Review #207: Power Rangers Super Legends - 15th Anniversary

  It's morphin' time!

 Power Rangers Super Legends is a 2D action-platformer game, featuring characters from over 15 years of Power Rangers history. Kinda. One thing to keep in mind, is that this game is aimed at children, first and foremost, which makes it easier to forgive some of its shortcomings. That said, as someone who enjoys Tokusatsu shows and enjoyed Power Rangers back in the day, there's quite a few of missed opportunities.

 The premise is simple, Lord Zed has gone bad again, and he comes across the Time Crystals, that allow the holder to travel through time. The Future Omega Ranger, a somewhat original character created for this game, tries to stop him, but the crystal shatters and the Omega Ranger gets stuck, however, the Operation Overdrive Rangers come across shards of the Crystal, which allows the Omega Ranger to contact him. What follows is the Omega Ranger recruiting other Rangers to aid him stop Zed. The story is pretty simple, but to be honest, it works. It is a kid's game, and the premise works well for the game. And this is where a lot of my gripes reside. The game features 15 levels(Or is it 16? More on this later), each series getting 3 stages, and this would probably raise some eyebrows, as it can't possibly cover all of Power Rangers' story... and it doesn't. Operation Overdrive, Lost Galaxy, Ninja Storm, Mighty Morphin' and SPD are the only series that get levels, with two 'guest' Wild Force Rangers. What the hell? How is this an 'Anniversary' game? As a game for kid, it ignores most of the older series, like Zeo, Turbo, Time Force and Dino Force in lieu of having the most recent ones, y'know, the ones children may be most familiar with. And what's up with Tommy Oliver, arguably the most iconic Ranger in the franchise, not being represented in any way, shape or form? No other Character has had so many appearances in the franchise, not having Tommy in the game is an absolute crime. Lastly, the cut-scenes are told via animated 2D cut-outs of the 3D models, they look terrible. Was animating the 3D models so hard? Even the game's cover looks pretty bland, mixing real photos with art, plus, the Yellow Ninja Storm Ranger doesn't even appear on this game.

 Gameplay is surprisingly good, and it can be played the whole way through with another player! You've got an attack button for a three-hit combo, a launcher, a ground pound, an aerial ground pound, throwing, dashing and air dashing, blocking, double jumping. The beauty of it, is that it has a pretty decent juggling system, that allows for some simple aerial combos and juggles, you can even downed enemies with a ground pound or a slide! It offers more depth than, probably, any other kid's game out there. Hilariously enough, you can perform infinite jumps by juggling an enemy, since every time you perform the aerial launcher, it allows you to jump again... and it's actually an encouraged game mechanic, as some collectibles can only be accessed by using it! While the fighting is fairly good, the Blaster enemies can get downright annoying, as you can't block blaster attacks, it's suggested to throw another enemy towards them, but when in tight corridors, and these blaster enemies are guarded with heavy enemies, that can't be thrown, they become a problem. Not that dying has any consequence, you just lose some of the experience orbs that you've collected and respawn right where you died.

 When you are not fighting, you'll be jumping around and trying to collect as many items as possible. The levels aren't particularly well designed, but every now and then you'll come across some fairly good platforming sections which require using the different combinations of jumps and aerial dashes to get through.... But then again, there's the occasional Leap of Faith. Then there's also the wall jumping, which is a bit iffy. For starters, two walls may look the same, but not all of them will let you cling on it to let you perform a wall jump, hilariously, in one stage your Ranger will actually cling on thin air. It doesn't stop there, sometimes if you don't initiate the Wall jumps on the right wall, or at the right altitude, you will miss the ledge, and the game won't let you cling to the wall immediately below said ledge to wall jump again, no sir, back to the bottom and start again. Throughout the level you'll find experience orbs, which are also dropped by defeated enemies, and will 'level up' your Ranger after each level. Not that there's an experience gauge or anything, so there's no way of knowing how much you need for each level up! Plus, besides an extended life bar, I didn't notice my Rangers getting any stronger. There's also temporary power ups to be found, that can aid you in battle, like increased damage or invulnerability. Each level also has four goals: Defeat a certain amount of enemies, perform a X-hit combo, collect all Ranger letters and find all 10 "timeline collectibles". The Timeline collectibles unlock art, while the Ranger letters unlock Rangers. Here's the kicker, some of these are veeery well hidden. And I do mean VERY well hidden. As in I needed a guide to find some of these.

