Thursday, November 20, 2014

I once wrote a FAQ...

 Yup. I wanted to try writing one, I dunno why, maybe a young kid's whim or sumthin'. The game I chose? Naruto Ninja Council 2. It was pretty straightforward, which made it easy to cover, and it was also a game I enjoyed playing back in the day, so it was my poor victim. Also, think I snuck a jab at one of my friends, heh, but I might've deleted it in one of the many revisions I made. Actually, it's still there! The very last line "Juan JD Chimpy Se la come.", I was such a prick! Oh well, keep in mind I wrote this when I was younger, it has a lot of mistakes, and I do mean a lot. As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago I skimmed through it and came across many, many typos, which I fixed, but there's probably a lot more hidden throughout.

This is the link: http://www.gamefaqs.com/gba/920937-naruto-ninja-council-2/faqs/46924 .
And here it is in it's entirety(Man, this is so embarrassing):
Naruto Ninja Council 2

----------------------Intro INTR00--------------------------------------
This is the Archile's(Or Archale, 'tis the same) FAQ, it is my favorite FAQ,
because it is my FAQ. Can only be hosted on http://www.gamefaqs.com, 
http://www.supercheats.com, http://www.cheatcc.com and http://www.neoseeker.com.
Can't be reproduced on another web site without my consent.
So....what's the game all about? You play as the three main characters(Uzumaki
Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura) and have to beat the crap out of everyone
that crosses your path. Fun!
 Each character sports some of the jutsus used on the manga(They should have
added Rasengan instead of sexy jutsu for Naruto, and the Big fireball for
Sasuke instead of the Lion combo..., those attacks ARE part of the
characters...).
Anyways, the graphics are great, but the music sucks. Also the game is very
easy and very short, yet it's incredibly fun.

-----------------------------INDEX----------------------------------------
1- Intro (INT00)
2- Updates (UPTO00)Basics (BASI00)
3- Basics (BASI00)
4- Starting Up (STUP00)
5- Pick Ups (PIUP00)
6- Playable Character (CHAR00)
7- Enemies (ENEM00)
8- Traps (TRAP00)
9- Bosses (BOSS00)
10- Walkthrough (to come) (WLKT00)
11- Secrets (SECR00)
12- FAQ (FAQ000)
13- Review (REVI00)
14- Closing (CLUP00)
******************************************************************
--------------------Updates-----------------------------
-22/1/07: Corrected most grammatical errors.
          Fixed things here and there
          Added Updates section ^_^
-8/2/07: Corrected some damage values and whatnot, small things.
-26/1/1: Fixed some small typos I couldn't stand e_e.
--------------Basics ------------------------------(BASI00)
U- UP on the Dpad
D- DOWN on the Dpad
L- LEFT on the Dpad
R- RIGHT on the Dpad
A- A button
B- B button
R- Right shoulder button
L- Left shoulder button
ST- Start
S- Select

B- "Basic Attack", press it multiple times to make combos.

U+B- "Uppercut", press it to send an enemy flying overhead, useful to
distance yourself from enemies.

B- "Throw", when carrying a weapon, press B to shoot it.

A- "Jump", as the action implies, your character jumps, all characters Can
double jump.

L & R- "Walk", press the left arrow to move left, likewise with the right
arrow.

2xL&R- 1-"Dash", press an arrow twice to run in said direction
       2-"Dodge" press the opposite arrow to where you are facing twice to hop
       back

D- "Duck", when you duck, you can't attack or move, but lets you dodge
some projectiles(According to the booklet), but you can blow through the game
without ducking even once.

R- "Block" Use it to block incoming attacks, some attacks are
unblockable(Usually from bosses. You can Block while in the air.

L- Change character

S- Select scrolls(Can carry three at a time)

R+A- Use Scroll, you can use scrolls while lying in the floor(Not ducking), but
not while jumping.

ST - Pause game

Hold L or R and move the Dpad to check your surroundings

Combos:
B,B,B,B is the combo you'll be doing the most throughout the game, quite
useful too.

B,B,B,U+B to send the enemy upwards

B,B,B,A,B according to the booklet is a jump attack, I couldn't perform it
not even once.

Smoke Screen: Press D+A to teleport to the enemies behind(Useful in boss
fights).
It can also be used to evade some projectiles if you time it right.
Smoke Screen 2: Press U+A to teleport upwards

Jutsus: Jutsus are special attacks that drain some HP when used
Each character had four different Jutsus
1- Usually the weakest and the one that consumes the least HP, D,D,B
2- Usually the jutsu you'll be doing the most, U,U,B
3- The strongest, usually, D,U;B
-------------------------Starting up-----------------------------(STUP00)
On the main menu there are four options:
TOP LEFT: New Game- Begin a new game
BOTTOM LEFT: Continue Saved file
TOP RIGHT: Co-Op: play a cooperative game
BOTTOM TIGHT: VS- Play against someone.
---------------------Game Screen--------------------------------
At the top left corner, you'll se the face of the character you are using.
The bar, to the right of said face is the health bar (goes from green-blue-
yellow-red-DEAD). Below the health bar are the scrolls,
the one that is being selected is highlighted. When you hit an enemy, his
health bar will appear on the top right corner.Press Start to access the
Pause Menu, with two options : "Return", to the game, or "End Game" to return
to the main menu.

Pick Ups PIUP00
There are 4 different types of pick ups

 Health kits- Two kinds, Heal little to medium damage for all the characters.

 Leaves- They don't do anything, but you need them to up your score.

 Knives- Basic Throwing Weapons:
Can't hold more than one, and Can only be used once ( until you get another)
on the bottom left corner on the screen you Can see if you are holding
something. Can be used in the air, and you can't use normal attacks until you
throw them.
Kunai - Medium damage
Shuriken - Medium damage
Needle - Little Damage
Big Shuriken(It had a name....Kaze Shuriken or something of the like)
Instant kill on common enemies.

 Scrolls: Can carry up to three, if you get another one, the new one will
disappear.
The enemy must be on the screen(You must be seeing them) and not lying in the
floor or in the air. Press select to change the highlighted scroll and press
R+A to use them.(Can be used while you are lying in the floor)

Kakashi- It has electricity around- The best scroll, deals a lot of damage,
by having Kakashi execute Chidori, it can be used when an enemy is jumping.
Save it for bosses.

Kiba and Akamaru- It has a dog- A somewhat good scroll, Kiba and Akamaru
use their signature move and hit an enemy, if another enemy is in the way,
they will hit him too. Medium Damage

Chouji- The round scroll- Not really a favorite of mine, Chouji uses his
signature move to hit an enemy, if another enemy is close, he may or may
not get attacked too. Kiba and Akamaru are better
than him.

Shikamaru- The scroll covered in darkness- In my opinion the worst scroll.
Shikamaru uses the kage bind jutsu, stopping the enemies for some time
allowing you to hurt them. Hitting one enemy will damage all of them.It also
freezes the screen, and you can't grab items while it is in use.

Shino- The Scroll covered with bugs- When fighting bosses, it really won't 
make a difference, but when fighting common enemies, it's really useful.
He hits all enemies on screen, usually killing them.Also it deals a LOT of
damage to the sound ninjas.

SECRET-----SECRET----SECRET
Stop reading if you wanna figure it out for yourself.

Sandaime- The big scroll with a symbol and leaves falling around- Takes the
place of Kakashi's scroll(A shame, since Kakashi looks bad ass) The monkey and
the old guy team up to attack the enemy. Instant kill on most bosses too(Works
on everyone but the last Orochimaru(Chap 6) but leaves him in red healh. It
also won´t work on Gaara and Neji, since Sandaime doesn´t appear on those 
stages.

