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Gamefaqs Link
Last Topic's Ratings:
40 Winks - AAAAG - 60% (5)
Dinosaur Planet - GAGA - 75% (4)
Excitebike 64 - GAGAAGAGGGG - 82% (11) (1 SR)
Mario Tennis - AGAGGGGAGGGGGA - 86% (14) (2 SR)
Sin and Punishment - BGGGGGGGGG - 90% (10) (5 SR)
Viewpoint 2064 - AA - 50% (2)
The number of SRs given out in this topic was simply staggering. I think this is the most people to fill out all of their SRs of any GAB, though I haven't actually checked. Either way, I'm glad to see people using them up, though hopefully I didn't make any mistakes while updating the list.
Games for this topic:
Donkey Kong 64
ODT: Escape Or Die Trying
See the Gamefaqs topic for the blurbs provided by our nominators.
Donkey Kong 64 - G
ReplyDeleteODT: Escape or Die Trying - G
As I mentioned when when we covered it the first time, I think there's a lot to like about Donkey Kong 64. The five playable characters feel quite different from each other, there's a ton of content, a bunch of surprisingly solid extras, and just generally it's a fairly impressive package. I really feel like it's biggest flaw was simply that it released in the wrong place at the wrong time. In many ways, it reminds me a bit of Mega Man 5 and Mario Party 3. N64 had a bunch of collectathon 3D platformers, and by the end of the generation, people were probably getting pretty tired of them. Particularly after the somewhat lackluster experience that was Banjo-Tooie, I just don't think people were really looking forward to yet another 3D platformer from Rare, and the fact that it was also the collectathoniest 3D Platformer ever certainly didn't help matters. I remember having similar thoughts about Mega Man 5. There were already 4 other Mega Man games on NES that play pretty much the same, did we really need a 5th one? Clearly the general public didn't think so either because the sales of Mega Man 5 and 6 were a lot worse than previous games. However, as a result of this, Capcom stopped milking the franchise quite as much and in turn, that made people realize that they actually kind of missed those games. This creates a kind of unique situation where I feel these games have actually almost gotten better over time, as the subsequent absence of similar games gives people a chance to better appreciate them. Donkey Kong 64 is in much the same boat. 3D Platformers became drastically less prominent after the N64 era ended, so Donkey Kong 64 is still probably the most ambitious one ever created. It's not without its flaws, of course, in particular I find it's camera to be quite sub-par even for its time, but its scope and spectacle still stand out even today. I really think this is one where if you were put off by its meticulous nature back in the day it might be worth another look, and it also strikes me as a prime candidate for a remake or remastered edition, as I think with a few small upgrades it could easily pass for a modern game. Even if the backtracking might sometimes get a bit tedious, this game hits some great high points and I'd easily take it over Banjo-Tooie or a lot of other 3D platformers released since it came out.
ODT is an interesting game. It's sometimes compared to Tomb Raider, but this isn't the best comparison, it's a lot more actiony than Tomb Raider, and there's even some light RPG elements as well, though at its core it is still an action adventure game that mixes exploration, combat, and platforming. The first thing I noticed about the game is that its platforming controls actually work really well. Compared to Tomb Raider, where making a running jump involves a bizarre process of inching up to the ledge, doing a backwards step, then running and autojumping at the ledge, here things work far more sensibly, you just run towards the ledge and press jump and it works, thanks in large part to one of the best-implemented ledge grab systems of the generation. At one point in the game I came across a series of wooden planks suspended over a pit and my first thought was "I'm going to die a million times here", but I was actually able to get all the way across the platforms and grab the powerup on my first try with no real issues simply because the platforming controls actually work the way they're intended to. Combat is a little more of a mixed bag. This is not a third person shooter or anything like that, when you need to fight an enemy, you either have to rely on the game's autoaim, which is quite temperamental, or stop dead in your tracks to use the manual aim, which is unreliable and leaves you very open. It's not especially gamebreaking as you can take a lot of hits and many of your enemies are slow enough that the autoaim works just fine on them, but it does make fighting bats a real pain unless you have the homing weapon or a spell. Speaking of, another interesting thing about the game is that there's four playable characters, and while they all share the same main quest, they have access to completely different powerups and weapons, which makes the experience feel pretty different with each character. Combined with the ability to customize your stats to focus on either weaponry, magic, or both, it gives the game a decent amount of replay value. Compared to the PS1 version that actually saw release, there's actually more changes than you'd expect. The first two are obvious, the cutscenes have been axed, replaced with stills, and the game loads faster, though I actually don't think either of these is a big deal - the cutscenes are infrequent and not terribly impressive and the game loads decently fast on PS1.
DeleteThe bigger differences are actually to the gameplay. For starters, the N64 has a completely revamped and vastly better camera. Compared to PS1, it follows your character from quite a bit further back, which lets you see a lot more of your surroundings (the draw distance is also improved) and it effectively never gets stuck inside walls, which it does constantly on PS1. There has been a downgrade to lighting quality on N64 for whatever reason (perhaps to accommodate the superior draw distance) which does hurt a little, but this is certainly a big upgrade in playability. Secondly, the character moves about 30% slower on N64. This is somewhat of a strange choice, but actually, I prefer it, the movement on the PS1 version feels a bit too fast IMO, the slightly slower pace of the N64 version gives you significantly more precision when platforming, and you still run decently fast enough anyway that I never felt like it was overly slow. Lastly, the N64 version is somewhat easier. I mentioned in a previous post that you can simply jump down ladders if you find descending them to be too tedious, you actually cannot do this on PS1, in most cases if you jump down a ladder leading to a new area instead of climbing it you'll simply die, whereas the N64 version lets you do this with no issues. N64 also features some changed level geometry to make things a little easier, for example during an early platforming segment on the first level they have added some additional ledges below some of the jumps, so if you fail the jump you can simply try again instead of dying. Overall, I feel like the N64 version feels like a pretty solid upgrade in overall playability and is definitely my preferred platform for the game. Overall, it's a pretty solid title that has an interesting atmosphere, good exploration and replay value, and feels unique on the platform. It's really not clear why they didn't release this one as I think it might have been fairly well-liked.
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