Gamecube - Legend of Zelda Wind Waker review

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Nintendo
A.) High Resolution young Link, what more can you ask for.	Publisher : EAD (Nintendo 1st Party House)
B.) Game play built around the Orcania of Time engine. don't know all the ways it improved, but the "Z targeting battle system" is back!	Released on March 24, 2003
C.) New technolegies never seen in Orcadia of Time on N64 or Gamecube.	Type : Role Playing Game

It's suppose to be Legend of Link, not Legend of Zelda. To set everybody straight, Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros, who directed and helped publish all of the game you see. From Gamecube's best looking games to real time game machanics, we was in charge. Except he is one of the most respected videogame designers in the industry. He had competition from Squaresoft, who also put a burden on him to make the best game possible. The Wind Waker had about 150 Japanese on staff putting everything together. Other games he was lead designer for were Super Mario Sunshine, Metriod Prime, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmon and Super Smash Bros. I own 4 of the 5 listed. He believed that most of his work is teaching developers how he wants in his games. When Orcania of Time came out for the N64, it was undeniably Shigeru Miyamoto's biggest achievement (Game Informer Magazine). Legend of Zelda became one of those RPGs with very high statist such as Final Fantasy. Now the entertainment industry is seeing "The Wind Waker" reach the same success as Orcania of Time did 5 years ago. When you turn on your Gamecube system and play this game, what your seeing is the most detailed role playing game ever on a videogame system.

This game is cell shaded like Rayman 3, another platform game for Gamecube. Some people liked Rayman because it is a cross between Super Mario 64 and Spyro the Dragon. In my opinion I liked Rayman 2, but ever finished it. Rayman got to frustrating to finish. Super Mario Sunshine was a good example on how development delays get games in trouble. Apparently Nintendo gave Miyamoto enough time to finish The Wind Waker and he made the control really tight, which is a good thing. I was a bit worried that the transformation of The Wind Waker wouldn't have the same 'tight' control as the N64 versions had. Nintendo fixed the camera. There are so many platform games that the camera is a problem, not true in this game!

I am a moderate RPG fan, meaning I'm not a diehard fan, but rather collect games because I know they are good. I beat'n Orcania of Time for my N64 twice. I feel like a couch potato telling you that! I never play RPGs twice. It was a well organize RPG. It also was very long. So on the third time I quit. Link was well equipped with bows and swords to battle the final boss. It took me a while to defeat the final boss (after I found Zelda in the final moments of the game.) I barely remember the ending when Link and Zelda kiss. It makes you wonder what this game would be like of Nintendo switched over to a opinial disc platform rather then cartridge format. The graphics look better. Yet Zelda fans still do, on the Gamecube ever since the bonus disc was released a month ago. Nintendo actually was going to release Orcadia of Time as a separate release, but they included it. So we still get to see the game in high resolution.

Ok, when you first play this game, you are actually playing Orcania of Time 100 years after Link of the past defeated Galden the Great. But the evil has returned as the World is enhibitated by mutant hogs who we also saw after the magical woods. As the gamer pictures Hyrule Plains again in The Wind Waker, remodeled in high resolution, he must get very excited. If that is not the most exciting aspect of the game, it is certainly one of the exciting. Mean while you get to use stealth tatics that were in Orcadia of Time, that maze in the woods near the beginning is a good example. In the beginning when your on the island, you find that the village folk don't have time for you! And that means that your adventure is set for Link and no one will interfere with his journey to save his sister. Another tweak, Miyamoto achieved was that the music is that of earlier games like orginal Legend of Zelda theme remix from the NES and the Neverending Woods theme from Orcania of Time. I guess I don't know, your not listening to midi form music from the pass, but CD quality audio! The new songs also enhanced by Gamecube's Dolby Digital Pro Logic II.

Summing up The Wind Waker
Graphics	10.0	Layout is very good. A lot of detail. Very good framerate. Lot's of magic effects. More magic seen in previous installments. All cell-shaded game through and through.
Control	10.0	If you can tell the difference between this game and Orcadia of Time, email me. It's that good.
Orginalism	10.0	How did Nintendo stumble onto this fairy tale business? It was a very good idea. I hear that cell shading characters are the edge in Japan. I am still making up my mind if I like it or not.
Story	9.0	Nintendo's version of Lord of the Rings.
Replayibly	7.0	I'll get through it once and then find something new.

