DAY 363 / GAME 363
Atari Star Wars Arcade
One of the few downsides of video game arcades is simply that you can only fit as many game in your location as you can comfortably fit cabinets. And so, sometimes you find that one game that is at an arcade nowhere close to where you life and playing that game ends up becoming a rare treat; like a unaffordable delicacy.
On one, maybe two occasions as a young child I visited Toronto's theme restaurant The Organ Grinder. (Which no longer exists, to my knowledge.) This restaurant which existed as one giant pipe organ was a popular pizza house for kid's birthday parties and thus, contained a half-decent arcade.
My brother discovered it first, this arcade housed one cabinet that stood out above the rest. So much so I recall no other games existing at this venue. This was likely in the mid-to-late 80's and we found what seemed like the best thing we've ever seen. A Star Wars flight simulator, specifically emulating the famous trench run scene from A New Hope.
The visuals looked exactly like something out of Tron. (The 80's flick, obviously.) Which at the time, felt like the future. Red, blue and green outlines forming three-dimensional shapes, allowing for a the feel of truly moving through a virtual space. The cabinet design, closed in like a ship's cockpit really added to the experience and let you block out the world around you. Even if that included a hyper-noisy pipe-organ restaurant.
It's unfortunate that I would have only had the opportunity to play this game a few times at most, and yet it's an experience I haven't forgotten. Even if it has been almost thirty years later. It's one of those games that was not only fantastic at the time, but having played leaves you with a benchmark for which you can appreciate just how far games like this have come over time. From Tron like visuals to well, Tron Legacy visuals. All in a portion of my lifetime. I can only imagine what the future holds.
DAY 362 / GAME 362
Panzer Dragoon: Orta
After the demise of the Dreamcast console, Sega dropped out of the home console business and divided itself up with different focuses on software and arcade hardware. When this happened, there were no more Sega 'exclusive' titles anymore. Suddenly you started to see Sonic the Hedgehog showing up on the Nintendo Gamecube of all things. Soul Calibur on the PlayStation 2 and Panzer Dragoon on the original Microsoft Xbox.
This latest Panzer Dragoon, Orta, seemed to included a huge jump up in graphical quality, even though the Dreamcast was pretty much the same generation of console as the Xbox. I keep forgetting that Orta wasn't actually an Xbox 360 game. Of course, part of this would be because it was one of the few titles that was supported with backward compatibility and so I played this most recently on my 360.
Though I swear I beat this title, reading up on it now so much of the story seems unfamiliar. Either the story was told in a manner unclear enough that I don't remember it well, or I simply never beat the game. There's also a good chance I just really have to pick it up and play it again someday soon. Perhaps there's a story in there that I just glazed over and somehow missed out on.
As interesting as the Panzer Dragoon series always have been, for me it's always been about the incredible design, unique worlds and the simple gracefulness of the rail-shooter mechanics.
Panzer Dragoon is a series that I always wished got more attention. Though perhaps that was never a problem, at the very least I wish it were more widely released and certainly continued into current day. Unless you own a Sega Saturn, I don't think you can opt to play parts 1 and 2. Panzer Dragoon Saga, the RPG released on the Saturn was impossible to find and went for well over $100 on Ebay for years after it's release. The series seriously deserves a reboot, and at the very least an HD collection. Especially one that includes the elusive and highly recommended Panzer Dragoon Saga.
DAY 361 / GAME 361
Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped
I had almost forgotten how more Naughty Dog put into Crash Bandicoot 3 until I did a little digging to refresh my memory. I played Crash 2 the most to this day and so, it's still the one I'm the most familiar with. But Crash 3 could easily be considered the better game.
Completed in just over 10 months, Naughty Dog built 3 additional game engines to accommodate the new level designs incorporated into this new title. Warped contained some motorcycle racing levels out in the desert, some WW1 air combat levels and some new revamped jetski levels. Of course, the developer was careful not to abandon the traditional core gameplay and so the majority of the levels still use the original engine and feel very similar to Crash 2.