DONE-----DONE----DONE

Playable Characters CHAR00
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Naruto: In my opinion, the best character, he is strong, has good Jutsus, a
lot of health and deals a lot of damage. Oh, and he looks bad ass while
doing so.
 Naruto (G)reatness (P)oints: 5/5

Jutsus:
D-D-B: "U-ZU-MA-KI NARUTO RENDAN!" One of the best looking Jutsus, Naruto
uses Kage bunshin to summon clones, and use the combo on the enemy
(The attack is based on one of Sasuke's attack, which in turn is based on
Rock Lee's attack). Deals plenty of damage and you don't lose much
health(Around one health bar).
5/5 GPs

U-U-B: "Oiroke no Jutsu": Naruto transforms into a scantily clad woman to
seduce enemies. CRAPPY JUTSU. Makes the enemies stop moving for some time,
doesn't work on all bosses, and you don't lose much health.
0.5/5 GPs

D-U-B: Summons the chief Toad, great attack, deals a LOT of damage, but you
lose medium health. Great on normal enemies, but it works wonders on bosses. If
it fails(Sometimes it does) you don't lose health, however if it works and
there is no enemy on the screen, it WILL take life from you.
4.5/5 GPs, if only it didn't fail sometimes.....(Which rarely does)

Knives:
He sucks with all of them, he deals little damage, though it's instant kill
with the Big Shuriken.
GPs with knives: 2/5

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sasuke: Good all-around, with the best Jutsus, not to mention he is great with
knives. Most people will rather use him over Naruto, but Naruto deals more
damage and has more health, thus making him better than Sasuke.
You may want to use Sasuke for boss fights, due to his great Jutsus.
Sasuke's GPs 4/5

Jutsus:
D-D-B: Chidori: Hatake Kakashi's attack, good looking and deals a lot of
damage, costs one health bar to use. The enemy Can be jumping when it's used.
4/5 GPs

U-U-B: Shishi Rendan: The best looking attack in the game, deals a decent
amount of damage and costs little health.The enemy can be jumping when you use
it
5/5 GPs

D-U-B: Sharingan: Makes enemies take more time to decide what to do. Crappy
attack, but takes little health, much better than Oiroke no jutsu, though
2/5 Gps

Knives: He throws two of each weapon, and deals medium damage.
When he throws the Big Shuriken, it goes back to him, thus making two
trips.
 4/5 GPs
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Sakura: She may seem useless...well, she, for the most part is useless. Her
strength lies in the knives, she deals the most damage with them. In the manga,
she doesn't have any signature jutsu or trait, but on Naruto part 2 she gains
super strength and healing abilities.
She´s useful for the Time Challenge stages, because you only need to run, and
she has a speed enhancing jutsu.
Sakura's GPs 3/5

Jutsus:
D-D-B: "Inner Sakura" Inner Sakura somehow materializes and hit the enemy
for 20+hits. deals a medium amount of damage.
3/5 GPs

U-U-B: "Chakra Control" She gets faster, and doesn't do combos with "B",
instead she chains the basic attack, until the enemy finally falls. Only lasts
about 20 seconds, but takes little health.
3/5 GPs

D-U-B: "Inner Sakura barrage" makes all the attacks you do a "Inner
Sakura", for a limited time. On Bosses you Can chain them(Hit the enemy again
before he falls) into a 50+combo that deals a LOT of damage.
4/5 GPs

Knives:
She deals a lot of damage with all of them, throws two of all the weapons
but the Big shuriken and the kunai.
5/5 GPs
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
SECRET----SECRET----SECRET
Stop reading if you don't want to get a spoiler of what you may get

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Rock Lee: Fuzzy Brows, he's the second best Character next to Naruto. He is a
bit stronger than him, has a bit less health, his Jutsus are REALLY expensive
and he is worse than Naruto with Knives.
Why do you wanna use him? His jutsus are STRONG. and he deals a lot of
damage.
Fuzzy Brows' GPs 4/5

D-D-B- Rendan- Rock Lee Combos the  enemy into the air. Lots of damage,
takes a medium amount of health
4/5 GPs

U-U-B- Weights- Lee Remove his Weight becoming faster an stronger for a
short time. Similar to Sakura's "Chakra Control", takes little health(1/5 ofthe
health bar).
3/5 GPs

D-U-B: The strongest jutsus in the game, I recommend only using it twice,
otherwise you'll be with little health left.
5/5 GPs

Knives: Don't....simply don't, Lee Throws them diagonally wherever he
wants, they deal little damage. Don't, switch to Sakura or something....but for
the love of god don't.
1/5 GPs
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

---------------------------Enemies-----------------------------(ENEM00)
Common Ninja: They are on ALL stages and most sub stages. They can throw
Kunais and teleport, they also have a running attack and a jumping attack.
Normally, a 4hit combo is all you need to kill them.

Big Ninja: Slow, they like to block a lot. They only have one attack, but
it deals a LOT of damages and knocks you back.

Clawed Ninja: They are REALLY weak, you can kill them in one combo. Their
attacks deal small damage.

Purple Ninja: Not a real threat, can be killed with one hit.

Brute: I call the guy with the iron ball the "Brute", he looks like one,
and acts like one so..... Their attacks need momentum, so you can kill them
before they actually attack. IF they do attack, they'll hurt you for medium
damage.

Sand Ninja: I'm not sure if this guys are ninjas....but they must be. They
are relatively weak, but like to corner you with their attacks, Don't LET THEM
CORNER YOU!, they like to spam their attacks, they REALLY do.

Scythe Ninja: Has two kinds of attacks, by either throwing it in a straight
line, for little damage, or throwing it upward for medium damage and knock back.

Masked Ninja: Not a real threat, creates crystal walls that push you back.
Simply teleport behind them and kill them. The crystals can be destroyed, but
he makes a new one in a matter of seconds.
-------------------------------Traps-------------------------------(TRAP00)
Bamboo Spikes: They are the green spiky things. Easily to avoid, just jump
over them. If you DO touch them, they will do light damage.

Red Seal: They are the papers with red fire, if you touch them, they'll
explode after some time.

Green Seal: Like the red one, but with green fire, they explode on contact
for light damage

Rolling logs: They appear on the Time Challenges, just jump over them.

Concrete Block: They appear in Time Challenges, just hit them to break them.
Use a jumping attack, since if you make a running attack(DOuble tap an arrow
and press B) your character will stop running, yet if you jump attack, he'll
keep running.

Fire Columns: They are Red funnel-like things from which a fire column
sprouts up. If you see a bit of fire on the tip, it means it has just ended or
is beginning to spit fire. If the fire gets you, you'll most likely get hit
twice.

Chained Blocks: Are blocks with a chain that holds them up. They go up and
down, you have to use them as platforms, and if you are below one when they
fall down, it will hurt you.

Chained Spike Balls: They are big balls full of spikes describing half a
circle, hurts a bit and throws you down.

Spikes: A different design of the Bamboo Spikes, the damage they deal is the
same.
-------------------------------Bosses------------------------------(BOSS00)
Strategy: This works for most bosses, except maybe Gaara and Kabuto. Teleport
behind the boss, combo him, and when he gets up(Usually teleports), wait till
he is on the screen, and teleport behind them, then do a three or two hit combo
followed by a damaging jutsu(Shishi Rendan and U-ZU-MA-KI NARUTO rendan! are
great choices). and keep doing that. Make sure that the enemy has less health
than you when you use a jutsu.

Rock Lee: Haha, he's really weak, just spam the normal attacks.

Orochimaru: The first time you see him, he has three attacks:
1) Three hit combo
2) He puts his hand to his mouth and does a big projectile, with small radium
3) He puts his hands together and summons a snake below you.

Like all bosses, teleport behind him, hit him with  combo and get away from
his body. When he gets up, wait for him to get close to you, teleport, hit him
twice and use a jutsu(Shishi Rendan, Summon, Chidori, or  Uzumaki Naruto Rendan
work wonders on him)(this way you ensure he has less health than you when he
use a jutsu, so he loses more health than you). If you hit him AFTER he had his
hands together, the snake will still bite you.In case you didn't notice, your
best bet is to use Naruto or Sasuke(or the Secret Character).

You'll meet him again numerous times, and on the second one he'll be able
to summon a sword that will slash at you, EVEN when Orochimaru is lying in the
floor. He will pull the sword once he gets to the yellow health bar.
It is possible to beat him before he pulls the sword from his throat.(Looks
awesome).
The third time, when you fight him and he reaches the yellow health bar, he'll
summon the two past hokages. They will try to trap you in ivy and shoot energy
at you.
Like with the sword, you can kill him before he summons the hokages.
Kakkashi and *SECRET* work wonders on this fool.

Sound Ninja 1: AKA Spiky haired Ninja. Get used to his face, as you'll see
it many more times.
 He has three attacks:
1) Shoots in three direction small sound waves, if only one hits you, light
damage.
2) Shoots a BIG sound wave, with short radium, for medium damage
3) Shoots a sound wave from below you, for medium damage
He's an easy kill, like most bosses.
The first time you fight him ,You'll be using Sakura, it is recommended
that you use the "Inner Sakura Barrage" and hit him, and before he touches the
floor hit him again, for a 52+ combo attack.
Each time you meet him, he'll get slightly stronger and faster.
Shino, Chouji, Kakkashi and *SECRET* work wonders on this fool.

Sound Ninja 2: AKA the one with the fur cape. If you meet the Sound Ninja
1, You'll see the Sound Ninja 2.
He has three attacks:
1) 4 hit combo, medium damage(you can evade most of them even if you get
hit by one)
2)Grab, he stays put, his arm shines, and he dashes forward, easy to evade,
if he does catch you(Very unlikely) he'll do medium damage
3) Jump Attack, light damage.
Each time you meet him, he'll get slightly stronger and faster.
Shino, Chouji, Kakkashi and *SECRET* work wonders on this fool.


