Transformice (Flash) Review

This is a weird game. Like. Really weird. But I like free games to play so don't judge me. I shouldn't be playing this game in college but I can and I will since this game had a strange concept to it and the art is just super adorable. The game isn't the biggest thing in gaming but it's a free-to-play game with vast multiplayer where you work together to get cheese for the family, sounds boring? Yeah. It is, but you get godly mice too? I'm already sold.

Transformice is a free-to-play multiplayer online platform browser game *takes a deep breath* created by the french people, two to be exact called Melibellule and Tigrounette. Melibellule produces the game's kawaii artwork and graphics and Tigrounette works the functions and mechanics. It was released on May 1, 2010. 4 years old. That's crazy.

For a game made by two individuals. The game is very nicely made. The costumes and items that can be gained by cheese grabbing are colourful and cartoony, nicely having a large number of items. The Shaman is easily identified from the regular mice since they have a larger body and light blue decoration. The game has a nice atmosphere, mainly when there are more than one player, as it feels busy and friendly. The in game payments is what should be expected from free games in this generation, but it doesn't cripple you in anyway. You can play the game perfectly fine without the payments and it's good that way.

Players can control the mouse with the arrow keys or the WASD keys to run, jump and duck their way to the cheese which is randomly placed around a map. Players' mice must touch the cheese to collect it and must take it back to the mice hole to finish. The number of cheese and mice holes differ between maps. Players are awarded points on a scoreboard that updates in real-life and bonus points are rewarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Collecting cheese is recorded into a player's permanent stats and the cheese collected can gain the player avatar clothing and costumes for their mice, to make them the hippest mouse there.
When a player reaches the highest score, they will become a Shaman in the next round. Their job is to help the other mice get to the cheese and back to the hole (Although they can troll you). the Shaman can help by summoning objects like anvils, balloons and boxes to create buildings or contraptions. It's all about working as a team member and thinking creatively to help the others grab the cheese.

This game is one of the few good Multiplayer online browser games. The payments are there but aren't provided in anyway unless you want to buy certain things, and even then. Most things can be slowly earned by collecting cheese in-game. The chat is fun and the people can be interesting to talk to, making it feel like you're experiencing teamwork with actual people. They will get angry when you screw up and be happy when you help as a Shaman. I have to admit that the Shaman is hard to grasp at first. I even hate being Shaman, but the actual game is good and a great time-killer if you have a few 10 minutes to spare, since you just have to log in and then jump into a map. Multiplayer games like this aren't for everyone but the rare chaotic moments are worth a see.

Sonic Riders (PS2) Review

Now I expect alot of hate after this post, but I actually liked this game. Just lower your pitchforks and torches down and let me explain. This game was "OK". It was a decent racing game and it had likable (At most) characters and hover boards are a thing I rarely see in gaming. Why give the world's fastest hedgehog a hover board anyway when he can just run to the finish line? A question I can't exactly answer. This was one of those games that raised alot of questions, but it wasn't a bad game for me anyway.

Since Sega has a habit of doing anything and everything to this blue spikey hedgehog. It didn't concern me that "hover board riding" would be the next thing on their list in 2006. It was for the Gamecube, Xbox, PS2 and PC. It was also the fourth Sonic racing game in the series. The game was released to start off the 15th anniversary of the Sonic the hedgehog series, introducing new characters including the Babylon rouges and the Xbox version was released with a Sonic X DVD. I'm not a big fan of the shows since they never interested me, so that last bit of information was as pointless to me as you guys.

The story splits into two halves, one with the Heroes story and the other with the Babylon story. All of the stories start differently but soon overlay, which I like with multiple storylines. Also, Both stories are only told from the point of view of the specified characters and Omochao (Fucking love that cute piece of shit). The layout of the story is pretty cool since it's rare to find a racing game with a decent story. It's not a GREAT story but it's good. So it goes into the "Meh" category. The story revolves around the Babylon Rouges and a place called Babylon Garden which holds great treasure. There's the three members of the Babylon Rouges who are introduced into this game, the rest being previous characters in the Sonic series (Other characters can be unlocked like Shadow and Cream). The three are Jet (The leader), Wave (The mechanic) and Storm. These characters play a large part in the game and their personalities are.. Okay? I tolerated them. Wave seemed to be targeted as Tails' love interest (or so I thought while playing) and talking of that two-tailed fox. Try playing this game and take a shot everytime he says "Babylon".

