Game #860: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2

  So that makes it... Tony Hawk 3?

 It's been a long while since we've had a Tony Hawk game THIS good, but Vicarious Visions did an excellent job with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, bringing the classics into the modern day without ignoring most of the tweaks and upgrades future games would bring into the formula.

 It's no secret that I think Tony Hawk was at its best after they did away with the 2 minute counter, but beggars can't be choosers, so I won't complain about going back to how the classic games worked.

 While we can't get out of the board, it's not a feature I think is absolutely needed for the series. It helped getting around a few obstacles, like stairs, but it wasn't a necessity. What was kept from future games are the Reverts from 3, as well as the Transfers, Lip Tricks, Grind tricks and Manual tricks from Tony Hawk 4 and the wall plants from Underground and, lastly, the double and triple button input from... I don't exactly remember which game. I think this makes for an absolutely massive moveset that lends itself oh so well to creativity when making combos. The game feels a bit faster than previous games, which is neither better or worse, it's just different.

 Create-a-Skater is a bit lame, there are enough faces and hairs to create something decent, but there are no color-wheels for clothes which feels very limiting, specially compared to what came before.

 Cheats are unlocked from the get-go as assists, and beating the games unlocks more mods, like altering the size of your skater or adding filters to the visuals, which is pretty neat since we are living in an era devoid of any fun cheats.

 There's no blood, which sucks since it takes away from the Punk humor of the series, but, on the other hand, there's no fog, which was one of the biggest issues with Tony Hawk 1 and 2. Not only is there no fog, but the environments look AMAZING. The time of the day or the decorations, such as graffiti, may have changed, but the levels are pretty much exactly as they were before.

 Alongside the old old Skaters from the original games, we get a bunch of new blood, some which you may have seen in Tony Hawk 5. It's pretty neat that this new game can give more exposure to the new generation, as the original game did for the original Skaters.

 I saw some people having trouble accessing some secret areas in the game because they couldn't jump high enough so "now it's broken'. They are wrong. Filling your special gauge not only grants you access to super moves, but it also makes you go faster and jump higher. The levels are an excellent recreation of the originals, and the gameplay is top notch.

 The game is divided into level sets, you get Tony Hawk 1 tour and the Tony Hawk 2 tour. There's also Free Skate and off-line split screen modes. Since THPS 1 had less challenges per stage, a bunch of new objectives were added for parity with THPS2. It's still pretty short, I got 100% completion in about 8 hours, but, hey, they were some incredibly fun 8 hours.

 Classic objectives are identical to how they were, even the Score challenges were kept the same, so with the new expanded movesets they are fairly easy to complete, unless you are Darksyde Phil anyways.

 The one big change is how Stats work, instead of buying them, like you did in THPS2, you must find stat points hidden in each level. There are three Skater types(Which affect their starting stats) and each type has their own hidden locations for these stat points. Nothing too crazy or out of your way, for the most part at least.

 I think this is a brilliant game and I adore having more Tony Hawk in my life. While it is a Remake, since these games were so old it pretty much feels like a new game. And it's nothing short of amazing how great I found the game despite the fact that I prefer the latter type of THPS games. Oh, and considering THPS 3 was the last of this type it totally should've been included in here, but I'll take what I can get.

 8.5

Game #859: WWE All-Stars

  Time to get all handsy again.

 WWE All-Stars is a pretty neat experiment. It's not your average wrestling game, instead opting for something that feels more like a fighting game with wrestling elements than a pure wrestling game. It's simplicity betrays just how much fun it can be.

 The game uses a very amusing caricaturesque art-style, Wrestlers have giant upper bodies, giant bicepts and short arms. As for how well each caricature captures a Wrestler likenes... it depends. Some characters, like Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rey Mysterio are spot-on, while others, like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant feel a bit off. There are more hits than misses, but the ones that miss really stuck out. Still, I like how everyone looks like a He-Man action figure.

 I think the roster is pretty decent, I managed to recognize most of the Wrestlers, but there are no females and you can't even create one.

