Thursday, January 22, 2009

Can't remember if I posted this

A few weeks ago, the guys at Bizarre Creations (creators of Geometry Wars) put out a download of a song made of all the Retro Evolved 2 music, but remixed together. The song is called 46860 Choices and it runs about 13 minutes long. It's quite good -- and free! Overall I suggest downloading it if you have 13 minutes on your hands (and if you're reading this, then you do) and check it out.

Makes me want to boot up Retro Evolved 2 so much!

Buy it

The Mario Kart Love Song has now been re-recorded to sound better and is up on itunes and other music download services. I suggest going and buying it, Sam Hart deserves the money and needs support to make more great music. I'd love to see more great video game love ballads. I just got it on itunes and it sounds great.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Games of the Year - Biggest Disappointments

So I now found some time on my hand apart from the Game Pass trek I am on and figured I should get some of these lists done. These will be the games I found quite a disappointment despite what I thought and heard about the game beforehand. A lot of these games have been in other categories I've used just so you know.
  • Assassin's Creed: Overall I had a good time with this game, but it was the replay value that did it in for me. After beating it, there was never one moment where I felt I should go back and do some more. There was just nothing outstanding about that game that lead itself to multiple play throughs.
  • Braid: I really enjoyed this game and almost everything about it, but like the first game on this, it didn't provide any replay value for me. I'm not going to go collect stars because that seems like the most tedious task ever. Besides that, nothing really made me want to go through the puzzles I already knew again.
  • Mario Kart Wii: It was basically like every other Mario Kart, but it didn't add anything noteworthy this time like Double Dash did. I wouldn't know if the online is great because I don't play it. I also don't like how you can't play cup races with friends, the local multiplayer just sucks. You also get a limit on your battle matches. This means you can only play like 'best 2 out of 3' then you need to load everything up again. They also got rid of Block Fort.
  • Soulcalibur 4: I liked the first two SC's a lot, so even the third was a disappointment to me. This one just went ridiculous and I didn't enjoy it.
  • The Force Unleashed: This game had looked really cool and there was some interesting physics in the game. However I constantly felt like it was flawed as I played. I still can't quite narrow it but I think the targetting system was either off or didn't work out as well and smooth as it should have been for a game like that.
  • Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise: I don't know what it was with this game, but I just didn't feel the need to play it like I did the first game, and even the PC version of the first game. I think it felt a little cluttered with all the new regions and stuff. I do want to get back to it but there's just something keeping me from it
  • Turok: This game had really really fun multiplayer and I played it so much. There was about a week where I probably put in at least 20 hours into it. I just couldn't get into the single player at all.
So those are my top games of 2008 that I had the biggest disappointment in. Next I'll do the games I still want to play that came out in 2008.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Game Pass

So I will be continuing my list of games from 2008 this week, but I took a break as I got hold of a free Blockbusters Game Pass. It came in the Entertainment pack for this year which runs for $20, so if you want a Game Pass for $10 cheaper than normal, go grab one. Keep in mind that this specific coupon expires on the 31st of January.

So as I have a break off from my usual going-ons, I thought now would be the perfect time. I plan to go in each day to get a new game and see how many achievement points I can earn by the time this is up. I'll update this post each day with the previous day's/game's collection.

If anyone has any questions about how to earn some of the achievements I got from these games, let me know.

Madden NFL 09: 695
Kung Fu Panda: 210
The Bourne Conspiracy: 240
Mirror's Edge: 690
NFS: Undercover: 435
Galaga Legions: 10
Dig Dug: 185
Ms. Pac-Man: 185
Pac-Man: 130
Pac-Man: C.E.: 110
Xevious: 10
New Rally-X: 125
Galaga: 85
Mr. Driller Online: 30
Lego Batman: 285
Sonic Unleashed: 85
Iron Man: 690
Tomb Raider: Underworld: 55
Need for Speed: Pro Street: 50
Skate 2: 40
Naruto The Broken Bond: 230
*Gears of War 2: 20
Ninja Gaiden 2: 55
Mortal Kombat vs. DCU: 350
Saints Row 2: 60
Beijing 2008: 50
Afro Samurai: 445
*Rock Band 2: 50
PotC: At World's End: 275
LotR: Conquest: 190
Banjo Kazooie: N&B: 260
Devil May Cry 4: 30
The Incredible Hulk: 75
Jumper: 750
Dark Sector: 30
Shadowrun: 225
Fallout 3: 40
*Gears of War: 40
Looney tunes: AA: 90

