Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=142https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1404Super Mario 64's control was unbelievably revolutionary for its time. Since this was the first game for the Nintendo 64 that required complete usage of the control stick, this was the first time many people got to see that even though it might not look like it, the control stick was a great addition in ways of controlling video games. With this it added a new sense of 3D that people weren’t used to at the time. If you barely move the control stick in any direction, Mario will tiptoe or walk real slowly in that direction, but if you move the control stick as far as you can in any direction, Mario will take off. The way the game makes Mario’s move is perfect; he is able to move extremely fast and with an amazing accuracy. We’re used to seeing him jump in a 2D aspect but with 3D, we’re able to see that he has some new movements like double or even triple jumps The main point of the game is collect stars, 120 to be exact. Not all the stars are obtained that way, though. This added a sense of variety thus creating more of an incentive to get the stars. Two of them are always found by collecting all the coins (100 yellow and 8 red) each stage has. Sometimes obtaining all the coins is very difficult, but definitely fun. One of the things I like the most about the world of Super Mario 64 is that most of the courses are not the typical forests or castles, marshes, and things like that, they are like in the previous games, a weird mix without too much logic, some of them just look like if they were made only by a bunch of Lego pieces, that adds a nice “odd” feel to the game. The camera works perfectly, you can move it freely most of the time, and when it is still, it works too. I always read complaints about how annoying are the camera movements are in most 3D platformers. I have never had this problem with this game.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:31:42 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1404&iddiary=3072https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1404Ah, I haven't played Super Mario 64 in forever. Last time I played it was literally 10 years ago. Playing this game again brought back special memories. For starters, the game features the widely renowned Mario the plumber. Not only that, it was featuring graphics and gameplay no one had ever seen at the time for the silly plumber. I'm sure they could have tagged along any random character for the story, but to be able to play the character that everyone loved for so long made its appeal that much better. The gameplay I thought pretty much defined how future 3-D platformers should be made. It quite possibly did everything right; from the movement, to the camera, to the collectables. This game was so desired that there was no one who wanted to not get all 120 stars. This aspect is something from games nowadays. It’s usually just beat the game and that’s it, no more replay value. To be able to continue collecting items after beating Bowswer just made the game that much more entertaining. Level design I thought was brilliant. I personally wish I was capable of such artistic creations. It was amazing how gigantic worlds were being created. You really felt miniscule compared to the entire level. Not only that, you also are in amazement when you realize how intricate some levels can be. At times you wonder how all the areas within a level are connected somehow. Anyway more thoughts later on.Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:41:49 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1404&iddiary=2971https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1135I see that JP has left me a comment and to comment on it, basically this was “under the radar” game Nintendo wasn’t banking on being successful. To everyone’s surprise, it’s a very fun and hard game. To me the beginning was basically walking around figuring out what to do and as I kept playing the puzzles became increasingly harder and I had to keep more of my wits up. There was an instance where I had to literally touch the screen with both of my fingers. Me, knowing something about the DS, realized that it was only a single touch pad so when the game was hinting at two hands, I was a bit skeptical knowing it wasn’t possible. I, for the sake of appeasing the game, used both my thumbs and voila I figured the puzzle out. This is just one of those instances in which you realize the people behind this game just pulled off something amazing and innovative; something I’ve never seen before. This may seem like nothing, but when you weren’t expecting anything like this, it really hits you as being original and you get that sense that there’s going to be more off the wall puzzles later in the game. So I was able to get to the fourth chapter out of ten and I have to say I’m still interested in playing. The way the story is constantly keeping you engaged is quite nice for there’s a lot of reading involved in playing this game. Speaking of keeping me engaged, I can’t get enough of the characters. The fact that I’m able to see them makes my relating and understanding each of them that much easier. The character I play, Kyle Hyde, is this gritty spunky character and as you play you sort of encompass Kyle and in turn start thinking just like him. When talking to people, you can choose questions to ask and some are nice and some are questions Kyle would actually ask. The game easily brings you into the mind of Kyle and at times you swear you were there actually being the detective. I’ve pretty much said all that there is to be said about this game. I highly recommend playing this game if you have a DS and like adventure games for you’ll wish reading books was more like this.Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:57:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1135&iddiary=2451https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1135For all of you who don't know, Hotel Dusk Room 215 is a neo-noir adventure game for the Nintendo DS set in the late 1970's. You go to a hotel and solve some mystery. Now that everyone's in check, time to talk about the game. From the beginning you are already introduced the game's unique art style. The only way to really describe this style is the "Take on Me" video by A-Ha. It's kind of like sketch-like images with a rough animation slapped on. Think of a flip book and how some of the images shift back and forth. I know this may sound unappealing but I kid you not, it's what makes this game one of the most beautiful games for the DS. With this game being an adventure game, it means that there's going to be a lot of pointing and clicking. This may be a turn off for some but if you're into it, this game does it correctly. See I'm used to the old school specific clicking, like "Day of the Tentacle" or "Grim Fandago," but with this, it's sort of intuitive as to what to do. If you can pick it up, you can and the game will acknowledge that, but if you can't, the game will simply reply with a comment about the item. This sort of system is nice for it allows the player a sense of freedom in playing out the game. This aspect is generally desired in adventure games nowadays and this game does it right. Regarding the game play, the game utilizes both screens. You also have to hold the ds in a book like manner so this may be unorthodox to a few. Anyway, the game uses one screen to show a 3D view of the character's vision and the other screen shows a top down view of the current room. You use the stylus to point at the direction you want the character to walk and it's as simple as that. I can't help but praise this movement system for I find it perfect for exploring and finding clues. I've only been playing the first part of the story but what I've already experienced is top notch story telling. Reading is something I rarely do but this game takes reading and literally makes it interactive. When I'm typically reading, I have to create this image of the characters and at times is doesn't coincide with how the characters should be really portrayed. When I have this game showing me pictures, though, I feel more connected to the characters. They no longer feel like an imagined character but rather more of a concrete image. Kudos to this game for basically taking a novel and making it fun. This game is hard, to put it simply. Unless you use a guide you'll have a hard time figuring out the next thing to do. At times though I sort of live for this type of complexity. I can't help but be frustrated for I know this game really wants me to be a detective yet I'm having a hard time being one, but this gives me more motivation to keep going and like that about this game. It adds to the challenge, in a good way.Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:05:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1135&iddiary=2441https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=958So I was able to figure out how to defeat that stupid volcano boss. I didn't even consider it a boss but it definitely was confusing given all those rocks flying everywhere. After this stage I got to go to crazy, intense new areas that I wish I had gotten to in my first run. Not to my surprise though was the difficulty of the latter levels. Man I thought level 1 was hard? Unfortunately, in referring to the "keeping the players interested," this game will only appeal to those hardcore gamers that want to beat it despite them losing every 10 seconds. If you're this kind of person then sure, yes you're gonna have a wonderful time, but if not, you might as well stop playing. In my honest opinion I would probably of made this game longer, if the NES was able to handle it of course. I guess that was the drawback on it being on the NES and they accommodated it by making it crazy difficult. Very good game though cause I'm constantly getting reassured that game maker can perform better than I presume it can. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:17:29.)Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:16:54 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=958&iddiary=2316https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=958Ahhh, Gradius brings back great memories of the schmups days I used to experience back when I was a wee little child. What I was surprised at though was the difficulty i was experiencing while trying to re-play a game I had already beat. I don't remember this game being as hard as it is now. It's probably cause I suck, but I assure you that me beating the game previously denotes that I have some skill still inside me. I never remembered the controls feeling so clumsy. Maybe it was the emulator I was using or something, but I recall times in which I wanted to move diagonally and ended up moving straight into the the missles or as I like to call them, "Balls of Death". This is understandable for it being the nes though so I don't know. I liked the whole use of upgrades and how you have to get a certain number of them to reach that specific upgrade that you wanted. It created that sense of management that you need to have in order to have the right weapons at the right time. I'll give my final words once I'm able to get past the first level.Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:20:00 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=958&iddiary=2110https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=675Ok so I ended up being able to beat it my second playing. To my surprise, it didn't seem to dissapoint me one bit. I kind of had to get into the mindset of a person playing it back in the 80's and once I did that I started to become more aware of what this game accomplished. To start off, there were a fricken load of levels. Not only that, they all seem lengthy enough to be worthy of one level. Not one bit did I get lost or anything like that. It was very linear, but who cares about linearity. No one back then has had a game like this and it could even hold my hand the whole way and I'd still play it. I was a bit turned off on some levels, for they seemed much shorter than others. It fine though because it wasn't simply a move from left to right sort of game. You actually have to move up and down as well, and in doing so you could explore more of the world and find secret areas. Speaking of which, I didn't know this first game in the series would have specific areas that could only be reached when using a specific weapon. That sort of innovation is genius for I don't recall seeing any other platform game for the NES accomplish something like that. I definitely wanted to go back and play through and check out some of the hidden areas. I guess this was a way of keeping me interested and increasing the lasting value. On the topic on kirby, it's hard to judge something that I already love dearly. Yes I said dearly, you got a problem with that? Anyway the loveable puffball can't be hated by any. You just can't hate an innocent looking pink ball. The use of childish looking graphics made me comfortable seeing these images for some amount of time. Speaking of which, I can't reiterate enough how incredible it seemed for the nes. This and Mario 3 are some of the most beautiful games on the NES. Kudos to nintendo for making pretty games. Then there are the enemies. The enemy designs in the game are really creative. I also like the variety of enemy designs in the game. I