The look of the game is "eh". It's not the best looking game on the PS2 but it's similar to the design on Sonic heroes (I'm referring to the actual game). The concept art and opening scenes though are a different story. It uses a street art-style of art which works quite alright with this style of game. Since hoverboards are similar to skateboards and they are usually linked with street art and graffiti. I actually really liked the opening sequence when I played this game. I have no idea why. Maybe it was the colours or the fast pace it had. I can't remember. The music is upbeat, fast and works with the racing. There are times where it gets annoying while playing on different tracks but it's bearable. What I DO hate is the beeping sound when you run out of air. The tracks themselves are pretty good for racing. My favorite being just the city track. I praise the game for giving different routes for different types of characters. Speed characters using rails to grind, Fly characters to fly a long distance with rings and the Power characters for smashing things out the way. It had a similar feel as Sonic heroes, making you play as different characters to experiment with different routes (Although you are three characters at once in Sonic Heroes).

The game-play is similar to most racing games. The hover boards work similar to skateboards so it's best to be compared to a skateboarding racing game. there are 16 tracks with 9 of them being unlocked by going through the story. This is a decent amount of tracks for a Sonic racing game. I actually expected less. 

The main difference to this from other racing / Skateboarding games is the air tank. Players have to keep the air tank filled with well... air to keep the hoverboard (or Extreme gears for you nerdy dicks) from stopping. The air is depleted as the race continues but can be regained by cornering and doing tricks in the air. This component can be annoying but doesn't add to the tension in racing. If a player runs out of air, their character will start running, putting them at several disadvantage so keeping the air tank filled is vital if you want to stay first.

The controls are alright. Floaty but that's expected for a game where you ride air. So I can't complain about the game for that.

This game wasn't bad. The story is alright but can drag on a little if you're the type to like Sonic stories (They can be shitty). The actually game-play is difficult to grasp at first because of the air tank and the different things you can do. It took me a little while to get better at it and finally began to enjoy it when I wasn't getting frustrated at it. It was nice coming back to it but I doubt I'll be going back to it again anytime soon as there are better racers out there that I enjoy better.

Super Puzzle Platformer (Flash) Review

During my quest of snotty tissues and coughing up my own organs these past few days. I came across this lovely small game while laying in bed, just going through a bunch of Adultswim games (Which I might consider giving some short reviews). I played this game now and then but always forgot about it since I'm always hooked up to my PS3, exploding old ladies with grenades. So why is this game being placed onto here? Well, firstly this game is a perfect arcade mash'em ups and it's my reviewing blog, so fuck your opinions.
PS: Don't hate me viewers. ILY.

This game was previously a flash game but made it's way up onto the steam list. It was created by Andrew Morrish. A beautiful man with an amazing talent to create such a retro feeling game with mashed up elements. Although I can't praise this game like it's the crusty scab from the sole of Jesus's foot. Mash'em up elements has been done before and so has retro games. People abuse the art style BUT this game is still amazing for a game you can game for free.

There is no really story. So I'm not going to review this part. (Skipping to visuals)
The visuals are amazing. The character him (her?)Self is simply designed and the simplicity of the designs add to the sense of retro gaming so many game designers seem to enjoy making recently. The blocks are bright and easy to make out easy colour. The visuals has a 2D style with a perception of 3D, which I like in platformers. The music is 8-bit with a fast beat to keep the game feeling fast-paced and chaotic.

The movement in the game feels floaty but bouncy, helping you run and hop from block to block with ease. The character feels like they have little weight and this helps with sudden escapes from falling blocks if you're at risk of dying. The guns alter slightly when you level up (which you do by shooting blocks) and the shots actually have some sort of realism to the character, making him go back slightly from the firepower.

This game is fun, and it's free to play or you can buy it from Steam and get some DLC with it. It's a game with a retro feel so the only aim in the game is to get a high score. It's fun to play with friends as you can challenge each other to beat each other's scores, but it's still just as fun playing it on your own (If you're a loner like me). It's a simple game which got me addicted when I started playing it again. If you're not a fan of modern retro-styled games. I don't think you'll agree that it's good but anyone else should give it a go on Adultswim to see if they enjoy the fast paced platform shooter that this game offers.

