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Review – Fallout 3

October 30, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

War never changes.

This is a message that “Fallout 3” hammers into you at the start of the game. War, a blight of humanity, led to a nuclear apocalypse.

But even after that apocalypse, in the nuclear fallout that remained (hence the name of the series), there was war. Apparently, said war never changed.

Factions still battle for over control of the wastelands surrounding what was once Washington D.C.

“Fallout 3” is developed by Bethesda Game Studios, the same people responsible for the highly acclaimed “Elder Scrolls” fantasy role-playing series – the most recent title being “Oblivion.”

“Fallout 3” shares a lot in common with “Oblivion,” causing some to go as far as to say that “Fallout 3” is merely “Oblivion” in the post apocalyptic future. To be honest, this isn’t entirely inaccurate.

The two games have a lot in common mechanically, and if you’re familiar with the way “Oblivion” or “Morrowind” worked, then you can drop right into “Fallout” and know exactly what’s going on.

Just replace swords and sorcery with guns and technology.

The game – the first true sequel since “Fallout 2” was released a decade ago – begins near what is now called “The Capital Wasteland,” underground in Vault 101.

Like previous games in the series, the story is based on the idea that American families took cover in a large number of underground vaults in order to survive the impending doom of nukes raining from the sky.

Your character’s vault, 101, was originally intended to be sealed forever. But your father has recently escaped the vault, and it’s your turn to follow in his footsteps.

As the game opens, you are immediately born into a world of options – literally. Your character is born, you choose whether you’re going to be a male or a female, and use determine what you are going to look like when you grow up.

This is the start to a relatively short prologue that spans several years. The choices you make “growing up” help determine what kind of person you’re going to be, and what kind of skills you’re going to excel at.

Are you going to be good at sneaking around and lock-picking? Are you going to be strong and good in combat? Are you going to be charismatic, and solve all situations through speech rather than steel?

The choice is entirely up to you.

Throughout the game, these sorts of choices also determine whether you are good or evil. And whichever path you take can lead to dire consequences.

For example, early in the game you are given a rather simple, though extremely devastating choice: To save an entire town, or to blow it up with a nuclear explosion, reaping the money and penthouse rewards that such a choice could bring – while of course losing that town forever.

These elements are really the best thing about “Fallout 3.” The total freedom of choice and exploration is reason alone to play the game. To sweeten the deal, the massive world is filled to the brim with interesting characters, and interesting conversations to be had with them.

Unfortunately, the combat isn’t always as satisfying. At its core, “Fallout 3” is an RPG, like previous games in the series. However, it also tries to be an action game.

The action game portion of the gameplay – the real-time combat you can participate in – is somewhat disappointing, in that it’s still an RPG, just an RPG in disguise. This means that you can point a gun at an enemy’s head but still miss because a series of hidden “dice rolls” happening behind the scenes didn’t go your way.

Thankfully, there’s also a much more clever and satisfying system in place: VATS.

The “Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System,” or VATS, allows you to pause the action and spend a number of “action points” to carry out combat. This ends up being a much better blend of the action and turn-based RPG elements the game is trying to capture.

It also means that you can solve every enemy encounter by running up close to them, going into the VATS system, and shooting somebody in the head until their head flies off.

Which, of course, is extremely satisfying.

This brings up the issue of the game’s style, which is a delightful blend of dark, dirty, and oh-so-bloody war and violence as well as lighthearted, campy and genuinely humorous elements. You can literally walk into a town after blowing the heads off of enemy raiders only to laugh out loud with another character in a bar.

The good things I could say about “Fallout 3” are too many to be mentioned in this space, but it’s not at all a perfect game, either.

On top of the aforementioned problems with the combat, you may find much of your exploration around the wasteland to be boring. This is because the wasteland is like Lubbock: flat.

There are some awesome locations and cities, and it’s extremely cool to see a torn-up Washington DC, but your long walks from place to place may leave a lot to be desired.

All in all, “Fallout 3” is a fantastic game and a worthy successor to the “Fallout” name. Fans of RPGs and post-apocalyptic settings should definitely do themselves a favor and check it out, available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

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Review – Tetris Party

October 29, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

These days, you can play “Tetris” pretty much anywhere.

