Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=229https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1525As a side note, Jewphin did not incorporate different weapons, only three obvious upgrades to the weapon that was initially given, the bubble shooter. Also, when the bubbles impacted the fish enemies that came scrolling down, they simply disappeared, not even giving so much as a bubble explosion to mark their destruction. It would have been more interesting to a player, since they cannot go anywhere, to be able to at least enjoy watching the demise of each individual enemy as they were killed. When the player was hit he also exhibited similar actions, which gave the player a dis attached feeling towards the dolphin as there was no real consequences when the player was killed. Often, when a game is very simple and short the designer has to make something truly funny or memorable for the game to be good. The jewphin did have a yamaka, (sp?) and curly red hair but didn't say any stereotypical catch phrases or move in a particular way that was either dolphin or jew, something that would have made the audience appreciate the game for more than just eye-hand coordination practice. As far as more memorable characters, the game could really have used a good solid back story to it no matter how simple or child-like. This would have really made the character come alive and make the player feel as if they were controlling a jewish dolphin on a mission, rather than some object that shot other objects at more objects to make them dissappear.Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:08:34 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1525&iddiary=3190https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1525This student created game was called Jewphin and it was based loosely off of a south park episode. Although lacking in story line its your basic shmup, or really, "cute-e'm up" where enemies descend from the top of the screen and you shoot them with bubbles before they can touch you and create damage. The point system is very basic, 1 point for goldfish, 2 for pirahnas, and 3 for sharks. All in all the game runs very smoothly and the background music taken from the Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid" is a touching addition. Although the characters are hardly original, they are turned into sprite form very well and the action in the game goes very well. The game is not very challenging however and is very short, you can only keep shooting fish repeatedly for a high score. Since this is not a scrolling game the backgrounds gets very boring very quick and the action is very limited. i can't wait to see the improvements that they could make on this game given the chance.Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:01:45 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1525&iddiary=3189https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1340I briefly mentioned the level setup in my last log, but these are what makes this game what it is. The idea of your health being like a balloon that is impervious to popping you must maintain it at a low enough level so that the slightest attack from an opponent will not send you rocketing off the edge of the level. Since you are really fighting gravity as well as enemies the game becomes more of a platform jumper than a true fighting game. Obviously there are those that consider the last man standing to be the winner, others argue that its the person with the most kills that truly wins. The game ranks players by order of death, which means that the game considers the most evasive player the best.Since you cannot win unless the other players are dead, you most walk a tightrope between engaging in battle and avoiding the attacks of those around you. since most of the time you are fighting more than one person, attacks can come simultaneously and from just about any direction. Another aspect of this game is that while each character comes with a predetermined set of moves or weapons at his disposal, you can add randomized weapons and items such as power ups, health replenishers, baseball bats and a unique item to this game, Pokemon balls, which summon a Pokemon and its accompanying attack as a one time use. These items sometimes come in boxes or barrels and add an entirely new dimension to game play. For instance, now there are mines which can be set as booby traps, there are shells that track you down and must be avoided, there are health boosts that everyone scrambles for, there are guns which prove useful when trying to keep an opponent from regaining a landing on the level. The player must now decide whether to jeopardize a safe distance from another attacker for an item that may give him an edge. Now that we have each characters moves, including stats such as speed and relative health, we have the levels themselves, and the items available a player can build a strategy. After playing for many many hours you can tell exactly where a player is going to be and beat them there with a punch or a kick. You can throw items at the exact time and hit a character trying to get back on the level, thus forcing them to fall to their death. The best players are those who can predict the other players moves for instance letting another player grab an item between them so that he can rush in and head butt the player, possibly even taking the item the other player came in for in the first place. This is more giving an overview of th strategy of the game, but I feel its necessary to show off how the game is complex while remaining fairly simple in its goals. The music is similar to other soundtracks of the N64 era, not exactly Beethoven's 5'th symphony, but very addictive and easy on the ears. It follows the games bright flashing lights and cartoon style, which adds to the child-like atmosphere of the game. Once again, the game does have a main play through where you can unlock levels and characters, however it really is a multiplayer game because ts so much more interesting playing against an opponent with unpredictable moves and who can learn and adapt to your style of play. Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:45:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1340&iddiary=2893https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1340Ah yes, this is one of those nostalgic games that gets remade every few years on the latest console. It's got perfect re playability and is suitable for all ages because it features cartoon violence and simple to learn, hard to master controls. It's a perfects kids game, bright fluffy and the idea of staying on the level and not falling off adds just enough challenge to the game to make it fun. Of course, as you age and get better at it the game becomes the standard for gaming tournaments and parties. The game itself is a fighting genre game with a maximum of four players. The players are some of the best characters form Nintendo's other games, which over the years have become trademark symbols, thus allowing a game like super Smash bros to exist. Since even someone who knows nothing about these characters can tell immediately what they're individual fighting styles are they pick one or two characters that they will stick