Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=472https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3108Game: Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers Date: 3/4/08 Time: 9:00-10:30pm CMPS 80K Gamelog 5, Session 2 Gameplay The New Challengers has multiple modes one can play from. There is the regular mode, in which you fight against the computer, versus mode, time attack, group, and tournament mode. In the time attack mode, you fight against the computer in hopes of KO’ing your opponent in the quickest manner. The group mode is much like the versus mode, only instead of picking just one character you pick many, anywhere from 2 to 8. Lastly the tournament mode allows the player to fight in a series of tournament brackets; this mode is good if one has multiple people wanting to play. In the previous log I had briefly touched upon the characters that are in the game. In fighting games it’s all about getting good with the characters in order to more efficiently beat the hell out of your computer opponents and friends. When it comes right down to it the most known characters of the whole Street Fighter series is of course Ken and Ryu, and there is a good reason for this, they are characters whose moves are easy to learn, who are iconic, and who don’t suck, but its hard to find a character that just totally sucks in this game. That’s another great thing about this game, each character has their pros and cons, which makes the game dynamic. Now while these pros and cons are not necessarily finite, that is to say that Ken does not always lose to Ryu just because Ryu’s Hadouken has a cooler animation, no these pros and cons are not that apparent and must be figured out with one’s own time. For example I have found that Chun-Li works really well as an aerial fighter, by this I mean that she jumps higher than other characters and can even bounce off the back walls, however while playing as such one must watch out for anti aerial moves such as Ken and Ryu’s Shrouyken. Design The level design in each level is simple, and most have no real interactivity within them, but there are a few that do. For example on Ken, Guile, and Bison’s levels, there are a set of breakable items within the levels, but only two of each. Also on Vega’s level there is a cage, that only Vega can climb up on. So in that sense the level design is interactive, even though it is very limited. However, what is more interesting about the levels is the fact that each one is set in the fighters home country. Each level is completely different from one another, and they range from America, Thailand, Japan, China, and even Jamaica. Each level has its own feel, and its own music to boot. For example, in Brazil, which is Blanka’s level, the fight takes place in what seems like a fishing village, and the music has a very samba feel. In China, Chun-Li’s level, there is a market in the background and bicyclers that ride by, you can even hear a chicken in the market and the bell of the bikes. These I feel are great design elements, while not necessarily interactive, like a lot of current 3d fighters; it still feels good and fun. Another interesting element put into the game is the bonus challenges that appear in the regular arcade mode. There are 3 bonus challenges that occur during the span of the arcade mode, and you get to one after every 3 fights. The first challenge is trying to destroy a car as quickly as possible. The second is trying to destroy a big stack of cement blocks as quickly as possible. And the third, is trying to break all the barrels that fall from the roof of the level. Now the hardest of the 3 is the last one, I can never seem to break all of the barrels; one always hits me, or like doesn’t break when I hit it. These stages seem to just break up some of the fighting and give the player a chance to simply shoot for a high score, which is of importance in fighting games. Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:39:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3108&iddiary=5788https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3106Game: Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers Date: 3/3/08 Time: 4:00-6:00 CMPS 80K Gamelog 5, Session 1 Summary: Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers was a game developed and published by Capcom, and was originally released in 1993. The game is much like other Street Fighter games, in that you choose one of the sixteen characters and take them through a series of fights leading up to the end. While not as recognized or celebrated as other Street Fighter games, The New Challengers to me is filled with fun and enjoyment. Gameplay: As stated before there are 16 characters within the game, all of which are playable including the 4 bosses, the characters are: Ryu, Ken, E. Honda, Chun-Li, Blanka, Zangief, Guile, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M.Bison, Fei Long, Cammy, T-Hawk, and Dee Jay. Each character has their own personal ending, which can be seen after completing the game on at least normal mode. The buttons are typical of most fighters; there are 3 different punch and kick types, all of which fall under the category of weak, medium, and strong. Overall the actual gameplay of the game is very typical of a fighter, however when compared to other fighters of the time, such as Killer Instinct, The New Challengers is head over heels better, and just more fluid of a fighting game. The games story is not really fleshed out within the fighting, but all occurs at the end after one has defeated Bison. And the game is fun, especially while playing against others. The versus mode of the game can really create some competition between people who are playing. This is especially true for me and my friend Jake, who play against one another whenever the game is on. And while my skill level is above that of Jakes, we still continue to play for a good chunk of time, which means that there is something that is keeping Jake sitting down and playing. The controls in the game are pretty precise, and the special moves are lots of fun. Figuring out the moves of the characters is part of the fun, and watching the different animations, and mimicking the sounds (i.e. Hadouken!!), is all part of the experience. Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:36:19 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3106&iddiary=5785https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2731Game: Super Mario Bros. All Stars Class: CMPS 80K Time: 3:00-4:00 Gameplay It has been a lot of the same for me lately for gaming. I have been dividing my time, as evenly as possible between the 3 main Mario titles. That really was one of the best things about Super Mario All Stars was the fact that all the games where on one cartridge, and all had been enhanced to look graphically better than the original games. Also, it had always seemed to me that many games from the past just seemed easier to play then many current games. This thought is both true and not true for all 3 Mario Bros. games. It is untrue in the fact that there are many parts of the game where one must find the right timing which can become immensely hard, or in some cases one must be able to complete various levels with a limited amount of lives. However, the statement is true that eventually one builds up enough lives to where that factor becomes moot. Also it is very easy to simply run through most of the levels avoiding most conflicts; simply put speed runs are possible. The various story lines have not been totally reveled to me, that is to say that for the most part I am still at the beginning of the games (i.e.: 2nd or 3rd worlds tops), but that is not to say that I don’t already know the basic premise of most Mario games, which is of course save the princess. However, that story does not seem to apply to Super Mario Bros. 2, which is very different from the other two volumes of the game, so much so that I have seen it dubbed as “the black sheep”. Overall the gameplay has been basic Mario: run, jump, get coins, and power ups. But even those change in various areas of the game, which is just its own basic evolution within the series. Design Each of the 3 games are very different from one another. But Super Mario All Stars overall has a few Design elements, mainly the fact that it is in its essence a gallery game, where you have multiple games to choose from. Also all the games are graphically enhanced, and in that case better looking than the original games. Within the game themselves there are differences between them and their originals, the differences range anywhere from visual, point systems, sound, and even the fixing of bugs. One of the greatest things about the Super Mario Bros. series of games is the level design. Each level, although basically the same, jump on platforms, smash enemies, pick up coins, reach the flag/icon box (for Super Mario Bros. 3), is interesting and visually different from one another. Even in each series of the game, where there can be some overlap, I mean there are only so many above ground, below ground, water levels, mountain levels, desert levels, one can do, but within the series each one is done in a different way within each series. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:04:40 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2731&iddiary=5130https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2729Game: Super Mario Bros. All Stars Class: CMPS 80k Time: 2:00-3:00 Summary Super Mario All-Stars is a collection of the early Mario games which include: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario Bros. 3. Gameplay My emotional state going into the game was very nostalgic; I had not really played any of the older Mario games in a long while, and was looking forward to looking at the games in a new way. All of my playing has been divided up between the three main Mario tittles, this has mainly to do with the fact that I was in the process of writing a paper about the three. The positive to playing all three at the same time gave me the chance to look at all the similarities and differences between the 3 titles. Each of the three have their own distinguishing characteristics that make them stand out. A major similarity between the 3 games is the fact that each game has the same characters within them. I find this interesting because in today’s age of video games that would be somewhat unheard of, depending on the series, but in many popular games of recent (Halo 3, and COD 4) some of the characters die, that is not something that occurs within the stories of the Mario games. That however could be greatly due to the fact that death is just not usually a topic dealt with at Nintendo, especially when it comes to a franchise such as Mario. But even minor characters, such as Toad, and many of Bowser’s children consistently appear throughout the series of games. Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:01:56 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2729&iddiary=5129https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2413Gamelog 3, Section 2 Date: 2/7/08 Time: 12:00-1:00 CMPS 80k Gameplay Something very interesting occurred today during my time playing R-Type, I got pissed. I got really emotionally angry at the game. This occurred for various reasons but it just now struck me that this game created such anger in me. Now the real reason for me getting mad was basically I was stuck on the boss in the second level. I am aware that this is no reason to get mad or angry, but I was stuck on him for awhile, close to 30 to 35 minutes, of just me trying to take down the boss. It’s amazing that games can create those types of emotions in its players, and sometimes it can be a bad thing, in this case I don’t think it was the game per se making me angry just the fact that I couldn’t get past that certain part. Moving onwards I didn’t really experience anything new during this chunk of play time, which is ok it was more about trying to get past what I have seen so I could see more. The game itself was still fun during this time, and I was doing relatively well, considering how far I have played up to that point. Design This game, much like Gradius III, allows the player to choose what power ups the player gains. There are 3 different weapon types to choose from: Round Force, Shadow Force, and Cyclone Force. Each of these forces comes with 3 subsections, which allows for various customizations within the game. As stated in Section one of this log, the ship is much larger then what I am accustomed to for a space shooter. However, this is a positive in that the extra bit of your ship comes from the type of force you chose. That section of your ship can be deployed and does damage on its own, you can also move it from the front of your ship to the back, depending on the enemies that are attacking. Another item that caught my attention was the actual art in the game, the style is very appealing, and a step up in graphics from Gradius III. The levels are varied, at least the two I saw were different from one another. The levels also have some very interesting