MDK 2
It seemed like all the best new games were coming to the Dreamcast just after I had purchased it. Of course, it was the first console to come out of the 6th generation of hardware and with that almost a year ahead of anyone else. So developers more that took advantage of it and I got to play games like Metropolis Street Racer, Crazy Taxi, Virtual On, Soul Caliber, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and of course MDK 2.
MDK 2 was the sequel to the obscure Shiny title from a few years earlier. Though developed by Bioware this time around, it still manages to keep up the dark humor and fantastic surrealism as you now control Kurt Hectic as well as the Doc and Max. The robotic, six-legged, cigar smoking, gun toting, jet packing dog.
MDK 2 ended up being one of my favorite games to come out of the Dreamcast. It had a ton of 'wow' moments where you could be up in a tower above some huge future city with hovercars flying this way and that and draw distances that were seemingly non-existent. (As short draw-distances and fog were quite common in 5th gen console games.) Curved Surface rendering and other ways to fake high-polygon count were available and lighting and texturing was vastly improved over the old game. The result was a gorgeous looking game that featured fantastic looking alien creatures and bizarre landscapes that graced your retinas.
MDK 2 not only cleaned up the visuals, but as previously mentioned, added a new angle to the game as it now gave you control over 2 new characters on top of Kurt. As the story goes, Kurt gets captured by the evil Shwang Shwing after eliminating the last Minecrawler rolling over Edmonton, Canada. (Bioware anyone?) Max and the Doc chase after him to the alien planet of Swizzle Firma. So, the levels rotate between Kurt, Max and the Doc, each one with a different playstyle and therefore different level layout. Kurt follows the same theme as MDK 1; a bit of platforming and sniping puzzles. Max is super fun, with his 4 arms he can wield 4 separate guns including pistols, shotguns, uzis and huge chainguns. Max's levels are primarily run-and-gun, but are a real blast. Dr. Fluke Hawkins' levels are an interesting style of puzzle platforming. You can collect bread and a toaster to shoot toast, ladders, sodapop and a few other bizarre items to help you with your platforming.
MDK 2 was just about fantastic. Combining ridiculous beautiful violence with random bizarre humor and gorgeous setting. Writing that is worth your time and gameplay that cements that. Not all games get the sequels they deserve, but luckily this one was taken with care. It's also available as of recently in the form of an HD remake that has been lovingly updated and available on Steam for those who want to try it. I haven't yet, but the screenshots look fantastic. I'll have to pick it up one day for sure.
It seemed like all the best new games were coming to the Dreamcast just after I had purchased it. Of course, it was the first console to come out of the 6th generation of hardware and with that almost a year ahead of anyone else. So developers more that took advantage of it and I got to play games like Metropolis Street Racer, Crazy Taxi, Virtual On, Soul Caliber, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and of course MDK 2.MDK 2 was the sequel to the obscure Shiny title from a few years earlier. Though developed by Bioware this time around, it still manages to keep up the dark humor and fantastic surrealism as you now control Kurt Hectic as well as the Doc and Max. The robotic, six-legged, cigar smoking, gun toting, jet packing dog.
MDK 2 ended up being one of my favorite games to come out of the Dreamcast. It had a ton of 'wow' moments where you could be up in a tower above some huge future city with hovercars flying this way and that and draw distances that were seemingly non-existent. (As short draw-distances and fog were quite common in 5th gen console games.) Curved Surface rendering and other ways to fake high-polygon count were available and lighting and texturing was vastly improved over the old game. The result was a gorgeous looking game that featured fantastic looking alien creatures and bizarre landscapes that graced your retinas.MDK 2 not only cleaned up the visuals, but as previously mentioned, added a new angle to the game as it now gave you control over 2 new characters on top of Kurt. As the story goes, Kurt gets captured by the evil Shwang Shwing after eliminating the last Minecrawler rolling over Edmonton, Canada. (Bioware anyone?) Max and the Doc chase after him to the alien planet of Swizzle Firma. So, the levels rotate between Kurt, Max and the Doc, each one with a different playstyle and therefore different level layout. Kurt follows the same theme as MDK 1; a bit of platforming and sniping puzzles. Max is super fun, with his 4 arms he can wield 4 separate guns including pistols, shotguns, uzis and huge chainguns. Max's levels are primarily run-and-gun, but are a real blast. Dr. Fluke Hawkins' levels are an interesting style of puzzle platforming. You can collect bread and a toaster to shoot toast, ladders, sodapop and a few other bizarre items to help you with your platforming.
MDK 2 was just about fantastic. Combining ridiculous beautiful violence with random bizarre humor and gorgeous setting. Writing that is worth your time and gameplay that cements that. Not all games get the sequels they deserve, but luckily this one was taken with care. It's also available as of recently in the form of an HD remake that has been lovingly updated and available on Steam for those who want to try it. I haven't yet, but the screenshots look fantastic. I'll have to pick it up one day for sure.
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