Up until this weekend I'd really been hooked on Guitar Hero II. It's one of those games that you really want to play over and over (especially thanks to the Achievement points.) That all stopped when I got Crackdown from GamezNFlix on Saturday.
I'm not going to tell you that Crackdown is totally original. Like many of the GTA clones Crackdown owes a lot to the original. The truth, though, is that Crackdown is a lot more like Ultimate Spiderman than GTA.
One aspect of Crackdown that I really liked was the skill based development. When you start you get 5 stats: Agility, Driving, Marksmanship, Strength, and Explosives. By either collecting orbs (of which there are close to 800 littered across the gameworld) or by practicing your skills you can advance.
With advancement comes stronger abilities. Beef up Agility to jump higher and run faster, Explosives increases the blast radius on your explosives, etc. etc.
Like I said, it's not really original - what it is, though, is FUN. Between yesterday and today I played through the core of the game and had a great time. If you're looking to turn a weekend full of potential into one long gaming session consider picking up. I had a whole bunch of plans for my new theme and blew all my time on this game.
One of the most exciting features of the Nintendo Wii (for me at least) was the Virtual Console. Years ago, when I first got my Nintendo I was stuck playing only a few games and renting maybe once in awhile. I also had to share the console with three other siblings who constantly wanted to play.
The allure of the Virtual Console, of course, was the ability to go back and play some of those games that I hadn't previously enjoyed. I could finally play through Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and even Kid Icarus. Since the SNES, N64 and other consoles would be represented I could jump between all the titles I never really had a chance to play before.
While it's nice to have the oppurtunity to play some of these games finally, nostalgia only goes so far. How many virtual titles are really worth the investment?
So far I've been coaxed into buying two, Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. According to The Virtual Console Archive there are 62 titles available for the Virtual Console - I'd say about ten of them are worth your attention. Of note: Super Castlevania IV, Kid Icarus, Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and pretty soon Excitebike.
These other titles: they're pretty much fodder.
Where's MegaMan? Bionic Commando? Why did we get Castlevania IV before Castlevania?
As I said, I'm really not into a lot of these titles - certainly not enough to pay what they're asking for them. What about you other Wii owners? Have you bought any VC games yet? Which ones do you consider must owns? Which ones do you want to see?
There's a post over on Joystiq asking "What games are you ashamed to say you've never played?" It's a fair question that I'm sure many people have surprising answers too. I've a long list of games that I'm embarrassed to have missed out on that I thought I'd share too - just for S&Gs.
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Jade Empire
Kid Icarus - which I can now grab on the Nintendo VC so this may soon be fixed.
All the Ratchet and Clank games
All the Jak and Daxter games
There are surely more but I'm hardpressed to come up with them now. One exception I will mention is Silent Hill 2 & 3 are now available on GameTap - which is pretty sweet. I kinda want to play the first game first though.
My fingers are crossed that it lands on the PSP as more PlayStation games head that way.
Final Fantasy VII was one of the first Final Fantasy games I ever got into. There was something about that game that hooked me right from the start. I know a lot of people that say the same thing.
When I heard that Final Fantasy VII was getting turned into a movie I was truly excited. The resulting movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, was one of the best video game-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen. Vesides having a compelling story it was also some of the best CGI work that I think has ever been in film.
The only reason I haven't purchased the movie right now is that I'm waiting for an HD-DVD release.
OK, so it's not in English - that doesn't make it any harder to understand though. In a solution harkening back to the old eject and blow method of quick fixes this guy has found a temporary fix for the 3 Red Lights OF DEATH.
Up until this weekend I'd really been hooked on Guitar Hero II. It's one of those games that you really want to play over and over (especially thanks to the Achievement points.) That all stopped when I got Crackdown from GamezNFlix on Saturday.
was one of the best video game-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen. Vesides having a compelling story it was also some of the best CGI work that I think has ever been in film.