Cell phones, calculators, Facebook, iPods … and of course video game systems.

So why play it again with “Tetris Party” on the Wii?

As the name implies, “Tetris Party” has a fairly major focus on multiplayer. Most of the local multiplayer games (the real meat of this package) can be played with up to four players, and there are a couple of online modes for two to six competitors.

That’s not to say that the game can’t still be enjoyed alone. The typical “Tetris” formula is alive and very well here, and can be just as addicting as ever.

But multiplayer isn’t exactly new to the series anyway, so the question remains: Why should you buy this new game?

While straight-up, classic “Tetris” can certainly be found (and thoroughly enjoyed) here, the developers at Hudson have managed to breathe some degree of life into the game by adding brand new modes that shake up the known formula.

“Field Climber,” for example is a game in which there is a tiny character on screen that will climb onto blocks as you place them. Your goal is to keep building upwards in order to get him to the finish line.

Or “Shadow Mode,” which challenges you to place blocks that match the shadow of a particular shape in the background of the playing field, going outside the lines as little as possible.

And then there are modes only available in multiplayer.

“Co-op Tetris” is exactly what it sounds like: cooperative “Tetris” with a buddy. The playing field is twice as wide as normal, and both players are placing their own pieces. Succeeding in this mode requires a lot of coordination and cooperation.

If you’d rather crush your friends rather than work together with them, there are modes such as “Duel Spaces,” which ask you to claim space on a grid by fencing in areas.

But one of the most mind-boggling new modes requires an extra piece of Wii hardware, and it’s one you may not expect: The Wii Balance Board.

Yes, the crazy board that came with Wii Fit that a lot of you probably do push-ups and yoga on.

Yes, you can play Tetris with that thing.

“Balance Board Mode” is both crazy and ingenious. The controls are simple. Lean left to move your block left. Learn right to move it right. Squat to rotate the piece (seriously), and lean back to move it into place quicker.

This mode is made more physically possible by changing up the playing field (shrinking it a little) as well as changing up the blocks (making them bigger and much simpler). But it can still be a challenging mode – especially for more wobbly players – and serves as an interesting diversion if nothing else.

While not extremely important in the grand scheme of things, “Tetris Party” is visually appealing in style, with a clean interface and slick visuals.

The game also allows players to use their customized “Miis” stored on the Wii system, adding a nice, personal flair to player profiles in a style that fits in well with the rest of the game.

The game is slightly harder to recommend to people if you don’t have friends to play it with – as stated, “Tetris” can be found just about anywhere – but if you do plan to play it alone, there’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had.

The single-player modes are entertaining, and some of the competitive games can be played against computer opponents. And heck, classic “Tetris” is just as addicting as ever, so of course you can enjoy it by yourself.

As far as the online component goes, it’s solid. There aren’t nearly as many gameplay options as there are for local play, which is a shame, but there’s still enough content to have fun with, including occasional tournaments.

There’s also a lot of stat-tracking data to be found in the menus, allowing you to gauge yourself against other players worldwide.

All in all, while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, “Tetris Party” does make a far better effort to make things fresh than other iterations in the series over the recent years. With fun new modes and very solid multiplayer – as well as a budget, $12 price, it being a downloadable game and all – “Tetris Party” is an extremely solid package in its own right, and easy to recommend puzzling game fans.

“Tetris Party” is available now exclusively for download on the Nintendo Wii.

These days, you can play “Tetris” pretty much anywhere.

Cell phones, calculators, Facebook, iPods … and of course video game systems.

So why play it again with “Tetris Party” on the Wii?

As the name implies, “Tetris Party” has a fairly major focus on multiplayer. Most of the local multiplayer games (the real meat of this package) can be played with up to four players, and there are a couple of online modes for two to six competitors.

That’s not to say that the game can’t still be enjoyed alone. The typical “Tetris” formula is alive and very well here, and can be just as addicting as ever.

But multiplayer isn’t exactly new to the series anyway, so the question remains: Why should you buy this new game?

