Friday, April 15, 2005
Royal Rainbows
Think quickly - what are the two best things in the videogame industry? That's right, Katamari Damacy and co-op games. So, what if I told you that Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy has full-fledged, one-ball co-op play? I apologize to Tom, who said he didn't want to see any more of the game until it came out, but this is just too goddamn good.
And how about proper versus play?
And, for good measure, our favorite king and queen of the cosmos.
Seriously though, is there any way that this won't be the best co-op ever? I have no goddamn idea how it will work, but MAN am I psyched to find out. While I won't even make a joke about the Xbox2 having some competition now this fall, this has immediately jumped to the top of my most wanted list. I can see it all now...
"Let's get those sandals..."
"No, the bird eggs!"
"We'll compromise, and get the smiling baby."
Yay!
And how about proper versus play?
And, for good measure, our favorite king and queen of the cosmos.
Seriously though, is there any way that this won't be the best co-op ever? I have no goddamn idea how it will work, but MAN am I psyched to find out. While I won't even make a joke about the Xbox2 having some competition now this fall, this has immediately jumped to the top of my most wanted list. I can see it all now...
"Let's get those sandals..."
"No, the bird eggs!"
"We'll compromise, and get the smiling baby."
Yay!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Geek Mythology
Note: I suggest reading Damned Machines' God of War review, because it says pretty much everything I'd like to say about the game, and a lot more. Then, if your thirst for opinions of the game still hasn't been filled, come back here and read the couple paragraphs I've written below, which I just kind of tossed up here half-finished after seeing a review which would have made mind obsolete. Anyhow:
After seeing Sin City and Old Boy recently, it's hard to say that God of War is the most intense thing you'll ever experience in front of a screen. It's up there though - and it's certainly one of the best video games ever made. Not that it means anything, but it's currently #20 on the best games of all time list; it was #5 for a while there, and while that may be a bit high, it's certainly deserves higher than #20. Awesometacular, though not a word per se, does a good job of describing this game.
In a way, it feels like the last twenty years of gaming have been building to this: as David Jaffe reiterated in every PR byte about the game, this is not innovation for innovation's sake - this is a combination and refinement of everything he's ever found fun in action games. And the man knows fun. The game takes obvious cues from it's inspirations, and occasionally pays homage to them directly (red grabby magical walls seal certain areas until all enemies are disposed of, which is straight out of Devil May Cry, and fallen foes release magic, health and money is a manner that's strikingly similar to Onimusha).
The funny thing is, for all it's copycatting it feels wholly unique throughout. That's due in large part to the wonderful art design that seemlessly joins otherwise disparate areas together, but also to every game design facet being so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it. There were a couple instances during more difficult battles where I tried to take advantage of the fact that this was a video game - you know, standing behind a low wall to hit enemies while they can't hit you, running away from a battle to find health slightly further ahead. Thing is, they never worked. There were no points where I could attack from without being hit myself, and when I tried to pussy out the game would throw a whole new batch of bad guys in my path. That's a hallmark of great game design to me, and really forces you to experience what the developers intended you experience - even if that means getting your ass kicked. It's a challenging game, but only in the sense that you have to learn how to fight well if you want to win some of the steeper battles. It's a lot looser and friendlier than, say, Ninja Gaiden, but you can't button mash past the first level. The upgrades you'll be able to buy work really well too - you don't get new weapons (well, for the most part), you just get more moves for the ones you have. It feels really natural, like your character is learning as he goes. There are a couple maneuvers you'll rely on a bit more than others, but you'll still have to switch up your tactics a bit with every new enemy (a couple of which I could never find a consistently good way to beat).
The two things I will laud the game the most on are pacing and level design. Things start out with a bang, and get exponentially cooler from there. Designing the first level last (with whatever creativity was left after the others) was a great idea, and you can see more and more impressive ideas popping up the further into the game you explore. Each level is a set piece, and each battle is epic. Every area is completely different from the one before it, and you'll find yourself having to adapt your fighting and movement style to each one even late in the game. It's done even better than Price of Persia, which for all it's brilliance, kind of leveled off after a while before picking things back up for the last big area. Also crucial is how you work your way through each level - you'll often find yourself with multiple paths to choose from, but the game does a great job making sure you never miss anything, and can start off in any direction you like. Whatever backtracking exists is minimal, and there's usually new enemies in the way to spice it up anyhow. Oh, and if you think a certain wall or jump contains a secret, it probably does.