 My issue with this is that finding all these RANGER letters, or Timeline Collectibles if, for some reason, you really want to see concept art of the level, is a bit of a hassle. Not only are they well hidden(It is the third time I say it, but I really want to make it clear just how well hidden they are!), but the levels have a ton of  'Points of no Return', usually in the way of a barrier that activates as soon as you go across them. Levels are fairly long, upwards 10 minutes long, and if you miss a letter, it means replaying the entire level. Not only that, say that you finish a level but miss just one letter... the next time through, you have to find each letter again, not just the one you missed. What the hell?! Now, y'see, playing as different Rangers is one of the game's most important selling points, but all 20 of them play exactly the same. Sure, they may have different max stats when fully leveled up, but they share EVERY. SINGLE. ANIMATION. I don't feel rewarded for collecting these Letters, just let me play as the darned Rangers! Worst of all, if you are gonna make all characters simple palette swaps... why include only 20 characters? There's no excuse for, at least, not having the entire Ranger teams featured in the game. Was making different textures so hard?

 Now then, every 'normal' stage ends with a boss fight(It translates to fighting the same 'boss' in each timeline twice, they don't even change their tactics), and every fight is the same. The boss attacks, you must jump out of the way, wait for them to laugh, and then attack. Or you can just mash the attack button, it's not like dying is so bad. Every time they lose a fourth of their health bar, they will jump back and summon minions for you to kill before they come back to fight. Every single boss fight is the same, but at least they have the decency to have different, if similar, attacks. As mentioned, each series(But Operation Overdrive and Super Legends, which only have two each) have three stages... but the third one is a Zord battle. Zord battles are disappointing to say the least. They are glorified QTES the play exactly the same all the way up to the final Mega Zord battle in the game. Every Megazord in the game has the same exact animations and attacks. Plus, it seems like the Mega Zords and Giant Bosses have lower quality models than the ones used in the normal stages. Remember that I mentioned a 16th stage? It seems that some PS2 discs are missing the Mega Zord battle from the SPD levels, mine included. I tried searching for footage online, but the only pieces of proof about this 'level' existing are the cut-scene at the end of the second SPD level(Which has Zed powering up the boss you just defeated) and the word of some random GameFaqs user. Whichever the case, you aren't missing much, it would've just played like every other single Mega Zord battle.

 The presentation is, unsurprisingly, pretty lackluster. Character models are fairly simple, and there's very few enemy models, most of them being palette swaps of 5 different enemy types. To be fair, it's a colorful game, and the Rangers' animations are pretty smooth. While on a technical level the stages are fairly bland, on an artistic level they look quite alright, sometimes even good. Music is dull, for lack of a better word, there are a couple of tunes that are decent, but most of it is forgettable. Voice acting is passable, but I think the overreacting and how the Rangers talk somewhat fits the vibe of the franchise, so I didn't really care for it.

 The worst part about the game is that it carries the '15th Anniversary' subtitle, this is not an Anniversary game, it does not celebrate everything Power Rangers related, instead, it's just A Power Rangers game, no wonder the European version lost said subtitle! I may have been harsh on the game, but at the end of the day, as far as kid's games go, it's pretty good. Platforming can be satisfying, and the uncomplicated, but somewhat stylish, combat and juggling system are a good introduction to other, better action games. That said, as a Power Rangers fan... it's hard to recommend, while it's really good, for a kid's game, it really doesn't offer much for someone who likes the franchise.
 5.0 out of 10.

Now Playing: Power Rangers Super Legends - 15th Anniversary

 These collectibles...

 Lemme level with you, Gods Eater Burst is fantastic, I was playing it in tandem while I was studying. But I already finished God Eater(Difficulty 1-6) and am currently playing through Burst(Difficulty 8 to be precise). Thing is, I really want to upgrade my weapons, which means grinding, and I've been grinding the Sehkmet and Magma Gboro-Gboro for a while now... I grew a bit tired of it, I needed something else.

 To think that at one point in my life, I spoke highly of this game to a friend of mine, I might actually have compared it to Devil May Cry. Evidently, it had been a while since I had played DMC, else I wouldn't have lied like that. Anyways, the game is... acceptable. The combo system is alright, it's dead simple, but taking into account the fact that it's a kids' game... it's fine. That's as far as I'll excuse it though. Every character is a color swap of each other, which baffles the mind as to why they only included 20 characters in the game. THIS GAME IS SUPPOSED TO CELEBRATE POWER RANGER'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY, goddamn. It also skipped a ton of series. So we are missing characters, missing series, and every character plays exactly the same, with the same exact animations. What the hell? And what's up with the lack of Tommy? You know, Tommy Oliver, arguably the most iconic character in the Power Rangers franchise, the one with the most roles? And there's no 'Super Sentai didn't have Tommy!" excuse, this game was made in the West, for Western players. So where the hell is my Tommy Oliver? You mean to tell me that BILLY made it over Tommy? That there's no Turbo or Zeo Rangers? And need I remind you that every character plays exactly the same? ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS ALTER THE TEXTURES. GODDAMN.