While straight-up, classic “Tetris” can certainly be found (and thoroughly enjoyed) here, the developers at Hudson have managed to breathe some degree of life into the game by adding brand new modes that shake up the known formula.

“Field Climber,” for example is a game in which there is a tiny character on screen that will climb onto blocks as you place them. Your goal is to keep building upwards in order to get him to the finish line.

Or “Shadow Mode,” which challenges you to place blocks that match the shadow of a particular shape in the background of the playing field, going outside the lines as little as possible.

And then there are modes only available in multiplayer.

“Co-op Tetris” is exactly what it sounds like: cooperative “Tetris” with a buddy. The playing field is twice as wide as normal, and both players are placing their own pieces. Succeeding in this mode requires a lot of coordination and cooperation.

If you’d rather crush your friends rather than work together with them, there are modes such as “Duel Spaces,” which ask you to claim space on a grid by fencing in areas.

But one of the most mind-boggling new modes requires an extra piece of Wii hardware, and it’s one you may not expect: The Wii Balance Board.

Yes, the crazy board that came with Wii Fit that a lot of you probably do push-ups and yoga on.

Yes, you can play Tetris with that thing.

“Balance Board Mode” is both crazy and ingenious. The controls are simple. Lean left to move your block left. Learn right to move it right. Squat to rotate the piece (seriously), and lean back to move it into place quicker.

This mode is made more physically possible by changing up the playing field (shrinking it a little) as well as changing up the blocks (making them bigger and much simpler). But it can still be a challenging mode – especially for more wobbly players – and serves as an interesting diversion if nothing else.

While not extremely important in the grand scheme of things, “Tetris Party” is visually appealing in style, with a clean interface and slick visuals.

The game also allows players to use their customized “Miis” stored on the Wii system, adding a nice, personal flair to player profiles in a style that fits in well with the rest of the game.

The game is slightly harder to recommend to people if you don’t have friends to play it with – as stated, “Tetris” can be found just about anywhere – but if you do plan to play it alone, there’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had.

The single-player modes are entertaining, and some of the competitive games can be played against computer opponents. And heck, classic “Tetris” is just as addicting as ever, so of course you can enjoy it by yourself.

As far as the online component goes, it’s solid. There aren’t nearly as many gameplay options as there are for local play, which is a shame, but there’s still enough content to have fun with, including occasional tournaments.

There’s also a lot of stat-tracking data to be found in the menus, allowing you to gauge yourself against other players worldwide.

All in all, while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, “Tetris Party” does make a far better effort to make things fresh than other iterations in the series over the recent years. With fun new modes and very solid multiplayer – as well as a budget, $12 price, it being a downloadable game and all – “Tetris Party” is an extremely solid package in its own right, and easy to recommend puzzling game fans.

“Tetris Party” is available now exclusively for download on the Nintendo Wii.

These days, you can play “Tetris” pretty much anywhere.

Cell phones, calculators, Facebook, iPods … and of course video game systems.

So why play it again with “Tetris Party” on the Wii?

As the name implies, “Tetris Party” has a fairly major focus on multiplayer. Most of the local multiplayer games (the real meat of this package) can be played with up to four players, and there are a couple of online modes for two to six competitors.

That’s not to say that the game can’t still be enjoyed alone. The typical “Tetris” formula is alive and very well here, and can be just as addicting as ever.

But multiplayer isn’t exactly new to the series anyway, so the question remains: Why should you buy this new game?

While straight-up, classic “Tetris” can certainly be found (and thoroughly enjoyed) here, the developers at Hudson have managed to breathe some degree of life into the game by adding brand new modes that shake up the known formula.

“Field Climber,” for example is a game in which there is a tiny character on screen that will climb onto blocks as you place them. Your goal is to keep building upwards in order to get him to the finish line.

Or “Shadow Mode,” which challenges you to place blocks that match the shadow of a particular shape in the background of the playing field, going outside the lines as little as possible.

And then there are modes only available in multiplayer.

“Co-op Tetris” is exactly what it sounds like: cooperative “Tetris” with a buddy. The playing field is twice as wide as normal, and both players are placing their own pieces. Succeeding in this mode requires a lot of coordination and cooperation.