Sonic Generations (PS3) Review

Sonic Generations is a same I enjoyed a little. The old levels poked at my nostalgia and I completed it fairly quickly. The only Sonic games I have played in the past was Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic heroes, Sonic 06 and a few others. I wasn't the biggest fan of the series but I still enjoyed the fast paced gameplay that most of my other games didn't have. This game was like a flashback to when I played those last games but there were a few things that bugged me about it.

Sega has been corrupting this blue hedgehog, turning him into all kinds to grab some attention from the Sonic fans. From giving him a bestiality romance with a final fantasy character to just turning into werewolf. Sonic was Sega's guinea pig while they tried to find something that worked. Something similar to the old Sonic, so why not make a game with old Sonic? Ehm.. I mean... A game with most of the annoying characters from the old games and levels from some of the past games, including the trainwreck which was Sonic 06. Sonic Generations was finally created and released to consoles in 2011 for PS3, Xbox, 3DS and PC. The game was for the 20th Anniversary of Sonic and the game was a surprise to the fans who waited so long for the old Sonic to get back onto their television screens.

The story is... strange like most (if not all) Sonic games that have been vomiting out from Sega's mouth in the recent years.  The story starts in White Space, a realm where time and space end up after they have been "erased" by being drained of color and life. The final moments of the game take place in the Center of Time, and Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic has to explore the nine worlds (seven in the 3DS version) to save history and rescue their friends as Eggman and Classic Eggman team up to erase their past defeats from history using Time Eater.
Nineteen of the characters in the previous games make an appearance. With Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic, Tails and his Classic self. There's also characters including Amy, Knuckles, Charmy the bee, Vector, Shadow and even Blaze and Silver. The side characters barely do anything than tag up with you with missions, which makes the challenges differ between each world.

The graphics are similar to that of Sonic colors. Very vibrant and colorful in each stage. The camera is zoomed out, giving the player a better time to react to things that comes towards them on the screen, where as the old games had the camera zoomed in and it was hard to see when things were coming at you. The music is catchy, keeping to the original songs of the levels. My favorite being City Escape. The game didn't alter too much of the original designs, but added enough to make them feel fresh to nostalgic players.
The thing I didn't like was that they included a map from Sonic 06, which I had said before. It was a train wreck. I'm unsure why the Sonic team would want to add that into this game, since that game was the sin of Sonic games and should be buried into the ground, and I didn't want to be reminded of that piece of garbage while playing this game.

The controls for Classic Sonic are like the ones for the past games, using classic moves like the Spin Attack and Spin Dash and the leveling for him is fixed on a 2D side scroller. Modern Sonic is giving 2D/3D platforming similar to Sonic Unleashed and Sonic colors, giving him some past moves like the homing attack and and speed boosting. Although you can pick which one you want to do for each world. You have to do both in order to process, forcing the player to play the level twice. This can be considered a good thing as the two levels have different ways of playing, but it can be frustrating for players who prefer one playing style over the other. There are 10 challenges in each zone which spices up the game and is also required to do before you can go to the boss stage, forcing the player again. A Skill Shop allows players to use points earned from high scores to unlock upgrades such as abilities, shields, and even the original Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis game, which was the main thing I was saving up for. Completing challenges, as well as finding Red Star Rings hidden in each of the main Acts, unlocks additional skills, as well as bonus concept artwork and music so I guess the challenges are useful and not just for filler. There are also online leaderboards for two modes: Ranking Attack, which challenges players to obtain the best time and score on each level, and 30 Second Trial, which challenges players to see how far they can get through a level in 30 seconds, which can be fun when challenging your friends and beating each others scores online (if they have the game also).

I found this game fun to play in my spare time for a few minutes. The levels are nicely laid out and the music is catchy and fun to listen to, whether you're new to the Sonic series or not. There are some annoyances like sometimes the homing attack won't target an enemy and the chaos emeralds can be frustrating to get when the game gives you no indication on what to do, but it's alot better than the previous experiments that Sega has put out on the shelves. It's possibly one of the better modern Sonic games and it's an example that it's okay to sometimes take a step backwards when coming up with new ideas, sometimes old is good. 

Grand Theft Auto V (PS3) Review

Like most drooling nerds near Christmas time. I was super excited to get the newest GTA and waited ages to get my hands onto it. I finally grabbed this game from the stores a few days after the holidays with my saved up money. My friend owned this game before I did, and I was so happy to finally play the game for myself and see if the hype for this game was really worth it.

