Lemmings. (PSP)

Lemmings used to be a franchise that struck fear into the hearts of rival developers, proving that a game could be cute yet extremely demanding. It had an impressive wide appeal to various age groups and even the mythical female gamer. It was one of the prime examples of how exquisite gaming should be made. The reason why the franchise all but disappeared in recent years is a mystery (though an awful 3D rendition on the PSOne must shoulder some of the blame), but Sony have enlisted Team 17, creators of the equally lovable Worms series, to spark a revival for the green haired, brainless rodents.

For those who are unenlightened as to the ways of the lemming, you are an omniscient player who must tell the diminutive creatures when and where to use various 'tools' to ensure safe passage to each level's exit. The challenge of the game comes from various targets such as the number of lemmings that must live to see the end, a strict time limit or the availability of tools. Early scenarios speak for themselves, but when the difficulty moves from 'fun' to 'taxing' your brain will start to hurt from trying to assess exactly how the game developers imagined the level to be completed, and you haven't even thought about the 'mayhem' levels yet.

As mentioned before the levels are separated into categories which dictate difficulty, these being fun, tricky, taxing, mayhem and special respectively, adding up to an impressive total of 156. Some may consider it unfortunate that 120 of these are the same as those released in the original Lemmings over a decade ago, however most returning players will have probably forgotten the solutions to the more fiendish puzzles. But for those that can clear all these stages with ease, the 36 new 'special' levels should offer a degree of challenge while they wait for new levels to become available to download.

These new arenas are not merely churned out by designers at Team 17, but by other Lemmings players thanks to the simple but very effective level editor included in the game. Players can create sets of up to ten which can then be uploaded to the Lemmings infrastructure for friends or totally random players to download and play, meaning that the game has an impressive amount of potential for those with the brainpower, and time, required to extract the best results from this feature.

The PSP screen allows the player to see a large chunk of the landscape, so keeping track of lemmings is easy. On top of this Team 17 have made several intelligent design decisions that cause the game to function effectively on the PSP. While the D-Pad controls your cursor, the analogue nub allows quick scrolling around the screen meaning that it's easy to reach the lemming you want to with ease. The game also allows two points of zoom. Admittedly the first is drawn a little far back causing lemmings to appear slightly too small and as a result individual character control to become a hard task. However, the second is at a good depth, presenting the lemmings at a reasonable size while keeping a hefty proportion of the level in view. It would have been preferable for Team 17 to allow the player to dictate the zoom level, but fortunately what is here works.

One of the best control decisions is in allocating the tool bar to the L and R triggers. This means that tool selection is swift and also means the player isn't forced to relinquish control over the lemmings (a problem that hampered previous handheld versions of the series). The other two additions that improve the game are the target and fast forward buttons. Targeting a specific lemming means that controlling a solo worker is easy when in a large group, although you may occasionally have to wrestle with the cumbersome D-Pad. The fast forward button is a godsend to this portable version, allowing the player to speed up arduous tasks such as bridge construction or bashing. A necessity if you only have ten minutes left before work, it also helps the pace of an otherwise slow game.

You will undoubtedly become stuck at some point, but as with the majority of puzzle challenges, your brain will continue to think of possible methods to save your suicidal friends after the system is switched off. Thanks to the fact you can now take the game on the move, any tricks you think of can be tried in any period of free time, rather than having to wait until you get home (and ultimately forget the idea). Likewise, you could continue construction on a masterpiece so that you can upload your set of contraptions to the server when you reach an access point.

For those that have not heard of or played Lemmings, the PSP release is the perfect excuse to sample one of the finest retro gems. Having the game on the move really improves the experience, meaning small, bite-sized chunks on the bus are not only possible but rewarding. Likewise, to hardcore fans who have fond memories of this title, a purchase for a trip down memory lane is worthy not just for nostalgia, but to sample the wonderful, limitless possibilities opened up by the level creator. For all the Worms styling and musical remixes that have been added; this is still the classic it always was.

8/10

 

Metroid Prime Pinball. (DS)

Pinball, to you it is either the most addictive form of arcade entertainment available, or a waste of money just to see pretty colours light up, so when you think of paying in excess of twenty pounds for a pinball game then it’s going to have to get a lot of things right. It’s fortunate then, that Metroid Prime Pinball does a lot of things very well.

