GuffNFluff
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger comes to us from the golden age of 3D platformers. You use boomerangs to attack, some with special powers. The game takes place in Australia and each level is a different environment that is seen in Australia and I think Tasmania as well. It is a lot of fun and definitely one to look into.
Enter the Dragonfly was one that I remember enjoying as a kid. Returning to it now, I see how much of a dumpster fire it really is. The fact that the game is capable of running at all is a miracle, quite frankly. The code appears to be held together with cellotape and Elmer's Glue. There was potential for the game to be good, but the lag makes it borderline unplayable. I don't remember if I ever completed the game when I was a child; the completion mark here is 'cos I glitched to the ending.
I don't remember enough about it to review it, and my copy is scratched to hell and unplayable. I enjoyed it when I was a kid.
Battle for Bikini Bottom may very well be the best Spongebob game out there. It is well-made with solid mechanics and gameplay. I revisit the game almost every year and 100% each time. As a personal favourite of mine, I am hyper-critical of the remake, which I will talk about when the time comes. Anyway, the story is fun, most of the voice talent is present, the humour is on point for the show, I have no complaints. I love it. You will too.
2007
This review contains spoilers
The DS version is the first version of The Simpsons Game I played, and there are distinct differences between it and the console version. The game itself is a 2D platformer, and the cutscenes are rendered in 3D. But the 3D is not done particularly well and the emotions of the characters in the moment are hard to discern.
While the story is the same, the level structures are different and some just are not present at all. For example, in the Game Engine or whatever it was that followed the Will Wright bit in the console version you have four levels: NeverQuest, Medal of Homer, Grand Theft Scratchy, and the JRPG one I forgot the name of. Medal of Homer and Grand Theft Scratchy are not on the DS version. One could make the argument that it is 'cos there are JRPGs and Zelda games on DS and there weren't any FPS games like Call of Duty on it or GTA games, but NeverQuest is not exclusively Zelda related as there are references to other fantasy-style games, including a direct reference to and parody of Gauntlet and GTA Chinatown Wars exists, though it came out in 2009 while The Simpsons Game came out in 2007, granted. Also the three-part alien invasion thing that references old Treehouse of Horror segments are one level in the DS version and not 3 separate levels like the console version. The final boss fight is different as well as far as gameplay goes. When I finally got around to seeing the console version, I noticed its superiority immediately. The game is fine, but you'll have a better experience with the console version.
While the story is the same, the level structures are different and some just are not present at all. For example, in the Game Engine or whatever it was that followed the Will Wright bit in the console version you have four levels: NeverQuest, Medal of Homer, Grand Theft Scratchy, and the JRPG one I forgot the name of. Medal of Homer and Grand Theft Scratchy are not on the DS version. One could make the argument that it is 'cos there are JRPGs and Zelda games on DS and there weren't any FPS games like Call of Duty on it or GTA games, but NeverQuest is not exclusively Zelda related as there are references to other fantasy-style games, including a direct reference to and parody of Gauntlet and GTA Chinatown Wars exists, though it came out in 2009 while The Simpsons Game came out in 2007, granted. Also the three-part alien invasion thing that references old Treehouse of Horror segments are one level in the DS version and not 3 separate levels like the console version. The final boss fight is different as well as far as gameplay goes. When I finally got around to seeing the console version, I noticed its superiority immediately. The game is fine, but you'll have a better experience with the console version.
2007
This review contains spoilers
As a fan of The Simpsons, or at least the seasons sub Season 15, I adore this game. Simpsons games have a tendency to parody whatever game they are cloning, in this case it is pretty much all of them if not video games in general, poking fun at the many tropes that pervade the respective genres they mock. While primarily a 3D platformer, they do briefly branch into other gameplay styles. A primary example is the final boss being DDR against God. Never a dull moment with this one. The cutscenes are animated following the show exactly. All of the voice talent is present and the jokes are on point. I cannot praise this game enough. I love it, and if you are a Simpsons fan as I am, you will too. That's not to say you have to be a Simpsons fan to enjoy the game. It is a solid game through and through.
2002
I enjoyed Pac-Man World 2. I don't like it nearly as much as the first one, but it is still good. This was one that I played a lot when I was a kid but never finished until much later. The music was decent. Whereas the music of the first game followed the theme of whatever world Pac-Man was in with many taking musical cues from the Pac-Man theme, the level types of 2 have a motif and each level's song is a variant of that motif. So yeah, good music, but not as good as 1 in my opinion. Anyway, I had fun with 2. It's a bit of a bitch to 100%, though.