 The game has a pretty neat Legends VS Superstars theme, half of the characters being old and retired wrestlers, with the other half being then-current superstars. It extends to the "Fantasy Warfare" mode, which is were you unlock characters, which is made up of various Superstar VS Legend fights. Each fight tries to find opposites or mirrors between both groups, and every fight is prefaced with a brilliant voiced intro that presents both fighters, while real-life clips of both wrestlers play in the background. Sometimes they went the extra mile and managed to mix line from both wrestlers to simulate trash talking between both of them! Pretty cool.

 Create a wrestler is pathetic. There aren't many pieces to pick from, and some clip through each other. For example, if your character has hair and you put a hoodie on him, the hair will clip through the hoodie.

 Characters are divided into four types(Acrobatic, Brawler, Big Man and Grappler) and each type has some unique properties. You have Quick and Strong Strikes, as well as Quick and Strong Grabs, R1 counter strikes and L1 counters grab. It's fairly intuitive. Each wrestler has three super moves.

 As much as I liked the artstyle and the gameplay, I feel like strikes lack oomph. There's not enough audiovisual feedback to sell me on each hit, which, for a fighting game, kinda sucks. I think the game needed better and louder sound effects for these strikes.

 The game is installed on the Cache, which is incredibly dumb. This means that if you play something else the game will be deleted and you'll have to sit through the long installation again. Why not have a normal installation? And the worst part about it? Even when cached, the loading times are still on the lengthy side, no wonder you can turn off ring entrances. The game has a bunch of easy trophies, and the game IS fun, but no chance I'm sitting through so many loading screens just for bragging rights.

 Overall, WWE All-Stars is quite fun, and its graphics set it apart from most other games. It's not the deepest fighter around, nor is it the one that simulates the scripted sport the best, but the game is quite entertaining thanks to simple and intuitive gameplay. My biggest point of contention with the game would be the loading times, which turn a honestly entertaining game into a bit of a drag.

 7.5

Game #858: Tomb Raider Underworld

  Lara brings the hammer down.

 The third part in Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider revival is Tomb Raider Underworld. While it's technically not Lara's first step into HD, it's Lara's first Playstation debut in HD.

 The first thing that disappointed me was that there's not Croft Manor extra, for shame! There's a new Melee kick which is alright, you can knock down enemies and then score a few free bullets in or another kick while they get up.

 The game looks absolutely stunning. I don't think I ever crushed on a videogame character before, but this Lara? Damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Not just her, the environments are just gorgeous and very detailed, this really is a beautiful game. Of course, frame drops do happen, but they are not too bad.

 Before most levels you can pick a costume and a secondary weapon. Secondary weapons have infinite ammo.... was what I thought at first. You can run out of ammo, but the counter is hidden inside a menu when pressing Select. You can also change between every sub weapon in there! Weird.

 The game comes crashing down when it comes to movement, it's just so... clunky. Moving Lara around can be a bit tough, you can even get stuck against objects, in which case you must first stop trying to move so that Lara resets to a neutral position and then, and only then, move away from the object. Platforming around can sometimes be a bit problematic too, with Lara failing to land on top of whatever tiny platform you were aiming to. It's like the game demands a certain amount of precision but the controls just can't match the demand.

 The camera is a bit bad too, while you are given free reign over it, sometimes, particularly inside cramped areas, it can be a bit of a pain in the butt to get a good angle of where to go next.

 If they ironed out the control and tightned the platforming, this game could've amazing. The puzzles are fun, even if a few times I found myself stumped and had to resort to the in-game hint system, figuring everything out was a fun time. And the platforming, whenever you aren't plummeting down to your death because you didn't jump in the exact right angle, it's really good and exciting. Combat has never been the series' forte, but in this game it's quite acceptable.

 It's a shame that for as many fantastic ideas the game has the controls and movement really do get in the way of your enjoyment. It could've easily been an 8, but there's no avoiding the fact that you have to wrestle with how clunky movement is in order to play the game.