didn't have to look at the same stupid goomba or turtle. Thank you kirby for being in my life. Now only if you didn't have some stupid super smash cooking attack in the new brawl game.Fri, 19 Jan 2007 02:55:03 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=675&iddiary=1707https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=675What's there to say that hasn't been said about kirby? Kirby will always be one of my favorites. It's simplicity and cuteness might be a turn off for some, but for some reason people still love kirby. It's probably the child in all of us coming out. It's comforting to be able to play such a child-like game that keeps it simple and easy to enjoy. For all who are unfamiliar, kirby is basically a platformer that requires you to progress through levels, sucking up powers on the way, just to stop King Dedede who has taking the Star Rod. This is simply explained at the beginning and sort of passed upon. I don't know if it's just me, but I usually don't concern myself with the story of kirby. It's really not necessary to have the story for even if the story was just trying to get to the dentist, I still would play the game. The essence of the game comes from it's gameplay. Thinking back in the past, it offered something absolutely different. People were playing games like Mario and Mega Man and never were they able to puff and fly around all over the place. Not only that, they could also suck enemies to still their powers. I can't even imagine the reaction it gave as gamers were given something completely new. Being somewhat of a kirby veteran, I felt somewhat challenged to some of the differences this game had. This unfortunately wasn't a good thing for me. A lot of the abilities I have come to love weren't part of this roster. The most I could find were beam (an abilitiy that no one likes), fire, spark, sword, and crash. I also didn't attempt to eat a certain few, but trust me, there's not much more. After playing Kirby Super Star, I can't imagine any kirby without it's somewhat infinite amount of abilities. I know I have to be forgiving for this is the first game in the series, but I'm just saying that I'd rather play its sequels than this. I was playing this game really lethargically so within my somewhat 45 min of playing, I've probably only played half of the game. I'm pretty sure I could've beat the game within those 45 min, it's just I was taking the time to explore each level and appreciate the nostalgic sense of this game. I believe that's the problem with gamers these days. They can't stop and appreciate the genius behind the games. I was experiencing the origin of a great franchise. Despite it being the first, it still has elements being used in Kirby games today. The sucking ability has somewhat become a trademarked feature that can't be copied. I'll finish up the game later and get my final thoughts down.Wed, 17 Jan 2007 04:08:04 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=675&iddiary=1533https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=436So I decided to go ahead and try to beat the game a second time, and to my surprise the game was still difficult. Granted I beat it in only 25 min time doesn't mean I had a hard time. Not only did I feel like I was playing the game for the first time again, I also felt like I had a different experience. I had thought the enemies would appear on a set spot, but nope it's all random. That randomness is what made me praise this game even more for not only did I not expect what was coming, I also had to have my wits open. Usually in a game (say Mario) you know when enemies will come and can surely time every exact jump. Not with this game though. The dynamic of the enemies adds that skill that so few have. I thought though that given all my worshiping of this game I should somehow discuss the negative aspects of this game. Given that it was the 1980's and the capabilities weren't that extensive, I'll disregard comparing this game to something of say Halo 2. So given that, at times it felt like it was the same process over and over, side-scrolling to third person perspective I mean. Also the length of the game bugged me quite a bit. I know it was once an arcade game, but now that it was on home console, it should have at least contained a harder difficulty or more levels at least. All in all it was a fun experience. I definitely could find myself playing this every once in awhile. Make sure to definitely play with another person because you get to have more fun that way.Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:05:41 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=436&iddiary=1202https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=436This Contra game is fantastic. The fact that they were able to port a great arcade game to the NES is awesome. Given this is my first time playing Contra, I never realized the NES was capable of such things. From the movement to the shooting, everything seems fluid. I'm used to Zelda like movement where you move from square to square so this is a great change What made Contra so great to me was the ability to play with that second player. Rather than taking turns like Mario, Contra put both characters on screen at the same time and had you both killing enemies. This I assume for the time was a great feat and still is missed sometimes in todays games. For once, a game that forced you to work together instead of competing. Over the course of the game you could collect different types of weapons that went flying over head. What I liked about the weapons is that they were nicely balanced. I mean every power-up was something you would want. They also weren't variations of the same weapon. They were each separate types and forced you to learn how to use each one to each advantage. What I liked was the time it made you take to learn each weapon. It wasn't to quick nor long and I immediately was able to get back into gameplay. Given you had to shoot it a couple times never bothered me. You could only hold one type of gun at a time though which made choosing the right one for a situation key. This again is something I liked and should be in every game. Contra I recall was one of the hardest 8-bit games out there. This is because when it came to your lives in Contra, you died in one hit. This never bothered me though cause despite dying multiple times, I always wanted to keep playing and beat it. Wanting to beat a game is something rare of me. Within the 45-min I was able to beat the game. I'm not sure if that's normal or not but I'll try beating it again and see how much time it takes me then. Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:07:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=436&iddiary=1135