Lego Star Wars

I decided to do Lego Star Wars today because I think that the whole Lego video game series is way too underrated. I haven't played any of the newer games, but as far as Lego Star Wars goes, they're awesome. Full of explosions and lego carnage, Lego Star Wars adds in a nice bit of humor in their cutscenes (Proof you don't need good voice acting for games). There's just something satisfying playing as Chewbacca and ripping peoples arms out of their sockets (sounds gruesome, but trust me, it's awesomely entertaining).

After you beat each level in story mode, you unlock Free Play which lets you play the level as any character that you have unlocked. There's also areas in each level that are only available to certain characters (storm troopers, ewoks, etc). They do a good job at hiding things in each level and giving you a lot of things to unlock which gives great replay value. You can even play with a friend and beat the crap out of them, you know, if you're into that sort of thing.

Don't let the Lego name scare you away from this title. Go get it now, I'm sure it's fairly cheap by now.

Portal

Where do I begin a review of Portal, I mean what can I say about Portal that hasn't already been said? It's such a unique game. I'm trying to dig through all of my Portal files in my brain looking for something I didn't like about it and nothing is surfacing. One of the main complaints I've seen with Portal is that it's too short. I don't really care about the length of this game. I think it was long enough and if it was any longer it would become tedious and not be nearly as amazing as it is now. I guess the only bad thing about it might be that it's just too good. It set the bar for it's sequel so high that it would be crazy to think that the second game could live up to those standards (btw, it did), but surely a third game couldn't be just as good. I can't imagine that ever happening, which means that there will probably be a terrible Portal game (that's a shame).

Sunset Riders

While most people in the Midwest would be outside enjoying the recent snowfall, I like to take this time to do something a little more sensible...review a game! I wanted to review a NES game today, but since my NES is acting up I guess I'll review one of my favorite arcade games.

Sunset Riders is a shoot'em up game that takes you back to Wild West to take down some tough outlaws. The game has a pretty simple concept, shoot your enemies and avoid getting hit. There's not much of a story, but each level is unique and each boss fight is different and challenging. There are four playable characters, 2 with pistols and 2 with shotguns and with the arcade version, you can have up to 4 people playing it. The SNES version (the one I currently own. There's also a Sega Genesis version that I have not played) only allows 2 people to play at a time. The graphics and sounds make this game timeless. The game also features voice acting for the bosses and although they don't say much, some of there quotes are classics (You in heap big trouble!).

Definitely a Gamgasm and Must Buy.

Cool Boarders 3

In honor of the first snow fall of the year (ugh) I decided to do a review of Cool Boarders 3. This game was released 14 years ago in 1998 and is still the best snowboarding game I've played (I really don't get the lack of snowboarding games). You get to choose between Downhill, Border X, Slalom,

Dishonored

Where to start with today's review. Let's see...I guess I could start with my thoughts of Dishonored before playing it. I had very high expectations for this game mainly because it's a Bethesda game (well I guess Arkane Studios game). I knew there was no way they could top Skyrim, but I still expected a great game. I'm not certain Dishonored lived up to my expectations, but then again they were very high. Not many games could've met those standards. So I wasn't blown away, but this was still a solid game all the way around.

Crash Team Racing

Crash Team Racing felt awfully familiar for some reason. Now why was that...oh right, because I already played Mario Kart. Yep, for me this was just Mario Kart with Crash Bandicoot characters. I know I've had a conversation about this before where I said it was a rip off and someone else thought that it was completely different. Here's some reasons I was given on why it's different (and I admit they are all valid differences).

Legend of Legaia

If you've read any of my other reviews, then you know that I am by no means a writer. And like many of us non-writers I find it very difficult to start writing. Often when I feel stuck, I turn to my good friend Borgman.

Me: "How do I start a LoL review?"
Borgman: "With a woot woot this game is great?"

So taking that advice here's my review of Legend of Legaia...

Death Rally

Death Rally is an old Apogee game run on MS-DOS. It's now considered Abondonware which means it's free to download! (Hooray!) There's 2 modes to this game, with weapons or without weapons. With weapons is much more entertaining than without weapons (because everyone likes to blow up things). You start off at the bottom of a ranking board with an old beat up (almost VW Beetle-like) car with horrible steering and speed. You earn money by collecting it during the race and for placing high. Bonus money can be earned by taking out all of your opponents or accepting a mission to pick up drugs or take out a certain person. You can then use this money to repair your car, make upgrades, or buy a newer, faster car. You can also equip stuff from the black market like rocket fuel or spikes.