 

Contains Spoilers.

 

Grand Theft auto 5 was developed by Rockstar and was the fifth (not really if you count the side games) installment to their GTA series, which was known for their large open worlds and blowing shit up for giggles.  It was released on September 17th 2013 and was giving positive ratings from reviewers.

The story revolved around criminal acts and whores, which was a on going theme in GTA. However! The player is made to play three different types of characters who will later on cross paths and will make the player switch between them during missions to help each other out and complete it, this made it so traveling to each mission didn't feel so long as you could just switch to another character. There has been mainly one playable character in each series in the past, which makes this game fairly different from the rest. The character switching also gave a unique pacing to the action scenes.

The characters were well made. They felt different and they had different personalities; There was Trevor: The psychotic redneck. There's Micheal: The rich depressed old guy, And there's also Franklin: The clueless black guy. 

The story felt well made too. I really enjoyed the layout of the plot and although the actual introductions were fairly slow. The Prologue was very fast paced and sticks you in the middle of the action. The whole story was able to keep me interested while playing, giving us many side characters for each main character the player controls, ranging from Micheal's family, the members of grove street to simple minded Wade and his cousin.

Online also comes back from the previous game, but I'll talk more about that in the gameplay section.

The graphics are a big improvement from the last game. The character models look human-like and the landscapes are amazing, from the big city of San Andreas to the wastelands of Sandy shores. The environment makes the map from the PS2 game: GTA San Andreas to feel alot more lively and interesting, giving the player much more encouragement to explore the area. The music was well put together, mainly the radio music for inside of cars. They used alot of popular songs that most people would know and the music in the background of action sequences and missions really put you on edge that little bit more.

GTA 5 (Like all the other games in the series) is an action-adventure game in third person view. The player is given linear missions to progress the story but also gives them a open world to explore and freely roam between missions if they so please. The world can be fully explored at the beginning (after the Prologue) but the story unlocks more gameplay content, which I think is a good way of letting the players play the game as they want to play it.

Players can use melee attacks to fight enemies, swim, jump or use cars to roam the world. More weapons and vehicles can be obtained and used when the player finds them in the world or if missions are completed. The progression towards 100% completed is long and hard. I don't think you can get 100% without actually looking up what you have to do in order to complete the checklist that Rockstar gives to you on the main menu, since it really doesn't tell you WHAT to do in order to fill up each areas. Which adds to the fun of the chase but is also impossible to do blindly.

Online play is possibly the one thing I really enjoyed at first but then slowly began to get bored of it. Multiplayer has a sort of RPG style to it. To get certain weapons and other content; Players have to grind their character up to gain levels, which I find to be quite tedious, mainly when the last game just planted weapons down and gives you freedom to blow up other players or team up, which I liked. The character creation is very in depth and I give the game credit for that, but I think that the grinding is a very slow process to do just for the weapons you want. 

Spoiler:

At the end of the game. You can kill off one of the characters, which is a neat idea since it gives the player a choice, but it also makes you lose the chance to do side missions if you kill off one of them, giving you no purpose in doing so in the first place.

I think the game was very good and I enjoyed the single player very much, to the point where I felt sorry for killing Trevor off the first time I played the game and forcing myself to play the game again to save all the characters. The online was "Meh".. It was fun but I don't think it was worth the grinding that's required to get better things. Good idea but grinding is the one thing that puts me off from most RPG games.

Shadow The Hedgehog (PS2) Review

I think most people had mixed views when this game came out in 2005. Even the critics gave mixed scores which left people wondering if the game was even good or if some of the elements lacked or were too much for the Sonic universe. This game was a risky installment into the Sonic series and it starred our favorite black hedgehog, Shadow.

As I said before. This game was giving mixed scores and no one knew if the game was good or bad. It was created by Sega, who are widely known for the Sonic series. They wanted to create a darker and different approach to the Sonic world, using a new main character instead of their blue spikey mascot. Trying to appeal to older kids by adding guns and increasing the violence. This game just because a sloppy mess. I must admit that I did enjoy this game for a small while, but the mechanics and the controls frustrated me when coming back to it.