After seeing Sin City and Old Boy recently, it's hard to say that God of War is the most intense thing you'll ever experience in front of a screen. It's up there though - and it's certainly one of the best video games ever made. Not that it means anything, but it's currently #20 on the best games of all time list; it was #5 for a while there, and while that may be a bit high, it's certainly deserves higher than #20. Awesometacular, though not a word per se, does a good job of describing this game.
In a way, it feels like the last twenty years of gaming have been building to this: as David Jaffe reiterated in every PR byte about the game, this is not innovation for innovation's sake - this is a combination and refinement of everything he's ever found fun in action games. And the man knows fun. The game takes obvious cues from it's inspirations, and occasionally pays homage to them directly (red grabby magical walls seal certain areas until all enemies are disposed of, which is straight out of Devil May Cry, and fallen foes release magic, health and money is a manner that's strikingly similar to Onimusha).
The funny thing is, for all it's copycatting it feels wholly unique throughout. That's due in large part to the wonderful art design that seemlessly joins otherwise disparate areas together, but also to every game design facet being so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it. There were a couple instances during more difficult battles where I tried to take advantage of the fact that this was a video game - you know, standing behind a low wall to hit enemies while they can't hit you, running away from a battle to find health slightly further ahead. Thing is, they never worked. There were no points where I could attack from without being hit myself, and when I tried to pussy out the game would throw a whole new batch of bad guys in my path. That's a hallmark of great game design to me, and really forces you to experience what the developers intended you experience - even if that means getting your ass kicked. It's a challenging game, but only in the sense that you have to learn how to fight well if you want to win some of the steeper battles. It's a lot looser and friendlier than, say, Ninja Gaiden, but you can't button mash past the first level. The upgrades you'll be able to buy work really well too - you don't get new weapons (well, for the most part), you just get more moves for the ones you have. It feels really natural, like your character is learning as he goes. There are a couple maneuvers you'll rely on a bit more than others, but you'll still have to switch up your tactics a bit with every new enemy (a couple of which I could never find a consistently good way to beat).
The two things I will laud the game the most on are pacing and level design. Things start out with a bang, and get exponentially cooler from there. Designing the first level last (with whatever creativity was left after the others) was a great idea, and you can see more and more impressive ideas popping up the further into the game you explore. Each level is a set piece, and each battle is epic. Every area is completely different from the one before it, and you'll find yourself having to adapt your fighting and movement style to each one even late in the game. It's done even better than Price of Persia, which for all it's brilliance, kind of leveled off after a while before picking things back up for the last big area. Also crucial is how you work your way through each level - you'll often find yourself with multiple paths to choose from, but the game does a great job making sure you never miss anything, and can start off in any direction you like. Whatever backtracking exists is minimal, and there's usually new enemies in the way to spice it up anyhow. Oh, and if you think a certain wall or jump contains a secret, it probably does.
Tom admits he was wrong about Halo 2
Huzzah!
Be warned that the passion hidden beneath the tender words of this post do not, in any way, convey the sheer joy I felt while playing Halo 2 last Sunday. I was planning on doing a piece about my new found love on Monday, hours after the initial event took place, but industry forces prevented me from relaying said material. I fear with each passing moment my memory of the events I am about to expound upon will slip ever further away from my eager fingers, so I will begin the actual meat of this post.... now!
Last Sunday, while sitting around doing nothing at my apartment, I remarked to Mr. Scott "You know, I still do want to play through Halo 2 cooperatively some day." He turned and looked at me in a way only Scott can and said, with the passion of a thousand dead corpses, "Why don't we play now?" As I couldn't think of any reason why Halo 2 shouldn't be enjoyed by all parties present at the specific moment (though I'm sure if a certain show on ABC Family was on I would not have been able to turn away) we started up the game that had sat idly in its game box since 2004.
Here's a quick recap of my life with Halo 2 before that infamous moment with Scott - I was as hyped as anyone for the game. Halo:CE was my favorite game this generation and I had no reason to believe its sequel wouldn't top it in every way. Some of my joy is documented on this very website, but most of it was either bottled up in my belly or bursting through my slightly ajar mouth. For the last few months the idea of Halo 2 was so overpowering that it seemed more like a myth than an actual game I would be able to play. It spoke of a perfect world so far in the future monkey and man have switched dominance several times and have decided to let wombats have a shot at it. When I would think about Halo 2 - mostly when I was alone - I wouldn't dare fantasize myself playing it. Rather, I would just imagine that it existed at all and a satisfied smile grew from my lips.