If you ever look at The Wind Waker, or will buy this game on release, you'll find that this game is very complete with the orginal world of Orcania of Time and then some more. You hear that Legend of Zelda has so much in common with the Nintendo 64 game on the Internet. Remember, while most of these Internet / Nintendo junkies don't have much of a life, I do. I say that it has good control simplually because Nintendo made it good. Why am I the only guy who doesn't copy The Wind Waker from other websites. What I do know is Wind Waker is even larger then Orcania of Time. It's ovbious. N64 games had a repetation of not being very long. Legend of Zelda is separate from most RPGS because your weapon is the weapon that you'll use well into the game. It's not like Neverwinter NIghts were you find newer weapons and they do the extra edge you want to kill off all your enemies. Not true in The Wind Waker. You first have a short sword and a shield. Link is a Halfing, not a Half-Orc Barbarian. He shows he's not that barbaric, yet he gets away with a lot of one on one fighting. It's a funny concept that we see in Legend of Zelda, this boy they call Link has 3 times as much life of his components do. But lets not forget, Legend of Zelda is suppose to be somewhat of a fairy tale. I'd like to see Link in a breast plate. And he gets enough protection without a breast plate, which is weird. I hope Nintendo is making another Legend of Zelda before Gamecube dies. It'll be another cell-shaded masterpiece! (article posted March 24, 2003 4:30PM

Gamecube - Ikaruga review

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Treasure
A.) Professional quality in over-head shooter genre which hasn't been seen since Radient Sivergun. (That's 4 years ago) High Resolution explosions to add to the adventure.	Publisher : Atari
B.) Good sound track.	Released on April 10, 2003
C.) A practice area where someone can increase their skills at coverting to white shielding or black shielding in the game. A lot of practice will be needed for an average gamer to get past the C grade level at the end of the practice run.
D.) A co-op option letting a friend battle evil with you.	Type : Action Shooter

I bought this title thinking that I could play hours of mind boggling action. In fact for the first 2 days I was afraid to play it because I read that Ikaruga had a difficult learning curve. That almost made me bring it back to the videogame trader. I bought it because the graphics looked great.

In the game you have a ship called the Ikaruga that has black and white bullets shooting at you. Black shielding absorbs black bullets . But black sheilding will instantly be destoried with one or 2 hits of white bullets. You have about 5 retries and 14 levels to beat. In the game you have 3 difficulties to play around with : Easy, Normal, Hard.

The soundtrack in this game sounds like it came straight out of Soul Caliber. The level 1 track in Ikaruga is the exact same track in one of the fighting levels. There is no guitar playing in this game.

I've recently got up to level 3 on Easy mode. The game has 5 chapters. Ever feel like the game is preventing you to getting very far. Beginning with the 3rd level you have black and white bullets being shot at you at the same time. So your first thought would be to try to get up on the screen to avoid them. Problem is you have walls in this game. Passageways that you must go through. Go in crossfire is your second thought. That part is easy part to figure out. The tough part to figure out is how to always be in right kind of crossfire when it happens to avoid the opposing color as much as possible. If you got that part down. Then congraduations, you are there for master gameplayer. When I began playing this game I thought that level 1 on easy was a bit hard. Little did I know. In some places there are swarms of enemies that go diangle and have a stream of firepower. Death is the only way it seems. I have little natural talent in these kind shooters, but I play it for fun, and that is the only thing that matters right now. (Article posted on May 13, 2003 | revised 1 time on May 18, 2003)

Summing up Ikaruga
Graphics	7.0	Has scrolling background, looks like flash on the Internet. Everthing is sequenced to happen the same way at the same time in every game. But Treasure has some nice 2D artwork. I admit that the bosses are cool looking in 2D shooter 3D form.
Control	8.5	If In the box Sun Tzu says "Amid the turmoil and humult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all." On the controller you use the joystick the A and B button. But the disorder is how you obsorb the energy. So the quicker you can change your shielding, the longer you'll stay alive. No average gamer can beat the first level without dieing once!
Orginalism	5.0	The same exact thing has been done for years. Ikaruga is continuing to keep this once shriving genre alive.
Story	1.0	No story at all.
Replayibly	8.5	Beautiful to look at, hard to beat. In my opinion the patterns of enemies that you fight against adds to the experience.If you download many action 2D shooters like DeathStar off the Internet, I advise looking at Irkaruga. There are better Gamecube games out there like Metroid Prime that will satisfy your adrenaline for a good action game, but this game shouldn't be underestimated. Personally, I'm okay with it.