Crash Bandicoot 3 uses the same gem collecting system for the basis of the game, mainly to add some replay value, leaving you with something to search for to truly complete the game. In the new story however, you find yourself traversing time to defeat the evil witch doctor Uka Uka. You ride a motorcycle across the 1950's desert, shoot down zeppelins in a WW1 biplane, ride a Tyrannosaurus Rex across a Jurassic swamp, dodge knights and frogs in medieval times and ride a tiger across the Great Wall of China. More levels include visiting Atlantis, ancient Arabia, a future underground New York City and ancient Egypt.
All this and instead of just controlling Crash this time around, they included levels in which you take control of his brainy sister Coco instead, making her a bigger part of the story. The visuals were as fantastic as always in the series, Naughty Dog seriously pushing the limits of the now aging PlayStation console, but continuing to make a lasting game that is still playable today and not just a mess for your eyes.
Plus, as was the case I believe with Crash 2, the soundtrack was produced in part by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame. This guy just about does everything, but it of course explains why Crash has always had this fantastic background soundtrack that will always make it that much more special.
Naughty Dog, in all their glory, really should return to this original trilogy and re-release it in HD for all those who missed it the first time around. But, since the series is still being released (I believe) and it's no longer in the hands of Naughty Dog, I suppose it's completely up to Sony. And at the very least, they have made it available online for purchase on your PSP portable or PlayStation 3. (Which I have) and it functions quite nicely.
DAY 360 / GAME 360
Shenmue
Once again the Sega Dreamcast pulls through with another bizarre Japanese import. Though not entirely as strange a game as Seaman or Crazy Taxi, Shenmue was definitely seated in Japanese culture and didn't appear to pander at all to American audiences. The portion of the game I had completed, felt like some kind of Asian soap-opera filled with weird time-wasting mini-games.
Shenmue is a tale about a young man's revenge against an unknown assailant who he witnesses kill his father. Ryo recovers after a few days of grieving to start tracking down this man and claim vengeance. Shenmue is a fairly open-world game, allowing you to walk about mid-80's Japan, questioning people and looking for clues. Similar to Grand Theft Auto, it's full of mini-games that add action between the story; from fight sequences to motorcycle races, bar fights and less exciting small jobs. Though, I'm pretty sure I spent most of the time buying and drinking pop from a vending machine, buying collectible toys from a quarter machine, and petting a local cat.
Though I didn't realise it quite so much at the time, Shenmue was a very complex game. I always appreciated how real it felt. How the Japanese suburbs were alive with people and you were in no rush to do whatever you wanted. But Sega went much further than just that. Turns out it has an incredible weather system that worked at random, based roughly on the time of year and included everything from rain to snow and shine; which could change at any moment. Even more incredible though, was the fact that the game was set at a specific time period between 1986 and 1987 and in the options, you could tell the game to use the actual recorded weather for that location during that time period. That fact alone blows my mind.
Though I may not have completed Shenmue and definitely didn't spend the time on it I think it deserved, it was certainly a game I'm glad I had the chance to experience. It was also one of those games that I've grown to appreciate more and more as time passes and I think, like a lot of the games I've discussed over the past year, I should make the time to go back and try out again.
DAY 359 / GAME 359
Diablo III
For Christmas I thought it would be nice to post about a holiday themed game, but the truth is there's only one I can think of that I've ever played and I posted about that already. (James Pond 2, which takes place at the North Pole.) So whatever, I'll just talk about Diablo 3 instead.
Though Diablo 3 didn't stick with me quite the way Diablo 2 still does. It did certainly earn it's title in a lot of ways as a proper successor in the series. I remember keeping a close eye on Blizzard's outgoing info regarding D3 as it slowly inched it's way towards release. Having been over a decade since Diablo 2 was released, I was more than excited to get back into that dark and delicious territory that created so much nostalgia 10 years ago. The brilliant Matt Uelmen score and the rainy ruins of Tristram full of undead beasts, the Eastern Desert, Jungle and the Halls of Hell itself. There was nothing quite like that game.
As I awaited Diablo 3's release Blizzard teased us with details on the new classes and world we were going to encounter, along with tidbits on the overall graphical look of the game. I was so excited about this new Diablo game I even preordered the collector's edition version. This version came with a hardcover artbook (the main reason I bought it) as well as a special Diablo skull with a USB key that included Diablo 2 on it and a couple game keys to share with friends for a trial run.
