Ginkeifighter4's GameLog

The Legend of Zelda (NES) - Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:13:38

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:13:38 CDT

After beating the boss of the first dungeon which was a dragon called an Aquamentus, the exploration continued. I spent much of my second hour of Zelda remembering some of the secrets and wonders of the game. There are certain points on different walls and cliffs that can be bombed. Inside there is a secret cave and the player can choose between a potion that gives the player all of his hearts back or another heart container. The heart container is a far better choice as it increases the total amount of Link's life unlike the potions that can be bought. Other great aspects of the game including unique environmental puzzles such as coming into a "lost woods" kind of maze where the player has to take the right direction to make it through a certain area or room. There are so many great puzzles in this game. The series has always been known for it and you will often find yourself pushing blocks, finding keys, and exploiting the weakness of certain enemies to progress. There are also many parts of the map that are unavailable until a certain item is obtained. This gives the game a sense of mystery and makes the player desire to explore and find everything. The game is amazing and though by some of our current standards is not as complex, it will still stand the test of time making it one of the best games ever made.

The Legend of Zelda (NES) - Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:08:02

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:08:02 CDT

The Legend of Zelda is a definitive classic among all videogames and it helped the nes propel to huge success. I have played the game before but it has been some time so this is a kind of review/replay. The Legend of Zelda begins with our wonderful protaginist Link preparing to save his princess Zelda from the evil Ganon. This journey begins with Link surrounded by dirt, and brush and venturing into a cave to claim a sword. The adventure then continues and the player is given many options. The entire point of THe Legend of Zelda is to explore the world and find all of the secrets and dungeons. Controls are relatively simple and Link always uses his sword with b and one of many secondary items with a. After some exploring, Link can cross a bridge and find the first dungeon. Dungeons are separate then the overworld and essentially involve Link fighting enemies, finding keys, getting the special item from the dungeon, and (usually) using it on the boss. The weapon found in the first dungeon is the boomerang and can be found after defeating some moblins. The battle system in the Legend of Zelda is top notch and is surprisingly intense and responsive for a nes game. This play through has reminded me why the Legend of Zelda is such a classic and amazing game.

Geist (GC) - Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:40:03

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:40:03 CDT

Urggh I feel nauseuous. I forget that first person shooters often make me feel like I need to vomit. Anyways, my second session of Geist was long and painful. Primarily because I feel that the puzzles are not very creative at all and for some reason they are very hard for me to figure out. The main puzzle that stumped me was one where you had to open a valve on a pipe while possessing a soldier and then go through it as your ghost self. I have found that the game is kind of monotonous. Primarily you are your ghost self as you try to figure out what needs to possess or what event has to occur to continue. This system usually works ok but it can be tedious as there are sometimes many objects to be possessed while it is usually unclear as to what exactly you should do. This combined with all of the other factors of the game make it kind of boring and long. Since I got suck for so long, this is as far as I got and there is nothing new at all.

Geist (GC) - Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:51:36

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:51:36 CDT

Geist is an interesting game. I recently purchased the game and got a good deal on it. Previously, I had heard about the game and that it was a first person shooter with the primary innovation being the ability to possess objects and living beings and use them to finish puzzles and fight enemies. Geist begins with the main character Raimi infiltrating an enemy base to steal a viral agent that one of his fellow agents has prepared for him. From this point on , the game follows standard first person shooter fare with aiming and running mapped to different the different control sticks while shooting enemies. However, an interesting and somewhat derivative aspect of the game is that your gun has no limits on ammunition and can apparently shoot forever. From this point on, the game begins to take an interesting twist. After being caught and shot by the enemy, Raimi is ripped from his body and becomes something similar to an astral or spiritual body. From this point on the main character learns that he can possess different objects and animals/people to accomplish the various tasks set by the game. These tasks include possessing trash cans, janitor bins, paint cans, and soda cans. These are always simple and there is usually very little that one can do with them. The reason for this is that the player is supposed to possess these objects to scare the people around. This is because it is only possible to possess a living being if it is scared, or nervous. After learning this, it is necessary to scare and possess the soldiers of the enemy base while reaking havoc on everyone. The controls of the game work pretty well. There isn't anything particularly new here as after Raimi possesses someone, you control them as if you were controlling yourself. The possession system works prett well and so far it has been implemented well. In the first boss fight, the player is in the body of a soldier and the boss throws grenades and shoots a special laser gun. It is necessary to shoot the boss while he is throwing a grenade and this forces him to drop it. Then you depossess the soldier and possess the grenade to make it explode. It is surprisingly creative and there have been many puzzles where it is necessary to possess different objects and people. Geist is all about the possession. It's pretty clear that it is the centerpiece of a so far technically solid game.