2005
Though I have finished the original, I will save the review for Final Mix. Check there when it's up.
2002
If you want a review, and believe me I have a lot to say about Kingdom Hearts as I am a massive fan of the franchise, go to my review of Final Mix when it is up. I never finished the original version since my copy is buggered and I cannot progress to the revisit of Traverse Town. The music of Traverse Town does play, but it never actually loads. Whatever the fuck is wrong with my copy, I guess you can just say it's softlocked.
2003
This game is an interesting one that I struggle to classify. Each room has their own puzzles to solve, so there is a puzzle aspect to it. But there is combat as well. Though it is not combat in the traditional sense. You use energy from a lantern to attack with. Regardless of how one should classify this game, it was a decent game that was enjoyable. Look into it if you wish.
Don't remember enough to review properly. A second playthrough is required.
The game was fine. It's nothing really outstanding, but it plays well enough and is overall just...ok.
This review contains spoilers
Vice City Stories is the last of the 3D Universe GTA games. It is set in 1984, 2 years before the start of Vice City. You play as Victor Vance, Lance Vance's brother who was killed in the opening cutscene of Vice City. He starts out as a recruit at Fort Baxter Air Base and wants to earn money to send back home to his younger brother (not Lance) who is sick with an unnamed affliction and in the care of his drug-addled mother who often spends that money on drugs instead. He seeks out honest work after being dishonourably discharged but due to Lance's meddling and many other events ends up continuously turning to the criminal underworld and building an empire.
The game is, like Liberty City Stories, your standard GTA fare, but Vice City Stories has with more in common mechanically to Vice City. Swimming is present unlike in Vice City, but there is no diving and Victor cannot stay in the water for too long before running out of stamina and dying. Several characters that were around in Vice City do return. Tommy is not among them as he is still in prison during the time the game takes place. Phil Collins has a special guest appearance in the game, and he is the only celebrity to date that has appeared as themself in a GTA game and not another character. The game has an asset mechanic similar to San Andreas and V, but it is much more unique in how it works and is a bit hard to explain. I did not like this mechanic the first time through but did not mind it on the second go, which is pretty typical of me when revisiting games. Like Vice City, the music choice for this game is stellar. Never a dull moment with those stations. All in all, it's pretty average but can still be worth your time.
The game is, like Liberty City Stories, your standard GTA fare, but Vice City Stories has with more in common mechanically to Vice City. Swimming is present unlike in Vice City, but there is no diving and Victor cannot stay in the water for too long before running out of stamina and dying. Several characters that were around in Vice City do return. Tommy is not among them as he is still in prison during the time the game takes place. Phil Collins has a special guest appearance in the game, and he is the only celebrity to date that has appeared as themself in a GTA game and not another character. The game has an asset mechanic similar to San Andreas and V, but it is much more unique in how it works and is a bit hard to explain. I did not like this mechanic the first time through but did not mind it on the second go, which is pretty typical of me when revisiting games. Like Vice City, the music choice for this game is stellar. Never a dull moment with those stations. All in all, it's pretty average but can still be worth your time.
Here we are coming upon the last of the 3D Universe GTA games, the ones that as far as I can tell very few talk about, possibly due to being PSP games initially that were ported to console later on. The game itself takes place in 1998, 3 years before the events of GTA III. You play as Toni Cipriani, the capo of the Leone family. Toni was an arguably minor character in III who gave missions to Claude which targeted the Triads specifically and did nothing else. In this game, Tony has to regain don Salvatore Leone's trust and earn the title after some time away. I do not remember the specifics of why Toni left in the first place, though. The primary way in which you do this is by getting Leone out of trouble when needed and destroying the other mafia families in Liberty City, the Sindacco and the Forelli families as well as a family just called the Sicilian Mafia. In the process, the Leone family becomes the primary mafia family in the city and the distribution of the gangs in Liberty City ends up as seen in III.
The game itself is your standard GTA fare while having more in common with III in terms of mechanics: no swimming, no flying vehicles and the like. There are new minigames and side missions and things but not much outside of that. The radio stations in the game are the same as in III with the exception of one being that Chatterbox is now a program on a larger talk show station. I listened to Double Clef and the talk station exclusively. It's just your average GTA game and is enjoyable. Go for it if you wish.