Fuse games previous attempt at breaching the pinball market was Super Mario Ball, an under whelming adventure title set over singular pinball challenges. The game lacked difficulty and lifespan because it was devoid of traditional pinball tables or charm, and after the brilliant Pokémon Pinball titles (developed in house by Nintendo) the mediocrity of Mario Ball was painful to swallow. Luckily, Metroid Prime Pinball not only pushes this bad memory from your mind, it works as a spin off title.

Why Samus’ morph ball form had not been seen on a pinball table before now seems ignorant of Nintendo, Samus can be a ball without having her bones crushed or her body malformed, and her fast paced enemy infested worlds fit the bill for creating interesting table designs. The two score tables take their respective themes (Tallon IV and Space Pirate frigate) and manage to craft fast paced action while retaining the same core features, such as multi ball activation, scanning slots and combat activation, meaning the tables are different enough to warrant both existing. There is a third score table (Magmoor Caves) but this is purely for use in the single cart multiplayer, which is amusing in short bursts.

Metroid Prime Pinball uses the video game media to present pinball in a fashion not possible in real life; this comes in the form of challenges and certain features, to collect artefacts in multi mission, and score boosts in single mission, the player is asked to take part in various challenges. These range from the simple, crush all enemies by hitting your ball into them, to the more unique, Samus is rooted to the spot and shoots with her arm cannon, you aim the arm cannon to stop the mass of enemies trying to kill you. Apart from these challenges the game allows Samus to use her trademark bombs to eliminate enemies, and there are also challenges such as the phazon ball, which can cause Samus to be pushed away at stupid speeds that would potentially break a real pinball table.

On top of the two score tables, the game features four individual challenge tables (playable in time attack from the single mission menu). These tables allow you to take part in boss battles from the Gamecube classic, but with a pinball spin. The early tables are easy but the final two can prove taxing and put an end to a potentially successful multi mission, however, in time attack these tables counteract the time consuming potential of the score tables by offering bite-sized snippets that can be experienced repetitively and remain fun.

Because of the dual screens the table is represented in full at all times, there is a suitable dead zone between the screens, which means following the ball is never confusing. The touch screen is used to tilt the table, an obvious feature it may be but it’s nice to be able to move the table how you want, rather than have a default tilt assigned to a button.

Included in the package is a rather strange looking rumble pack that is inserted into the GBA slot and attempts to supply force feedback during gameplay. This is ultimately more effective at causing an annoying noise while sending mild tremors down you fingertips, while a good idea it is no where near powerful enough to be effective. The rumble that was built into GBC and GBA games worked better than this; luckily you are not forced to have it in to play.

The single confusing thing about the game is that scanning is about bonuses rather than actual enemy scanning, a logbook (ala the GameCube title) would have given the game a feature to rival the Pokémon catching element from Pokémon Pinball. Instead, Metroid Prime Pinball is content with simple high scores, and because it plays such a good game of pinball, it’s not worth complaining about. As a companion to the Gamecube game this works perfectly, opinions of the game may be bias because of the Metroid styling but this is a worthy addition to a DS gamer’s library if they are looking for some pinball action.

7/10

Dead or Alive 4. (Xbox 360)

What do we expect from a sequel? How much does the number 2 (or 3, or 4) affect how we look at a game? It seems to be the effect of various factors including genre, format and franchise, which change our perception. If you start to play this game without a sense of déjà vu, then you probably haven’t played a Dead Or Alive game since the first.

A good fighting sequel needs an improved selection of fighters. This isn’t a problem for Dead Or Alive 4, carrying over the previous line-up, adding in a few surprises and introducing four new entrants. However, these new characters don’t have any dramatic impact on the game due to one playing remarkably similar to the heavyweights, and another two that feel identical; only one character actually seems fresh. In truth, the roster in DOA has always felt superficial because of the powerful counter system; all the characters can be played in the same manner, with few exceptions (Tina’s more effective grabs or Brad Wong’s slippery movements being two examples). Those returning feel no different, rarely having any new moves applied to them, so DOA veterans will have no trouble rediscovering their lost skills with old favourites.