My first impression after playing it was just how amazing it turned out to be. I seem to remember saying it "exceeded all expectations" and other grandiose proclamations. It was love... at least insofar as a man can love a video game. I spent all of my free time online and all of my busy time thinking about going online. It was fantastic. But then I got kind of bored with it. After the shiny gloss dripped away I noticed some faults. Mostly, I was frustrated by the lack of levels and the imbalance dual wielding and the all too powerful sword brought to the table. Eventually, I gave up fighting the frustration and put down the game for good.
During this stretch of almost non-stop multiplayer gaming, I picked up the one player game only one time. I played through the first level very quickly, but was pretty bored. It was Halo... again. And Halo:CE did not have a very good Campaign mode. By the time I got all the way to the second level I was noticeably slipping. Fighting off the covenant felt so routine and boring. When I missed an audio command telling me to go a certain way and ended up lost in the huge, desolate city I gave up once and for all. Halo 2 is lame and I will not be lamed up with it.
Back to the present, where Scott and I fired up a co-op game right where I had left off. It started out very standard - gunning down the same enemies from Halo:CE - but it was more fun because I could at least complain to someone. After playing for just ten minutes we got to a point after I had reached when I first played the game in November. And from there the game just got amazing. We got a Warthog - I was the driver of course - and proceeded to cruise through the city. I took on a Ghost without even a weapon because it's just so much fun to crash into things. I rolled over rocks at awkward angles causing the vehicle to capsize. We entered a tunnel and I drove along the wall at some point. It was pure entertainment, and I loved it. From there we went to a narrow stretch of land patrolled by my deadly Scorpion. Ah, is there anything sweeter than just plowing through a brigade of enemy soldiers with a gun that's just way too powerful for its own good?
The game unfortunately tailed off after that, but it was still much more fun than I thought it could be. The missions where you play as the covenant really need to be scrapped; I don't like controlling someone who I will end up shooting later on. And they needed to get rid of all those lame alien weapons because, let's be honest here, they all suck. But, whenever I get to control a vehicle of any kind (except for the boring Banshee) or get my trusty shotgun, I will be happy though. I'm looking forward to finishing this game with Scott. It may not be great or terribly innovative, but nothing beats driving a Warthog.
Be warned that the passion hidden beneath the tender words of this post do not, in any way, convey the sheer joy I felt while playing Halo 2 last Sunday. I was planning on doing a piece about my new found love on Monday, hours after the initial event took place, but industry forces prevented me from relaying said material. I fear with each passing moment my memory of the events I am about to expound upon will slip ever further away from my eager fingers, so I will begin the actual meat of this post.... now!
Last Sunday, while sitting around doing nothing at my apartment, I remarked to Mr. Scott "You know, I still do want to play through Halo 2 cooperatively some day." He turned and looked at me in a way only Scott can and said, with the passion of a thousand dead corpses, "Why don't we play now?" As I couldn't think of any reason why Halo 2 shouldn't be enjoyed by all parties present at the specific moment (though I'm sure if a certain show on ABC Family was on I would not have been able to turn away) we started up the game that had sat idly in its game box since 2004.
Here's a quick recap of my life with Halo 2 before that infamous moment with Scott - I was as hyped as anyone for the game. Halo:CE was my favorite game this generation and I had no reason to believe its sequel wouldn't top it in every way. Some of my joy is documented on this very website, but most of it was either bottled up in my belly or bursting through my slightly ajar mouth. For the last few months the idea of Halo 2 was so overpowering that it seemed more like a myth than an actual game I would be able to play. It spoke of a perfect world so far in the future monkey and man have switched dominance several times and have decided to let wombats have a shot at it. When I would think about Halo 2 - mostly when I was alone - I wouldn't dare fantasize myself playing it. Rather, I would just imagine that it existed at all and a satisfied smile grew from my lips.
My first impression after playing it was just how amazing it turned out to be. I seem to remember saying it "exceeded all expectations" and other grandiose proclamations. It was love... at least insofar as a man can love a video game. I spent all of my free time online and all of my busy time thinking about going online. It was fantastic. But then I got kind of bored with it. After the shiny gloss dripped away I noticed some faults. Mostly, I was frustrated by the lack of levels and the imbalance dual wielding and the all too powerful sword brought to the table. Eventually, I gave up fighting the frustration and put down the game for good.
During this stretch of almost non-stop multiplayer gaming, I picked up the one player game only one time. I played through the first level very quickly, but was pretty bored. It was Halo... again. And Halo:CE did not have a very good Campaign mode. By the time I got all the way to the second level I was noticeably slipping. Fighting off the covenant felt so routine and boring. When I missed an audio command telling me to go a certain way and ended up lost in the huge, desolate city I gave up once and for all. Halo 2 is lame and I will not be lamed up with it.