The story of this game is that Shadow is suffering from the "He has Amnesia and must find out who he is" cliche. He goes to find out who Maria is from one of his memories and to figure out if he's a good guy or a villain. The way you play will alter the story depending on whether you take the Hero approach, Evil approach or sticking with neutral. I found this pick-your-own-adventure gimmick to be surprising entertaining at first, but quickly backfires into the "Meh" category since when you finish one ending. You can't pick a level to go back and complete the rest of the missions. You HAVE to start way back at the beginning, watching all the cutscenes that you had previously seen and know what happens, which ruins the charm, and you barely get anything for getting all the endings, just the "true" ending, which isn't a great reward considering that you have to replay this game 10 times to get all the endings, even more so if you accidentally picked the wrong branch and have to start over.
You meet most if not all of the past Sonic characters, including Sonic himself, Tails, Knuckles etc. Who accompany you if you pick the option to do the Hero missions. There is also Doom eye, a villian who brought aliens to earth and cause chaos, confronting Shadow at the start and making it clear that he knew him and ordering him to bring the chao emeralds to him.

The game didn't have bad graphics, nothing like Sly cooper or Devil may cry standards. They were good at most parts, having different environments to zoom through. The game was quite linear, keeping to the same design as Sonic heroes. However, because of the whole replaying for all the endings. The levels can get stale after a while. The characters wouldn't shut up when doing certain things, always telling me what to do the moment I get there like it's holding my hand which most experienced gamers (And the audience that this is aimed for will mainly be experienced at games) don't want to tolerate. The music was interesting, fitted with the levels quite well in some parts, and I even enjoyed the song in the opening, but the charm fades quickly yet again when you have to reply the levels over again, mainly the first level, but this is not really a problem for people who complete it just once.

Shadow controls like butter on rocket shoes. There is an no way of controlling Shadow very well when moving at high speeds, making it so you end up flying off the platform and losing a life. His running is quickly slidey and he turns so fast that you end up tapping the right button and slamming his face into a wall. There are a large amount of weapons that Shadow can use to defeat enemies, but really don't have a purpose when you can just use your homing attack and the aim is just a nightmare. There are also vehicles, which I also find pointless because of the speed that Shadow can go, so he can easily just outrun them. For a game with slippery and fast movement; It can also feel slow at times, since you're usually blocked off by a wall and being forced to climb or just because of the platforming (Which is hard with the controls). There are also two super power ups, each can be used if the bad karma bar is full or the good karma. Good karma lets you use Chaos control, which makes Shadow zoom through some of level with ease, which can be a pain sometimes when you have to collect things or if it stops you in a dangerous spot. Chaos blast is for the Bad karma, and lets Shadow make... well... a big blast, destorying anything within range, which I found to be useful against large crowds of enemies.

Shadow the hedgehog tried to take itself seriously and use a darker theme that was a contrast to the past games, but I think it was a good idea that was created poorly. It did have it's moments that were fun (At least for me) And the story was engaging at times, but it felt like alot was thrown at you and the pick your adventure story they had was fun at first but can quickly become tedious. It's not a BAD game, despite it's flaws. I had a fun time playing it and was even great having friends over and laughing about some of the parts that are trying to be serious, which isn't easily done with a series that's based off a blue hedgehog. I guess if you're a fan of Shadow the hedgehog, then you may have no problem with this game, but for anyone else? I would just recommended just playing through it just the once. There are much better 3D Sonic games that I would tell you to play instead of this, but at least the multiplayer on this is a little fun.

Spyro 3: Year of the dragon (PS1) Retro Review

And last but not least. We have my favorite Spyro game; Spyro 3: Year of the dragon. This game came from the glorious pants of Insomniac Games and it was truly a game that consumed most of my time as kid, trying to get all the eggs. It was a glorious gem on my shelf and the game felt like the second game but just a little bit better.

Spyro 3: Year of the dragon was named after the year of the Chinese zodiac, which was the dragon of that year. It was the third and final installment of the Spyro trilogy on the PS1 as Insomniac handed the purple dragon over to new developers and went off to work on Ratchet & Clank on the PS2 (insert feels here).  The game was released in North America on October 25, 2000 and in Europe on November 8, 2000 and was the only Spyro game in the series that wasn't released in Japan.