Final Count: 7 610

*Not from the game pass, but I did get more achievements in it.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Games of the Year - Worst

This is my list of the top 10 worst games I played this year, that came out this year. Keep in mind I'm not basing this off the worst quality of games I played this year. I'm basing this off the games that came out this year, that I played, and had a terrible time with it.

Once again, these are in no order.
  • Wii Music: This was one of the games I had sent to me for review purposes that I didn't request. It turned out to hardly even be a game. Wii Music was mainly a music player that allowed you to make some noise in tune if you wished. I had quite a hard time playing this as it was no fun at all and I kept thinking I wasn't playing enough each time I went back to it. But the truth was that there was just nothing to this game.
  • Shaun White Snowboarding: Most people stated that I was wrong when calling this game garbage, but I could never see why. I felt the controls were awful and the overall game play was dumb. It was a pain to come back to and I almost hated having to go through it.
  • Guitar Hero: Aerosmith: I don't like Aerosmith and most of the other bands' songs in the game were pretty dumb. I could see this being a good game if you really like Aerosmith, I could even see myself really liking a game like this if the band was one I really liked. I don't want to have to see how Aerosmith emerged as a band and some of the band members look awful as game characters. I will give it this though: having Dream Police as the opening song was the best idea.
  • Soulcalibur 4: I enjoyed the first and second games in this series but hated the last two. The third was a huge dissapointment and this just went way too far. There was just too many ridiculous aspects to this game to make me take it seriously at all.
  • Dash of Destruction: So I like this game because it's free and way easy points. So easy, it's the Avatar of 2008 in my opinion. I just didn't like this game overall because it almost got tedious at points. The developer tried to make it a challenge which was weird since I can't see anyone actually wanting to play this for real.
  • Lost Odyssey: This game was actually good from the normal review stand point but I just found it incredibly boring. I felt it had no flavor and almost seems like it was too "mature" for RPGs. Then again that could just be what it was trying to go for. However, as a huge fan of crazy JRPGs, this didn't do it for me.
  • Lost: Via Domus: If this was at all a good game, it would have been better as a point and click PC adventure game. Overall it doesn't fit with the plot too well and if you are an actual fan of the show, you won't want to play this. It does however have an easy 1000 to collect.
  • Bully Scholarship Edition: This was fun and I only played it because it had some easy achievements. It's like a kids' version of the Grand Theft Auto series, so mainly more kid friendly. I don't really like those kinds of sand box games and this just added to my dislike for them. The general public found this to be a good game though.
  • Patapon: I'm glad this game is only being sold for a budget price. It had the issue where you needed to almost level up after every mission in order to level up. The difficulty was just too high I found. It wasn't too bad though, so it's a stretch to put it on here.
  • Midnight Club: LA: This game was that bad, it was the difficulty that completely threw me off. Now I wouldn't say I'm the best arcade racer player there is, but I wouldn't say I'm the worst either. I quite like arcade racers and this just expected too much of the player. It also suffered from the computer players getting the biggest speed boosts ever when they weren't in first place. And if you ever crashed during a race, you can kiss first place good bye.

Coming up next will be my list of biggest dissapointments, which you will see a few games from here in there, and then the games I'm most looking forward to playing that came out in '08.

Games of the Year - Not Quite Best Part 2

So now that I am more awake and have found myself played enough Quantum of Solace for the time being - that and no one is available to play City Folk with me - I will now finish up my list of noteworthy games of 2008.


  • Animal Crossing City Folk: The odd thing about this is that is it exactly the same as the last two ACs. I even didn't finish up with Wild World because I found it so similar to the GC game. What makes it odd is that I love this game and have played it daily since I put the disk in after Christmas. It must be because I haven't played an Animal Crossing game for a while but something about it keeps me coming back. Now with some half decent online support, I can always do lots of stuff with my friends. Also, Wii Speak isn't as bad as you think it is, granted it's not great either.