Back to the present, where Scott and I fired up a co-op game right where I had left off. It started out very standard - gunning down the same enemies from Halo:CE - but it was more fun because I could at least complain to someone. After playing for just ten minutes we got to a point after I had reached when I first played the game in November. And from there the game just got amazing. We got a Warthog - I was the driver of course - and proceeded to cruise through the city. I took on a Ghost without even a weapon because it's just so much fun to crash into things. I rolled over rocks at awkward angles causing the vehicle to capsize. We entered a tunnel and I drove along the wall at some point. It was pure entertainment, and I loved it. From there we went to a narrow stretch of land patrolled by my deadly Scorpion. Ah, is there anything sweeter than just plowing through a brigade of enemy soldiers with a gun that's just way too powerful for its own good?
The game unfortunately tailed off after that, but it was still much more fun than I thought it could be. The missions where you play as the covenant really need to be scrapped; I don't like controlling someone who I will end up shooting later on. And they needed to get rid of all those lame alien weapons because, let's be honest here, they all suck. But, whenever I get to control a vehicle of any kind (except for the boring Banshee) or get my trusty shotgun, I will be happy though. I'm looking forward to finishing this game with Scott. It may not be great or terribly innovative, but nothing beats driving a Warthog.
Monday, April 11, 2005
No Crap: Additional Ass-rapings
Ah, remember last year when Nick used to post that Electronic Arts was not an evil company? That the few good games they made in a given year more than balanced out all the crap they churned out and the companies they devoured? Clearly, Nick was not a forward thinking man. While a year ago there could be some argument, somewhere, defending EA's many ills, in the past year they have simply turned into one of the most feared companies in the entire world. It seems that hardly a day can go by without some horrible new bit of information as EA attempts to completely destroy gaming as we know it.
Are you curious what they did today? After securing exclusive rights to the NFL back in February and exclusive rights to the Arena Football League only a few weeks later, EA has now gone after the only other legitimate football organization in America - college football. Starting this year, Electronic Arts will be the only company allowed to make football titles using the players and teams from the NCAA. This means that any hope of seeing a licensed football game from a competitor is now completely gone.
Defend away EA lovers. Tell me why it is ok for anyway to give money to this destroyer of worlds. Every cent they can suck from the souless beings who call themselves gamers will be used to consume another beloved license or developer. The only question remains - when will the casual gamer start standing up to this Luciferian behemoth? Because if they continue to blindly follow Electronic Arts, it is only a matter of time before the Penny Arcade nightmare of one all-encompassing "EA Game 200X" becomes a reality.
Are you curious what they did today? After securing exclusive rights to the NFL back in February and exclusive rights to the Arena Football League only a few weeks later, EA has now gone after the only other legitimate football organization in America - college football. Starting this year, Electronic Arts will be the only company allowed to make football titles using the players and teams from the NCAA. This means that any hope of seeing a licensed football game from a competitor is now completely gone.
Defend away EA lovers. Tell me why it is ok for anyway to give money to this destroyer of worlds. Every cent they can suck from the souless beings who call themselves gamers will be used to consume another beloved license or developer. The only question remains - when will the casual gamer start standing up to this Luciferian behemoth? Because if they continue to blindly follow Electronic Arts, it is only a matter of time before the Penny Arcade nightmare of one all-encompassing "EA Game 200X" becomes a reality.
The revolution will be televised... on May 12.
And the award for the most misleading headline goes to... Tom!
If you jumped out of your hat in anticipation for brand new information on the Nintendo Revolution, sadly I must tell you that there is none to give. Though you must first look at yourself if you want to blame someone rather than your loyal messenger. You can be sure that, if I was really giving you information about the new Nintendo system, there would be a capital "r" wherever appropriate, as well as random capital letters thrown in just to show my excitement. I may even cross the line and add multiple exclamation points just to emphasize how big this news really is.
Now that I've thoroughly wasted your time and buried the lead more than 100 words into my post, it's high time I told you exactly what revolution will be televised. Instead of using the massive trade show in L.A. or simply offering an exclusive to a magazine or online site to show off their newest system, Microsoft has decided to purchase 30 minutes of prime time television five days before my holiday in heaven begins. At this event they promise celebrities, live music and, of course, the worldwide debut of the Xbox 2.