The game's plot starts with a celebration in the land of the dragons, which occurs every twelve years when new dragon eggs are brought to the realm. While everyone is sleeping, a rabbit called Bianca invades the realm and stole all the dragon eggs, taking them to the evil Sorceress, who scatters them through several worlds and it's Spyro's job (Like always) to collect the dragon eggs and save the day.
While chasing the thief who was stealing the dragon eggs. Spyro discovers a world which once were inhabited with dragons but were now abandoned and forgotten, being told by Sheila (One of the playable characters) that when the dragons left the realm, the magic of the world began to dry up.
Spyro is accompanied by many characters during the game, with Sparx still being his dragonfly sidekick and health bar. Characters from the previous game makes an appearance including Hunter the Cheetah, who teaches the player game mechanics and also Moneybags, who continues to be a greedy dick. There are also four other playable characters with different moves and abilities to aid Spyro and gives the player a fresh new way of playing without changing Spyro's controls. I found each character to be colourful, having their own personalities.
I felt like the story of this game had a little more depth than the other two, even giving a Hunter a love interest.

The game offered improved music and graphics, still keeping to the colorful themes of each different levels, not making anything out of place and creating the atmosphere the game wants it to have. Stewart Copeland brings his beautiful music talent back and it's better than ever. Copeland recorded entire orchestral music for the visuals for an expansive sound, and used more beat-driven melodies for the high-energy moments within the game. It felt fresh, even when repeating listening to it.

Spyro Year of the dragon keeps it's traditional controls. Fire breath, glide, charge and such are all still the main controls of the character and diving, headbutting and climbing ladders doesn't need the payment of moneybags to obtain. The main goal of the game is to collect the dragon eggs that are scattered all across the worlds. The eggs are given for completing tasks and at the end of levels, and even are just hidden around. There are 37 worlds and five hub worlds. The best thing I like about the egg collecting is that the Player does not need to gather every single egg to complete the main portion of the game up until the boss, and even certain eggs can only be found by returning to the world at a later time.
Spyro 3 also introduced "critters", which are playable characters that have their own world in each hub. There are four critters in total and they all have their own special moves and ways of playing, giving a new challenge to the player. Shelia the Kangaroo; for example, can double jump to higher places and Sgt. Byrd is armed with rocket launchers and can fly.
The game also brought mini-games to the table, some of which were featured in Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer, but the game introduces a lot more of them and rewards you with dragon eggs. These mini-games range from skateboarding, boxing and racing, as well as puzzles which are played by Spyro or the other playable characters. The only issue I have with gameplay is with Agent 9, as the aiming felt a little clumsy. I just didn't like the controlling on that level at all.

This game was my favorite and will always will be. Because it can be easy for beginners or it can be challenging. It's your own choice. You don't have to collect all the eggs and gems, or complete all the mini games, but the challenge is still there, giving experienced players the challenge they want without putting too much pressure on people who are playing it for the first time. It's a good game for anyone who's just started gaming. The egg hunt is fun and challenging if you're looking for all the eggs, and collecting them feel rewarding sometimes. This game is fun to play and it's aged well, still keeping it's child-like charm.

Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (PS1) Retro Review

I've decided to review the whole trilogy of the Spyro series (The good series which were still in Insomniac's grubby little paws) because it's my review and it's tough titties what you guys want. Compared to it's primal little brother, Spyro the dragon. You can see that Insomniac pushed this sequel a little further by adding new moves and power ups, heck, even a new entire world.

Spyro 2 was a platformer video game developed by *drool* Insomniac Games and was the second game in the main Spyro series which was released in North America on November 2nd 1999 as Spyro 2: Ripto's rage, then was released in Europe as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (Because we like sparkles) and then in Japan on March 16, 2000.

The story is quite basic. Spyro and his familiar partner Sparx are sick of the rain and decides to go to Dragon shores but ends up in Avalar, having been summoned there by a Professor, a Cheetah and a Faun. They explain that he was sent there to defeat the evil bad guy, although he doesn't have much of a choice anyway.
The only characters from the past game that had returned in the sequel are only Spyro and his friend Sparx, which he still functions as a health meter. The new world of Avalar gave space to introduce new characters and areas that weren't in the original game but would make more appearances in the later series. Two of which I will pick at because I'll be here forever if I go through them all. Firstly, there's Hunter the Cheetah. Which I must ask.. Why teach me to jump after a whole level? You go through Glimmer before this jumping tutorial and I found it a little irritating being taught something that I had been doing about x number of times before even reaching him. Maybe I'm just nitpicking at a game designed for kids as I have a good knowledge of gaming? Who knows really.
Next is my least favorite character from the Spyro series and I despise. Moneybags. This little shit was always in the way when you were progressing through the game. No gems? Well that sucks to be you. Although he grants you with useful abilities like climbing walls and diving underwater. I don't see what impact it would have on the game if you had them beforehand. It's like the game's invisible wall, stopping you from progressing more until you've explored more.