 And the cherry on top? Collectibles are devilishly hidden throughout the game. Just let me play as the color swap of my choice, dammit! Sometimes, collectibles are lost forever until you restart the whole level, and stages are pretty darn long. I can excuse this in games like Kirby, because Kirby is actually fun, and I feel rewarded for finding these secrets. I don't feel rewarded by finding every Ranger letter, all I get is a friggin' palette swap of the same character I've been playing since I started the game.

 It is an acceptable game, just a terrible, terrible Power Ranger's Anniversary Game.

Archile's Grab-bag: Evil Edition

  YES. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

 Threads of Fate: One of the first PS1 games I've ever played, it's a sort of successor to Brave Fencer Musashi. It was pretty fun.

 Power Rangers Super Legends - 15th Anniversary: It's no secret that I love Tokusatsu shows, no in small part thanks to Power Rangers invading my childhood. It's disappointing that no version of Tommy Oliver made it in, but I remember it being a pretty decent game.

 Maximo - Ghosts to Glory: Another of the first PS2 games I ever played, along Okage, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Dynasty Warriors 2. Back when video game news weren't so readily available, and I didn't know just what I was getting into. And that made it all the much better, the only thing I 'knew' about Maximo was the cover of the game, and the game itself was a blast, hard, but extremely fun.

 Resident Evil 2: I suck at Survival Horror games. The only  SH game I've ever finished was Silent Hill 4(foreshadowing...?). I also began Resident Evil 1 a couple of years ago but soon gave up. The classic Resident Evil game in which I made the most progress was Code Veronica. But I was always curious about Resident Evil 2, and I did say I was gonna play it, so.... Oh god.

 Einhander: I'm not a shoot'em up guy, but Einhander is a game I've been wanting to play even since I heard about it, but I never bought it for one reason or another. Ah well, it looks pretty decent.

 Red Faction II: I loved this game. Loved it. I have fond memories of the gatling rifle-thing actually, I think it was one of my favorite weapons in an FPS ever. It also had a fairly cheesy storyline, heh!

Review #206: Half-Life

 Rise and shine, Mr. Freeman.

 Half-Life 2 is an undeniable classic. Half-Life 1, while it didn't receive the highest of critical acclaims, was well received as well. My only experience with HL was, and still is, with the PS2 port, which I played shortly after it was released, Back when I finished it for the first time, I loved it, it was great and quite unlike the second one. It's time I go back to Black Mesa and find out just how well has the game aged.

 In Half-Life you play as the scientist Gordon Freeman, who is in the center of an experiment gone wrong, which results in uninvited guests from planet Xen. At first Gordon must try to escape Black Mesa and survive the invaders, but pretty soon the Government gets involved: Nobody leaves Black Mesa, in an effort to erase the accident from history. The narrative is pretty simple, but for an FPS, it works. There's little in the way of character development, Gordon being a mute hero, but the beauty in the story is in how it's told, there are no cut-scenes in the game, instead, every dialogue and exposure is done in real time, as NPCs talk to Gordon. You are free to listen to them, run around while listening, or just leave them talking to a wall. Honestly, it's done a bit better in Half-Life 2, it's pretty easy to miss important dialogues in this game, still, it was done pretty well for it being their first attempt.

 As far as gameplay goes, while it's a first person shooter, it also has its fair amount of puzzles, beyond 'find the key to open the door', and platforming. Gordon comes equipped with a HEV suit, that greatly enhances his endurance capabilities, lets him run faster, eventually grants him a super jump, and protects him from the elements. Health is restored by finding medikits or medi-stations on the walls, and the HEV's energy, which only applies to the defense capabilities, is restored by finding energy cells or Energy Stations on the walls. This being an older FPS means that Gordon can carry an enormous arsenal of weapons, most are pretty by-the-numbers, y'know, your shotgun, rifle and pistol, but you'll also come around experimental weapons and a couple of alien weaponry. Regardless, as lethal as Gordon is, sometimes the best strategy is to run, if you want to survive Black Mesa, you'll have to learn when to fight and when to run.