Hosted by Elija "North" Wood, MS is set to unleash probably the best ad campaign in the history of gaming. Yeah, that's right, this is probably even better than "Genesis does what Ninten-don't" from the early 90s. Think about it - Sony has built an empire by appealing to people who don't even play games. They market their systems so they seemed cool to the average consumer with too much cash. They got their own celebrities to play it and made sure it is featured prominently wherever the mainstream shopper could be easily swayed. Sony was able to build a huge user base because they went after a market which did not previously play games. You don't sell systems by announcing sequels to franchises born in the 80s - you get on your horse and make sure the world knows how cool you are and that your graphics are oh so pretty.
By showing off the Xbox 2 in this atmosphere rather than the ultra nerdy E3 environment, MS is attempting to cut away the middle men (be it the hype machine from magazines or the blatant lies you hear at gaming stores) and trying to appeal directly to the lowest common denominator in our society. And I couldn't be more excited. Yes, it will have way more style than substance. Do you think there's any chance MS is going to waste its half hour with tech specs? Not likely. And forget about talking about geek games like Oblivion. Instead, we'll get glamour shots of their money titles and celebrities gushing about how this thing is "the biznicks kitchen fo' sho'" or something. Clearly, this is not geared to someone who lives and dies with video games - MS knows they won't be swayed by anything other than games. This is for the mindless mass market that will actually spend their hard earned cash because a celebrity they like says something is cool.
Anyway, I stand and begin my slow clap for Microsoft's great marketing department. I bet Sony is kicking themselves for not thinking of this. They tried to usurp MS by moving their E3 press conference three hours before Microsoft's, but it looks like MS may have gotten the last laugh after all.
Ah, going after the mainstream, is there anything quite so degrading?
If you jumped out of your hat in anticipation for brand new information on the Nintendo Revolution, sadly I must tell you that there is none to give. Though you must first look at yourself if you want to blame someone rather than your loyal messenger. You can be sure that, if I was really giving you information about the new Nintendo system, there would be a capital "r" wherever appropriate, as well as random capital letters thrown in just to show my excitement. I may even cross the line and add multiple exclamation points just to emphasize how big this news really is.
Now that I've thoroughly wasted your time and buried the lead more than 100 words into my post, it's high time I told you exactly what revolution will be televised. Instead of using the massive trade show in L.A. or simply offering an exclusive to a magazine or online site to show off their newest system, Microsoft has decided to purchase 30 minutes of prime time television five days before my holiday in heaven begins. At this event they promise celebrities, live music and, of course, the worldwide debut of the Xbox 2.
Hosted by Elija "North" Wood, MS is set to unleash probably the best ad campaign in the history of gaming. Yeah, that's right, this is probably even better than "Genesis does what Ninten-don't" from the early 90s. Think about it - Sony has built an empire by appealing to people who don't even play games. They market their systems so they seemed cool to the average consumer with too much cash. They got their own celebrities to play it and made sure it is featured prominently wherever the mainstream shopper could be easily swayed. Sony was able to build a huge user base because they went after a market which did not previously play games. You don't sell systems by announcing sequels to franchises born in the 80s - you get on your horse and make sure the world knows how cool you are and that your graphics are oh so pretty.
By showing off the Xbox 2 in this atmosphere rather than the ultra nerdy E3 environment, MS is attempting to cut away the middle men (be it the hype machine from magazines or the blatant lies you hear at gaming stores) and trying to appeal directly to the lowest common denominator in our society. And I couldn't be more excited. Yes, it will have way more style than substance. Do you think there's any chance MS is going to waste its half hour with tech specs? Not likely. And forget about talking about geek games like Oblivion. Instead, we'll get glamour shots of their money titles and celebrities gushing about how this thing is "the biznicks kitchen fo' sho'" or something. Clearly, this is not geared to someone who lives and dies with video games - MS knows they won't be swayed by anything other than games. This is for the mindless mass market that will actually spend their hard earned cash because a celebrity they like says something is cool.
Anyway, I stand and begin my slow clap for Microsoft's great marketing department. I bet Sony is kicking themselves for not thinking of this. They tried to usurp MS by moving their E3 press conference three hours before Microsoft's, but it looks like MS may have gotten the last laugh after all.
Ah, going after the mainstream, is there anything quite so degrading?
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Recurring theme of horrible disappointment
You'll notice that it has been nine long days since last I updated G-Pinions. In the life of Normal Tom, there are maybe two or three solid hours a week where I don't have a strong opinion about whatever situation happens to present itself. In the life of Normal Tom, these scant hours of confusion are usually confined to my sleeping bed or a just as exhausting classroom, so as not to waste my more precious moments of existence posing questions instead of stating answers. Last week's Tom or A-Normal Tom could not form an opinion, especially a strong one for which he is known, on any matter related to gaming. The few posts I attempted to write - empty threats to Capcom about a mistranslated Japanese article concerning the new Viewtiful Joe and Francis Ford Copola's disgustion with the upcoming Godfather: The Game - lead one observer to muse "If your logic is any stickier I'll shoot you in the fucking head."