The graphics are very well done, even-though it was on the PS1 which has to be taken into account. There's less frame rate lag (Still, might just be a personal experience). The new areas in this sequel really did feel like different levels, not just copy and pasted with a different theme on top of it. The music was composed by Stewart Copeland, who did an amazing job on creating the music on the original game.

The sequel made sure to keep the controls and gameplay similar to the original game to stop themselves from scaring away the fans of the first game. He can use his flame breath, charge attack and gliding abilities. However, now Spyro has to collect two new types of items. Tailsmans are rewarded at the end of each realm, which (when collected all of them from the world) unlocks the boss, and orbs are gained for completing side quests and are rewarded at the end of the levels in the final world before fighting Ripto. Like the last game, the levels are well paced and gives the players a free open world to wander around in, helping the non-experienced players to grasp the controls and for experienced players to just rush on ahead if they wish to. Over the course of the game, he will learn new abilities from Moneybags, including diving into deep waters to reach treasure, climbing which lets him reach higher platforms and the headbash which lets him break rocks and cages. Each level has a power up gate, which activates when Spyro defeats a number of enemies in that level, which grants him a temporary super ability, like super fire breath, ice breath, invulnerability and a super charge.

I believe Insomniac Games did a perfect job on creating a sequel of the first Spyro the dragon. They made alot of changes but it never felt over the top, and you don't even need any knowledge of the first game to enjoy this one as it's set in a different word. The characters (excluding a few.. *cough* Moneybags *cough*) Are quite enjoying and each level always introduced a new character to talk to, even if they are only for that level. I'm glad that they also kept the same composer for the music, as the music is still bouncy but fresh, although the level with the bagpipes hurt my eardrums. This game was better than the original, which how sequels are meant to be, and if you're a fan of the Spyro series. You should at least play this again.

Spyro the Dragon (PS1) Retro Review

Although reviewing a game is difficult on a console from the last generation. Spyro the Dragon was possibly the first game I had ever played as a child. That and also the Crash Bandicoot series. These two Sony games gained a large audience but since Spyro was the first ever game I completed (Since I'm a pyromaniac). I'm just going to review that game and see if it's aged well and if gamers should still give it some attention.

Spyro the Dragon is a Platform game developed by Insomniac Games in 1998. Who also developed the Ratchet and Clank series. Isn't this a beautiful piece of crumpet? I have so much hope for this game that I just want to plow my face into the nearest tree.

The story is that a crazy Gnasty Gnorc hears one of the dragons in the Dragon realm bad-mouthing him and ended up using his powers to turn all the dragons into statues except one which is the main character. This is a typical "You need to be the hero and save everyone" story and you play as Spyro the purple small dragon who managed to dodge the attack because of his shawty size. You have to travel to all the worlds and save the frozen dragons then defeat Gnasty Gnorc. Now it's time for some questioning. Is Gnasty Gnorc really a bad guy? He only froze the dragons because they were talking shit about him on the news (Dragons have cable?) and then ends up being slapped across the face by a baby purple dragon. The game introduces a large amount of dragons that you can interact with when you save them and you have your buddy Sparx. Who acts like your health bar.

The graphics are well done, keeping in mind that the game is made on the PS1. Because of the fictional setting and the basic designs of the characters. They look decent without them being a pile of polygons and there were no polygon glitches to be found. The music was nicely done, fitting most areas to create a nice cheerily and colourful atmosphere for children, created by Stewart Copeland who also developed the music for The Amanda Show, which happens to be a very funny show I used to like and enjoyed the music on there too.

The Gameplay is like most platformers. You can jump, attack and explore the open worlds. The downside of the game (which was fixed in the later games) was the lack of hovering, since gliding ended up difficult without clipping onto the edge of the platform you're trying to reach and falling. The difficulty curve isn't steep as the game gives you a large area to practice on. However there are times where the camera would refuse to follow the character and possibly twirl around the purple dragon like it was impersonating a hurricane.

