand for a Mario RPG on the GBA was obviously too great for Nintendo to ignore though, so they made a new Mario RPG series specifically for their hand held systems. What we got was Mario & Luigi: SuperStar Saga for the Game Boy Advance.

The game begins at Princess Peach’s castle, where we see that she is meeting with the ambassador of the neighboring Bean Bean Kingdom. However, the ambassador reveals herself to actually be a witch named Cackletta and steals Peach’s voice. Mario is immediately contacted and rushes over to the castle, dragging Luigi along (literally). Once they get there, they see it’s too late, as Cackletta and her sidekick Fawful have escaped already. Oddly enough, it’s Bowser that restores hope, as he shows up to kidnap Princess Peach, but realizes there’s no point without her voice. He enlists the help of the Mario brothers as they take off in his battle ship. However, when they come close to getting the Princess’ voice back, Mario, Luigi and Bowser are knocked from the sky. The two brothers wake up and find that they are at the Bean Bean Kingdom boarder and have no choice but to explore this strange land.

The story is just solid fun. It’s light hearted and classic (Mario saves Peach), but with enough new elements to make it original (like the new villain and the new setting). There is also a weird sense of humor that is carried throughout the game (which is probably hyperbolized through Fawful). It is really impressive when you can make a rather odd game, but still make the story play out in a really smart way. There’s a plot twist about half way that I just didn’t see coming and completely turns the tables. You will want to help the brothers out just to see what happens next.

The fact that this is Mario & LUIGI is a really big deal: Luigi had not been playable in a Mario adventure for a long time, probably not since Super Mario World. As a matter of fact, this might be one of the few times where it’s actually necessary to play as him in a game that has his brother. It seems Nintendo (or possibly developers Alpha-dream) knew they had to make this part of the game play, and they managed to integrate it rather well. Mario and Luigi follow each other around and you can switch up who is the “leader”. This is important, because each brother can use a combination of jump, hammer and “hand power” skills that will change depending on who is leading. For example, if Mario is leading, Luigi can jump on him to give the two brothers an extra high jump, but if Luigi is leading, Mario can do a spin jump to allow the brother to fly over gaps. These techniques are also used in the game’s battle system as “bros. attacks”, but if one of the brothers is knocked out, you can’t use them anymore.

Learning when you should use these skills on the map is important, as the map is not linear. I resist calling it Metroidvania style, since you could almost stretch it so most RPGs, but it gives off that impression. The map is mostly open to you (though there are moments where places only open after cut scenes) and the only thing preventing you from accessing everything is the fact that you need every skill. There are several parts in the game that make use of areas you’ve already visited, but since you can use a new skill on the map, you’ll find whole new area there. Granted, the game tells you where you need to go most of the time, but it’s well thought out when compared to games where you visit an area once and never need to go there again.

Mario & Luigi: SuperStar Saga might not be as great as Super Mario RPG, but it might be better because of that. What I mean is, while Super Mario RPG is a great game and I would have liked more people to experience it with a GBA rerelease, this first Mario & Luigi game is not only a great NEW experience, but also started off a pretty solid side series (with a 4^th installment, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, coming out this summer).  It also makes great use of timed hits and defensive moves (which I explained a bit during the Partners in Time review) and the graphics style of the game is so good that some online communities pretty much re-sprited the whole Mario universe in this style (it looks simply amazing for the GBA). What else can I say but the story is fun, the game play works from every angle and it’s just a high quality game. I give Mario & Luigi: SuperStar Saga for the Game Boy Advance 10 level out of 10.