  • No More Heroes: This is one of the top games the Wii currently has but for some reason I hardly played it. I think I beat the first two bosses then stop. I've always wanted to go back and play more of it. It's just such a good use of the Wii's motion controls without over doing it, it's also ridiculous so that's good.

  • Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World: It should be noted that I've only put about thirty minutes into this game. It's really only up here because it's the sequal to one of my most favorite RPGs ever. I also haven't come accross anything in the first thirty minutes that makes me dislike it.

  • Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise: I didn't play much of this because a few weeks before I had gotten it, I had just worked on getting every achievement in the first game. So I was pretty VPed out at the time. I've always been meaning to go back to it, but there's just something about it that causes it not to stand up to the first.

Turns out that is all that is left. I thought there would be more and of course there are other games I quite enjoyed, but they didn't really stand out.

Check back later for the top 10 worst games I played this year.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Games of the Year - Not Quite Best Part 1

So continuing my lists of the top games and the worst games (and other games) of 2008 we are now into the games that I also really liked but didn't think were in my top 10. I have this list because some of these games were great and need to be mentioned. These games may also suck when we look at their average review scores, but if I had a good time with them, it's most likely in here.
  • Fable 2: I never tried the first one, and I had heard mixed feelings about it for a while. It was my first game to recieve for reviewing so it will always hold a place "in my heart." I liked the humor and the huge scale to this game. I even enjoyed - apart from the general feeling - getting to see my friends as orbs moving around my world. It didn't make top 10 because I finished it far too quickly and the online was jacked.
  • Braid: This is such a big game in the culture of video games and should be experienced by everyone for the literary merit and the artstyle alone. I loved the music in the game and adored how it looked like a water color painting with the level being made by markers on top. This didn't make top 10 because I found it way too short, especially for the price.
  • N+: I love the original N and still play it obsessively from time to time. This was quite good if you can find a good team to go through the levels with. It didn't hit top 10 because it's nothing really outstanding and it's free online.
  • Grand Theft Auto 4: I just wasn't a huge fan of this game, I wasn't entranced like most people were. I haven't ever been a fan of the GTA series and this was no exception. I did like it more than the rest of the others, but it wasn't anything great to me.
  • Dash of Destruction: This game is awful. But you should download it because it is free and takes twenty minutes to get all 200 points.
  • Assassin's Creed: This game wasn't too bad for me, but looking back on it: I can see the issues. It was really repetitive and gave you meaning less tasks. Other than that, I had a real good time. But when I beat it, I NEVER went back.
  • Eternal Sonata: I know almost no one who played this game. The one person I do know, thinks it is garabage. I disagree and found it quite good. The graphics are wonderful and the battle style is a good blend of Final Fantasy and any 'Tales of' game. It, however, had no replay value and could get mad tedious at points.
  • Turok: This was such a shock for me. It came out incredibly early and I had never even heard of this series. I fell in love with the online play however. It was just so fun and engaging. This was also the first game where I really worked HARD for one of the achievements. It didn't make the top 10 though because I couldn't play the single player because I couldn't care less for it.

Going into this list, I didn't think I would be breaking it into two parts. I just realised it was late o'clock and I should get some sleep since there are a lot more games I have for this list. Look forward to two or three more of these lists tomorrow while I play more Animal Crossing and watch She-Ra.

Games of the Year - Best

So I decided to write up some lists for certain games of 2008. This one will be my favorite ones I played this year (that came out this year). This won't be in any specific order as I can't really decide what my best of is. These are only the 10 best games that I played throughout the year.