There is actually very little that sets the gameplay mechanics apart from DOA: Ultimate. However several minor alterations are in place, which help to create a more believable game that flows a lot better. Primarily, the ground game has changed; whereas you were relatively safe if knocked down in Ultimate, you are now as vulnerable as if you are being juggled. Another small addition is that levels feature small walls that characters can be knocked over, after which an attacker can dive over to assault them. While hardly groundbreaking, it does add to the strategies behind combat. Overall the levels are far more interesting, with more diversity and various interesting features (such as cars that can hit you in one level). Perhaps the biggest alteration to the traditional DOA formula is the reduction in counter time, the game follows the same inputs as Ultimate but reduces the time in which the enemy must make contact to about half of what it was before. This is enough to throw some players off if they were countering experts in previous iterations in the franchise, but a change that means hammering mid punch/kick counter and hoping is a far less effective tactic than it was in the other titles.

The final box that a sequel should tick is the most obvious, and that is the visual aspect of the game. In the fashion of what has come before, the obligatory Ultimate comparison should be made here, and it is as poignant as ever. The character models have not changed a lot. Rather than focus on improving these Tecmo have put their efforts into the overall presentation of the levels. Where once the scenery felt slightly detached, with lions and spectators having a lot less attention paid to them than the lovely ladies, all the creatures and objects that make up the scenery now seem well polished, reacting to players and helping to create a more effective experience. The levels themselves are now far more vibrant, causing the player to admire them as much as the fighters. The minor enhancements that have been made to characters come in the form of veins, enhanced lighting and improved textures, but hair is still an occasional glitchy, blocky mess.

The game’s most effective update is in its LIVE play, and most significantly in its presentation of the lobby. Every player is given a fully customizable avatar, which you can alter the look of by buying accessories at Zack’s shop with the points you earn by playing on LIVE. These lobbies add a lighthearted feel to the online game, and whilst there you can watch the current combatants from cinematic camera angles while activating random emotes with your avatar. The game still suffers from lag, which varies from annoying to game destroying. The lag not only causes games to last far too long, it allows players to use counters with insane accuracy, thus causing the game to lose its fast-paced, twitchy gameplay. When it isn’t under the strain, DOA 4 is a good fighting game that players can get stuck into, trying to raise their online grade and customize their avatar.

So DOA 4 is a sequel by numbers, but one that never tries to break free from the foundations its predecessors have laid before it. If you’ve never tried a DOA game before, this is a fine place to start. But if you have played either of the recent XBox incarnations to death, be wary when considering your purchase of this game.

7/10

Sounds of a Game.

Over a selection of posts I will be looking at my favourite melodies from games and how effective they are. I’ll start with an extremly personal favourite of mine.

Gruntilda’s Lair – Banjo-Kazooie

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/BKGrLair.mid

‘If you go down to the woods today’ is the familiar message that was to greet the ears of players as they set foot into Gruntilda’s lair for the first time, but after a sneakily familiar introduction the music slides into a sinister mockery of the well loved nursery rhyme while keeping the humorous and bouncy flair of the game’s varied soundtrack.

The tune starts with a short ostinato that is played by four string instruments in a rising fashion to present the start of the piece, when this finishes double bass and violin play in a syncopated fashion that gives the tune it’s bouncy feel, helping give the music a light-hearted presence that fits with the game, while the tune conveys something more sinister. This driving beat continues throughout the entire composition and while the strings drop out towards the middle, percussion always plays every other beat to add to the texture and comedic sound of the piece. The use of tuned percussion helps emphasize the light-hearted feel of piece, as does the use of deep instruments. While the initial texture could be considered fairly thin, this adds to the feeling of being fairly alone and unknowing in the lair, but as the piece proceeds it appears to become more confident in itself, while the section featuring vibraphone solo with haunting sustained notes from synthesizer helps to suggest there may be good in such a desolate place. While the piece goes through many guises, the familiarity of the ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ feature continuously returns to haunt the player as they traverse Gruntilda’s lair.

This composition shows game music as an art form in the way the music is sensitive to where the player is in the lair. If Banjo and Kazooie are wandering in an unspecified area then the basic haunting idea continues, but as the duo wander towards level entrances and jiggy puzzles the music becomes tainted with instruments and melodic ideas from the levels themselves. From the accordion duet outside Rusty Bucket Bay to the Arabian sounds and driving percussion of Gobi’s Valley, to the windy high pitched sounds of Freezeezy Peak to the flowing wind passages of Click Clock woods to the final triumphant upbeat and downright funky presentation of the music for the game show finale, all these transformations of the song contain the same structure and melodic ideas, showing that for all that’s different, the levels are part of the same creation as they all hold the key ideas of the tune.