If you’d rather crush your friends rather than work together with them, there are modes such as “Duel Spaces,” which ask you to claim space on a grid by fencing in areas.

But one of the most mind-boggling new modes requires an extra piece of Wii hardware, and it’s one you may not expect: The Wii Balance Board.

Yes, the crazy board that came with Wii Fit that a lot of you probably do push-ups and yoga on.

Yes, you can play Tetris with that thing.

“Balance Board Mode” is both crazy and ingenious. The controls are simple. Lean left to move your block left. Learn right to move it right. Squat to rotate the piece (seriously), and lean back to move it into place quicker.

This mode is made more physically possible by changing up the playing field (shrinking it a little) as well as changing up the blocks (making them bigger and much simpler). But it can still be a challenging mode – especially for more wobbly players – and serves as an interesting diversion if nothing else.

While not extremely important in the grand scheme of things, “Tetris Party” is visually appealing in style, with a clean interface and slick visuals.

The game also allows players to use their customized “Miis” stored on the Wii system, adding a nice, personal flair to player profiles in a style that fits in well with the rest of the game.

The game is slightly harder to recommend to people if you don’t have friends to play it with – as stated, “Tetris” can be found just about anywhere – but if you do plan to play it alone, there’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had.

The single-player modes are entertaining, and some of the competitive games can be played against computer opponents. And heck, classic “Tetris” is just as addicting as ever, so of course you can enjoy it by yourself.

As far as the online component goes, it’s solid. There aren’t nearly as many gameplay options as there are for local play, which is a shame, but there’s still enough content to have fun with, including occasional tournaments.

There’s also a lot of stat-tracking data to be found in the menus, allowing you to gauge yourself against other players worldwide.

All in all, while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, “Tetris Party” does make a far better effort to make things fresh than other iterations in the series over the recent years. With fun new modes and very solid multiplayer – as well as a budget, $12 price, it being a downloadable game and all – “Tetris Party” is an extremely solid package in its own right, and easy to recommend puzzling game fans.

“Tetris Party” is available now exclusively for download on the Nintendo Wii.

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Review – World of Goo

October 28, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

Do you remember when you were a child, and you would play with goo?

You would roll it, mold it, marvel at how sticky and easy to shape it is.

Then you would stack a bunch of it together to form crazy goo structures in order to reach a pipe that would help the goo escape imprisonment as a giant corporation’s test subjects and enjoy life as a peaceful, life-loving goo species.

No?

Then either you had an abnormal childhood, or maybe “World of Goo” for the Wii and PC isn’t as based on reality as I thought.

The premise of “World of Goo” is absurdly simple: drag and drop goo droplets in order to connect them to each other to form goo structures. These structures are built with the sole purpose of reaching an exit pipe at the end of the level.

The pipe could be high in the air – forcing you to build up – or across a chasm – forcing you to build sideways – or a large number of crazy locations.

And as you build, things aren’t at all steady. Your goo towers will wobble, if they don’t simply fall over. Your goo bridges will sink, causing you get be creative in how you create everything.

The entire game is in 2D, and while the art style is extremely appealing to look at, the game’s first impression on a casual onlooker may be that everything is too simple. It may strike them as an interesting experiment or a nice physics demo.

In truth, it’s one of the most engrossing puzzle games in years.

As the levels progress, situations just get crazier and crazier, forcing you to sometimes get quite creative in how you manage your goo droplets.

When you get even further in the game, more and more different species of goo make themselves known. Rather than just connecting green goo droplets, you might find yourself creating a chain of red goo and lighting it on fire to blow up a wall.

All of this gameplay is extraordinarily solid. Everything just seems to work the way you want it to, and the controls are extremely easy to pick up, considering you essentially use one button.

On top of good and highly addicting gameplay, though, “World of Goo” has a lot of charm. Music can be decidedly epic, which somehow seems to fit really well in a game about little balls of goo.

There is also quite a bit of humor to the story (what little there is of it), and some of the hint signs you read during the game may even make you laugh out loud.

What’s hard to believe is that “World of Goo” was developed by a team of only three guys. One of whom wasn’t with the other two for the entire project. The game’s design, polish, and aesthetic are reminiscent of a game Nintendo themselves would make and be praised for.