(Next Update: Kabuto,Gaara, Etc)
-----------------------------Walkthrough---------------------------(WLKT00)
Basics of the game:
You will get a grade(A,B or C) on four areas : Time, Characters, Enemies
defeated and Leaves collected.
-You must finish each stage quickly to gain an A rank
-You must gather a certain amount of leaves or more to get an A(Example, if you
get 9/10 you get a B, if you get 10/10 or 20/10 you get an A.
- To get an A, all characters must survive(If the secret character dies you
get a B)
- To get an A you need to beat a certain amount of enemies. The ranking is
like the one of the leaves, you must kill ATLEAST X number of enemies

In total, you get 4 ranks, if you get, for example,
A,A,B,A---->Total RANK=A
C,A,A,A---->Total RANK=B
A,A,B,B---->Total RANK=B
Beat the game with an A to get the "HOKAGE" rank
Beat the game with a  B, having collected more As than Bs to get "S.Jounin"
Beat the game with a  B, having collected more Bs than As or Cs to get
the "Jounin" rank.

*********************Events***********************************
Time Challenge(TM): You get a speed boost, and need to reach the end in a
certain amount of time.

Defeat All Enemies!(DAE): You need to kill all the enemies on screen to
continue, usually they come in waves of three.

Chief Toad VS The Sand Demon; A Event which only occurs on the last chapters if
you do....something...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*START...!*
Goals:
Leaves: Gather 10 or more
Enemies: Beat 01 enemy
Characters: All Characters must survive

This is a one on three battle against Rock Lee, Jump around to grab the
scroll and the leaves. Rock isn't hard at all, just pummel him to death.

Tip:
Unlike most bosses, Rock won't teleport as soon as he gets up, so you can
get close to him and hit him as he gets back on his feet.

---------------Chapter 02-----------
*The Second Exam*
Sub-Stages: 5
Enemies:  Ninja
          Big Ninja
          Clawed Ninja
          Liquid Ninja
Traps:    Rolling Logs
          Bamboo Spikes
          Red and green Seals
Boss/es: Orochimaru, Sound Ninja 1, Sound Ninja 2
Tasks: Get more than 55 leaves, slay more than 90 enemies
TMs: 1
DAEs: 7

Sub Stage 1:

Here you just have to press forward, the screen will get locked thrice
until you defeat all enemies.
There are logs scattered around that may carry knives or leaves.
You will find Clawed Ninjas, Common Ninjas and Big Ninjas.
Remember to avoid the seals, specially the green one as it explodes upon
touching

Sub Stage 2:
Defeat Orochimaru- Fairly easy, just teleport behind him and
pummel him, you don't need to deplete his whole life bar.

Defeat the Sound Village Ninjas: Handicap: Only Sakura.
If you unlocked the Secret character, he'll be selectable too.
First You'll face the Spiky haired Ninja, he has three types of attacks,
and all are easily avoidable. Don't stray to far, as he may attack you from
below.If you linger for too long, Sasuke will be playable too.
After defeating him, the one with the fur behind will be next. Sometimes he
won't teleport upon getting up, so you may want to wait near him to pummel him.
Remember to get the two scrolls located on the top of the left and right
corners. They Are Chouji and Shikamaru.

Sub Stage 3:
Your first time challenge, you have 280 seconds to reach the
end. All characters get a speed boost. Here you will have to avoid the Bamboo
Spikes, and the seals, and near the end, some rolling logs.
Remember to try to grab all leaves, and if you miss some, you CAN'T go back,
so time your jumps.

Sub Stage 4:
Don't USE SCROLLS, as the timer keeps ticking, and the scrolls
take to long(YES IM LOOKING AT YOU,CHOUJI!). The characters lose the speed
boost, and you'll meet a new enemy, Purple Ninjas, they die with one hit, so no
biggie. Theres one "Defeat all enemies".

Sub Stage 5:
Now, this is more like the Sub Stage 1, as you don't have speed
boost, and the screen WILL get locked thrice(again). The enemies, yet again,
are the Purple,Clawed,Common and Big Ninjas.
On the second lock, if you go far to the left, you'll see a log, break it
to reveal a healing kit.
Throw the enemies to the spikes to kill the easilier.

You just Beated Stage 2!.
----------------------------Chapter 3--------------------------------
(To be continued)
-----------------------------------SECRETS------------------------(SECR00)

-Beat the game once to get ROCK LEE as an extra, fourth character(It makes
the game EVEN easier).
-Beat the game with all As to get the 3rd Hokage Scroll(Instant Kill on ANY
enemy and bosses) it makes the game EVEN easier.
-Beat the game with all As to make the words in the save screen purple.

----------------------------------FAQ-----------------------------(FAQ000)
Q: If I have the secret character on my team, do I need to get him killed to, in
order to play the Chief Toad mini-game?
R: Yes, otherwise you have to do the long way with SECRET and Naruto

Q: Aaaah! The Kakashi Scroll dissapeared!
R: You proably won the game with the A rank, so Kakashi is gone, forever(On
that save file), but a much better scroll took his place.

Q: The Jutsus won't work! What's going on?
R: You have to press them nice and slowly, otherwise they won't work.

Q: Can I play as Neji?, I saw a video of someone playing as him
R: Nope, you probably saw a video of MUGEN...
---------------------------REVIEW---------------------------(REVI00)
Graphics: (8/10) I´m being generous, so what, the animation is great, the
sprites are big and it all looks awesome, don't expect fancy special effects
like Golden Sun though.

Sound (3/10) It sound like a Gameboy Color game, I kid you not!

Control(5/10) It ain't good, the Jutsus are hard to perform and the characters
move kinda...clunky(But are Excellently animated)

Gameplay(5/10) It's your run of the mill Beat em up, nothing too special

Extras (5/10) Will you be replaying the game? Yes, but not to get anything
new. The two unlockables make the game even easier than it was before, not to
mention that it's so short that it Can be beaten in under 2 hours.

Fun(10/10)Basically I talked bad of everything, yet I find the game
incredibly fun, I simply can't put the game down :P

Total:
"Honest" : 4/10, most people would be better off without playing it, unless
they like Naruto
"Narutard" 10/10 AWESOME ITS A MUST PLAY!!!!!111
"Based on Fun" 8/10, this is MY opinion, I really loved the game, but I
doubt anyone will like it as much as I did.....

---------------------------Closing Up-------------------(CLUP00)
Everything written here belongs to me, Ignacio "Archile" Puppo.
Besides Archile, I may(if Archile happens to be taken)
be called Archale....
Don't steal, pleasy please.
Contact info: cronocrosser@hotmail.com
Juan JD Chimpy Se la come.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Review #170: Sonic Battle

 The GBA ain't dead. It ain't dead!
 Back in the PS2 era, when Sega abandoned ship with the Dreamcast and became a third party developer/publisher, Sonic's games had hit an all-time low. I mean, Shadow the Hedgehog driving a bike and wielding guns. However, the GBA was graced with some phenomenal Sonic games. It also received Sonic Battle, a 4 player fighting game based on the Sonic franchise.

 There's four main modes in the game, Story, Battle, Challenge and Mini-games. Sadly, Mini-games require three other players, so I couldn't try them. Battle mode is self explanatory, you and up to three other players duke it out in any of the game's arenas, and you can tweak the rules. Challenge Mode is an Arcade-like ladder, but it's actually a real bore, as you have to score 10 points on every stage, it gets pretty boring really fast. Then there's Story Mode, which has Emerl, a Gizoid(A sort of robot) fall on Sonic's town, and Sonic and friends make it their job to raise them... and eventually collect all 8 Chaos Emeralds. The story is pretty dumb, characters are badly written as well, but at least it has a story mode, and it's pretty lengthy. Sometimes it suffers from the same fate as the Challenge Mode, this mode can get long in the tooth, particularly when they make you fight the same enemy more two times in a row.
 The game offers some neat twists to the arena fighting, for starters, each character has access to 6 different special moves, however, you can only equip 2 before starting a match, and every time you die, you are allowed to switch them up before respawning. You fight by using the A button to land your basic combo, although you can use the directional pad for strong attacks or uppercuts, B allows you to jump, L is used for your special moves, and R is used to block/parry or heal if held. Receiving enough damage, parrying hits or healing also charges a green bar above the health bar, once filled, it will make your next Special move a 1-hit kill, if it isn't blocked or parried. The developers managed to make a pretty solid system despite the GBA's lack of buttons, that's not to speak of the game itself, which is fast and pretty fun, however, the game doesn't feel very balanced, Shadow and Chaos are incredibly strong, Gamma can be a pain in the neck, and Cream's only saving grace is her heal.

 One thing that did bother me was the camera, fights take place on rather large 3D arenas witch multiple objects, usually in the form of walls, and characters can be completely covered by these walls. The game allows you to turn the camera while blocking, but in the heat of battle it can be hard to pull off, and the camera will revert to its default position whenever you respawn. The obstacles, walls and platform in the arenas are appreciated, but they shouldn't have made the walls so damn high!
 The previously named Emerl is unique among the other characters due to the fact that you can customize him, which sounds really cool, but it's a bit of a chore. Firstly, getting moves from the other characters is completely random, fighting a particular character ensures that you'll get one of their moves, but here's the kicker... you can get repeat move cards. It actually makes a bit of sense, since you could, if you have friends that own the game, trade moves with your friends, but seeing how I couldn't, it made it fairly annoying on my end. Another issue I had, is that grinding for skill points, the ones that allow you to equip different moves, takes a long time. You can only earn them in story mode, and in 1, 2, 5 and 10 increments, and moves can take up anywhere from 5 to 30 skill points. It also makes Story mode a bit of a pain when you get to the forced Emerl fights, a poorly equipped Emerl(Be it due to luck, since you couldn't find good cards or lack of skill points to equip them) can have a hard time on some fights. So... yes, it's a good idea, you can make a Emerl with the best moves from every character, even switch up his battle pose and colors! But making a custom-tailored Emerl takes a while.