Due to the initial variety of the main song, merged with its ability to adopt a variety of styles, the player rarely becomes bored of its driving rhythms and familiar melodies while they press on with the adventure to discover the next variation. If ever a song conveyed the overall sense of its game as well as using the video game medium to enhance its effect, then Gruntilda’s Lair is a prime example.

Sonic Rush. (DS)

Sonic worked on the Mega Drive, many say this is because of the simplistic design or the appealing character, but the one aspect that’s never mentioned is the save system.Because of the save system, Sonic titles of late have all been stupidly easy, simply keep trying a level you get stuck on, or go back through the levels looking for the chaos emeralds. On the Mega Drive, Sega forced you to do this on one play through, collecting emeralds on your way; this gave the games a degree of challenge.

That’s not to say Sonic Rush is bad, far from it, it retains the usual hedgehog flair of high speed and twitch gameplay, but it’s just far too easy and short for its own good. The dual character system is also flawed, seen as both characters do the same things but in a slightly different order.

The game lasts (including emerald collection) under ten hours; if you’re proficient you can probably see the true ending within 5. And to top it off, the multiplayer is only an amusing distraction and only offers play for two players (when the advance games allowed four) and because the time attack has no reward, it is only good if you have friends ready to compete with.

7/10

Star Fox Assault. (Gamecube)

Star fox has always been known for intense action, fast paced flying levels and fun but shallow multiplayer. And what does Assault do? It gets them the wrong way round! All of a sudden, the multiplayer is brilliant fun, offering a decent level of depth for those willing to explore it and a shallow, not to mention short single player game.

The single player removes Fox from his Arwing but at least he has a gun rather than a stick, right? Wrong. While Fox has his blaster, and many other weapons, the game feels loose and lacks any feeling of impact, enemies die pathetically, and pose little to no challenge even on the gold difficulty setting. The flying levels are a step up and almost hit the nail on the head, but these are too few and far between to save the experience. The single player’s saving grace is its score attack, which can prove good competition between similar minded players.

In contrast to this, the multiplayer offers a nicely customizable game. When offered the choice between weapons, vehicles and power ups the game comes alive, with players ducking and diving and playing to their strengths, and some of the unlockable features make the game even better. The only part of multiplayer experience that suffers is the dog fighting, which only works on one level because the maneuvers don’t negate lock on blasts as in Lylat Wars. As far as I'm concerned, if Smash Bros can get away with being considered brilliant several years since release mainly for multiplayer, why can’t this?

8/10

The Return Of ‘Metroid’

This is merly something I wrote as a point of discussion on a message board, but I feel that it’s still fairly recent so I’m posting it.

While wandering home from a nice Saxophone lesson, I was mulling over my experiences with the enjoyable Metroid Prime Hunters and stumbled upon a chain of thought. This is, quite simply, what happened to ‘Metroid’.

Some of you may be confused by my comment but it’s quite simple, all the major Metroid releases since 2002’s Metroid Fusion have been under the moniker of ‘Prime’ (not counting 2004’s Zero Mission seen as it was a remake).

My thinking is quite simple; will the third instalment of the Prime series truly be the end of it’s run? Or will Nintendo find it hard to return to the simple name of ‘Metroid’ after Prime has become stuck in people’s heads. This mainly comes around due to the lack of reference to the story line of the Prime games in Hunters, apart from a few enemies that feature Tallon IV in their log book entry, there is little to link the games. This leads me to think Nintendo used the Prime sub heading for familiarities sake.

Also, considering Nintendo’s startling development of Samus in Fusion, I’m shocked that we haven’t witnessed the fusion suit since the game (besides the unlockable in Prime). Will Nintendo continue the story line or continue to fill in holes and update classics so that they can continue to use Samus’ power suit? Hopefully the elusive Metroid Dread is real, and is taking the story forwards rather than two steps back.

The Metroid reinvention was brilliant, but I’d rather Nintendo return to the series as Metroid, in fear that they will use the Prime title forever.

Always a first.

So, this is my first post on my new blog, a very nice blog it is too. I will be dedicating it to my general game musings as well as my own personal garbage. Who knows, if I keep this up I might even register my own domain name to host it on, wouldn’t that be quite sad.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough so welcome and I hope I can amuse at least one person in some way.