 The puzzles are pretty interesting, most of these involve dropping Gordon on a rather open area, and then you have to activate stuff on different rooms in order to open up the way. As a matter of fact, there's many enemy encounters, not categorized as bosses, that are simply too tough for Gordon to handle by himself, so you'll have to use the environment to kill them. It's pretty fun. What's not so fun is the large amount of platforming in the game. Jumping in a first person shooter works as well as you would expect. To be fair, only a few of my deaths were due to platfoming, but many times it felt as if I just barely made the jump I needed, still, jumping in this game isn't very fun, and it certainly could've used less of it. Level design is pretty good, there's the occasional obtuse level in which it isn't immediately obvious where to go to, but it's the exception to the rule. I do like how it's one persistent world, it's not divided by stages, you are always moving forward without 'cut-aways' between levels.

 Back in the day, one of the most touted features was the interaction with NPCs. There's guards and scientists, the former aid you by shooting with their puny guns, while the scientists can heal you. I don't know if this was an issue in the PC version, but in this game, the default speed is sprinting, you can either sprint or walk, in order to run you have to push the analog stick slightly close to the plastic's border, so it's very cumbersome. Thing is, NPCs can't keep up with Gordon HEV's sprint, thus often falling behind, and eventually stop following you. They are not very useful, but it's annoying not being able to rely on them, well, they have a very bad pathfinding, so they may get stuck following you anyways.

 One thing to keep in mind, is that this game is from an era before console games employed autosaving. You'd better save often, particularly before platforming sections, but that's alright, you'll learn the hard way. And hey, look at the bright side, you can save anywhere at any time. A rather helpful feature is Quick Saving, which saves to the PS2's memory, which means the Save is good until you turn off the console, what makes this feature so good, is that reloading a Quick Save is pretty fast, allowing you to retry pretty quickly.  Aiming with the analog stick isn't as precise as aiming with a mouse, which is why the game allows you to lock on, by pressing circle while the reticule hovers over an enemy. It works well, and it does make up for the lack of mouse... but then again, this game allows you to use the PS2 Keyboard and Mouse, if it tickles your fancy!

 Exclusive to this port, well, at the time of its release anyways, is the Decay mode. It's a separate storyline that follows Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green, who were in Black Mesa at the moment of the incident. As a matter of fact, their story runs parallel to Gordon's, while it doesn't further the story, it fleshens it a bit. This mode is made up of 10 different stages, and it's meant to be played by two players. You can play it by yourself, but it means switching characters constantly, the character you are not playing as will not move. Ever. They will fight back, often times wasting ammo, but they won't move an inch. Decay is a very fun mode, the puzzles are fairly fun, but playing it by your lonesome is very tedious. There's also a Deathmatch mode if you are so inclined. That said, multiplayer modes in this game have a very small issue.... the models for the guns are gone. You only get the HUD and the targeting-reticule, but no gun, which I felt was a joykill.

 Ah, the presentation... it hasn't aged well. Back in the day, the visuals were an upgrade over the PC version, but nowadays, it looks pretty bad. Animations are rigid and textures are muddy. The color palette is fairly subdued as well. Music is... alrightish, nothing memorable, but the main theme is rather good. Voice acting is... passable. There's nothing particularly outstanding or convincing, but it won't break immersion.

 Half-Life has fairly well were it matters. The presentation has seen better days, and the jumping is pretty annoying, but everything else works really well. It made some pretty nice tweaks on its way to the Console in order to make up for the lack of Keyboard and Joystick, and the Decay extra is great, when played with another person.
 8.5 out of 10.

Review #205: The Sims

 Back to the past!

 Who hasn't played The Sims? No, really, there's few games with such a wide audience as The Sims. It's been over 15 years since the release of the very first version of The Sims, and we are up to the fourth iteration of the series. After all this time, is it worth it to go back the game that started it all? And a console port at that? Nope, it's not.

 The premise of The Sims is to create a family of 1 to eight Sims and... play god. You can build them a house, and expand it at any time, then buy furniture, toys, electronics or decorations to make an abode that suits your fancy. You can let your Sims have free will, but you're always allowed to order them around, and they themselves can study, train or practice different activities such as cooking in order to better themselves, or even get promotions in their jobs! I really don't need to explain what is The Sims, but the point I wanted get at, is that there's no 'goal' in The Sims, there's no 'end' to the game, no objective... unless you play the PS2 version.

 Exclusive to this port is the Get a Life mode. It's a sort of goal-based story-mode, in which you start as a slob that lives at home with his mother, eventually moving into his Dream House. It's a great idea, and I appreciate having the mode, really, I like having objectives in my games! However... back in the Sims 2, keeping your Sim happy was kinda tedious, and keeping your Sim happy is a necessity if you plan on finishing this mode, as he or she will refuse to study or train if they aren't happy, and taking into account that they have to eat, sleep, socialize, have clean rooms, go to the bathroom and have fun.... it's pretty tedious, and you'll be doing progress every few minutes during hours of game time. It's not much fun, and sadly, it's a requirement to finish this mode in order to unlock the classic The Sims mode... or you could use a cheat. Definitely use the cheat and keep this mode as a curiosity or novelty for a rainy day. Or something.