  • Burnout Paradise: This is a game that didn't see many Top 10 lists this year due to it's early release date. I find it most noteworthy because I had some of the best online time of any game to date with this game. The use of it's many different numbers of co-op challenges along with head to head racing was just great. Even though this is a racing game, I had the most fun when working with people in order to complete the online goals. Getting seven people together just to have the final guy do a barrel roll over the rest was just too much fun.
  • Professor Layton and the Curious Village: This brought my love of riddles and mind teasers to a game with a great story, art style and overall game play. I became addicted to this game through over a hundred of its puzzles. Everytime one of the full anime cutscenes came on, something great happened. It also contains Professor Layton, one of the coolest characters ever. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the sequals in North America.
  • Gears of War 2: This came as shock to me as I had no interest in this game at all. I wasn't even planning on picking it up, it was sent to me on accident. Unlike the first game, this one kept me interested and wanting to play more. The weird thing is that I can't even think of a reason why this one got to me and the first pushed me away. One of the best things about this game was, like most first person shooters, the online play. Specifially Horde mode. If you have checked out some other Top 10 lists on the web, you can tell people really like this game. Just the use of pitting everyone together to the point where if someone leaves to go solo, they WILL NOT make it. Quite the genious set up of co-op play.
  • Chrono Trigger (DS): This was a great port of the Playstation game that was a remake of the SNES version. Chrono Trigger is one of the publisized and legendary RPGs of all time. It contains around 13 different endings and has the best - personally speaking - sound tracks ever. This game is highly involving and keeps me thinking about it and wishing I had more free time to play it.
  • Prince of Persia: This game didn't get such great hype when it came to the reviews but I had some of the most fun with it in a single player game. It didn't have the most depth or challenging difficulty that most games should have, but made up for it in other ways. I loved the art style so much and deem it one of the best looking games of the year. I also enjoyed collecting the light seeds, which most people would find tedious and not fun. It was an overall good game that, even though I was only timing my button pushes and watching everything happen for me, I had so much fun going through it.
  • Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2: This was the first of the series that I ever played after hearing only good about the first Retro Evolved. I did go back and get the first one too and can see how this was such a smart upgrade to a great game. It took such a small game and used all its potential in six incredible ways. This is probably the best game I have on the Xbox Live Arcade and is easily worth more than the 800 Microsoft Points it is going for.
  • Rock Band 2: I fell in love with the first game. It was the perfect party game and can always throw it in when I have a group together and we've gotten tired of everything else. Its sequal did the same but just fixed any loose ends and brings it more towards what it did best: playing with friends. This series has almost made me drop the Guitar Hero series. It has a more professional feel to it and yet remains rediculous.
  • The World Ends With You: This is another incredible DS game that easily hits the top list for any DS game released. It used the stylus in a great way that didn't get tedious over time. It had great replay value with the ability to go back to any level that has been previously played. It also integrated a great art style and lovely full anime and voice overed cut scenes. This games was one of the best new games to come from Square Enix in a while.
  • Castle Crashers: This was a wonderful brawler with a great new flash game like twist. I am quite a fan of olden arcade beat 'em ups like TMNT 1989 Classic and this just renewed my love for them. The only downside to this game was the jacked online play. It was fortunately been fixed but it came at a time too late for me as I had already had my fill of the game.
  • Tales of Vesperia: This wasn't a huge game and not many people played it at all. I however quite enjoyed it whether it be because I hadn't played a great 'Tales of' game since Tales of Symphonia 1. It reminded me of all the great times I had with that games but upped the graphics and added my much loved achievement points.

I will also be continuing this post with more games I loved and quite enjoyed but didn't feel they were a top 10.

I will be adding a few more 'Games of the Year' posts over the next day or so looking at the worst I played, the most disappointing, the ones I'd most like to play soon and the best reviewed that I have no interest in.

Let me know your top 10 games of the year.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Update

I haven't posted much, mainly because it was my holiday time and I was busy playing too much games. What did I play you ask? Animal Crossing mostly. There were quite a few 6-10 hour days last week.

Anyway, here are somethings going on:

New banner up, I feel it works with the black and blue color scheme of the site. I wanted a more recent game, but not much noteworthy has come out lately

I'm back borrow many games to get some more points out of them. I'm playing Quantum of Solace right now and it's pretty weird. Gears 1 is next.

I will be writing a review for Prince of Persia, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and Chrono Trigger (possibly). These might not end up on The Bin, but they will go up here for sure.