Spyro was a big hit in 1998 and I agreed that the game was fun to play and to go back to. The movement was a little choppy but wasn't a big thing to complain about. The visuals were bright and cheerful, but also adding to the different scenery that they tried to create. When they created creepy. It was creepy. When they created gloomy. It was gloomy. It wasn't always cheerful and had contrasting dark areas. Overall. I think the game hasn't aged as well as the two others in the trilogy (I'm referring to the PS1 trilogy) and 100% completion isn't really rewarding but adds to the replay value and also adds to the difficulty in some parts. I think the game was a good game to pick up and play for a few hours but I have to say that the second and third are superior to it, which is a shame.

Okami (PS2) Review

In short summary; It seems a little far-fetched having a game about a god, who is a dog with a blazing Frisbee strapped onto it's back. How's that disc not burning the hairs off of that wolf?

Okami is an action-adventure game created by Clover studio, a Japanese company who also developed Viewtiful Joe on the PS2. I don't know if this is a warning sign or icing on the cake, considering that Viewtiful Joe had the strangest plot ever but did have some unique visuals. Capcom aren't great when it comes to making a story, since their games are revolved around beating the shit out of people who want you dead and since Okami was published by Capcom. I expected some thrashing.

The game is based in the world of Nippon, which literally means Japan in Japanese. It starts with a story about a typical hero going to save a girl from a monster and seals the monster away with a sword with the help of his doggy friend. Then 100 years later a twit comes and breaks the seal and a fairy calls upon the sun goddess (Aka YOU) to defeat the darkness that the twit caused.
I could go into more about the plot, but I would end up writing a book. The story follows Japanese folklore and the characters themselves are quite colourful, having interesting personalities and quirks, an example being your partner in the game called Issun, an artist who is following you to get the brush techniques. I had grown to hate this guy, since he reminded me of that one guy every group of friends has that just doesn't shut up. Luckily in this game, they follow the same voice acting as they do in animal crossing games, where the talking is like listening to a guy chew on a sock, so Issun was bearable.

The game featured an open world adventure with some fighting which occurs when you walk into an enemy. The battles work like beat 'em ups because they give you a limited amount of space during each one and lets you move on once you beat them, however you can flee from the battle by hitting the side, making a hole. I think the game just managed to pull this off as that mechanic seems hard to do in such a traditional styled landscape.
The game also has an unique feature using the Celestial Brush. You can bring up a screen of paper while holding a button, letting you being able to draw using the analog stick. Certain symbols that you can paint would trigger powers like a cherry bomb to blow up shit, it was an interesting concept that was usually popular with the DS because of the touch screen.
You are also given new weapons now and then (mainly after bosses), which can easily help you find your own fighting style and gives a little customization to the player. 
The game also allows you to upgrade things like health and how much ink you can carry, which is hard in one play-through but when you finish the game, you can run through it again, keeping the upgrades from before so you can be as stronger as before.

The graphics are in 3D and 2D (2.5D?) The models of the characters are 3D but as you look at the trees and grass, you'll see that they are 2D but just follow the camera. This might be nit picky but this distracted me so much when I first ran through the game, but possibly that's because I'm not familiar with the style. I did get used to it after a while so it wasn't hard to ignore.
The landscapes were just as you would expect from a game using traditional Japanese art. The colours are soft and almost pastel like, giving a sense that you're in a painting.
The music also fits into it perfectly, inspired by classical Japanese works. Which fits the tone perfectly.

Even-though sometimes using the paintbrush is a nightmare trying to writing a symbol, the controls are well responsive and the movement does feel more like a canine and not of a human. The moving is quick and quite floaty, like you're a gliding dog, making it good for the large areas of land you get to explore and the turning is tight. The camera angle is okay, despite it getting stuck now and then to the point of me not seeing where I was trying to jump to without smashing my skull into a wall (but maybe that's just me).

Overall. Okami is an interesting game which I think most gamers should at least try once to enjoy the fresh new experience. Some of the characters can be annoying and may drive you up the wall, but the beautiful areas to explore, tons of collectibles and the story's plot with twists and turns is a good enough excuse to pick this small gem up.

The Journey Begins

Before I get Started
Welcome

I am Pandachan. This blog's sole purpose is to review games (New and old). I'll try to keep my reviews professional and my writing informal, using humorous remarks to keep the reviews light-hearted and give you maybe a laugh or two.

So now the introduction is out of the way, I'll get started on the first one.