DC - Rayman 2 - The Great Escape review

Rayman 2 : The Great Escape

top

| GAME FEATURES |	Developer : Ubi Soft
A.)Rayman's first 3D adventure for the Dreamcast	Publisher : Ubi Soft
B.) Save creatures in the world and since you can't do it by yourself, you gain trust of this voodoo guy who also tries eats Rayman, but he helps Rayman save the world. Strange eh?	Released on March 21, 2000
C.) 15 hours of gameplay in this game.
	Type :Platform

This was Dreamcast's only platform game. Uri Soft made Rayman before, but he's different now. Uri Soft successfully put him into a 3D platform game like what Nintendo did to Mario. The little guy doesn't have legs or arms, just a hand and feet. But he comes equipped with magic which he uses to defeat enemies. It was a solid game, but I fell out of interest with Rayman. But he was funny at times. The game is huge. It must have been really high profile game @ Uri Soft because they've put this game on PlayStation, N64, Dreamcast, and PS2. So it was stunning for all consoles. IGN.com said that the Dreamcast version was absolutely gourgous. The game is already 3 years old, and I thought Dreamcast was going to last until 2004. You do a lot of skills. The game has many ingame cut sceens. And the music is very platformish. When first looking at it, you'll think it's only a kids game. Well sometimes kids games can be great games too. I haven't heard about Rayman 2 much, but this game is also out for Playstation 2. With the exception of Super Mario Sunshine, PS2 has all the great platform games avalible. Publishers put about 90% of platfrom on the PS2. It's good that Dreamcast got one of the top 5 platformers to own for PS2.

In the game you save your homeland. The AI in this game is above average. The Rayman 3 AI is suppose to be improved dramatically over Rayman 2. Though in Rayman 2 the game gets plenty difficult in the middle of it. Most of the game is hanging from vine to vine. I like the colors in the game. The lava level was both long and inventive. It added character to this game. The rest of the artwork is really good. Not half of any developers in the Industry can do as well as Uri Soft did with Rayman 2. Three years after Dreamcast stopped production, it's an antique now.

Summing up Rayman 2 The Great Escape
Graphics	10.0	It's looks really good. A lot like the PS2 version of the game. The dreamcast version of Rayman 2 stands out more because the game looks brighter shades of Rayman and some backgrounds. The water effects are good. The sky moves.
Control	9.0	Take Rayman through an adventure with precise controls. I've beat the game. It's not too hard to beat. While I think they've stold something from Legend of Zelda with the "Z targeting" effect. The game locks on a enemy and automatically destory it. However the camera in the game is good. However, once you make a big mistake, you start the whole level over.
Original	10.0	In some ways I think this game is as inventive as Mario. Only Rachet and Crank, Spyro the Dragon or Crash came this close. Why? Rayman is simple, kids love him in France (he owns his own show) So Rayman is cool in France and North America? Hmmm, although I lost interest in platform games, I respect Uri Soft for making this game. It's fun in it's own way.
Sound	8.0	The soundtracks are appropriate for a platform game.
Replayibly	7.5	I'm not into Dreamcast platform games anymore. I might pick up Rayman 3 for Gamecube though. Just more Rayman, he's gain a reputation for being a good platform game.