The game does get pretty repetitive after awhile which takes some of the fun out. However, certain tracks are used only for faster cars which leaves a little bit to be experienced towards the end. The game really should allow you to continue to race after you climb to the #1 spot and beat the final opponent (very disappointed in that).

All in all I give this an Ok. Cool and Buy Now (It's free!)

Duck Hunt

This review is dedicated to the game that got me into computer programming, Duck Hunt. This game has it all, simple, but effective graphics, awesome music, a gun to shoot with, and your very own hunting dog. There's something about older games with simple graphics that you could create yourself. I also think the fact that I recreated it in high school using Visual Basic brings it that much higher on my list. So when I think of this game, I get that sense of accomplishment which might not be fair to the other games, but who cares. They should just grow up. The only thing that could've made this game better would be if they had put in easter eggs (I've always wanted to shoot the dog. Does that make me a bad person?).

Obviously a Gamegasm and for those who don't have it or haven't played it (not that I know of anyone who hasn't played this game) Buy Now.

Wizard of Wor

Wizard of Wor is easily my favorite Atari 2600 game. It's actually one of my top 10 favorite games of all time. It's a relatively simple concept where you are put in a puzzle and have to find your way around shooting monsters. And like most old school games, that relatively simple concept is actually quite hard. The music really sets the eerie mood which probably is why I love this game so much. The game is one or two player which makes adds the fun of dominating someone else. Would've been better if they added an online mode. (Oh...wait...the Internet wasn't really around at this time...hmm...maybe a newer version could be made? I really hope so.)

Wizard of Wor gets a Gamegasm and a Buy Now. Definitely pick this up if you can find a copy.

Lords of the Realm 2

Lords of the Realm 2 is a medieval strategy game published by Sierra and developed by Impressions Games where you have to carefully balance your gold, food supplies, armies, and weapons. The goal of the game is to vanquish all of the other players by building up armies and invading their castles. The reason why I like this game so much is because it's a little bit different than other RTS games.

The economy side works like this, each territory has a set number of fields that can be used to either grow wheat or raise cattle. Cattle are prone to disease while wheat can only be harvested once a year. Your population will grow as long as you have the food to sustain them and their happiness isn't too low. If it is they will emigrate to another county. You also have the option to tax your people. A low tax will raise happiness but not produce a lot of gold for weapons, supplies, army wages, etc. A high tax will make your people hate you and call you bad names and hurt your feelings (jk), but they will hate you.

Gangster Town

So probably the most popular game that uses a light gun is Duck Hunt. Great game, but this post is about a very underrated and unknown Sega Master System game called Gangster Town. It's a side scrolling shooter where you take out gangsters in a variety of different settings. You can take a walk down on the docks or go and relax at a club all while taking down gangsters. You can also get bonus points by exterminating the rodent problem in the bar. This game adds a level of difficulty that Duck Hunt doesn't have, the gangsters shoot back at you. This means you better be on your game or it's game over. I think any game that uses the light gun is already pretty sweet, but this game is truly amazing.

The only negatives of the game that I can think of is it's lack of difficulty. I was dominating it after only about 3 or 4 plays. The bosses are also pretty easy as you can just unload as fast as you can on the boss ignoring all the other shooters.

I give this a Ok. Cool. and Buy Now.

Quest for Glory 1

My next game comes from the geniuses from Sierra On-Line. It's a typing adventure game (like Zork) but also has a GUI so the player see what's happening. Quest for Glory 1 : So You Want to be a Hero lets you play as a hero looking to solve multiple quests including ridding the land of Spielburg from the evil witch Baba Yaga or defeating the brigands that plague the land. You get puzzle points for doing certain things and solving each quest. For those of you who aren't aware of the sheer awesomeness of the old Sierra On-Line games, here's a taste of what you can do.

Super Mario Bros.

There's really no competition for what should be my first game to review. It's my all-time favorite and I hope you don't pass me off as just another blogger who goes with the rest of the masses. It's one of the most iconic games of all-time, the Michael Jordan of games (ok so it actually came before MJ so maybe I should call it the Wilt Chamberlain of games. You probably don't even know who he is...and we are getting too far into sports), and may have single handedly saved the gaming industry after Atari, Inc.'s massive dump that was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (review to come later). It is of course, Super Mario Bros.