 The game looks beautiful, not only do the sprites look very stylish and vibrant, the animations are, mostly, really good. Stages are fully rendered in 3D, and I think it's one of the best uses of 3D I've seen on the system. The music is pretty forgettable, and the sound effects lack a certain oomph, truth be told, I found myself playing with the system muted and my own background music... except when fighting the cheap, cheap Gamma, who likes to self-destruct, but he's at least nice enough to tell you when he's gonna explode.

 I think my biggest issue with Sonic Battle is the point in time I chose to play it in. Now a days, nobody uses their GBAs or Link Cables anymore, so since I didn't have other people to play the Battle mode with or to trade my repeated cards, it wasn't as fun as it could've been. Regardless, it is pretty fun when brawling just for the sake of battling, all 10 characters are pretty unique, and the fighting system is pretty solid.
 6.0 out of 10.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Now Playing: One Piece - Grand Adventure

 WHY DIDN'T I LEARN OF THIS GAME BEFORE?!
 I think I've written about this game before, yadda yadda I discovered One Piece through Rumble Arena 3, fell in love with the game, yadda yadda, learned of Grand Battle but discovered it lacked Eneru, my favorite villain in One Piece, so I decided to skip it, yadda yadda heard about Grand Adventure and promptly bought it.

 What can I say? The game is awesome, it's incredibly fun, even without Eneru it would've been a worthy purchase. There's only two big things I can complain about, firstly, the game only has the dub voices, which are terrible. I'm not one of those "JAPANESE IS THE TRUE WAY OF LIFE" people, but this dub is really atrocious. And the second one is that the game seems to be a tad too ambitious, some of the larger, more intricate stages tend to make the game suffer from slow down, and it can get really annoying. Heck, the racing mini-game is full of slowdown, making it fairly unfun.

 Regardless, gameplay's where it's at, and boy is it good! The controls seem a bit overwhelming at first, but it's pretty easy to grasp them. Moving around the arenas feels very good, and when the game is running smoothly, it's very enjoyable. Graphics are deserving of a special mention, they use a "slightly" deformed look, which isn't bad, and the character models are fairly detailed and look pretty good in motion, the way clothes move, like Luffy's jacket, looks very nice.

 Basically, One Piece Grand Adventure is all kinds of awesome.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Top 10 Dynasty Warriors.... Warriors

 I love Dynasty Warriors, as I have stated numerous times throughout this blog's history. The gameplay has always been the main attraction, but one of the series' strongest points is the character roster. Every numbered iteration brings along redesigns for the entire cast, which is why I'm gonna note which version of which character is my favorite, however, regardless of which version I prefer, if a character makes it here, I must like them as a whole.


10: Ma Chao
 Ok, I admit, I admit, I like him purely due to his looks and color scheme. He's always been associated with Dragons, which is really badass, and most of his designs have been nothing short of amazing... except maybe his DW 6 looks. Ma Chao wields a spear, and flies with the traditional green colors of Shu, usually complimented with yellow armor and highlights and fights for justice. My favorite design was his DW 7 incarnation.

9: Dian Wei
 While I liked Ma Chao for his looks, I like Dian Wei for his personality. Really, I'm not a fan of bald beefcakes, but this guy is all kinds of badass. Dian Wei isn't particularly smart, and thinks he can solve anything by force, and surprisingly, he is a very nice guy. He admires Cao Cao to a fault, becoming his bodyguard and eventually giving up his life for him in one of the most memorable scenes in the series... Even after dying from the numerous volleys of arrows, his body continues to stand in place, protecting his lord's retreat. Dian Wei usually wields an axe, although he did use the ball and chain in DW 6. My favorite version of Dian Wei is the one in DW 8.

8: Cao Cao
 Early games portrayed Cao Cao as the most evil of the Kingdoms, in lieu with the somewhat biased novel, but as of.. 6? They've been showing that there was more to Cao Cao than a bloodthirsty demon. Which makes it hard not to somewhat sympathize with Cao Cao's views. Another pivotal moment that completely sold me on the character was Dian Wei's death in DW 7, in which he lamented Dian Wei's death as he promised: "I will not apologize, but I will make your dream a reality". That's Cao Cao, relentless on his pursue of his own vision of peace. Cao Cao has always fought with a Sword, and lately, he's been given some Ice attacks. My favorite rendition of the Lord of Chaos was in Dynasty Warriors 6.

7: Cao Pi
 Cao Pi takes after his father, Cao Cao, and succeeds him after his death. Cao Pi is a very no-nonsense individual, and while he respects his father, he actually wants to surpass him. Proof of Cao Pi's worth is that Sima Yi respected him and worked with him... his successors weren't as apt as him, but Cao Pi gave Sima Yi his blessing should they not meet his expectations, further solidifying the mutual respect both men had for each other. Cao Pi has fought with two swords as well as a dual blade, and usually wears a ton of white alongside Wei's blue. My favorite version has to be the one in 8.

6: Zhou Yu
 Zhou Yu used to be my favorite character, but my, how the mighty have fallen. His very first appearance, in DW 1 had him wearing a rather simple white attire. For DW2 he wore red and yellow, and as the games kept coming, he started adding more and more white to his colors. The first misstep was in DW 6, where they redesigned him from the ground up, and the result was hideous, they also took away his Jian for a bo staff. I can respect what they were going for with his DW7 version, but it was still a far cry from his badassery in previous installments. DW 8 is certainly a step in the right direction, but he is still wielding that damned staff. Zhou Yu was Wei's strategist, almost on par with Zhang Liao, he bore a rivalry with him until the ends of his days. One rather cute detail, is that Zhou Yu and his best friend Sun Ce married sisters. My favorite version was the one in Dynasty Warriors 5.

5: Lu Bu
 You cannot make one of these lists without mentioning Lu Bu, you simply can't. While Zhao Yun is the guy that gets to appear in most covers, Lu Bu is the guy everyone remembers. Most games warn you not to pursue Lu Bu, and you'd best heed them until you've higher levels, else you might end up on the receiving end of his Halberd Boomerang-thing. As Cao Cao once put it, Lu Bu is stronger than anybody... and dumber than anybody else, his downfall is usually brought down upon himself by his own arrogance. Still, when you are this strong, you get bragging rights. My favorite costume of the mightiest warrior in the Three Kingdoms is his alternate costume in DW6, the gold version of the costume pictured above.

4: Sun Ce
 Sun Ce, the 'Little Conqueror', is a very energetic, brash, charismatic and loud mouthed individual. He's prowess for battle isn't matched by his poor tactical insight, which is why he relies on his best friend and strategist Zhou Yu. His life is cut tragically short, but he leaves a lasting impression on his brother Sun Quan. Sun Ce is one of the many reasons Wu is my favorite Kingdom, he is an all-around nice guy, and is very straightforward in his approaches: If he can punch it, he will punch it. Sun Ce usually fights with Tonfas, but in DW 6 he used a Spear. My favorite version of the Little Conqueror was the one in 6, he had a very... Romeish attire, though I could do without the spear.

3: Wang Yuanji
 Wang Yuanji is awesome. She's one of the few people that are not afraid to push Sima Zhao into getting stuff done. While she's Sima Zhao's future wife, in the game she seems to admire his brother, Sima Shi, and while she does have high hopes for Sima Zhao, she spends most of her time with him nagging. What makes Yuanji different from the rest of the rather plain female cast, is that she's very aloof and serious, and is more than "somebody's daughter" or "somebody's wife". Wang Yuanji isn't very strong, which is why her weapons are throwing knives, while weak, they cover a huge area and is ideal for raking up kills on common grunts. She's also cute like a button. My favorite version of her is.... tied. Both DW 7 and DW8 have great renditions of her!