5.5

Game #857: Pac-man World

 White men can't jump, but what about yellow men?  

 I purchased Pac-Man World by accident. Y'see, I had this weird 3-D Pac-man game on PC and I thought that this was that game, it wasn't. Regardles, I found myself with a fairly interesting package.

 You see, with Pac-man World you actually get three different modes: Quest, which is the main mode in which you platform your way through six different worlds. Classic, which is the original Arcade Pac-man game and Mazes, which is a 3-D take on Pac-man. If you go for 100% when playing Quest you'll actually have to go through the Mazes!

 'Maze' doesn't work very well. The basic camera is too zoomed in, and the alternate camera angles aren't very good. Mazes have gimmicks that hurt you that don't work very well when being chased by ghosts. Laser walls that you have to wait for, dead ends because why not... these mazes aren't very good and it isn't a good twist on classic Pac-man.

Thankfully, Quest mode is actually really fun. Pac-man has a very interesting moveset: You can turn your jump into an offensive butt-bounce that also helps you with platforming since it increases the height of your jumps, plus, bouncing on top of an enemy will make you go even higher, which is sometimes necessary to get some hidden goodies. Pac-man also borrows Sonic's spin dash, but the running rev-up can also be used on some special platforms. Lastly, all those pellets Pac-man eats? You can shoot them offensively now!

 I'm surprised at how much fun the game is, Pac-man's moveset feels very well thought out. The game has some mildly challenging segments even on the early levels, but it's a fun challenge. The game is relatively generous with lives, so it's alright.

 The second boss is cheaply hard. During the first part you have to run away. Fairly easy. Then the real fight begins, you have to rev up four platforms and then attack his core. At first, the only obstacles are the lava pits between every platform, and falling means death, as well as the fireballs that shoot up from the pits. Very easy. After you hit it once, the boss adds a black tornado that chases you every few seconds, still very easy. Now, after the second hit, it adds another obstacles, fireballs that shoot from the background towards the platform you are standing on. A bit complicated, but still easy. Now, after the third hit, it becomes ridiculous, everything speeds up and the boss adds a constant barrage of pink lasers, starting from the left of the screen towards the right. I never managed to learn how to properly avoid these beams, and it feels like I brute forced my way through after wasting 20 lives.

 The other bosses are very gimmicky, to the game's detriment. The next boss is inspired by Galaxian, which is interesting since the game turns into a shooter, and then the next boss is a racing mini-game. I'd be more welcome to this bosses if the game had had small sections that used this gameplay, but it's just the bosses. So it's a bit weird having an entire game built around platforming, using a very fun moveset, and then having to contend with bosses that turn into mini-games.

 Overall? I think it's fine. There are a few moments that feel a bit cheap, sometimes, rarely, judging where you are and where a platform is might be can get bit tricky, but on the whole it's a pretty solid first effort to turn the series into a platformer. Y'know, I can find a lot of flaws with the new 'mazes', and the game itself is nothing spectacular, but I gotta hand it to the developers, they managed to make controlling Pac-man feel GOOD, which in turn made playing the game quite fun. The only moment that had me sweating a bit was after I spent most of my lives on the second boss, but the game is fairly generous so by the time I got to the sixth, and last, world I had over 30 to spare. It's fun, it's a fun game.

 7.5

Game #856: Crazy Taxi - Fare Wars

  As crazy as the PSP allowed.

 Y'know what the PSP was missing? Crazy Taxi! With Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars Sega brought the first two games into the tiniest handheld. This is interesting, because this is pretty much the only port of Crazy Taxi 2 outside the Dreamcast original.

 Both games are pretty... humble as far as the graphics go. I wasn't expecting it too look as sharp as the Arcade original, but the visual downgrade does take a bit away from the overall experience. Sometimes, rarely to be honest,  you can even see environment ahead of you pop into existence as you drive forward.

 The game includes a few extra challenges for both games, completing these will nab you a few goodies, such as playing as Crazy Taxi 1's drivers in Crazy Taxi 2's maps.