Gradius (NES) - Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:17:18

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:17:18 CDT

Another hour and an entire Queens of the Stone Age CD and I have discovered that I have gotten better at Gradius. In fact, I almost made it to the third level twice! It seems that though this game has a steep learning curve, once you get used to it and understand the various naunces of the game, it becomes more manageable. What did I discover during my second session? Well, it seems that one of the main reasons that I was having problems was because I was getting too many speed upgrades at the very beginning of the game. I thought these upgrades just made your ship move faster but in fact, the entire game world moves faster with these upgrades. So after I got less of these upgrades, the game didn't necessarily become easier, it was just more at a human level. I also found that the second level is quite nice and since I believe I got to the boss on my first try, it definitely seems more manageable then the first. The level consists of little dots that are throughout the stage and they need to be shot to get past. Also, there are a lot of mounted turrets and barracks that they can't shoot through. I was surprised at how unique this level is in comparison to the first and I hope that the rest of the levels are as unique and fun as these two. I noticed that in my first entry, I didn't mention the sound of th game in any way. I found that not listening to the music which consists of mostly bleeps and bloops and a kind of generic space shooter music didn't give much to the game. It's truly the gameplay and level design that really shines here. Confused?? On my second entry to the second level and after beating the first I was all of a sudden warped into this weird world where I had to dodge the statue from Easter Island. It was very confusing and after getting hit by one I was transported into the second level. Maybe this is some kind of equalizer to make sure that the player does not get too many upgrades. Regardless, it was really weird but still an awesome game!

Gradius (NES) - Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:53:38

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:53:38 CDT

Wow, I suck at this game. After about an hour of play, I have yet to make it past the first level. After playing Gradius, I realize why I love and hate schmups so much. So I recently acquired Gradius and it was very exciting. I had never played the game before and I was looking forward to playing a horizontal shooter which is something that I have less experience with then vertical shooters. I personally like vertical shooters more but this could be because the main horizontal shooter that I played was R-type which was just so insanely hard that I pretty much gave up on it. Gradius is a horizontal shooter that implements the use of power-ups very well and gives the player a sense of great control and intricate level design. I have seen the entire first level of Gradius (unfortunately the one time I did make it to the boss, I died :( <== thats a sad face). But I still came away from the game impressed and also yearning to continue the game experience. I found that the primary aspect of Gradius are the power-ups. At the very beginning of the game, power-ups are thrown at you in the form of four blue "wave" enemies that need to all be destroyed to get a power-up/upgrade. These upgrades can be used on speed, missiles, double, laser, and option. As you get an upgrade, the pointer moves one over to the right so if you get two upgrades you can get missiles, or three gets you a double laser and so on. I found that it is near impossible to finish the first level without these upgrades and in truth, it is probably impossible to finish the game without upgrades because your ship just moves so incredibly so. However, it is impressive how fast the game moves when you have many upgrades as well as how the graphics of all of the upgrades work. I particularly like options (little orange balls that mimic your movement and attacks and are also invisible and good to use as shields). These upgrades complement the game very nicely. The controls and level design of Gradius also seem top notch. All of the controls are responsive and though I got killed a lot it seems like the less angry I get and the more calm and focused I become, the game is a lot more manageable. Schmups are hard after all and theres no reason to throw my controller into the T.V. The level design as well as the enemies are wide and impressive. Enemies include flying blobs, walking lasers, secret bases that spew enemies at you evil volcanoes of doom that explode a ton of lava into your face. All in all I came away impressed as well as a little frustrated by Gradius and look forward to spending more time with this classic game.

Super Mario 64 (N64) - Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:56:11