with forever and start playing. Thus, the character you choose may not necessarily be based on whether you like that character or the game they were featured in. Since it is a fighting game with different characters the fighting styles are immensely different, I would even put my money on saying that they are the most varied characters of all fighting games. For example, you have Kirby, who can jump unimaginable distances which makes him seem like he can glide in-definetly versus the lightning quick Fox or Samus who use weapons and speed to defeat opponents. Then for good measure Nintendo threw in Pikachu with his lightning attacks just for kicks. The fighters must also do enough damage to cause the other character to fly off screen, this is the only way to make them lose a life. This adds to the cartoon, non-violent atmosphere that appeals to kids. Since some characters can only take small amounts of damage before they become volleyballs to the other players the player does have a set number of attacks and damage he can take, however it is entirely possible to win a match even though you have 300% damage done to you as long as you do not take a large amount of damage at once. Thus gameplay become svery strategic.Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:00:43 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1340&iddiary=2854https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1163So I've been playing this game pretty much every waking hour and have read a few others gamelogs on the matter and I can't help but agree that yes, its a simple and repetitive game. But its still a hell of a lot of fun. why? Personally, I think the characters are what makes this game, obviously the ones in the cut scenes are brilliant and really set-up the storyline, but as the player I'm only really interested in who I play as. There are five different character classes; Barbarian, Sorcerer, Paladin, Necromancer, and Amazon, each with a unique skill set. To play using a different character than you normally do requires an entirely different approach to enemies, if your a barbarian, your up close and personal, trying to kill long range attackers before you get bogged down with minions. If you're an Amazon, sorcerer, or necromancer, you do your damage from afar. Also, you become reliant on different items in the game, either potions and spells, or armor and weapons, or a supply of arrows depending on your character. Being as I usually sport the Barbarian, I took the time to go back and play as the other characters and I have to say it was a completely different game the second and third time through. Another thing about this game is that it will suck up HOURS of your time, since the only way to progress is to spend hours killing minions so you can face the boss. There is no player skill required, although there are little maneuvers you can pull, such as opening town portals when your in trouble, but other than that you don't really have an affect on how good your character is aside from ho much time you put into them. Speaking of portals, a godsend is having the ability to find checkpoints on every other level or so that take you to any other check point in that chapter, saving you lots of travel time. This also helps when you die and need to get back to your body quickly. Your body itself stick around and you can loot your own corpse which is good because you can get all your old equipment back. I've heard there is an expansion, but I have yet to play it although I would say, since it has been such a long time since Diablo 2 came out it would be nice to see what developers could make with todays graphics engines. Obviously gameplay would be similar, but the level of detail would be just phenomenal. Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:15:54 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1163&iddiary=2515https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1163Here is another sequel that takes a good game idea and revamps it with more modern graphics, turning it into a great game visually. It's your basic dungeon and dragons idea with a million lower class enemies you have to kill, with a randomly generated champion or mini-boss type that you have to kill before reaching the main boss of each chapter in the game. Gameplay itself is deceivingly basic, your follow your character through 3d maps that play similarly to 2d ones but you don't really notice that much. The storyline is involving which keeps the monotony of killing the same enemies over and over again at bay. The level design splits itself into 4 chapters, each split into sub categories that then have dungeons labeled 1,2,3 etc. So pretty standard there. You also have a town in which to store you loot, stock up, buy new gear, identify items and further the plot. I love the way that certain characters got worked into this from the first game, in short, the first games town is placed on one of the first levels and you show up just as its burned to the ground, only able to rescue one character who ts available now to identify items. The rest are dead, or zombies. While by todays standards the level of detail isn't that impressive, its still pretty neat to see bugs crawling along that you can squish, characters walking in and out of bars, and detailed landscape that give you the feeling of being in a barren desert or dark jungle. The use of lighting to show when your in a dungeon or facing a boss, or in the middle of a scorching desert is also a bonus. This all helps because the player will spend hours upon hours just wasting monsters left and right before they can become powerful enough to take on the head boss.Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:11:33 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1163&iddiary=2493https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=903This game has a really expansive and interactive world in which almost anything can be done or blown up. Grand theft auto splits the game play between driving missions and walking around shooting things so the controls have to mesh well, which they do, so that once you step into a car driving becomes second nature and wile on the street finding your way around and navigating the environment is not a problem. The camera follows you very well in this game, which was always a problem for this series and the ability to really control the camera's view allows you that much more control over your character. The auto targeting is a godsend because before you hand to manually aim everything which pretty much limited the more dangerous missions to those with elite finger dexterity. Now, only the sniper rifle and rocket launcher require finesse to operate, allowing those with this type of control to still get their kicks in. The characters have always been stereotypical, but I think the designers crossed the line in Sand Andreas, I personally was quite insulted by the main characters lines and most of the npc's are drawn out much farther than need be for you to get the idea that your dealing with some country hick, or Latin gangster. Admittedly, this is what made it so fun to shoot characters in vice city, but that was only because the characters were based off of the style and persona of people