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Last Topic's Ratings:
Actua Soccer - BB - 0% (2)
Ape Escape - GGGGGGGGGAG - 95% (11) (1 SR)
Fighters' Impact - BG - 50% (2)
Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth - GAAG - 75% (4)
Mobil 1 Rally Championship - AAA - 50% (3)
Vadims - AG - 75% (2)
I always love it when I can figure out most of the ratings without using a calculator.
Games for this topic:
Captain Commando
MLB Pennant Race
NGEN Racing
Parappa the Rapper
Pro Pinball: Big Race USA
Spider: The Video Game
I wonder how many people read the title of the topic and thought it was Spider-Man. I certainly did when I looked at this game.
Captain Commando - A
ReplyDeleteMLB Pennant Race - G
NGEN Racing - G
Parappa the Rapper - G (SR)
Pro Pinball: Big Race USA - G
Spider: The Video Game - G
Captain Commando is a very basic beat-em-up, comparable to the original Final Fight. This game was also ported to the SNES, and the two versions are actually pretty similar, the biggest changes here are that the resolution is higher and that the ability to ride various robots has been retained from the arcade version, which is absent on SNES. Still, it's kind of impressive how close the SNES version is to the arcade, it's certainly not missing much if you want to go with that version. As to whether or not you should play the game at all, I guess it's tolerable, but very forgettable. About the only particularly good thing you can say about the game is that the stages are short, which prevents things from getting absurdly repetitive, but these types of games are still kind of a dime a dozen and I don't feel this one does much to stand out.
MLB Pennant Race plays pretty well. I particularly like the batting and pitching control here, it feels decently balanced between the pitcher and the batter in a way that you often don't see, which actually creates a good sense of strategy in terms of limiting pitch counts so your starters can stay in the game longer. One thing I found slightly annoying is that the fielding and running controls aren't consistent, to field, you simply press the button on the controller that matches the direction you want to throw, but to run you have to use the dpad to indicate the base. Both work well enough but having to mentally remember to switch in my head between innings was a bit tricky and sometimes I pressed the wrong button and lost a base for it. Other than that though the presentation here is pretty solid, I particularly appreciate having the commentary and better player graphics, they help sell the game's atmosphere much better.
NGEN Racing is another plane-racing game, but compared to the other ones we've looked at so far it's by far the most polished take on the concept. For starters, the production values are much higher here compared to the previous games we've looked at, both in terms of the visuals and the overall game design. NGEN is separated into two modes, vaguely similar to games like Gran Turismo, where one mode is a more arcade-focused mode where you simply do races and select your plane before each race, while the other sees you earn money to buy and upgrade planes between events. Either way, the core racing is mostly the same, the course is marked by checkpoints and dotted walls indicating the track. You can fly outside of the intended course, though if you're outside for 3 seconds the autopilot kicks in and brings you back to the course, which also costs you some speed. There are rings on the course that restore health and provide afterburner (turbo), though I wish they provided more turbo for each ring. The game's first class is slow and somewhat dull, but things quickly pick up, as the second class is both much faster and has access to weapons. If anything, I kind of feel like the jump here is somewhat too severe, trying to get used to both the weapon systems and the higher speed at the same time is a bit daunting, though the weapons aren't actually that powerful and the health pickups are common so if you want to treat it more like a straight racing game you can. Overall, it's a neat take on the concept. I'm still not convinced that it's really as interesting as car racing (the interplay between speed and grip gives car racing a level of depth that you don't get here), but it's an interesting change of pace.
Parappa the Rapper is one of my favourite PS1 games and I feel it's very overlooked when people talk about the best games on the system. The thing I like the most about it is that I feel it is one of the most organically hilarious games ever made. Sure, there are a number of funny adventure-style games that make you laugh through slick writing and good comedic voice acting, but in Parappa, you actually create the comedy through the gameplay. I'm sure you know the gist of the game by now, in each stage, a master will do a rap which Parappa is intended to copy, and you press the buttons to make Parappa rap out the various words. I think it's actually pretty cool how seamlessly this works, if you compare many other music games, the music is just sort of part of the background track, and at best it slightly distorts it if you mess up, but here, the music is entirely dynamic and you're free to alter it in any way you see fit. Speaking of, although you can simply copy the rap the game gives you, you're encouraged not to, and coming up with your own wacky lines is where most of the appeal of the game comes from. The real brilliance of the game lies in the scoring system, how the games scores your efforts is largely a mystery, and I'm not completely convinced it's even fully deterministic. Much of the comedy in the game comes from coming up with something you think sounds good and then the game deciding whether it likes it or not. You might screw up a line that you were intending to copy mostly accurately and get rewarded with a bunch of points, or come up with something cool that you think is right on beat only for the game to decide that you're the worst ever and take all your points away. This is far better than if it was simple to figure out what kind of lines the game would score highly, because this encourages you to experiment and ensures that the game feels different every time. Parappa is actually secretly a great party game for this reason as well as the aforementioned comedic potential of the game. I haven't even talked about the cutscenes and animations yet, which are actually really well-done for a PS1 game, even if they probably came at the expense of the game's length. Still, even if this is a relatively short game, it's definitely one that I feel like everyone should play, and still a fun game to come back to if you're ever feeling a bit down, I defy anyone to play this game and not grin like an idiot. Compared to the later games in the series, they definitely do a bit to add more content and the gameplay system is a bit more refined (if this game does have one issue, it's that copying the master should probably be a bit more reliable than it is), but the music in the subsequent games isn't nearly as catchy as in the original and that's pretty key to this type of game.
DeletePro Pinball: Big Race USA is pretty cool. While it uses effectively the same technology as Fantastic Journey, I like the machine here better. There's a bunch of cool events in this one, and something I think is a particularly neat mechanic is that there's a shop where you can buy various power-ups, using a currency that you can earn mid-game, which feels quite unique. There's also a boatload of options available, covering everything from viewing angles and controls to machine tests. Overall, the entire game has a pretty nifty atmosphere to it, I think this one is worth trying out for Pinball fans.
DeleteI'm actually not sorry Spider isn't a Spider-Man game, because it's pretty cool nonetheless. The game has a somewhat interesting story about you being stuck as a spider as a result of an incident during some neural implant experiment (it's interesting to note that this technology now actually exists), but the main gist of the game is that it's a platformer where you control a spider and fight other various insectoid baddies. Like in Gex 1, you can climb walls and ceilings, and this is frequently necessary to find secrets, of which there are quite a few. Levels can have multiple exits, often requiring you to traverse the ceilings in interesting ways, and there are also hidden levels that you can access by finding hidden CD pieces. You can also find various weapons, allowing you to do cool things like shoot missiles or poison, though these usually have limited ammo, and must be used sparingly as your default attack is quite weak. Speaking of, that's probably the biggest knock against the game, you only have 2 hit points, hit point refills are uncommon, and the levels have no checkpoints, so it can be a bit frustrating at time and demands both caution and precision at all times. It is worth the trouble, though, it's a pretty neat concept that makes good use of its unique mechanics.