The game itself is your standard GTA fare while having more in common with III in terms of mechanics: no swimming, no flying vehicles and the like. There are new minigames and side missions and things but not much outside of that. The radio stations in the game are the same as in III with the exception of one being that Chatterbox is now a program on a larger talk show station. I listened to Double Clef and the talk station exclusively. It's just your average GTA game and is enjoyable. Go for it if you wish.
Whereas Vice City is the one I have nostalgia for playing, this is one that I have nostalgia for watching someone else play. This is one of the many games I watched my cousin play. It wasn't until much later that I played it myself. San Andreas became notorious for its content and was a prime target for those who were strongly opposed to violence and sex in video games such as Jack Thompson. Even Hillary Clinton took issue with the content of the game. The Hot Coffee shit did not help things. What do I mean by Hot Coffee, you ask? Well, to put a long story short, code was left in the game for a sex minigame that was scrapped early. Rather than remove the code entirely, Rockstar did what most developers do and merely altered the code to disable access to the minigame. Modders were able to alter the code and reinstate the minigame, calling it the "Hot Coffee" mod. It was called hot coffee as that is the euphemism the game uses when you reach a high enough relationship with one of CJ's possible girlfriends to go into their house and have sex with them. The existence of this mod attracted a lot of negative attention towards Rockstar, which was only made worse when Rockstar, instead of owning up to it, tried to deny that the content was in the game to begin with, saying that it was created entirely by the modding community and claimed it violated the EULA. They were exposed as liars and accused of hiding the content when the code was found in the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game as well. Eventually the ESRB ordered that the game be reissued with the Adults Only rating, which would deter many video game retailers from even stocking it and cause it to be banned in many countries, or at least the ones in which it wasn't already banned to begin with. Rockstar eventually rereleased the game with the code removed to reinstate the M rating it started with. The unaltered ones that still have the minigame's code are exceedingly rare as Rockstar issued a recall of them (which was unenforceable) and those who never sent them back and know about the hot coffee controversy are not likely to sell them off. Anyway, I should probably stop the history lesson and actually review the game.
San Andreas is a favourite of many, and it is easy to see why. The game added stats for the protagonist (CJ in this case) which added a bit more depth to the gameplay and a more immersive experience. The game also added even more freedom to the open world with a larger map, more variety of vehicles, the ability to fly planes, swimming and diving, gambling, and countless other mechanics. San Andreas for one reason or another has many urban legends surrounding it. Things like Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts and ghost cars, and many others that help contribute to the game's more legendary status. The music choices for this game are fantastic. This is pretty much the only GTA game where I could listen to any of the radio stations and be happy with whatever is playing, no need to switch stations. This game like Vice City before it also had a star-studded voice cast. The game features many characters that have appeared in the other GTA games. Claude is in it and Tommy was meant to appear with a voice cameo but it did not work out. I even considered learning how to speedrun the game, with my love of glitching these games and intimate familiarity with them.
The girlfriend mechanic was not very enjoyable in my opinion, but it is cool how it allows for a very restricted and bare-bones co-op. The gun sound effects are not great. I heard they were made less realistic 'cos controversies around GTA games were starting to get out of hand and it was a form of damage control, but again, hot coffee happened. There are also some story issues but it isn't anything too major. Though it isn't my favourite as I've explained before, it is easily the best of the 3D Universe GTA games and worth your time.
San Andreas is a favourite of many, and it is easy to see why. The game added stats for the protagonist (CJ in this case) which added a bit more depth to the gameplay and a more immersive experience. The game also added even more freedom to the open world with a larger map, more variety of vehicles, the ability to fly planes, swimming and diving, gambling, and countless other mechanics. San Andreas for one reason or another has many urban legends surrounding it. Things like Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts and ghost cars, and many others that help contribute to the game's more legendary status. The music choices for this game are fantastic. This is pretty much the only GTA game where I could listen to any of the radio stations and be happy with whatever is playing, no need to switch stations. This game like Vice City before it also had a star-studded voice cast. The game features many characters that have appeared in the other GTA games. Claude is in it and Tommy was meant to appear with a voice cameo but it did not work out. I even considered learning how to speedrun the game, with my love of glitching these games and intimate familiarity with them.
The girlfriend mechanic was not very enjoyable in my opinion, but it is cool how it allows for a very restricted and bare-bones co-op. The gun sound effects are not great. I heard they were made less realistic 'cos controversies around GTA games were starting to get out of hand and it was a form of damage control, but again, hot coffee happened. There are also some story issues but it isn't anything too major. Though it isn't my favourite as I've explained before, it is easily the best of the 3D Universe GTA games and worth your time.