Well, the time for confusion is unfortunately still alive and well, so A-Normal Tom continues his rule of detachment. As strong as this site is with Nick's take on the various goings on in the gaming world, that is clearly only one half of what makes G-Pinions as sexy as its masthead claims. Without my very own geriatric ramblings, there's a chance readers will be able to drop anchor at these pristine shores without having to leave their own sanity at the door.
So what urge has drawn me back to the world I love? I'll tell you, there is no topic in the gaming world that gets my motor running quite like the horrible, crushing taste I feel after playing every new video game.
I came to this realization last week while having a conversation on the Penny-Arcade forums. I stress conversation because, nine times out of ten, any sort of communique that goes down in that environment takes the form of an argument. As I mentioned earlier, I was so dulled by the various topics of today's gaming I could hardly even muster the strength to type, but while new opinions eluded me I was able to recount my past memories quite well. In the topic about the new Viewtiful Joe title - in which conflicting reports from IGN suggesting it wouldn't appear on the Gamecube in any capacity - a fellow forumer and I began talking about where the VJ franchise could possibly go from here.
Both the best thing about Viewtiful Joe and the curse it will always carry with it is that, in only one seven hour title, it reached the full potential of the franchise. Offering a unique art style along with an innovated fighting system is just the icing on the cake. From there, Capcom created a perfectly balanced system of punishment and reward. They created a plethora of difficulty levels that will push any gamer, no matter how good or bad they are, to their furthest limits. They structured levels in such a way that there was always something to do, always some place to go. Pointless puzzles did not populate the landscape; rather they served as a springboard for coming to term with some of the more complex moves. Enemies, with various strengths and weaknesses, were introduces in such a way as to ensure you were able to completely master your newest technique before you acquired a new one. And the ultimate rewards - of being able to play as most of the game's bizarre villains and reach difficulty levels that inhabit small children's nightmare - was greater than any title I have played recently. For all the derivative crap I have had to wade through this generation, Viewtiful Joe is the beacon of light that makes me excited for upcoming games and rank gaming as my favorite hobby.
But, by offering such a perfect titles as the first entry in the series, Capcom has shot themselves in the foot. For you see, the only place Viewtiful Joe can go from here is down. If they merely repackage the original with new levels and enemies people will complain that it is too similar. Some of the appeal of the original was the sheer novelty of the experience - simply offering more of the same would be less fun. If they decide to change too much then they will destroy the perfect harmony balancing every aspect of VJ1. No one seemed to really enjoy the tag-team inclusion in Viewtiful Joe 2. Basically, Capcom should just cease making Viewtiful Joe titles before they run the franchise into the ground - as they have done with most of their franchises.
While the realization that VJ has already reached its peak was a crushing blow for me, it got even worse from there. After we talked about how Viewtiful Joe ultimately has no future, my mind immediately began searching for another title that shares VJ's path into gaming. After a minute of two - my mind was most likely trying to force me to avoid putting these two franchises together - I finally popped up with the ultimate example: Super Mario Kart. As much as a drool over the newest title in the series (Mario Kart GP, not Mario Kart DS which looks horrible) I know in my heart that no Mario Kart, ever, will be able to live up to the original. I would go so far as to say that it is impossible. Just like we will never see a replication of the Celtics dynasty from the 50s and 60s that won eight consecutive NBA titles, so too is Super Mario Kart always going to be the showcase of what kart racing should be.
I've actually known for quite some time that Super Mario Kart could never be topped. Even though I was only fifteen at the time and much less jaded than I am now, I knew within a week or two of playing Mario Kart 64 that something was seriously wrong with the franchise. It was as if Nintendo had never even played Super Mario Kart but had only been told of its gameplay by a hyperactive four year old. In a nutshell, they removed any semblance of skill and replaced it with a barrage of overpowered weapons and a rubber banding AI. It was only after I played Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the only other Mario Kart I would actually consider to be great, that I realized how desperate the situation actually was. Even going back to the roots of the franchise in many ways - such as the way power sliding is handled and the reintroduction of coins - the game just didn't feel right. The track design was relatively boring and the driving felt much looser than I would have liked. In what will certainly be the last 2D Mario Kart ever made, I realized that Nintendo simply did not even know why the first Super Mario Kart is considered a classic in the first place. And with that realization, I knew that Super Mario Kart would never be topped.