from the 70's and early 80's so in a way they were disconnected from modern life. This time it takes place in recognizable cities, such as LA, and San Francisco during the 90's which people still strongly associate with and doesn't really take into account the delicate social issues that the game could probably have done without and still been a great game. As far as involving you in the gameplay, there's always a sense of urgency when you've got two stars and are running form police. Almost every time I've watched someone play this game, or been watched something has happened like a car chase, plane maneuver an insane stunt, or an amazing killing spree that has made the game audience yell, "OH!!!!!!" in amazement that you actually swerved between those two cars or braked suddenly, causing all three cop cars that were chasing you to go flying off a cliff. Since there is so much free play, and all the supplemental characters and object react to what you do, its the actions that take place that are not scripted that are the most amazing and interesting. Of course the back story and narrative of the game is intriguing, but its when someone walks in on you playing the game and you're randomly sniping people, or flying a small helicopter through a building for no good reason that cause then to stop and watch. The real time weather and time settings really add an ambiance to the whole game, when your on a boring part of a long mission or driving on a moped from one city to the next, it helps to watch the sun set, or all of a sudden be accosted by the appearance of rain which mars your vision and affects your vehicles handling. This really contributes to the reality of the game, especially in conjunction to the rumble pak in the controller. You feel every bump you go over and shooting a weapon feels as really as it could ever using only a controller.Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:38:54 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=903&iddiary=2055https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=903Games that come in series following the first release often have big shoes to fill and thus are critiqued harder than if they were a game on their own. At the same time, they already have the name out there and the hype form the first or second game can provide a consumer launching pad. Before I discuss the aspects of game play, the characters, the environment and vehicles, I'd like to discuss a small portion of the game play that I believe is highly overlooked and which i personally have been looking forward to since the first GTA. Multilayer action. Now, granted this game was not designed for this, and the action becomes somewhat limited as the players cannot go more than a pre-perscribed distance from each other as well as the difficulty of seeing what you are doing because the camera flows somewhat unevenly. However, experienced players with a big enough tv can actually interact with a comparable amount of items, vehicles and NPCs in much the same way the single player would be able to. I would highly suggest finishing the game so that you have all the options unlocked first, it makes the multi player experience much more rich. Although the boats, (to my knowledge) and planes/helicopters cannot be accessed by both players, you can still jump on the wings and screw around just the same. You can be arrested, killed, perform special jumps and tricks. obviously, you cannot complete missions, but the multiplayer allows the free range that the single player game offers. All in all it was a welcome addition to the game and hopefully is expanded upon when or if the next game comes out.Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:02:21 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=903&iddiary=1999https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=678The best game I've ever played by far. Given, its getting on in years, and I don't have as uch time to give to it, but every few years I go out and buy a used N64 console and this game. ( I keep selling them on ebay because I need money). It's one of those games that I believe has permanet replayability. let me explain. The first few times you play it, your a kid and its just the collest thing out. Then you give it a few years and while your re-arranging your room for high school you dust of the ol' N64 and say, "hey I haven't played this in ages". This time around you understand it better, and you know a few tricks so its easier and you even beat the game. Same thing right before you leave for college, only you lookd up on the internet all the little easter eggs and such and know the game top to bottom. Then college hits and you play it while inebriated and the game is so much fun, you vow to name one f your children after it. Then you've GOT to play it again for class and you realize you know nothing about what makes it so damn good. Well for one, it's got infinite replayability. The story line is one of the best, compelling, fun, twists and turns which keep you on your feet playing it. And yet, the game is so simple, you never realize you're doing the same things over and over again. The game presents the same problem in so many different ways, the player never gets bored. And if you do, there's a bunch of side quests and games you can play, like catching fish, which have nothing to do with the main quest, but are entertaining in their own rght. Although to be honest I am writing this from memory, I have played it so much I can visualize every detail of the game, and cannot wait to go rent out the game once again.Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:43:46 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=678&iddiary=1551https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=447I played this game for probably about 3 hours straight and instead of my usuall play and curse method of gameplay, I actually looked at the detial involved in the background of each arena as well as the characters costumes. Although before i had mentioned that the vary very little from the last one, (and I stand by it) I do have to admit that the colors are more vibrant, the costumes more in-depth and the characters as a whole are more fluid in their rmovements than in previous games. Perhaps I gave this game too hard a critique going from the perspective of playing the second Soul Calibur. I do miss such characters as Necrid and the old boxer guy, but then again I have yet to open all the characters. i LOVE the fact that you can actually play as the main boss guy, Abyss, versus in the last game you could only play against him in the mission. The game is less repetitive if you split the gameplay between all the facets of the game, instead of focusing on completeing the main mission with all the characters as I did. I did not realize how many unlocks, including items, weapons, armor, and characater creation options there were, but there's thousands! I just finished playing as Maxi in the main mission and his search for revenge on Astaroth is very involving. I have changed my opinion on this game, although I'll reserve my 5 stars for now until I have played through everything.Wed, 17 Jan 2007 13:15:55 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=447&iddiary=1547