If there’s any downside to “World of Goo,” it’s that the adventure eventually ends. And when it does, there aren’t a ton of reasons to go back.

You can replay levels and use all of your excess goo to see how high of a tower you can build (while seeing how high other people are getting online), but this is really the sort of game that would benefit from a level editor, which unfortunately isn’t included with the Wii version of the game.

However, 2D Boy, the developer of the game, has expressed interest in creating downloadable levels for the game, which could draw players back in.

It’s also worth noting that “World of Goo” is a downloadable title, and as such is available for a budget price. This makes the decision to recommend the game even easier.

Packed with charm, tight controls, great artwork, and highly addictive gameplay, it’s hard to say that there’s a gamer out there that should pass on “World of Goo.” It’s simply an amazing experience – especially coming from such a small development team – and is one that should be fully supported with your dollar.

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Review – Game Party 2

October 26, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

A letter I received with my copy of “Game Party 2” for the Wii said, “Warning: Many have noticed that playing ‘Game Party 2’ is even more fun when intoxicated.”

I beg to differ.

Being intoxicated is probably the ONLY way “Game Party 2” is much fun at all.

As the name implies, Midway’s “Game Party 2” is the sequel to – surprise! – “Game Party”, a mini-game collection that was released not even a year ago on the Wii for the budget price of $20.

“Game Party 2” does little other than add new mini-games. It adds five of them, in fact, as the rest of the 11 were present in the original game.

There’s a fair variety in the mini-games, and you’ll end up playing such classics as Darts, Beanbags, Horseshoes, and Ping Cup, which is essentially Beer Pong without the added bonus of alcohol.

There are a lot of problems with these games, one of which being that they don’t actually play all that differently from each other. You play Skill Ball the same way you play Horseshoes, and you play Ping Cup the same way you play Hoop Shoot.

The other major problem with the gameplay is that it never really feels right. Most people would probably be familiar with the game of Skill Ball – AKA Skee Ball – but chances are that they won’t ever be able to get the ball to go where they want it to in this Wii incarnation.

In fact, the only game that really manages to avoid this is Trivia. You simply point and click on answers. Amazingly, Midway didn’t find a way to screw up the controls for that one.

The game also boasts character customization for players’ avatars, but this, too, is disappointing. The look and feel of these characters is definitely reminiscent of Nintendo’s own Miis, but the list of options for their appearance (even after unlocking items) is severely limited and not very appealing.

The entire aesthetic look, in fact, is a disappointment. While the Wii has never been one to lay claim to amazing looking graphics, the way character models, objects and environments look leaves much to be desired.

“Game Party 2” does, however, make good on the “party” aspect of its title. All of the games are meant to be played with multiple people, and the game sports a Tournament mode for up to 16 players.

Despite Tournament mode sporting a fair amount of customizability, it’s really only useful if you want to bring down an enjoyable night with you and 15 of your closest friends.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on “Game Party 2.” In all honesty, it could easily be worse. However, it’s hard to say that the game does anything well when many other Wii games have done it all better.

The Wii is full of mini-game collections. A lot of them are bad, but many are easily more enjoyable than this game.

On the upside, “Game Party 2” is a budget release at $30.

On the downside, that’s at least $20 too much.

“Game Party 2” is available now for the Nintendo Wii, but if you see it on the shelf, do yourself a favor and let it sit there.

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Review – Dead Space

October 25, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

In “Dead Space”, everyone can hear you scream.

This new survival-horror game from EA borrows a lot of elements from other great games, but the result is an experience that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

The game begins with its protagonist, Isaac Clarke, and his two teammates en route to the Planet Cracker-class mining ship USG Ishimura. A distress call had been sent from the ship, but all communications have since been lost. The team is on a mission to repair the Ishimura’s communications array.

Unfortunately, all hell breaks loose before you even dock onto the Ishimura, as your ship instead crashes on board.

It quickly becomes obvious that something is very wrong on the Ishimura. Systems are malfunctioning and there are no signs of the crew.

That’s when the Necromorphs show up.