2: Sun Quan
 I admit I didn't like Sun Quan until Dynasty Warriors 7. He simply looked so... plain and forgettable. And then came Dynasty Warriors 7, and it delved deeply into Sun Quan, and my, was he an interesting character. He is what made, for me, Wu one of the most interesting Kingdoms in DW 7, and it's hard not to root for him. And, for the record, Shu totally had it coming, Liu Bei should've returned Jing as promised. He doesn't have the most badass look, he doesn't have the most badass personality, and the fact that he accomplishes so much while lacking in the badassery, is what makes him so engaging, you root for this guy, you want him to unify the Three Kingdoms. He's always used swords, and my favorite version of him is the one in Dynasty Warriors 8

1: Sima Zhao
 Sima Zhao is the unlikeliest of heroes. At a glance, he looks and acts dumb, but that's only because he is lazy. Few people, like Want Yuanji and his brother, Sima Shi, can see beyond his laziness and the greatness that hides inside him. Sadly, it takes a while for his resolve to blossom, which makes enemies of some of his allies, but once he gets serious, he gets stuff done. He is the man that unified the three kingdoms, even if it didn't last long after his death. I really liked his story and personality in DW 7, but he looked... dumb, like a jock of sorts. But in DW 8 they changed him up, and he now looks like a proper hero. All in all, Sima Zhao is my favorite Dynasty Warriors character as of DW 8, hopefully his DW 9 redesign takes after his more heroic appearance.

Review #169: Nightmare Creatures

  Dated... but fun. But very, very dated.
 Nightmare Creatures was a third person horror game that differed from the norm. While most horror games back then would have you managing ammo and a limited inventory space, alongside some simple puzzles, Nightmare Creatures decided to forgo all that, and go for a more action oriented route, and a surprisingly good combat system.

 Game takes place in 1834, London, after an outbreak of monsters take the town by storm. It falls upon the ears of Father Ignatius and Nadia that an Adam Crowley is behind all the monsters running rampart, so both heroes decide to track him down. It's a simple setup, with little more narrative throughout the game, limited to a few lines of text before each stage. Characters don't get any kind of development, but I enjoyed the setting and the art style they used. Monsters look fairly creepy, and there's something charming about a zombie that can sidestep like Muhammad Ali.
 Controls are awful. Well, not completely, combat works fine, the problem lies everywhere else. Firstly, the game employs tank-like controls, y'know, left and right turns you around instead of making your character move. This is very imprecise, and probably remnants of a different direction the game was gonna take. Oh, and don't bother using the analog stick, it makes it even worse. Sidesteps are mapped to the shoulder buttons, but I found no use for them in combat, the circle button(Block) is all you need. Another huge problem the game has is the camera, when engaging enemies in combat, it will move around to give you a better view of your character and the enemy, and this is fine, but sometimes when turning around, it will decide to choose some awkward angles, this is more of a rarity, but it's usually coupled with a second issue: Platforming. I've established that the controls are imprecise, well, some stages feature platforming and it works terribly, worst of all, missing a jump means losing a Life, and trust me, you are gonna need those. Stage 4 is the worst offender, and has all the issues I've mentioned... so far.

 Combat works fairly well, Square and X can be used to start combos, but some combos actually involve the other two face buttons. Both characters, Ignatius and Nadia, have a very decent amount of combos, and both characters play very different from each other. However, as good as the combat is, most of the time, as soon as you land a clean hit on an enemy, you can just mash one button until they die. Rounding up your arsenal are items that you can find, these range from healing supplies, to guns, mines, dynamite or even freezing powers. You can also sever the enemy's limbs with the stronger, longer combos or while using the Berserk item.  If the game got one thing right, it's the combat.
 The game can get fairly challenging, and if you run out of lives, it's game over. One thing I didn't like in the least was the Adrenaline meter. Going too long without killing an enemy will make the adrenaline gauge drop, and once it's depleted, you'll start losing HP steadily. It's a pretty annoying mechanic, levels are kinda large, and you need to explore them, whether to find items or the much sought after extra lives, or maybe to find the trigger that will open the door blocking your path. The game has a ton of secrets, which makes the Adrenaline gauge fairly unwelcome, heck, the N64 port actually allows you to turn it off. I heard that bosses are supposed to be easy, but for the life of me I don't see it. I couldn't finish a single boss without losing, at least, a life. Make it about ten for the last one. You can also use cheats(Or finish the game) to gain the ability to play as the different monsters from the game(Sadly, it seems to be random which monster you get each level), or even get unlimited items and lives.

 The game's graphics have their ups and downs. On the upside, enemies look great, and the environments are highly detailed. The game uses very dark colors, alongside mist effects and the dreary look the textures give to the objects, it looks very nice. However, it's a bit too much for the PS1 to handle, and in turn means that there's a very short draw distance, most of the time you'll be staring at the black unknown. Animations have certainly seen better days though! The music I liked fairly much, it's nothing special, but it suits the game and helps set the mood.

 I'm gonna be fairly blunt here, the game has aged terribly. Controls are a... nightmare, the amount of damage enemies can deal in a few hits is borderline unfair, the animations look very unnatural to say the least, levels can get very confusing and the adrenaline gauge keeps dropping to add to the annoyance, and the platforming sections? Absolutely dreadful. And despite all this... I kinda like the game, it may be partly due to nostalgia, since I loved this game when I was younger, but I can't deny that I can have fun with this game, while acknowledging that time hasn't been kind.
 5.5 out of 10.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Now Playing: Nightmare Creatures

 Ain't no rest for the wicked.
 So, brief overview, since I'm kinda tiredish and my eyes are killing me. Nightmare Creatures was a game I was, for some reason, rather fond of... on the Nintendo 64. Still, I've been wanting to give it another whirl for a while, and lo and behold, here I am.

 First thing I noticed: The controls are terrible, really. But the combo system is pretty decent, even if the movement is kinda choppy. I'm diggin' the art style and the sidestepping zombies, pretty agile bastards! The "Virus meter" seems like a dumb handicap, but oh well, let's see how it goes.

 One of the main characters is named Ignatius, the ultimate name of baddasery, which makes Nightmare Creature the GOTF(Game of the Forever).

Review #168: Rampage 2 - Universal Tour

 Who... who makes a sequel and takes away features? WHO DOES THAT?!
 Rampage World Tour was a passable remake of the classic Arcade game. It seems like they wanted to up the ante with Rampage 2, thus "Universal" Tour... but somewhere along the way it seems they forgot that a sequel is supposed to add features, not take them away(Unless they were bad or broken).

 The game actually has a story, not that it matters, but it has the previous three heroes(Lizzie the Lizard, George the Gorilla and Ralph the Wolf) captured by the soldiers. As one of three new Monsters, it's your job to rescue them(AKA unlock them for subsequent playthroughs) and lay waste to earth. As the title implies, eventually you'll take on to space, except that you'll only destroy the other planets on the Milky Way and one Alien Planet, pretty disappointing for an "universal" tour. To be honest, I preferred the "Hell" motif that World Tour used for its latter levels over the new alien theme the game eventually uses. For all intents and purposes, these themes don't affect gameplay, but it's a matter of taste.
 Gameplay is almost the same as the previous game, but with less features. Really. Just as before ,the game only has one mode and one mode only, and can be played with up to three players... just remember that all three players are confined to the same screen, so it can get cramped. As one of 9 monsters(6 having to be unlocked!), you can punch, kick, climb buildings and eat people. Your objective in the game is to destroy every building in each town. This is done by climbing them and either kick or punch both sides, which allows you to destroy sections of the buildings and, hopefully, uncover items(Either good, like food that heals you, or bad like electric appliances which hurt you), or to climb to the top and smash it by repeatedly jumping on it. You can no longer get on top of tanks and ships to help you destroy buildings or the Toxic Ooze item that would transform you into VERN. This is a very, very repetitive game, and removing features that allowed for more variation in how you play is extremely stupid. And you'd think that having 9 playable characters would help, but while their stats and special attack vary, they play the same. Exactly the same. After playing 10 of the 125 stages, you'll have thing everything the game has to offer. Sure, by stage 75 aliens are introduced, but they don't change the gameplay, just the graphics.

 They also removed continues, the previous game had unlimited continues, this time around, if you lose all your lives, you are done. This is pretty dumb considering that the game is rather tough. You monster is huge, and avoiding damage is almost impossible, particularly since enemies respawn indefinitely, and if you take too long to level a city, an airstrike will fly by and kill you. The trick to surviving is to make the most of each Bonus Stage, and amass as many lives as you can before the Alien levels begin.
 Graphics are pretty decent. Monsters consist of digitalized sprites, while buildings and people where made by hand. You'd think it'd be jarring seeing both styles at the same time, but it kinda works to make the monsters stand out from the rest of the world. Monsters look pretty nice, and people's animations are pretty funny. The soundtrack is surprisingly good, I thought the music fitted pretty well, and while I won't be caught humming any tune any time soon, I liked it. The sound effects are pretty fitting as well, but they do get old after a while.

 Rampage 2 is a very repetitive game. And I do mean, VERY repetitive, it's needlessly long, and you'll have seen everything the game has to offer by level 76(Level 10 if you don't count aliens). And while having many monsters sounds neat, they all play the same. Removing features from World Tour was pretty dumb. All in all, I'd stick with the prequel over this one.
 3.0 out of 10

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Review #167: Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations

 They even made videogame-filler, hot damn!
 Ah! I remember Ninja Storm 2, it was an... interesting game. I'm still more fond of the Clash of the Ninja series, but that's as far as gameplay goes, for Fan service, I'd go straight to Ultimate Ninja Storm. It'd seem Namco-Bandai found their cash cow. But y'know what, I'm OK with the milking as long as the quality doesn't drop. This time around, they brought back the Pre-Timeskip characters from UNS 1 and added a few new ones, made a gameplay tweak and called it a day. Really!

