Dare to Play the Game

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I’m your host that has no real stories to tell. My birthday came and went. I got some cool presents (Fry’s GC, Messiah (NEX), Target GC, EB Games GC, etc) but nothing too crazy. I actually haven’t spent any of my gc’s yet. I’m being pretty particular and know exactly what I’m af…er. But more on that later. Well what are you waiting for, to Morgan we go.

I think this is from the Led Zeppelin catalog. I find myself staring at the middle of the butterfly thing, I have no idea why. We need to start a campaign to get Morgan to write the site (or just me, I mean Jeremy gets enough mail), and get us some exposure. (you know I could write a joke here, but you can guess) I mean just think of happy I would be; do you need any other motivation?

In a tickle to RPG fans on the go, Square Enix announced today that Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS will arrive in North America on November 14, at which time players will at last have a chance at the one Final Fantasy title which never made it to the States (the Final Fantasy III we saw for Super Nintendo was Japan’s Final Fantasy VI).
Final Fantasy III takes place in a world thrown out of balance when an earthquake pulls protective crystals from the earth. To restore order, four adventurers must find the crystals and fight a battle against darkness. The game comes to the DS with remodeled 3D graphics and a touch screen interface. Players can communicate with others and uncover hidden dungeons, quests, and items using a Wi-Fi connection.

You’d think I’d be pleased. Final Fantasy III is a great title. The DS ought to show it off greatly. Problem is I’m not. Yes I’m still bitter that Final Fantasy Chronicles for Playstation included Chrono Trigger rather than Final Fantasy III. I mean it makes for a complete series if you have Origins (1-2), Chronicles (should have been 3+ 4), Anthology (5-6), 7,8,9, & Tactics before we went on to PS2. Pure bliss, but some idiot wanted Chrono Trigger. Not that it isn’t a great game, but it had no business being in Final Fantasy Chronicles. Anyhow, I hope the DS does lots of business…it could just mean it gets ported to a system that is relevant.

Surprise, surprise! The Dragon Quest series will continue! Speaking at the latest installment of the Dragon Quest Concert, an orchestral event held in Tokyo on the 11th, series composer Koichi Sugiyama confirmed that Dragon Quest IX is in development. “I’m not sure when Dragon Quest IX will be released, but it seems that progress is continually being made. I’m personally excited,” reads a quote from Sugiyama, posted to Famitsu.com.
Prior to Sugiyama’s statement, there had been speculation in some circles that Square Enix might just cancel the series and collect its losses after part 8 just managed to just barely squeeze past the 4 million sold mark.
Sugiyama’s confirmation of Dragon Quest IX’s development isn’t exactly news in that it one, happened about a week ago, and two, is more obvious than a sell out of the latest DS Lite shipment, but we’re sure Dragon Quest fans are interested anyway. Too bad the maestro didn’t mention a target platform for the title, as everyone seems to be wondering right now, PS3, Wii, PS2, or Wonderswan?

Fantastic! This series has been slowly gaining ground as time has went along. Seven was really underappreciated, and Eight was one of the best drawn rpgs I’ve seen in a while. Problem is that you can bet this title is probably going to the WII. I swear I’ve seen several WII Launch releases specifing a Dragon Quest Title of some sort. I have a selfish claim for it to go on PS2, but it probably won’t happen. They need to put out a compilation for 1-6 for PS2 is what they need to do. (Hey I got a Phantasy Star compilation coming this fall, if I can just get Dragon Quest and Ys, I’d be set for life).

More sports this week, in the form of possibly the best futuristic sports game ever (Apologies to Speedball 2100 and Cyberball fanatics). Powerball, the game that blends some rugby, football and even a little soccer. This game let you pick from 8 different countries (12 if you input the code during display screen (B B C B B and C)) and pilot them to the Finals. It was a very awesome game as you had to plan your kicks and throws exactly in order to score goals and touchdowns. You could also knock out various players with hard spins and blocks. It had also had an rpg aspect where you could work on stats overtime to create a virtual super team. My tip for this game is to build up your sweeper. This character sits in the back primarily but if you build him to superstar status especially with a high speed; he can take the ball and outrun everybody and then even get the goal by himself. A very fun and addictive game that should have gotten a sequel.

Well it was only just this week with the mega monster known as Madden NFL 07 coming out, to offer up a true retro football classic in TecmoBowl. True, Tecmo Superbowl was better and still being hacked for current rosters, but it all started with the original Bowl. It couldn’t secure the license for the real team names, but it had the top 12 teams and many recognizable great names (Montana, Payton). There was 4 plays for each team which is really all you need (I think I still only use about 8-12 plays when I play Madden or any other current gen game). It was also the first football game where you could break tackles. A true classic, and one of the few sports games that holds up over the test of time.

PS2

Madden NFL 07
Pac-Man World Rally

PSP

Madden NFL 07
Pac-Man World Rally
Rapala Trophies

XBOX 360

Madden NFL 07

XBox

Madden NFL 07

Gamecube

Madden NFL 07
Pac-Man World Rally

DS

Madden NFL 07
Pac-Man World Rally

GBA

Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack 2
Madden NFL 07
The Scooby Movie Dual Pack

Hrmmm, guess what comes out this week? Uh Madden? You’re right! (What do I win, what do I win..a free copy of Madden, no silly; you win the right to keep reading this column, oh….) Anyhow, Madden is available for every beeping console you can think of. In fact, Madden 07 is even available for my wanker; except the graphics aren’t too good and it appears bigger than it actually is. Only other game out of interest is the Pac Man World Rally which is just a rip off of Crash Racing, Mario Kart, Pole Position, etc. Did you know there is even a Muppet Kart Racing game? I’m sorry Ms. Piggy is not at the top of my list to race with.

After playing with the Messiah this week (best NES clone system on the market); I really am impressed. So far it plays every game I own with the exception of Castlevania III (documented problems in their compatibility list) and my copy of Rolling Thunder (I think my copy is just dead, even after cleaning it twice). The sound is pretty good, colors don’t seem to be the issue that many people made it out to be. Easily worth the $60, especially with the small size, famicom compatibility, and a/v outputs. I’m working on a 5 system layout all with stereo a/v or better (nes, snes, genesis, saturn and PS2). I’m done, except for I’m waiting for Genesis console Style 2 (I have the stereo a/v cables already) and a replacement part for my SNES (turns out I have one of the SNES’s that require a special replacement connector that costs twice as much), then it will be near perfect. After that I’m getting a new graphics card for my computer so hopefully I can ditch my monitor, hook up my computer to my tv (Fry’s GC) and then get a video rocker chair (Target GC). This will enable me to have a little slice of heaven. I hope.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)