The former-crew-members-turned-horrifying-monsters, Necromorphs only seem to care about killing you and your friends. They are gruesome, disgusting and terrifying.

As Isaac, the player quickly finds himself alone, struggling to survive. Your weapons for the most part are refashioned mining tools – cutters and saws, for example. This works extremely well for one of the game’s biggest selling points: strategic dismemberment.

Remember when most video games and movies taught you to shoot for the head? Forget that. When dealing with Necromorphs, cut off their limbs.

This isn’t always enough, of course. Cut off their arms, and they’ll still run toward you. Cut off their legs, and they’ll crawl. They’ll do whatever it takes to end your life, so you have to make absolutely sure to end theirs first.

The results are quite bloody, and often very terrifying.

Another major feature of the game is the fact that there is no HUD on the screen. You never feel like your monitor is cluttered with maps, bars and numbers. Instead, everything is integrated seamlessly into the world.

Your health bar is a visible green meter along your spine. Ammo is displayed on your gun whenever you have it held up. Maps, inventory, menus and video screens are projected in front of your character, never pausing the action for anything.

The result is a very engrossing and atmospheric experience that really helps you feel like you’re a part of the world.

Gameplay is quite similar to 2005’s “Resident Evil 4.” The action is viewed from a third-person, over-the-shoulder view. You can use a variety of weapons in combat – from plasma cutters to pulse rifles to flamethrowers – as well as kinesis, a tool that allows you to pick up and toss a variety of objects, as well as stasis, a slow motion device that allows you to stop enemies and objects in their tracks.

While the action is quick, frantic and bloody, much of the game is about exploration. As you make your way through the decks of the Ishimura, you will uncover many audio, video and text logs that flesh out the story exponentially.

Elements of the storytelling – such as the audio logs – are reminiscent of last year’s “Bioshock,” but this is far from a bad thing. The story is very interesting, very engrossing, and very well told. Many players may find themselves playing for the sole purpose of seeing what happens next, and uncovering the terrible secret of what happened to the Ishimura.

It’s also a story that’s very creepy – perfect for Halloween. Depending on what kind of person you are, you will either want to play “Dead Space” during the day (with a friend nearby) or in the dark by yourself.

The extremely scary atmosphere is helped by gorgeous graphics and outstanding sound design. If seeing gruesome creatures drenched in blood isn’t enough to scare you, then perhaps the haunting whispers from who-knows-where will send chills up your spine.

The game may feature its own rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” but it definitely won’t remind you of happy childhood memories.

It’s hard to do anything but praise “Dead Space” for everything it does. As a horror game – or even just as an action experience – the game always excels.

“Dead Space” is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and I would advise mature audiences looking for scares to not gloss over it. This is one gaming star that shines very bright.

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Review – Robot Chicken Season 3 DVD

October 21, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

When it comes to stop-motion animation, family friendly shows like “Wallace and Gromit” are out, and “Robot Chicken” is in.

Using toys, dolls, clay and similar items, the team behind “Robot Chicken” create very short (sometimes no longer than a few seconds) comedy sketches that are typically filled with pop culture references. These sketches are compiled together into episodes that run around 10 minutes on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim.”

The recently released Season 3 2-DVD set of the show contains 20 of these episodes, as well as an assortment of special features.

The results are often quite funny. Sketches like “1776” – a parody of the film “300” set during the American Revolution – could easily have you laughing out loud with friends. If you love making fun of popular culture, there’s a lot to enjoy here.

However, there are also points where the show falters. Certain sketches simply aren’t very funny – especially if you don’t have a friend to enjoy them with – and in a couple of cases there are entire episodes that are just disappointing in their non-humor.

There’s also the issue of the show’s humor not appealing to everyone. A lot of the laughs are derived from the pure randomness (and blatant stupidity) of what’s happening on screen. Some people will find this hilarious while others will find it pointless.

There’s also the issue of controversy. “Robot Chicken” doesn’t pull punches in any regard. Politics, religion, sex, language … anything and everything is free game.

This is compounded by the fact that the DVD is uncensored. It includes all of the language and sexual content that the creators originally intended to be seen. In one instance, this involves a very real topless model who appears in a sketch through the power of green screen technology.

