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Feb 9th, 2007 at 19:26:30 - Mario Kart DS (DS) |
I continued playing, but I decided to focus on the features that go over and beyond the standard Mario Kart. I believe that the mission system is original to the DS version though it may have been in the GBA version which I never played. Each level of mission categories follow a similar pattern, 8 missions that you can do in any order and then the nine mission which is a boss battle is unlocked. Once you complete the boss battle, the next level of missions is opened all the way to 7. There's a variety of different things to do from collecting coins, to go through gates, to beating a certain character through a lap of course. Overall it is a fun system.
However I think the most unique feature in Mario Kart, is also one that brings the player to have more of a connection to their racer. Most people will find a favorite driver and car combination or ping pong between a couple different ones. But this version allows you to go one step further and create a customizable avatar/symbol that will display on your car and next to your name if you decide to participate in online play, another feature that adds a whole lot of replay ability. The interface to draw your symbol is easy to use and there's a ton of online resources that you can use to create all sorts of symbols, from Star Fox to Metriod to pretty much anything you can think of.
This feature creates a kind of bond between the player and his current driver and car, and leads to a greater sense of enjoyment from the gameplay.
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Feb 9th, 2007 at 01:42:46 - Mario Kart DS (DS) |
This is the newest addition to one of my favorite series, stretching all the back to it's debut on the SNES. It features all the classic Mario Kart characters with two unique characters in Dry Bones and Rob the Robot. But that is not the only place this game delivers. It features tracks from every previous incarnation of the game. It has 8 grand prixs, totaling 32 tracks with 4 difficulty levels, a ton of missions, and the ever popular time trial, or you can battle with your friends.
The game play is simple, navigate the tracks, collect item boxes and use those items to knock around your foes. There is some skill involved with proper item usage and timing your slide/mini boosts. Also a new driving feature has been added , Drafting. Basically if you drive directly behind someone you'll have less air resistance so your speed will increase allowing you to zip past them.
All these aside, probably the best feature of the game is that it utilizes the single card multiplay features of the DS to all you to race with your friends, or strangers as long as they have a DS. Of course they're Shy Guys and the person with the card always gets to make the decisions, but from personal experience it's quite entertaining, and has lead to more sales of the game.
Being one of my favorite racing games stemming from the SNES, it has sated me for the time being, but my anticipation is rising for my other favorite racing game from the SNES, Diddy Kong Racing, soon to grace the DS.
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Jan 30th, 2007 at 17:24:00 - Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
One thing that was heavily on my mind when I was playing, was romantic subplots. It seems like they've come up a lot recently in books, and games I've just started. More often than not, they seem to be used for either a pivotal plot point that causes the rest of the storyline, or just random events that happen continually throughout the game. In the case of OoT, it seems both exist to an extent.
The plot arc of Link's love for Zelda seems to send him cavorting off throughout the world to save her from Ganondorf. That is if you interrupt his actions as a child to mean so. He could just be a courageous young man ultimately swayed by the power of the Triforce of Courage into saving the world for the greater good. I however like to think that there's some sort of feelings between Link and Zelda.
But that leaves the other love interest sub plots. There's Malon the young girl at the Lon Lon Ranch, and the story alludes to possible feelings for Link. Then there's Sara on of the Kokiri, who has a special bond with Link that allows him to speak to her through the Ocarina. Then there's Ruto, the lovely Zora princess, who informs Link that they will be wed since she gave him the Zora Sapphire.
However this is just one game, there's countless other games that use love subplots to accomplish things in games. It seems to work very well, at least for me. It seems like a nice change of pace to games where the world is ending, or some terrible event is going to blow up the planet. A little romance never hurt anyone.
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Jan 29th, 2007 at 22:18:32 - Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) |
Hey, Listen!
I've been an avid fan of this series since I was young, and while not my favorite of the series, I love Ocarina of Time. At the time that the n64 came out, my family was having financial difficulties, so I was sadly not going to be able to get any of the new consoles that were coming out, so I was resigned to the fact that I would just have to keep playing my SNES and live vicariously through my friends. But I was one of the lucky ones, and managed to win a n64 at taco bell, and it came with Goldeneye, which is another great game. It was probably because of these that I kept the n64 close to my heart when I the next generation of consoles came out, which I could thankfully afford by then. And of the games that I played on my n64, OoT was my favorite.
Gameplay wise it's a simple game. Each button on the controller performs an action, and they are usually displayed on the HUD. Also the game is very linear, there are a few side quests, and I do so love my side quests, but for the main part, you pretty much have to progress in a specific pattern, the storyline was heavily dictated by the developers.
Really there's so much to say about I guess I'll just start out with the basics. The tutorial process can always be annoying, but OoT is one of the few games that I don't get annoyed by the tutorial process. The controls are relatively simple, and it's easy to pick them up quickly. I don't remember having trouble originally, and this time round they just came back from rote memory. Also the Kokiri are just fun to learn how to play the game from. And of course you always have help from your trusty, annoying, c-up whining fairy, Navi, the most annoying fairy in all the land.
The tutorial process also goes pretty fast, but that could be because I remembered it all. And the graphics are pretty amazing, if you put them in context of what was happening during that time and what was released.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 29th, 2007 at 22:44:56.
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Apollo has been with GameLog for 17 years, 3 months, and 10 days |
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