Diablo 3 looked absolutely gorgeous in the end. I went out of my way to buy a new video card for my Mac Pro tower just for this game (though in hindsight, a poor idea) and so it ran great. I'll always appreciate that Blizzard decided to keep the same isometric camera and tried to maintain the overall graphical look while switching from a prerendered platform to a fully 3D one.
Though I certainly didn't invest as much time into Diablo 3 as I had with Diablo 2 in the past, a lot of that simply had to do with the amount of free time I had in the past. Now that I've got a new PC, I've been dying to reinstall this and seeing how incredible it will look; I'm sure I'll do that someday soon.
DAY 358 / GAME 358
Tomb Raider: Underworld
After Tomb Raider Legend was released on the Xbox 360, I was very excited to see that Crystal Dynamics had continued with this new hold on the series and produced another new title, this time geared specifically towards the new generation of consoles; the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Underworld took everything that was done right wit the Legends reboot and applied it, plus some. Adding a few new gameplay features including a sonar mapping system, a grappling hook and a new dual-targeting system when using a pistol in each hand. Underworld was more polished and more perfected than Crystal Dynamics had achieved with Tomb Raider: Legend and was definitely another step towards achieving what they have with the most recent 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider.
Tomb Raider Underworld's story continues right where Legend leaves off. Making the two games great for playing back-to-back. I don't think it took me long to grab a copy of Underworld after I had finally played Legend and realized what a great job Crystal Dynamics had done with the series after they had taken it over from Core Design.
The biggest issue with Tomb Raider Underworld was simply that I had played it after Uncharted 2. And the thing with Uncharted 2 is that it's basically Tomb Raider re-invented with a male lead. Only Naughty Dog managed to code better gameplay mechanics for everything from climbing to shooting, plus deeper characters and better overall writing. So technically Tomb Raider now paled in comparison. And yet, Lara Croft still had her place, and even with Uncharted doing pretty much everything better, Tomb Raider Underworld was more than enjoyable in it's own right.
So, Lara Croft is still Lara Croft; untouchable in a way, that female gaming protagonist that is so needed and yet somewhat underdeveloped at this point. Underworld is a great example of a fantastic Lara Croft game that has come a long way since the original back in the mid-90's and certainly paved the way for future Tomb Raider games as we see them now.
Plus, I dunno, there's just something simply fun and simple about Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider series that I love and it's great they ended up with it in the end.
DAY 357 / GAME 357
Tomb Raider: Legend
After Tomb Raider 3, the series really fell of the map for me. I loved Tomb Raider 1 and 2, but both were really difficult. Too difficult to complete for me. But 3 was so difficult I couldn't make it past the second level. I give up on few games, but I felt dumb for paying full price for this game. So with that, I pretty much ignored the series as it continued. Three more games were released, The Last Revelation, Chronicles, and Angel of Darkness, before a major change took place. Core Design, who handled development switched over to Crystal Dynamics and Tomb Raider: Legend was released.
I may not have even bothered with this game, but I did hear tell that Crystal Dynamics had taken a new angle with Tomb Raider and essentially rebooted the series. Since I was trying out every new demo to pop up on the Xbox 360 anyway, I figured I'd give this a shot.
Turns out Crystal Dynamics is exactly what the series needed. The graphics were incredible, the game handled a hundred times better than previously and all the basic game mechanics from shooting to climbing felt revamped. It didn't take me long to go out and grab a copy of this new Tomb Raider, and like that I was back into the series like it never left.
Tomb Raider Legend upped the pacing considerably, pushing for more action on top of the already classic puzzle platforming gameplay. Though I'm not sure this is new, Crystal Dynamics included cutscenes which featured Quicktime Events; which some people despise, but I appreciate at times since it can allow for action sequences that can't normally be incorporated into the game, but you feel a part of rather than just sitting back and watching.
In general, Legend was a terrific, spectacularly polished revamp of what I considered a dying series. Bringing back Lara Croft into the small number of powerful female leads and eventually bringing the series into it's current state which includes the most recent 2013 reboot which has received very high praise.