Once again, I bring up an old topic that I have been well aware of before G-Pinions even started. This horrible train of thought that IGN started last week with an inaccurate claim continued until gaming as a whole was almost destroyed for me, and still teeters on the very edge of my existence.
Thinking about how Nintendo has failed in their creation of the last three Mario Kart titles made me think about what made Super Mario Kart so great in the first place. It has been my All-Time Favorite Game for more than a decade now. If you consider all the events that have happened in gaming during that time - of the rise of Sony and Microsoft and the fall of Sega along with EA's decent into cartoonish super-villainy - it is even more shocking that Super Mario Kart has been able to hold strong through all that.
To get even more specific, Super Mario Kart reached its own peak in the summer of 1996. For three glorious months I played that game nearly every day with my best friend. He was the only person who has ever challenged me in Super Mario Kart, and because of our desire to win we pushed each other farther than I could ever have gone alone. But it was a friendly rivalry, one in which the loser could still laugh with joy because the journey was far more important than the destination. More importantly, even the most humbling of losses could be quickly overcome. Rematches were not only an option but the standard. We would race on our three favorite courses (Ghost House 1, Vanilla Lake 2 and Rainbow Road) until one person reached 99 wins. We would set rules in the battle modes to make it more difficult. For instance, no red shells would make the normally chaotic mode feel like a Normandy Invasion of quickly moving green shells. To give us an actual challenge in the GPs we would race with small characters. When that became too easy we would help the CPU even more - forbid the use of items, drive backwards for twenty seconds, and even try to race without power sliding. This was a rivalry in the same way Rocky and Apollo were rivals in Rocky III - we pushed to make each other better because nothing was more fun than simply competing in the first place.
That time is long gone however. As I play Super Mario Kart by myself, struggling to even lap fourth place now, I realized just how far my favorite game had fallen. It has been years since I have actually been challenged in that game and in that time my skills have dulled and my passion has burned away. But I still play it, I still read previews for every new game and pray every night that Perfect Dark Zero is as good as it should be, because I want more than anything to be able to replicate my experiences with Super Mario Kart. But I continue to go from one demeaning one night stand to another. Wasting my time trying to find something that will fill that horrible void in my life, only knowing that it simply isn't possible anymore. When a game like Knights of the Old Republic II can occupy my time, and it has just as many glaring problems as it does strengths, I realize just how far gaming has fallen.
Well, the time for confusion is unfortunately still alive and well, so A-Normal Tom continues his rule of detachment. As strong as this site is with Nick's take on the various goings on in the gaming world, that is clearly only one half of what makes G-Pinions as sexy as its masthead claims. Without my very own geriatric ramblings, there's a chance readers will be able to drop anchor at these pristine shores without having to leave their own sanity at the door.
So what urge has drawn me back to the world I love? I'll tell you, there is no topic in the gaming world that gets my motor running quite like the horrible, crushing taste I feel after playing every new video game.
I came to this realization last week while having a conversation on the Penny-Arcade forums. I stress conversation because, nine times out of ten, any sort of communique that goes down in that environment takes the form of an argument. As I mentioned earlier, I was so dulled by the various topics of today's gaming I could hardly even muster the strength to type, but while new opinions eluded me I was able to recount my past memories quite well. In the topic about the new Viewtiful Joe title - in which conflicting reports from IGN suggesting it wouldn't appear on the Gamecube in any capacity - a fellow forumer and I began talking about where the VJ franchise could possibly go from here.
Both the best thing about Viewtiful Joe and the curse it will always carry with it is that, in only one seven hour title, it reached the full potential of the franchise. Offering a unique art style along with an innovated fighting system is just the icing on the cake. From there, Capcom created a perfectly balanced system of punishment and reward. They created a plethora of difficulty levels that will push any gamer, no matter how good or bad they are, to their furthest limits. They structured levels in such a way that there was always something to do, always some place to go. Pointless puzzles did not populate the landscape; rather they served as a springboard for coming to term with some of the more complex moves. Enemies, with various strengths and weaknesses, were introduces in such a way as to ensure you were able to completely master your newest technique before you acquired a new one. And the ultimate rewards - of being able to play as most of the game's bizarre villains and reach difficulty levels that inhabit small children's nightmare - was greater than any title I have played recently. For all the derivative crap I have had to wade through this generation, Viewtiful Joe is the beacon of light that makes me excited for upcoming games and rank gaming as my favorite hobby.
