Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on May 28th, 2008
The Neo-Geo console was one of my favorite consoles growing up. My parents never had the money for the home machine or the outrageously priced carts. However, that did not keep me from spending many quarters on the standups day in and day out. Most of my Neo Geo quarters were thrown into games such as Ninja Combat, Sengoku and Magician Lord. The rich graphics, the ahead of its time gameplay were all amazing beyond belief. Almost twenty years later, SNK decides to make a happy man. Sixteen classics on a single dvd for my Playstation 2 console. Furthermore, they went and released it in the $20 price range. Very very happy.
Graphics
Neo Geo games were always famous for their bright and beautiful graphics. Check out any Neo Geo game from the time period. Metal Slug, plenty of action and detail. Baseball Stars 2, bold & distinct characters with wonderful show of color. Almost every title is like this. There are only a few exceptions from what I could see. Burning Fight did have some issues and was kinda jagged and I don't really remember King of the Monsters being as bland in the visual department. However, these minor details are few and far between and most are dead pan accurate translations of the graphics that I remember fondly.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on March 7th, 2008
Movie games are interesting, let's put it that way. A game usually comes out for a movie if it is adventure oriented and at least some kid will be interested in it. However, it's rarely ground breaking since it is usually left until the last minute and a rush project to meet demand. Once in a while, you get something that is a little different or at least interesting but more often than not it's standard questing fare with dull objectives and a way to rehash most of the movie. Spiderwick Chronicles for the PC is unfortunately just that. There are a few spots where it performs above the norm but mostly it is your standard movie game aimed to draw in the kids. But at least this keeps them occupied for a few days.
Graphics
The game recommends 256 megs of video ram. My card has 512. I should be fine and good to go. My processor speed fits right in the middle between minimum & recommended at a 2G. My main memory also sits in the middle at 768 megs. So perhaps this game won't move at the speed of light but it should get a fairly decent frame rate. Inside scenes are delightful, you can run from room to room with little or no slowdown. Once outside, the frame rate drops rather harshly and suffers from poor lit conditions even when you turn the brightness way up. The colors are good and I liked the character depth, it just plays a little bit slow when you are doing anything out in the fantasy world.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on January 9th, 2008
Some of my favorite fighting games include the likes of Marvel vs Capcom 2, X-Men vs Street Fighter, Marvel vs Street Fighter, etc. The appeal of these games was simple, fun fast arcade gameplay with cool easily-known characters (I did always have a fondness for Gambit). Along those lines, SNK was introduced into the series as a logical step around 1999 in the game series SNK vs Capcom. After SNK filed for bankruptcy in 2000, the company re-formed and was called SNK Playmore. In 2005, SNK Playmore decided to bring out a game that played very much to the old versus games in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. In the last breath of 2007, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum makes it to the states for the Playstation 2 system. Now in my greedy little hands, I explore the game and see if it stands up as a true fighter.
Graphics
The Vs. games were always strong in graphics, you could recognize most of the characters immediately and know who you wanted to start playing with because of that look. NGBC is unfortunately just average. You could spend a long time looking at the various characters that you have to play with because you can't discern between one male fighter and the next. The characters and action appear very pixilated and this game has not improved since the console versions of the Vs. games already mentioned. In some ways, those seem better now; Marvel vs Capcom 2 for Xbox is a good example. Even Mai Shiranui of Fatal Fury fame isn't as beautiful as I hoped and there are few standouts in the background or animation department. While no progressive scan or widescreen is provided, in the options menu there is a Screen type setting (Type A / Type B) which stretches it out a bit. But it is not a widescreen option.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on January 2nd, 2008
This coming weekend will be the start of the NFL Playoffs and the end of college football. Most people are drawn to play a football game of some sort at this time. Whether it would be an old classic or the newest Madden title, we feel the need to be close to the action. Some of us just really don't care that the Patriots might end up 19-0 and win the SuperBowl and would rather simulate some other scenario. That's why I chose to bring you a football review at this time of the year rather than the beginning of football year like most other columnists.I also chose a game that people might pass up at first glance. Madden isn't the only game in town (despite that whole license lockup issue) and perhaps there are other games out there with stronger gameplay.
Graphics
I've been playing football games before even the first Madden. (Colecovision babie!). With each new system that I play a football game, things keep getting better. Try going back to any of the first few Maddens on Sega Genesis and you can see the difference immediately. The last football game I played was NFL 2k5 on the PS2. All Pro Football uses a lot of the same elements and looks strikingly similar. The graphics do look more crisp and it makes good use of the new widescreen format. However, it simply hasn't changed much since NFL 2k5 and a lot feels like the same software on a newer console. Another problem is when you are playing as the QB and watching passing routes. Unless you know the routes backwards and forwards, you will sometimes miss which button to push to throw to the appropriate receiver.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on November 4th, 2007
Some games take time to gain acceptance. This game started out a fledging curiosity, now the obsession has hit and everybody wants to play air guitar except with the a controller shaped like one. The game is Guitar Hero 3. This is the first installment that has hit every major console at the same time. This also marks the first time where they really pushed the concept of actual guitarists and musicians coming out to help such as Bret Michaels, Slash and the Sex Pistols. Some would describe it as a sell out especially since the team that made the original Guitar Hero was busy making Rock Band and the reins were left to Neversoft. How would they fare; could they possibly mess up what made the first two Guitar Heros so great?