DC - Soul Calibur review

Soul Caliber top | GAME FEATURES | Developer : Namco A.) 25 levels 30 characters, best fighting game for any console and it shows Publisher : Namco B.) Epic Music I haven't heard since I don't know Released on Sept. 11, 1999 C.) First anime game I got into. Type :Fighting Soul Caliber was the first game that featured anime that I got into. The women in the game were full of expression. I meant they looked sexy. Anyway I liked this game better then Dead or Alive 2 because the characters could shield themselves easier. The game had tons of moves. I remember looking on the web for best tactices to use in the game. Which moves were the most effective so I won't have to figure it out myself. When I played it I ruled in the arcade mode. Simple tricks could help you get away with the first 5 opponants. But it was didn't take me long to finish. Were the opponents too dumb to do special attacks. I don't know? The key was keeping far away from them until they made a attack and close in and do attack until you KO! them. It worked so well that I beat my own score many times. Maybe 50. I never got into any other fighter. I've tried 2D fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom and Street Fighter Alpha 3. But this game had something that those didn't. Pure 3D action! I'm sure that people will remember this game for years to come. Summing up Soul Caliber Graphics 9.5 How should I say extremely good. While Sega Rally 2 was the best looking racer for Dreamcast. Soul Caliber was the best looking game in the whole year 1999. And for good reason. It was an direct port of the arcade game. The game even was enhanced over the arcade version. Control 9.5 Perhaps the best control put into dreamcast. The balance between dodging, shielding and fighting were up there in the all time. I seen this game in cupple "Best Games of all time" polls and Editor's Choice Polls. The Soul Caliber who changes his appearance in the end of the arcade is twice as hard as any opponents you play in arcade. In survival, you compete all fighters and then it cycles over again. You can't ever beat survival. You will die. It's just a matter of when you will die. The longer you hold out the more unlocked items whether it be characters or gallery pics in the game. You might be able to defeat all characters one time through by button mashing, but the second time it's up to your knowledge of luring in your opponent, waiting for him/her to make a mistake and going all out on them with special attacks before they can recover and fight back. Original 7.0 Tons of orginalness. The sounds are really good. I can tell that his game has aspects of Tekken. But for a new franchise this game is really good. Sound 8.0 The soundtracks are really good. They have up beat tracks that have really good scores. Replayibly 9.5 I love this fighter. But I love Racing more. But besides Super Smash Bros Melee. Soul Caliber is my second favorite figher of all time. And I don't really play videogames that much anymore. It's hard to say. I'm mostly a spectator now a days.

DC - Sega Rally 2 review

Sega Rally 2 top | GAME FEATURES | Developer : Sega A.) 4 playable tracks all of them around the world with 4 soundtracks. Publisher : A2 B.) The best looking racer of 1998 and 1999 Released on September 11, 1999 C.) AI is strong. You must pass all cars in front. Big gaps between you and other competitors, means you must make few errors to get in front. Type : Rally Racing Sega Rally 2 for the Sega Dreamcast was my most favorite game by the end of 1999. Dreamcast had the first console racer to feature high resolution graphics, it was awarded many noninees for good looking racer by PCWorld, Gamespot, IGN.com and Videogames.com. If you ever seen a actual rally race on television, you see that the cars must have decent conditions or the car will not steer ride. Some cars have 2 and 4 wheel drive. The difference between the two is with 2 wheel drive the driver can slide easier. This doesn't work in wet pavement. So the car you choose is the car you must drive in all conditions. You can change the car specs to match better turning. If you have a narrower track, the bearings should be looser. that way you maximize speed while turning a little at a time. The co-driver tells you what kind of curve your going to do. This part gets some getting use too. You must have total control when coming to this title. But it's a lot of fun when you do know the steering patterns. Manuel shift is the best because you can downshift and save seconds. I use to use the time attack option and play against my ghost. That was cool because the ghost went exactly where I went on my best lap. Sometimes I beat the ghost it sometimes I didn't. In my opinion the Time Attack is the most rewarding aspect of Sega Rally 2. Summing up Sega Rally 2 Graphics 9.0 Graphics are solid. Today's games have high resolution everywhere graphics that are independent from the rest of the game. True to life 3D images. This game was the first to have these. This game also started all the high resolution work and set an example of what the next generation rally racer should look like. The game has decent replays and the car models are extra detailed (dreamcast standards we're talking about). The backgrounds are somewhat a blur. But this game is 4 years old and deserves respect for what it was. Not that it's been dominated. Sega put a lot of work in this game from what I can see. Control 10.0 Perhaps the best control I've seen in a Rally racer. I also loved Test Drive V Rally. But this game was better in controlling the vehicle. For what ever reason I liked that game better. Original 9.0 Tons of orginalness. The tracks were well designed. And it had twice as many tracks as the Saturn prequel (I own the prequel too) And Twice as many cars. But the quality of the tracks were about the same. Sound 8.0 The soundtracks were ok. And the engine sounds took advantage of the Dreamcast sound chip. The Dreamcast had the loudness chip I ever heard on the console. Even compared to the XBOX. They both sound the same. Replayibly 9.0 The game was so realistic back then. And the gameplay wasn't bad to begin with. Sometimes I had bad wipeouts because I overturned in a tight corner, which I didn't like at all. But I liked this game From Sept 99 to March 2000 because no other racers were out for Dreamcast and no games had better graphics until Test Drive Le Mans or Test Drive V Rally or F355 Challange or Vanishing Point came out for Dreamcast.