 As far as the port goes, it's pretty decent. The interface is pretty clean and easy to navigate, even if finding objects to buy is a bit cumbersome. This version also lacks everything The Sims would eventually have through expansions, although it does have some content from House Party, it lacks a ton of furniture and other items. Another thing to keep in mind, is that the framerate can chug a bit from time to time, I found it better to simply hide all walls(By pressing circle, you can also make it so that they disappear if the cursor is over them, but this is what makes the framerate dip the most). So far, it sounds like a very inferior port, and it kinda is, if only it didn't have the two player mode.

 There's two ways to play in Multiplayer, either the Minigames or Classic. The Mini-games are unlocked as you advance through Get a Life, and they are pretty dull. For instance, there's one in which you compete with another player to socialize the most and then get money donations from them, the one with the most money when the time runs out wins. Yeah, they are pretty bland. But you can also play the classic mode with another player, and that's awesome. The screen gets divided diagonally, with each player having their own cursor. Sure, going into Buy Mode pauses the game for both players, but it's a small concession to make in order to play with another player! For some it might be just a novelty, but I thought it was genius. And it's pretty fun too!

 The graphics are certainly... not the best. Character models are simple, and the textures look pretty muddy. The music and sounds are... they exist, and they are there, but I didn't care much for them, although the Sims theme is pretty good Still, the presentation isn't The Sims best feature, and it never was, and for what the game is intended to be, the presentation is more than acceptable. The Joystick controls are fairly good, it's no mouse, but it gets the job done, and I'm pretty sure they did the best they could.

 So, is it worth it to go back? No, I don't think so. Yes, the Multiplayer Mode is a huge selling point for me, but the other day I found out that the PS2 port of The Sims 2 also features this Mode! Which makes it even harder to recommend to come back to this version of The Sims. It's still a good game, but sadly it has been outclassed by every other iteration of the series, so... skip this one.
 5.0 out of 10.

Now Playing: Half-Life

 It's fun, has aged pretty well so far.

 So, here's the deal: Gods Eater is a blast, I'm close to the end of vanilla GE(Meaning, Diff 6 missions... but then there's the Difficulty 7-10 Burst missions...), but right now I have to farm Emperor Fangs from the big bad Vajra Emperor... and it's gonna take a while. So I need an interim game, and since I had to delete my Half-Life data a couple of months ago to make space in my memory card... Well, Mr Freeman, it's time to get reacquainted!

 The game has aged pretty well. The ally CPU is absolutely terrible, it loves getting stuck, in no small part due to the game defaulting to the 'Dash' speed, so unless you are incredibly precise with the analog stick to just maintain a run... they are gonna be left behind. There's also platforming. In a First Person Shooter. It feels pretty off, I only fell to my death once, but more than a couple of times I felt as I wouldn't make it. No bueno!!

 That said, the gameplay is pretty fun, it's hard to explain, but it feels good. It's a pretty basic game, from an era long gone by, but it feels good. Shooting is fun, exploring Black Mesa is fun.

 And after I'm done, I'll have to do a DECAY run, the PS2 exclusive(I don't remember if the Dreamcast had it as well, or if it had its own unique alternate mode) in which you play as two female scientists, with their own power suits! It's pretty alright, although it doesn't work very well with one player.

Now Playing: Gods Eater Burst

 Easy-mode Monster Hunter?

 So, when I first popped in the game, I expected a Monster Hunter clone. I wasn't ready for the anime. Let's say that the anime opening is as ANIMUUUU as it gets! And so is the character creator. This is both good and bad. The good? Like most post-apocalyptic anime media, it features a pretty cool setting, the monster design, so far, is pretty neat, and the weapons are fairly original... however, female characters are walking fan service pieces of meat. Because that's the only way Japan knows how to portray women. Ironically, the female avatars are pretty decent, it's the NPCs that look all kinds of ridiculous next to the fully clothed badass male characters.

 That aside, I'm diggin' the gameplay, it's like an easier Monster Hunter. Sure, the Vajra kicked my butt in the Cowboy Mission, but I'm pretty sure that if I had tried harder, I could've beaten him. I love the gameplay too, it feels like a more agile Monster Hunter, the dashing is more responsive, the 'stepping' covers more ground and there's jumping and double jumping, plus, the weapon attacks are much faster. I like it.