Graphics
As previously said in other Guitar Heros, graphics has never been the game's strong suit. Many of the objects got a face lift and look better. The widescreen display and 1080p resolution is the greatest it has been. Problem is we as Guitar Hero enthusiasts never needed complicated graphics. We wanted notes across a plane and good music. Instead we get a muppet face male lead singer and a complicated star power bar. Actually the star power bar has been turned into some science experiment where you fill up incandescent light tubes when you hit your special notes. This becomes very confusing to followers of the series. Back to the muppet face male lead singer (and I don't mean Bret Michaels when he's singing Talk Dirty to Me). Your main lead singer is downright scary and not in a good way. All of the characters got face lifts but they should have kept them the same way as in the previous 360 Guitar Hero. Simplicity is better.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on October 28th, 2007
Some things just go together. Like Peanut Butter & Jelly, Sonny & Cher, Siskel & Ebert (okay, not so much). Puzzle Quest brings something together in complete harmony like no other game before it. Puzzles and Role Playing Games. Sure the Zelda or Breath of Fire series have puzzles in the game, but we are talking full integration where every battle is decided in a Bejeweled-like interface. Complete with mounts, spells, and other rpg-like elements; this could be the best idea of putting things together since I tried fritos and cream cheese. (Come on, you know you are curious)
Graphics
Puzzle Quest was first released on the DS and the PSP in early 2007. Things that look big on the tiny screen have to be scaled so that they fit appropriately when dealing with HD and the way the Xbox 360 operates. The colors and the objects on the screen are extremely colorful and vibrant. It's not mind blowing but it is certainly adequate and you will be able to navigate the menus with ease. Unless you are trying to read the text on the screen. For some reason, the text is very small and difficult to read. Perhaps I'm getting old but I found myself slowing down to read the text. This wasn't due to complexity or wanting to be careful to not miss a clue. Keep in mind, I also operate on a 42" HD Tv. If it is small for me, I cringe to worry about how small it might be for those will smaller sets (HD or not). The graphics look very good, however this one little attention to detail should have been taken care of in the testing stage.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on August 7th, 2007
Simplicity takes time. That's the only logical explanation as to why a chess game has not appeared on XBOX Live Arcade until the team @ Freeverse & Strange Flavour decided to release some popular board games for us to enjoy. The give us Checkers, Mancala, Reversi as well as Chess for a very tidy 400 Microsoft Points ($5). While the release is far from perfect, it is one of those cases where we take what we can get.
Graphics
The four board game treat comes to us in what we hope is decent graphics. How hard can it be to represent black, white and a matching gameboard? Thankfully there is no eyesore here. Pieces are easily decipherable and you can tell what obstacles are in your way as you try to win the game. One notable exception in all of this, the chess game does not start with a top down view; it's slanted. However, with the analog sticks you can move the camera's perspective but its not perfect. This game also supports XBOX Live Vision which is mostly a bad thing in one-on-one encounters. Imagine getting your gaming rear handed to you by some five year old kid. Now that's bad enough on its own but think of his face laughing and mocking you. Yeah, there is nothing that will give you more humiliation than the sincere and disrespectful face of a snotty kid as he shows his Checkers poweress.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on July 29th, 2007
Guitar Hero 1 made big business. Guitar Hero 2 made bigger business and became a phenomenon. Due to the success of the first two, Activision decided to release a stand-alone themed Guitar Hero. After some deliberation, it was decided they would release Rocks the 80's including tunes from my favorite decade. Included in that decade is my favorite type of music which is well represented: hair rock. Long hair, lipstick, blistering guitar solos and high pitched screams. Quite possibly the decade that most had in mind when they first or saw or heard about Guitar Hero. The Red Octane team was taking a chance on a smaller setlist but possibly paving the way for future themed releases. I am happy to say that the effort is a great step in the right direction but not one without bumps in the road.
Graphics
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on May 24th, 2007
Opening
ROUND ONE, FIGHT. I'm something of a Mortal Kombat junkie especially in my younger days. I started playing the original arcade game when I was very young and played 2 (still the best to date), 3, dealt with 4 and even dabbled in Deception. I adored the movies, though for obvious reasons I was poed at some parts of the second movie but still liked it. I even bought one of those silly MK controllers for the Playstation 2 (Scorpion naturally). So when I heard that the...Wii version was coming out; I figured I would go ahead and give a review of the newest Mortal Kombat but for the XBOX. I did that version because it is 360 compatible and I did purchase it within the last month. That way if you are considering the Wii version, you will know for the most part (minus the nearly useless Endurance Mode and a couple of extra characters) what you are in for.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on April 8th, 2007
Opening
When I got my XBOX 360 in late November, the only game I was regularly playing on my Playstation 2 was Guitar Hero II. It was still captivating, it held my interest because it was an amazing game. Needless to say when they announced that it would be coming to the 360, I was both excited and a bit perplexed as what to do. I mean it is the same game right? It has updated graphics and sound, and exclusive songs. But it's going to require me to buy another guitar. It has achiev...ments! So you can see the true crossroads I was put at. However, in the end I plunked down the ninety dollars (yes it is that much) for again one of the finest experiences in gaming. I am happy to also mention that the extras or exclusives to the 360 version are appreciated and can only increase in time for us as we move forward.