 The music playlist feels a bit scarce. There might be 10 tracks top divided between both games, and while the music tracks are good, it does get a bit repetitive after a while. CT2 has a song that starts with a lot of silence which isn't a good fit, since you'll be driving with no music for a few seconds. To compensate for this and some of the missing songs(No Offspring!) there's a custom OST feature you can use, which is admittedly a pretty neat addition.

 As much as I enjoy Arcade games in general and Crazy Taxi, these games have an extremely basic gameplay loop: Get a passenger, get them to their destination as fast as possible before the time limit expires. The only difference between both games is that in CT 2 you can jump at will and you can get passenger crowds of up to four people. This means that if you swap games after you get burned out from one of them... boy, do I have bad news for you...

 All four maps are very samey. They have unique locations and what not, but if you told someone that all four maps were identical you could probably get away with it for a while. I think this might have a lot to do with how the visual downgrade makes everything feel more uniform. Kinda like the Metro 2033 collection I played earlier this year, since they remade the first Metro using the engine from the second one it wound up feeling like two parts of the same whole, same deal here.

 Crazy Taxi doesn't have the most long lasting appeal ever, but the game is fun to revisit in bursts, y'know? If you pick it up every now and then for a few sessions then you'll probably have a lot fun every time, however, it's not a game built to be played for hours on end because the premise just can't cut it.

6.5

Game #855: Franklin the Turtle(Advance)

  Good ole activity centers.

 Can't say I was a fan of Franklin the Turtle, but back when I was of school age I loved waking up in the morning to watch the really cool shows(Batman and Superman TAS!), but sometimes I'd wake up even earlier, and as I waited for my shows to start I'd sometimes come across this show. And that's the sole reason I got this game, it's almost like a little piece of my childhood.

 The game reminded me of old PC games that were activity centers, because this is a collection of 19(odd number) mini games. There's a game in which you must paint a picture, a Simon-says mini-game, a memory game, a lot of "collect X" games and the such.

 The minigames are very simple and short, and most have no fail state. I think the games are so boring that even toddlers would have a hard time enjoying it.

 The graphics are a bit ugly, it's as if they digitized animation cells from the show or something, as sprites have a very grainy and stiff look to them.

 It's not good, it's not fun.

1.0

Game #854: Digimon Rumble Arena

 Leeeeeeet's get ready toooooo rrrrrrumbleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 Pokemon may had had Pokken, but Digimon did it first with their very first Digimon Rumble Arena on PS1.

 It's a very basic 2-D, but with 3-D graphics, one-on-one fighting game. The roster is decent, with a few main characters representing the first three seasons of the show. Since Digimon 03 was pretty much built around three protagonists, they are the only show to get their entire main cast represented! If anything, because it has main characters from the show, the roster is made exclusively out of already popular Digimon, Digimon that are probably way overexposed, while a few weirdos getting a spot in the game could've been neat.

 Gameplay is very rudimentary, with a block and an attack button, as well as two other face buttons to use special moves. Landing attacks and taking hits fills your Digivolution gauge, which you can use to temporarily digivolve into your Mega(Except Wormmon who always gets the short end of the stick) form

 The fighting itself feels very slow paced and kinda dull. While the game plays in 2-D, every level is quite large, usually with multiple floors. In the end, levels are two large for only two combatants, instead of incentivizing players to duke it out, it makes for overly prolonged duels if one of the fighters decides to run around.

 There are stage hazards as well as a few power ups you can pick up, further rewarding players who'd rather run away and waste your time.

 Most of the unlockable characters are Mega level 'mons, including the ability to play as your digivolved Digimon from the get go, although the latter can only be used in VS and no on the Single Player arcade run. This is a bit unfair, because these 'mons build the Digivolve gauge in order to use their super moves, while rookies NEED their digivolution in order to compete on equal grounds... for a short while until they revert back to their base forms.

 Very basic, very simple and a bit boring, but if you like Digimon it's not bad, but the sequel is a bit better since it executes the concept much better, as this sort of game and large stages would benefit from more combatants at the same time.

 5.0