 Remember Ninja Storm's 2 fantastic story mode? How you could go through Konoha and Suna? Those awesome boss battles(And I'm no fan of QTEs!)? Yeah... all of that is gone. The Story Mode is now made up of various individual stories, Each one is prefaced and concluded by a short anime movie, as far as I noticed, all the footage is brand new, and the quality varies between clips. The rest of the stories are told by anime stills and voice-overs. This is... a mess, if you are not familiar with the series, you probably won't make sense of it, it mentions names and plot devices every now and then, assuming you are familiar with them. Worst of all, each story is focused on different characters, which makes it very disjointed, not to mention how the game barely covers any new ground after Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. You'll also get to fight some fights from both fighters point of views, but you can't change the outcome, so it feels like padding. Speaking of padding, why do Zabuza and Haku get a Story Mode? No, really, they get a complete story mode just to cover their short fight, which you already read about in Naruto's story mode. And Killer's B story is also just filler, but at least it's hilarious.
 The gameplay is basically the same as previous games, one button performs attacks, which you can slightly change the "ender" by holding(or not) a direction on the analog stick, another button performs jumps(for movements on any direction), a button for shuriken and another one to use chakra-related moves. There's been one change, which I'm still not totally sold on, to how evading works. Previously, you'd have to tap Block just before getting hit, and you could do it indefinitely, which certainly became tedious, particularly since you could just mash block and hope for the best. This time around, dodging is tied to a new 5-gauge meter, which refills itself after a little while, and you no longer need to time it. Frankly, I'm not sure how much I like the fact that you have to wait for it to fill, or the fact that you no longer need to time it. What the new system means is that whoever uses the Substitution jutsu first, is the one who is gonna lose the trade and take damage.

 There's not a whole lot to do, Story Mode, Free Battle and Online Battles. I talked about the Story mode previously, but it's worth mentioning that it can get really hard. You are to fight beefed up opponents(Eventually they'll be able to easily take more than a fourth of you health bar with just one combo) and it seems that their Substitution gauge refills rather fast. These fights are much harder than any other CPU in other modes. Free Battle allows you to do simple VS matches, Survival, Tournament and Training, all of these can be played in Single or Teams. Most of the non-character collectibles are unlockable through playing the various Survival courses, and there's a lot of them, so at least it's a little extra to keep you busy.
 There's no denying it, the game looks beautiful, and the animations are oh so smooth. However, it's not as impressive looking as Ninja Storm or Ninja Storm 2 for the simple fact that the incredible boss fights are gone. Most returning characters saw little to no changes, which means that the animations are the same, these is only an issue for a few of them, like Jiraiya, that as good as the animations are... the attacks "look" very slow and lack any punch(He doesn't punch either!). Voice Acting is done by series regulars(Both Dub and Japanese), and as for the music.... it's eh. I've never been a fan of the UNS soundtrack, and this game is no exception.

 This game is filler, plain and simple. Namco wanted money but couldn't wait another whole year for Naruto's storyline to develop, so they just produced this game to earn some money in the mean time. It's hard to even recommend to Naruto fans, since the story mode covers so little new ground. The new characters are nice 'n all, but the next game kept them, added even more and has a proper story line, so there's no point to this game. At least the basic gameplay is fun.
 6.0 out of 10

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Now Playing: Rampage 2 - Universal Tour

 Backstory time!
 I used to play Rampage World Tour on the N64, and I... kinda liked it, I think? I don't remember much, but I do remember playing it quite a bit. Back in the day I'd purchase the occasional Gamepro/Xpert Gamer/Electronic Gaming Monthly to put my English to the test and read about videogames, and the ad for Rampage 2 was one I came around fairly often. I don't remember just how interested I was in it, but y'know, I've been wanting to add some variety to my PSOne library, why not get one of the Rampage games? IT has a 2 on the title, so it should be better. It should.

 Except that it's the same game but with less features. You can't ride Airplanes, you can't ride tanks, you can't transform into Vern, there are no landmarks with bonus points, you can no longer pick your next destination by smashing the billboards... The new monsters are nice 'n all, but every monster plays basically the same, it's not a good trade off! So... yeah, I'm unimpressed.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Review #166: TMNT - Mutant Melee

 They didn't even have enough budget to write the full title. For shame!
 Well, turns out I was wrong and this game came out before Mutant Nightmare, my bad! Mutant Melee is a 4-player arena fighter based on the TMNT franchise... it's also a game that screams of low budget. From the reused assets on the cover of the game(Featuring a character that isn't in the game), to the lame character roster filled with clones(10 clones!) and shared moves... this game is a disappointment.

 The game has two modes: Arcade and Versus. Arcade has you following one of 10 characters as you fulfill missions. These courses get old really quick, some missions are dull, some seem to go on forever, some are incredibly unfair, and so on, but it's the only way to earn money and unlock characters and stages. Then there's versus, where you can play with up to three other human players, and, for some reason, can only be played with four characters, no 1 on 1 duels or anything or the sort. There's three game types: Deathmatch, King of the Hill(Stay in a certain spot to earn points) or Keep Away in which you are to hold a chest in order to earn points... but you can't attack in any way while holding it. Which stage you pick determines the type of game, which is pretty dumb and restricting, and you can't have more than one of each character, so no Duel of the Leonardos, probably since they couldn't be arsed to come up with different color schemes(And seeing how Gold Shredder is just, well, a golden Shredder, it would've ruined one of their original characters!).
 Gameplay is fairly simple, you have a weak attack, strong attack, pick-up button, jump button, block and a Modifier that allows you to use your three special moves, and when your special gauge is full, unleash your Super move. For as simple as it is, I had trouble, sometimes, remember how the controls were, maybe it was an issue on my end, but I kept messing up jumps with the special modifier. Stages are... a very mixed bag. Some stages are very cramped and small, while others are larger and have hazards or interactive objects. Boxes will appear on stages, some carry buffs(Or debuffs if you pick'em up and throw them against an opponent) while others hold weapons. These boxes always spawn on the same places, some might consider it a good thing, since you can predict them, but I really doubt anyone would play this game competitively, so I guess most of us would've preferred a more random spawning. Items are also fairly disappointing, all ranged weapons(Minigun, Rocket Launcher, Homing Missile Launcher) function basically the same, and melee weapons(Maces, axes, Swords, Lances) function the same as well. It feels very cheap. For what it's worth, I actually kinda liked the core system of the game, it's simple and functional, and at times fun. The game has a very floaty feel to it, it's not necessarily a bad thing though, I didn't mind it.

 The character roster has an impressive 22 character roster... until you realize that only the initial 12 are 'legit'. The entire bottom 10-character row has all the unlockable character, and they are nothing but clones. Gold Shredder and Oroku Saki are Shredder clones, even though all three of them have different Supers(Shredder borrows Splinter's while Oroku Saki borrows Donatello). Winter Casey and Summer Casey play exactly like Casey Jones, while Winter April and Summer April play just like April O'Neal. Young Hun and 'Monster' are Hun clones, 'Monster' has a different Super... which he shares with Raphael and Sleeg, while Hun and Young Hun have the same Super as Traximus. Then there's two different variations of the initial Foot Soldier, two of them sharing a Super. It's not just supers, you'll see plenty of similar Special attacks between all the characters. Where's Karai? Where're the Utrum agents? Where's Dragon Face? Where's Hamato Yoshi? Couldn't they squeeze in some form of Baxter Stockman? And what about some other Triceratons, there's a model for the one that had a robotic arm, but he isn't playable. It's not like they didn't have characters to pick from, they just were incredibly lazy or didn't have the money. I would've taken 3 other unique characters, for a total of 15, over 10 disgusting clones. And know what the saddest part is? It's still a better roster than TMNT: Smash up.
 The graphics are a step down from previous games, understandable since there's a lot going on at the same time and the game manages to keep a solid framerate even with 6 or more characters on screen at the same time(Story mode battles only). Still, that's no excuse for some of the off-looking animations(April is a good example of this). Stages are a mixed bag(Again), some stages are very pretty, some were inspired from the show... while others are lame and boring, still, all the stages in the game seem to be missing some kind of spark, they are very lifeless. Music is incredibly forgettable and dull, hardly fit for a fighting or party game. As for the voice acting, they come straight from the show and do a good job. Especial mention goes to the extras in the game, the little videos and images you can unlock... they all look terrible. The resolution makes all of them look blurry, thanks for including the entire first comic book... even though it's impossible to read it.