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 21:56:11 CDT

My second session of Super Mario 64 was extremely enjoyable and it included memorable moments such as throwing Bowser into a mine and punching a "bully bob-bomb" into lava. In my first log, I attempted to explain the overall reasons that the game is so good and with this added time, I believe that I can go into more detail as to why this game is so good. One of my favorite aspects of this game is how well the game translated into 3-d. However, this is not the only thing going for this game as there is so much more beneath the surface including the graphics. Now I know that almost all gamers of our current age of high def graphics and super high resolution will be particularly unimpressed with the graphics in Super Mario 64, I have found that the graphics not only fit the game extremely well, they also have a charm and novelty that is unique and enjoyable. I enjoy how Mario's hands and feet look and the goofy way he runs around. Super Mario 64 is a game that relies more on its artistic style, and talent then just its resolution or pixels. There are so many great things about this game and there is very little that is wrong with it. The controls are definitely spot on and some of my favorite parts of it include the fact that you can control how high you jump by the pressure on the "a" button (a la the 2-d super marios), how easy it is to maneuver around enemies as well as the jumping. Oh, the jumping. This might be my favorite aspect of the game. It is clear that the developers made sure to perfect Mario's jump and it is clear that they had a rousing success. Mario always jumps effortlessly and though there is little control while he is in the air, it is so easy to begin a jump like you want that that is where all of the control lies. It is clear that control is one of the great aspects of Super Mario 64. The level design in Super Mario 64 is so great that it even rivals many of today's greatest 3-d platformers. After getting 8 stars, beating Bowser, and heading to the basement, I encountered one of my favorite levels. This was the one with all of the lava and moving platformers you know the one I'm talking about ;) Anyways, I believe that this is one of the coolest stages in Mario history with so many different obstacles and enemies to maneuver about. Similarly, the Bowser stage is excellent with many similarities with the lava stage while still being unique due to the fact that the player has to climb very high with Mario to get to the pipe to take him to Bowser. In conclusion, this is an amazing game. I plan to continue my logs to document my journey to the end of the game and I look forward to it immensely.

Super Mario 64 (N64) - Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:31:37

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:31:37 CDT

There is no denying that Super Mario 64 is a great game. In fact, the game is so great that Nintendo has included it in some form for three of its system's launches including the Nintendo 64, the Nintendo DS (Super Mario 64 DS), and the Nintendo Wii (virtual console version of Super Mario 64). So the real question is: Why is this game so great and revered by so many gamers? The answer is not a simple one and after spending an hour re-playing the first few levels in the game, I feel that I can attempt an explanation of the excellence of this game. I personally own all three Super Mario 64 games, but I have not actually finished one yet which is quite shameful. This may partly be because the first time I played was on the DS version and it is quite different then the console versions both in terms of content and control. However, I have found the console version to be particularly enjoyable and have spent more time with it. Super Mario 64 follows the example of its 2-d predecessors and from the very beginning of the game, it is clear that this is a Mario game. The first level consists of a mountain that is inhabitated by bob-bombs and the journey to the top of the mountain to defeat the bob-bomb king. Instantly, the creative level design and tight controls are evident. The game plays amazingly well and it is clear that the developers utilized the greatest aspects of the 2-d games and translanted them into 3-d seamlessly. One of the best features of Super Mario 64's jump to 3-d is the feeling of freedom that the player always feels. Unlike in the previous titles where the player can only move Mario to the right while jumping over and stomping on various enemies, Super Mario 64 allows you to move in any direction you want which opens op an entire world of possibilities. The level design as well as the core gameplay of Super Mario 64 completely utilizes the best aspects of 3-d. Unlike the original games where the goal is simply to get to the end of the level, Super Mario 64 revolves around the getting of Stars or ShineSprites. These stars can be gained through various means and the player is given the option to revisit levels to get stars that require different actions. These actions are enjoyable, creative, and humorous. In the first hour of play, I found myself sliding down red carpet and ice slides, racing a Koopa to the top of a mountain, swimming to the bottom of a lake to find hidden treasure in a sunken pirate ship, and climbing to the top of a fortress. These stages just scratch the surface of how deep this game is and later on, the palyer will race giant Penguins, capture Boos, and do so many other fun tasks. This is one of the greatest aspects of the game, the fun and anticipation in guessing and seeing what is coming next and how the amazing controls and level design allow the player to gain the shinesprites they desire without the excess frustration caused by games with inferior control. I have enjoyed this game for a long time and I plan on playing it and recording my time with it. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:32:00.)

Final Fantasy Legend III (GB) - Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:56:24

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:56:24 CDT

So I played another hour of Final Fantasy Legend III and the truth is, the second half of the game is not as enjoyable as the first. I spent the significant portion of my time leveling up and trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. I went through the dungeon and went to what I thought was the end. I ended up picking up an item called "float" that I had no idea how to use. Along with that item, I was having major problems figuring out what any of the items in the game could be used for. All of my characters kept changing into weird fairies and cyborgs and beasts and I was just completely confused. This game is in desparate need of a tutorial and I dont have a manual. I guess I'll just have to go to gamefaqs or something because as of now I can not figure out what I a supposed to do. At least I have a ton of money.

Final Fantasy Legend III (GB) - Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:47:25

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:47:25 CDT