But, by offering such a perfect titles as the first entry in the series, Capcom has shot themselves in the foot. For you see, the only place Viewtiful Joe can go from here is down. If they merely repackage the original with new levels and enemies people will complain that it is too similar. Some of the appeal of the original was the sheer novelty of the experience - simply offering more of the same would be less fun. If they decide to change too much then they will destroy the perfect harmony balancing every aspect of VJ1. No one seemed to really enjoy the tag-team inclusion in Viewtiful Joe 2. Basically, Capcom should just cease making Viewtiful Joe titles before they run the franchise into the ground - as they have done with most of their franchises.
While the realization that VJ has already reached its peak was a crushing blow for me, it got even worse from there. After we talked about how Viewtiful Joe ultimately has no future, my mind immediately began searching for another title that shares VJ's path into gaming. After a minute of two - my mind was most likely trying to force me to avoid putting these two franchises together - I finally popped up with the ultimate example: Super Mario Kart. As much as a drool over the newest title in the series (Mario Kart GP, not Mario Kart DS which looks horrible) I know in my heart that no Mario Kart, ever, will be able to live up to the original. I would go so far as to say that it is impossible. Just like we will never see a replication of the Celtics dynasty from the 50s and 60s that won eight consecutive NBA titles, so too is Super Mario Kart always going to be the showcase of what kart racing should be.
I've actually known for quite some time that Super Mario Kart could never be topped. Even though I was only fifteen at the time and much less jaded than I am now, I knew within a week or two of playing Mario Kart 64 that something was seriously wrong with the franchise. It was as if Nintendo had never even played Super Mario Kart but had only been told of its gameplay by a hyperactive four year old. In a nutshell, they removed any semblance of skill and replaced it with a barrage of overpowered weapons and a rubber banding AI. It was only after I played Mario Kart: Super Circuit, the only other Mario Kart I would actually consider to be great, that I realized how desperate the situation actually was. Even going back to the roots of the franchise in many ways - such as the way power sliding is handled and the reintroduction of coins - the game just didn't feel right. The track design was relatively boring and the driving felt much looser than I would have liked. In what will certainly be the last 2D Mario Kart ever made, I realized that Nintendo simply did not even know why the first Super Mario Kart is considered a classic in the first place. And with that realization, I knew that Super Mario Kart would never be topped.
Once again, I bring up an old topic that I have been well aware of before G-Pinions even started. This horrible train of thought that IGN started last week with an inaccurate claim continued until gaming as a whole was almost destroyed for me, and still teeters on the very edge of my existence.
Thinking about how Nintendo has failed in their creation of the last three Mario Kart titles made me think about what made Super Mario Kart so great in the first place. It has been my All-Time Favorite Game for more than a decade now. If you consider all the events that have happened in gaming during that time - of the rise of Sony and Microsoft and the fall of Sega along with EA's decent into cartoonish super-villainy - it is even more shocking that Super Mario Kart has been able to hold strong through all that.
To get even more specific, Super Mario Kart reached its own peak in the summer of 1996. For three glorious months I played that game nearly every day with my best friend. He was the only person who has ever challenged me in Super Mario Kart, and because of our desire to win we pushed each other farther than I could ever have gone alone. But it was a friendly rivalry, one in which the loser could still laugh with joy because the journey was far more important than the destination. More importantly, even the most humbling of losses could be quickly overcome. Rematches were not only an option but the standard. We would race on our three favorite courses (Ghost House 1, Vanilla Lake 2 and Rainbow Road) until one person reached 99 wins. We would set rules in the battle modes to make it more difficult. For instance, no red shells would make the normally chaotic mode feel like a Normandy Invasion of quickly moving green shells. To give us an actual challenge in the GPs we would race with small characters. When that became too easy we would help the CPU even more - forbid the use of items, drive backwards for twenty seconds, and even try to race without power sliding. This was a rivalry in the same way Rocky and Apollo were rivals in Rocky III - we pushed to make each other better because nothing was more fun than simply competing in the first place.
That time is long gone however. As I play Super Mario Kart by myself, struggling to even lap fourth place now, I realized just how far my favorite game had fallen. It has been years since I have actually been challenged in that game and in that time my skills have dulled and my passion has burned away. But I still play it, I still read previews for every new game and pray every night that Perfect Dark Zero is as good as it should be, because I want more than anything to be able to replicate my experiences with Super Mario Kart. But I continue to go from one demeaning one night stand to another. Wasting my time trying to find something that will fill that horrible void in my life, only knowing that it simply isn't possible anymore. When a game like Knights of the Old Republic II can occupy my time, and it has just as many glaring problems as it does strengths, I realize just how far gaming has fallen.
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