 Mutant Melee is not a bad game, it's just filled with missed opportunities, and an undeniable lack of funds or motivation. I think I'm gonna go with the former, as Konami did pretty good with the three previous games. As it stands, Mutant Melee is the worst game TMNT game Konami produced during the PS2/GC generation, any of the other three make for a better single player or multi player game, this one's just for hardcore fans, and even then it's hard to justify unless you've nothing else to play.
 5.0 out of 10

Friday, November 7, 2014

Now Playing: TMNT - Mutant Melee

 It lacks... somethin'
 Erm.... it's weird, because functionally, it's sound... yet it lacks something, some kind of punch? I dunno, it feels rather... lifeless, bland, even though the mechanics are fairly alright.

 Maybe after logging more gameplay time I'll be able to pinpoint just what exactly is missing from this one.

Review #165: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 - Mutant Nightmare

 Konami decided to go with a bang!
 Konami has a thing with TMNT games and making three iterations of it, eh! Mutant Nightmare is the last TMNT action-adventure game they would produce, and man, did they finally get their bearings together and deliver!

 Just as the previous game covered Season 2, this one covers Season 3, using various clips from the show. This time around they opted for a Episode-based distribution, yet it means little, you still have to play them in order, and can save after any stage on any episode. You'll eventually unlock Free Battle, that allows you to visit any of the bigger stages and explore them in order to find goodies, Score Attack(Which is basically a survival mode against endless waves of enemies) and Time attack that tasks you with defeating as many enemies as you can in a set amount of time. You can also unlock the Arcade version of Turtles in Time, with new music and voice cues, it ain't as good as the SNES port, and the character you played is tied to which player you are, but at least you can pause it now!
 Gameplay has been revised, again, this time for the better. The terrible combat system from the last game has been overhauled to more closely resemble the first game, however, each turtle has very different combos and inputs, without that terrible timing issue the second game had, which is very welcome. Just as with the first game, you are now stuck with the character you pick before starting a stage, however, even while in Single Player the other Turtles will fight alongside you, they are pretty useful to be honest, and you can switch characters before starting any stage. Vehicle stages from the second game return, but they are more fun this time around(Probably because now you get to attack as well as move!) alongside some new shooting galleries, they are not particularly noteworthy, but they are appreciated.

 Stages are more open than before, previous game's stages would consist of single rooms with an objective, some of the stages in these games have various sections. Still, individual abilities are gone, not that they received much use anyways. Hidden throughout most levels are Scrolls and DVDs. DVDs unlock cutscenes, but Scrolls are items you can equip on your turtle in order to enhance it. Y'see, this time around enemies drop crystals that you must collect and then use as currency to buy new combos, new skills or new Scroll slots. This is very neat, on paper, as you can customize your Turtle to suit your style or get some nice extras... however, most of the time the only scrolls you'll really need are the ones that increase your HP or Attack power! There's also scrolls to play as the Dino Turtles and the Ultimate turtles. Dino Turtles sound really cool, I mean DINO. TURTLES. But they all amount to some very lame looking armor above their shells and different weapons. Lame. Ultimate Turtles are really cool, they are featured on the game's intro and the instruction booklet keeps talking about them... but you unlock them after finishing the game and then replaying each Nightmare Level. If you've been doing all the Free Battles to earn the unlockables, there's basically no point to the Ultimate Turtles.
 As for complaints, there's the fact that the minimap is basically useless. Stages like the first Free Battle are rather confusing and the mini map doesn't help, plus, to actually earn the unlockables and crystals you found in a Free Battle, you have to return to the starting point. Combat is also a bit shallow, buying combos, and equipping slots are neat ideas, but the game is a beat'em up at heart, enemies and bosses need little more strategy than just mashing buttons. And while previous games gave you unlockable characters, that played differently from the turtles, or alternate costumes(Battle Nexus had 2 costumes per turtle!), there's none of that here. Dino Turtles look lame, and Ultimate Turtles, while overpowered, have the exact same combos as the normal turtles.

 Character models certainly look slightly less detailed than their Battle Nexus counterparts, but stages have gotten larger and more detailed, so I guess it's understandable. Framerate is pretty decent too, although the game does struggle some times. As per usual, voice acting is done by the actors from the show, even though characters like Bishop and his 'research' aren't very convincing. Music is still surprisingly good, but it lacks the spark the music from the previous games had, it's still rather good, just not as memorable.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 is easily the best one of the bunch, Konami mixed the best things from both games and wound up with a fitting finale to their run with the franchise.
 8.0 out of 10

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Now Playing: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 - Mutant Nightmare

 Only two more to go!
 Konami really decided to go out with a bang, huh... First thing that happens upon inserting the disc, is the opening playing... except that this time it's in full 3D and... it's kinda awesome.

 They got combos right! Again! It's almost as good as in TMNT 1, but definitely better than TMNT 2. Graphics have also been slightly downgraded, but now all Turtles are on-screen even when in Single player, and stages are bigger, so it's understandable.

 So yeah, I'm having fun, it's good!

Review #164: Diablo 3 - Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Edition

 Diablo strikes. Again. Because two beatings weren't enough. Silly Diablo.
 Remember Diablo? It was pretty neat. Remember Diablo 2? Oh boy, did that game improve on everything Diablo did or what?! Now Diablo is back for the third time in an isometric hack-and-slash dungeon crawling RPG. Times have changed, technology has changed and so has Diablo.

 The game takes place 20 years after Diablo, as Deckard Cain and his protegee Leah get involved with a man that fell from the skies, and you, the Nephalem, goes to investigate. Later on, the Minor Evils like Belial and Azmodan get involved, and the Nephalem faces them in battle, culminating in a battle above the heavens against a familiar enemy. The story isn't very good, characters are bland, twists are predictable and the game even leaves the fate of one character hanging after vanilla Diablo(Act IV) which would be terrible if only Act V didn't give it closure... with some very convenient plot devices. On the plus side, the lore behind some of the characters is rather interesting, told via narrated journals that you can find. Ah! Fair warning, I didn't mind it, but the game has a decidedly lighter tone than previous games in the series, there are some rather poor attempts at humor, like a guy trapped in a barrel which is played for laughs,
 Luckily, gameplay's where it's at. All six playable classes feature very different play styles and skills. Skills in this game can get very creative, and they look very good. The core behind hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers is killing enemies and looting corpses for better equipment, pretty hard to screw it up, and they didn't. However, Stores in the game never have any kind of useful equipment to sell, which makes money more or less useless, probably just gonna use it to change the appearance of your armor and weapons(Which is awesome) or repair your equipment. Speaking of repairing, the durability of a weapon is no longer, at least on the console version, told through numbers, you just go to a town and scroll to the "repair" tab to see if anything needs repairing, which is a very... odd decision.

 Some people have expressed their distaste in the game's mainstreaming, but it ain't all bad. There's some really cool features, like having recently picked up equipment show up over your health bar, so that you can equip it without going into the Equipment screen. Another thing I like, is that the game now tells you how much your damage or resistance will increase or decrease, when looking at equipment, through green and red arrows. So if an armor piece has 30 def but +10 vitality bonus and another one has 10 def but +50 vitality bonus, the game will tell you that the latter is a better piece. This kind of mainstreaming is really good, since it cuts back on time trying out equipment and looking at numbers, without dumbing down the system.
 Now, there's some things that I didn't like, for example, when you level up you no longer get stat points to spread around your stats, which sucks. And passive/active skills are now gained through leveling up, so eventually you'll get every skill in the game, I like the more specialized, personalized character builds from before. The game does allow for customization in the form of Runes, each skill has about six runes, and you can equip one of them to change how it works, some change the skill completely(Like changing a beam that falls from the sky into a short-range blast from your character), or give it special properties. I really liked this, as you get a ton of skills to play with. At first, I thought how cool it was that each button on the joystick was tied to a different skillset... turns out you can turn on "Elective Mode" on the Options menu and just equip any skill anywhere, which is also fun, but a different type of fun(Less restrictive... but also less strategic).

 The biggest seller, for me, is how the game plays out. After you are done with the 5-act campaign(Act IV is surprisingly lame, short and rushed, but Act V is, probably, my favorite) you unlock adventure mode. First of all, every time you play the game, the maps and monsters get randomized, which also means that different "events" might or might not appear, making each playthrough different. But that ain't all, Adventure Mode allows you to warp anywhere, even switch between acts, and now you play for bounties, events randomized every time you play. Endless replay value. And I haven't even touched upon Rifts, which produce even more randomized dungeons and harder bosses. If you like this kind of game, there's a ton of reasons to come back over and over, and you can bring up to three buddies with you. On the same console!
 The framerate and loading times were pretty decent... my first time around. I've been reading, and it seems some people are getting tons of freezes... the game only froze once on me, but afterwards the game started having trouble loading stuff for the first time(The first time I use a skill the game will stutter, and so on, but after a couple of minutes it goes back to how it used to run). Also, you can't turn the camera, which would make sense in Multiplayer, but the game is in 3D now, there's no reason not to let you turn the camera in Single Player.