sections and additions to them that give each its own touch. In one level you have to dodge acid droplets from the ceiling along with the wave of enemies that come towards you. Along with the varied levels are the different bosses. One boss shoots eyeballs out of its various orifices, which the player must dodge along with the boss’s regular attack. Now this may not seem much, but it was difficult for me to keep up with that alone. Overall I would not call this a great game though, there were defiantly some upsides, however there was not much that would make me want to come back to play through it some more. I was not super motivated to continue my play through this game. I would assume that that feeling has to do with the fact that the game is difficult, and has no mode settings, which would have been nice in the fact that I would have been able to see more of the game. Other then that I would say that this game is good at what it does, there are levels at which waves of enemies fly at you, all while you navigate your plane through tight areas, and the boss fights were varied, and the art direction was well done and made the game look good. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:05:15 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2413&iddiary=4577https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2412Gamelog 3, Section 1 Date: 2/5/08 Time: 3:00-3:45 pm CMPS 80k Summary R-Type III: The Third Lightening is a horizontal side scrolling space shooter. In the game you take the role of the pilot of the new R-90 ship, and are sent out to destroy the BYDO Empire, and its mother ship. The object of the game is to clear the levels, destroy your enemies, and eventually take down the dreaded BYDO Empire. Gameplay As with most space shooters, the story really is of little importance to the actual game, in that sense the narrative aspects of the game have been pretty nonexistent thus far in my play time. However, this has not stopped me from playing the game. In the hour of play that I spent, I got about halfway through the second level. If there is anything someone can take away from that previous statement it’s that this game is pretty difficult, but enjoyable at the same time. There are many interesting aspects of the game that have stuck out during my time of play. One of them is the fact that you have the ability to choose what types of weapons you gain from your power ups. Another aspect that pops into my head constantly is how this game and Gradius III compare to each other; this is has been an interesting topic due to the fact that I have just recently done a game log for Gradius III. The two are very different from one another, but in some senses the same, and each has their own pros and cons. For R-Type I have noticed that your ship is much larger, and more susceptible to crashes into the walls of the environment. It has been my experience that because of the ships larger size I have been more prone to losing lives because of it. However, the levels in R-Type III are not nearly as linear as the ones in Gradius, and have a lot of interactivity within them. By that I mean your eyes are constantly moving through your field of vision looking for gaps and openings to get through. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:02:05 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2412&iddiary=4574https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2059Game log 2, Session 2 Date: 1/24/08 Time: 2:00-3:00 CMPS 80k Gameplay After seeing just how hard Gradius III is, I decided that the best way to see most of the game was to play on the easy mode setting. However, that does not mean that this game is in any way less difficult, quite the contrary the game is still hard as hell. I have yet to see any level past the fourth and as stated above I am playing on the easy mode setting. Now that may just say something about my playing skill, or it may just tell you how hard this game really is. Now for me that is both a negative and a positive. Negative because I have yet to see new content and positive but it pushes me to see how far I can go. One item I have yet to touch on, and will probably bring up again in the design section, is the power ups in the game. Your reliance upon these power ups cannot be overstated. It is only because of the power ups that players can get anywhere within the game. But as in most 2d space shooters the moment you die, you lose all of your power ups, which can get annoying sometimes considering just how much you rely upon them throughout the game and the levels. However, this aspect of the game is not really one you can just fix, for changing that would probably make the game not Gradius at all but some type of knock off. Design However the levels I have seen seem to follow the same basic premise. The first half of the level is, to a certain extent, an open play field, in the sense that your ship can move all the way to the top of the level to the screen to the bottom, without dying. This aspect changes however about halfway through the level where the addition of ground enemies appear in the forms of turrets, tanks, and various other types of hazards. In this part of the levels, going to the very top of the screen or the very bottom will result in the loss of one of your precious lives. Now with every level comes a boss battle, sadly I haven’t seen many of these either, but the ones that I have experienced have been pretty varied. Each of the three, yes only three that’s all I’ve been able to see, has been difficult to get by, whether it be enemies distracting you from what the boss is doing, or if it’s the boss just doing serious damage and in some cases just weird attacks. In one boss battle, the boss shot out lasers that crisscrossed and required you to think ahead and dodge them. Overall the boss fights were what I expected them to be, a massive figure bigger than your ship that you simply just needed to let fly everything in your arsenal at. Lastly the most interesting thing about Gradius III would have to be the editing system that allows you to pick and choose which power ups you can have at your disposal. These range from charge laser shots, fire bombings, to red spheres that cause close range damage to ships that get to near. The ability to pick what you wanted was a nice touch, it allowed for different experience just about every time I played. In some cases I would just pick random power ups and see just how epic I could get. Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:49:31 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2059&iddiary=3966https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1992Game Log 1, Session 1 Date: 1/23/08 Time: 4:00-4:45 CMPS 80K Summery Gradius III is a side scrolling space shooter developed and published by Konami, and was originally for Arcades, but got ported to the Super Nintendo in 1990. In Gradius III you play as Vic Viper, flying you starship and fighting off the Bacterion Empire. Gameplay Looking back on the time that I have been playing this game, I would have to say that the story elements and any resemblance to narrative is practically nonexistent from this game. However, I would argue that it doesn’t really affect the game, at least in a negative way. The basic focus of the whole game is to destroy any ship or enemy that appears from the right side of the screen. And through it all it was still enjoyable to play, even if it was relatively simplistic in its objectives. Another positive to the game is how those who are watching you play seemed utterly engrossed in the outcome and scream with disappointment with every life lost. However, neither I nor my hall mates could tell you exactly why that is. It could be the simplicity of the game, the controls can be learned in a matter of seconds and the learning curve is not to steep. That does not mean that the game is not difficult, on the contrary Gradius III could be one of the most difficult games I have played on the SNES. Even on the default normal mode, it was a challenge to just get past the first level, this is due greatly to the fact that enemies come flying at you pretty quickly, and the reaction time is a little inhibited if one does not gain the speed power ups. Overall my play time has been enjoyable and challenging, out of the 10 levels I have seen about 4, sadly most of that was due to me changing the settings from normal to easy, something I am not proud to admit but felt was needed in order to experience more of the game. Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:40:02 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1992&iddiary=3894https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1826Gamelog 1, Session 2 Date: 1/13/08 Start: 3:00 End: 3:50 Game: Act Raiser Gameplay I have had two sessions of playing Act Raiser, and I am happy to say that I am still enjoying what this game has to offer. I’ve experienced both different styles of the game, the adventure side-scrolling and the over head view simulation god mode, relatively equally. As stated previously the side scrolling part of the game is good at what it does. However, I feel as if I should bring up the boss fights within the game thus far. For those who do not play very many adventure side scrollers, the basic premises of the game is to make it from one side of the screen to the other while killing various monsters (goblins, slugs, and demons), avoiding traps (bridge sections that fall after being stepped on), and lastly taking on the boss of the level/world. Now due to the fact that Act Raiser is broken up in its game play style, the player will end up fighting a boss at the end of each side scrolling section. The boss fights that I have been a part of have been increasing in difficulty. The fights have not been too easy, however I find it totally possible to just simply hack away at the Boss and just take him down quickly. Design Another item that I have just realized is the fact that Act Raiser is also a RPG, in the sense that one levels up throughout the game. However, the leveling up system is not like that of various Final Fantasy games where it is based upon how many enemies you kill and the distribution of experience points. Instead the leveling system is based upon the simulation system, which is where you help rebuild your kingdom and bring your followers back to the land. It is here that the game lets you level up after your population has reached a certain number. It is at this point that the player gains health and magic points to use. One of the downfalls of the game was the music. It played the same tracks no matter what place you were in, or level. Now this could seem like nitpicking but I must admit that the music in a game is a key element, and this to me is especially true for SNES games. However, in Act Raiser the music is not dynamic and it does not change with the levels, or the new towns, which I must admit does not make much sense. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:16:03 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1826&iddiary=3607https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1605Gamelog 1, Session 1 CMPS 80k Start: 2:40 End: 4:00 Summary: In Act Raiser the player assumes the role of a god recently awoken from his slumber, to only find his kingdom and followers in ruins. It is his hopes to regain his followers, kingdom, and powers. All of this is done in the form of side scrolling hack and slash, and a over-head view for the times during which you are rebuilding. Gameplay: What caught my attention most with the gameplay was the two very different styles in which the game is made up of. For some of the game you take the role of the "god", and inhabit a statue and go around fighting monsters in side scrolling levels. This part of the game I found enjoyable for its simplicity, many people know the basic concept of side scrolling "hack and slash" games, make your way from one end of the screen to the other all while fighting various monsters, and avoiding obstacles. Act Raiser does this aspect of the game quite well, its neither to hard, nor to easy, at least for the time I played. The other part of the game was done through the overhead view, in which you take the form of Angel, who needless to say is an Angel. In this portion of the game, you fly around and protect towns from monsters who fly around. Along with all this you help the "god's" followers rebuild their town and expand, taking out the monster spawn points and finding magical abilities and addding to your powers all come along in this portion of the game. I was surprised how well these elements worked with each other, and found neither as being tedious or not entertaining. Personally I had alot of fun during the rebuilding part of the game, it was also cool how you can access you diety abilities and call forth thunder, winds, or even earthquakes. And thus far I am still interested and invested into the story, and am looking forward to turning on my SNES again. Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:07:52 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1605&iddiary=3386