If all of this sounds perfectly acceptable (and extremely entertaining) to you, then there’s a good chance you’re a fan of “Robot Chicken” already. And if that’s the case, there is a lot for you to love in this set.

There is a commentary track for every single one of the 20 episodes in the set, and said commentary often includes fairly large guest stars (at least, large to the slightly more nerdy audience that the show often appeals to), such as Stan Lee.

There are also deleted sketches, video blogs, a studio tour given by the show’s co-creator Seth Green, and a gag reel.

If you’re not a fan of the series, this DVD set probably won’t change your mind, despite showcasing some of the best work the show has seen so far. If you’re a casual fan, you may find reason to enjoy the show even more.

And if you’re already a “Robot Chicken” fan? This set may be a no-brainer. Packed with features and the kind of humor you know and love, it’s hard to go wrong with this DVD.

In TV/Movies
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Review – Mega Man 9

October 14, 2008 — Leave a comment

Originally published in The Daily Toreador.

These days, the trend of creating a new game in a beloved video game franchise typically dictates that you have to make the experience as modern as possible.

This could include bringing a game from 2D into 3D, adding complicated stories, and making the graphics as flashy as possible. In some cases, this has worked extremely well, such as with the “Mario” and “Zelda” franchises. With others, the results have been less than pretty, like the 3D iterations of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series.

But it’s practically unheard of for a game developer to decide to not move forward, but rather, backward.

This is exactly what Capcom has done with their beloved “Mega Man” franchise.

Over the years, the Blue Bomber has landed on just about every platform under the sun, doing everything from fighting computer viruses to playing soccer. But the “main” series, the games numbered 1-8, were mostly found on the old Nintendo Entertainment System in the 80s and early 90s, and made brief appearances on the Super Nintendo and Sony PlayStation.

Rather than build on the slick, shiny 2D style of the PlayStation’s “Mega Man 8” and try to “reinvent” the series for the newer consoles, Capcom instead decided to make Mega Man 9 a downloadable game for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

The catch? It’s entirely 8-bit.

The game looks exactly like the old Nintendo games of yore, and the player is capable of doing much more than he was in Mega Man 2. You can run, you can jump, and you can shoot. And that’s pretty much it. Even the ability to charge your weapon – something of a staple of the series for a long time now – has been removed. Mega Man is back to his true roots.

The graphics are pixilated, the sound is a lot of “beeps” and “boops”, the story is cheesy and almost non-existent, and there are deliberate graphical glitches and frame rate slowdown.

And the result is awesome.

The game is an amazing throwback to the days when gaming was just starting to take off. And as was typical of many games back then, the game doesn’t keep you coming back because it’s lengthy – indeed, it can be completed several times in one day. Rather, the game keeps you coming back because you’re simply unable to master it.

The game is hard. To some – especially those who started gaming more recently – the difficulty level may seem impossible and unforgiving. Jumps over gaps and spikes (which mean instant death) demand extreme precision. Boss battles require pattern memorization. Oh, and there are no save points in levels. You usually get only three tries to complete a stage, and then you’re back to square one.

So while the casual gamer may want to stay away for fear of throwing their console in a frustrated rage, there’s a lot for the more “classic” gamer – and definitely fans of the old “Mega Man” games – to enjoy here.

On top of simply being an extremely nostalgic trip, there a ton of challenges built in to the game to really test your skill and give you bragging rights. But completing the game alone should make you feel like you have a badge of gaming honor.

Being a downloadable title, the game is also quite affordable at just $10 for whichever respective console you buy it for.

This isn’t the only classic Capcom franchise getting the nostalgia treatment, as they’ve also recently revisited “1942” with a downloadable sequel, and “Bionic Commando” with a downloadable remake. Hopefully this will start a trend of great, new games in the vein of their old styles. It would be nice to see classic takes on games such as “Sonic” or “Castlevania”.

If you don’t like old school games or aren’t a fan of maddeningly tough game play, then you might want to stay away. However, if you’re a fan of the classics or are just up for a challenge, you should definitely do yourself a favor and give Mega Man 9 a try.

In Gaming
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