 Visually the game looks phenomenal, sure, models are not the best you've seen on the console, but it's excused due to how much stuff can be going on the screen at the same time while keeping the framerate pretty steady. Characters can look very badass when they get some higher-level equipment(or pay to have it look like that!) and enemies look nice as well. Props to making the objects a joy to destroy, seriously, even if most of them are empty, watching stuff fly in the direction you hit it is always enjoyable. Voice acting is pretty decent, although it seems that they tried a bit too hard with some of the accents. Music... is alright.... when you get to listen to it, most of the time it will get drowned in the sounds of carnage and fallin loot!

 Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of Diablo 3. The story was pretty lame, but story ain't the reason I play videogames(most of the time). Gameplay was almost what I would've wanted, if only they went for a more personalized route, don't get me wrong, runes are pretty neat, but I really miss the personalized stat spread. Still, the way they managed to add so much replayability into the game is commendable.
 9.0 out of 10

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Review #163: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 - Battle Nexus

 Well, at least Konami tried.
 The first TMNT game Konami released on the PS2 was kinda good, flawed, but playable and a decent time waster. For the second installment, Konami decided to go back to the drawing board and produce a very different game. In many ways, it's a much better offering, but it has some rather hard-hitting setbacks that keep it from being an altogether better game.

 Battle Nexus covers, loosely, the second season of the 2003 TMNT cartoon, and once again, it borrows clips from the show, they actually went the extra mile and produced exclusive clips for this game. At the outset, the game only offers one mode, disappointing since the first one had a VS and Challenge Mode, but challenge mode is still here, disguised as "Tournament" when accessing your Hub. This time around, the game is divided in over 40 stages, which sounds a lot, but each stage is very small and short, so you can play in bursts, and save your game any time you are on the stage select screen, which is a good thing considering how awkward the first game was when it came to saving. Another improvement is that now you can play with up to three other players at the same time... but you'll have to contend with the fixed camera angles
 The first game was a simple, straightforward beat'em up game, this one is a bit more of an action-adventure game. Now you can switch between any of the four turtles(Or the four unlockable characters) at any time, which you'll probably need to, as each turtle has a unique ability that you might need in order to go onward... or collect the hidden antiques in each level. Leonardo can cut through fences, Raphael can push blocks, Mikey can hoover on the air and Donatello can tinker with computers. This is a change for good, as the game won't get as repetitive as the first game, plus, there's a couple of vehicle stage to break the action. All things considered, it should be a better game than its predecessor, however...

 The combat system received an overhaul, for the worst. Just as before, you get a weak attack and a strong attack, however, the four-weak attack and three-weak attack combos are gone, weak attacks will combo up to two hits, and if you don't press strong attack, you will be left open for a counter attack. Early in the game, before you unlock other combos, even the three hit combos will leave you open for a counter attack. And you just can't mash buttons, as each character has a different time window to press buttons, instead of making them feel unique, it makes it a chore to switch characters, as you'll start messing up. And then they introduce the combos that require you to end it by pressing two buttons at the same time, coupled with the weird timing, makes for a very unsatisfying and clunky combat system. And it's a shame, because if the first game got something right, it was the combat. This game gets the adventuring right, but screwed up the combat big time, might as well just skip as many enemies as you can.
 The game is fairly large, with things to find on each level. There's a ton of different themes for levels, so there's a lot of variety as well. As a bonus, you can unlock the first TMNT arcade game. Truth be told, the game hasn't aged very well, and this is a straight-up plain emulation, there's no dip switches to temper with the options, you can't pause it, you can't pick a character, being locked on a Turtle depending on which player are you.

 The presentation is definitely among the game's best features. There's a ton of different environments on each stage and characters look much better than before, although the first game's simpler models made them more faithful to the cartoon, but oh well! As a consequence, the framerate took a hit, and when it gets crowded, prepare to dip into 10 frames per second! Music is top-notch, these are all original tunes, and surprisingly, they are really good, dare I say too good for a licensed game? The game borrows the voice actors from the show, and they performed admirably.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  is about as good as the first one. I think I enjoyed this one just a tiny bit more, but it might be due to nostalgia. You prefer a beat'em up game? Go with the first one. You'd rather play something that has more exploring and jumping and don't mind clunky combat? This is your game.
 6.5 out of 10.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Review #162: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 Heroes in a half-shell, turtle power!
 Back in 2003, 4Kids rebooted the TMNT animate series, this time following the original Mirage comics more closely and providing a darker, more mature and more faithful rendition of the Ninja Turtles than many of us grew up with. Just as it was back then, Konami took the mantle of providing us the videogame adaptations, and they stuck close to their guns.

 The game is loosely based on the first season of the series, the game even uses scenes from the series itself as cut-scenes, which is really neat touch. Even some of the dialogue before stages is taken straight from the show. The game has three different modes, Story, VS and Challenge. Story Mode has you, and if you want, a friend too, go through six stages as any of the four turtles(You can also unlock Splinter and Casey Jones). VS mode is a rather simple one on one match that runs on the game's engine and pits you against another player or the CPU. There's about 6 unlockable characters, bosses from the game, and everyone has their own moves, for such a throw-away mode, it's a surprisingly good addition, sure it's pretty unbalanced, but it harkens back to the NES beat'em ups of old that would include this mode just for kicks. Lastly there's Challenge Mode, one player only, where you must go through 26 waves of enemies with just one life.
 TMNT on the PS2 is a beat'em up game, a genre that flourished on the Arcades, got a number of decent entries on the NES but bloomed on the SNES. This game is the exact result of bringing one of those games into the third dimension, alongside all the detriments that the genre is known for. Each Turtle has two normal attack buttons, which can be combined for different effects, a double jump, limited shurikens, which also come in Explosive and Electric variety, a dash, a pop up move and later on a jump attack and "Gembu" super power. First thing I want to mention, is that the instruction booklet makes a huge deal out of the Gembu attack, but you only unlock it after clearing the second-to-last stage with every turtle, and unless you've been doing every stage with every turtle at an even pace, which you probably won't do, you'll only get to use it on the last stage with the last turtle. What the hell? And the Jumping Attack must also be unlocked, which is very weird since it's a very mundane attack and is unlocked after clearing the first stage. Maybe they were planning to have unlockable moves but run out of time?

 Gameplay is very simple and very repetitive. Pro-tip: If you are gonna play by yourself, do yourself a favor and slide down the difficulty to Easy. Thing is enemies, particularly the early stages, are filled with enemy waves, and they have a ton of health. They aren't hard to defeat by any means, you probably won't lose a life on the entire run, but, as easy as it is, they can take a lot of punishment, and they come in large numbers, which makes an already repetitive game very, very tedious. And yes, the game is repetitive, sadly, it comes with the territory. Older beat'em ups have always had this problem, and this game is no exception, which is why having a second player is advised(it also makes the enemies' endurance more tolerable). Another issue the game has, is that in order to unlock Challenge Mode and the secret boss you are gonna have to beat the game with all four turtles. Each turtle's playthrough is almost exactly the same, Stage 5 switches up when they encounter each of the two mini bosses and each Turtle has an exclusive boss(Stockman for Donnie, Hun for Mikey, Splinter for Leo and Casey for Raph).
 To the game's merit, they got the fighting right. The overall mechanics are very simple, God of War or DMC this is not, and while its simplicity works against it, since it can and will get a bit repetitive, it's not too bad, particularly with two players. While the four turtles work more-or-less the same, each one has different reach, speed, strength and... accuracy. You'll see that Mikey is really fast, but his combos move him all over the place, Raph has the shortest reach, is really slow, but fights in a straight line and is very powerful, while Donnie isn't as slow as Raph, he isn't as strong but his bo-staff grants him better reach than any of the other turtles. And hitting dudes just feels right, it's hard to explain, but part of making a good beat'em up is making the game feel right, and they nailed it. However, one thing they didn't get right is saving the game. You can only save the game after clearing an entire Stage. And Stages are divided in "areas", usually 5 to 7, it's really weird why they would divide the game in Areas and not allow you to save in-between, I understand that they made it to mask loading times, but if you are thrown back to the map screen, might as well let you save, especially since some areas tend to drag for too long.

 The game uses the now-so-popular cell-shaded style. Character models are pretty plain and very little detailed, but, curiously, it makes them look more akin to the show which ends up being really cool. Human characters are also very simple, but fall on the "generic" category, plus, their faces look terrible, this is most noticeable on Casey and April who get close-up shots during the Story Mode. The environments can get a bit repetitive, but they are very true to the show. One wouldn't expect a stellar soundtrack from a licensed game, but it packs some really good tunes, particularly the latter levels. They also got the voice-actors from the show, which adds to the legitimacy of the game.

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the PS2 is a game best played with 2 players. It's repetitive, oftentimes tedious and sometimes, can get a bit long in the tooth. Expecting players to beat almost the same exact game four times in order to unlock most of the extras is a bit too much. However, despite these flaws, and maybe since I kinda grew up with beat'em ups and like the genre, I liked the game for what it was. And as far as licensed games go, this one goes the extra mile with clips and lines from the show, coupled with unlockable concept art.
 6.5 out of 10