Sunday, July 07, 2002

Review of Disney’s Stitch: Experiment 626 for PS2 Publisher: Disney Interactive Developer: High Voltage Software Genre: Action # Of Players: 1 In this prequel to Disney’s latest animated movie, you play as the lovable genetic experiment known as Stitch.  You go around collecting DNA for the evil genius who created you in order to power a transport device so he collect more DNA from far away worlds.  Disney Interactive used to be right up there with Nintendo and Sega in developing quality games, but that was in the 16-bit era.  This being their first game based on an animated feature for one of the current systems was a chance to redeem themselves, but all we get is another licensed piece of crap. Graphics: Even the graphics lack that classic Disney touch. Stitch doesn’t animate very well, the stages are poorly designed and sparsely detailed.  The enemies are pretty limited as well in design and animation.  This could be done on a Playstation, and that’s just sad. Sound: Music is sub-par, again lacking that usual Disney touch that even mediocre titles had previously. Stitch only says weird indistinguishable things at inappropriate times.  Other voices are actually done fairly well, however, and the sound effects are nice and cartoony in nature.     Gameplay: The camera is just pathetic, as it constantly swings in front of you so it’s hard to see enemies.  Your only weapon is your blaster, but you can’t aim it, it has a very badly done auto-aiming system that only works half the time, and the fact that everything you shoot can blow up and hurt you is just ridiculous.  And the gameplay has no real variety, as every stage is roughly the same no matter how it looks. Features: You can unlock footage like a trailer of the movie, but there’s not really much else. Funfactor: On every level this game is a failure.  Poor graphics, bad camera, bad animation poorly done auto-aiming system, bad music.  There have been a lot of merely mediocre Disney games over the past few years, but this is the first one that I would just truly call bad. --Final Scores— Graphics: 5.0-Lacking the high quality of most Disney games based on their animated features. Sound: 6.0-Voices except for Stitch’s are well done, sound effects are appropriate, but the music just sucks. Gameplay: 3.0-Horrible camera, bad auto-aiming, boring repetitive levels. Features: 6.0-Cool footage to unlock, but nothing else. Funfactor: 4.0-Another disappointing Disney game (boy I can’t wait till Kingdom Hearts). 8:17:41 PM    comment []

Review of Wipeout Fusion for PS2     Publisher: Bam! Entertainment     Developer: Studio Liverpool     Genre: Racing     # Of Players: 1-2 Wow, Wipeout!  That name brings back some fine memories of intense races down tracks of psychedelic colors.  A lot of games have claimed to be classics, but the original Wipeout is one of the few that truly deserve it.  I haven’t even played a Wipeout since the original, so I had some high hopes for this one.  And while it doesn’t bring anything truly revolutionary to the genre, Wipeout Fusion succeeds in simply bringing together some of the best elements in all good racing games to be one of the better ones on PS2 this year. Graphics: While not a real change from the tried and true formula of psychedelic-looking tracks that seem suspended in midair, it’s something that really works for this series.  The graphics aren’t really a huge upgrade, but everything is just smoother and there is more of it, and it handles beautifully to be a truly engrossing experience (in fact, you might get so distracted by all the colors that you’ll crash).  And I just really like the cool design of the cars, they all just look awesome. Sound: The music fits the style and attitude of the game, but it’s just not really all that great, so I just turned it down and listened to some cds while I was playing.  The effects pretty standard, they get the job done, but no nifty extras like an announcer, or racer voices. Gameplay: Classic wipeout style controls, but where is the sharp turn button?  I like that it is like a real race with you racing 15 others (I’m so sick of games where you are only racing 3 to 5 others, it’s just lame), it keeps the race intense.  There aren’t any real cool new weapons however; as I could swear it’s the same weapons from the first one (and the gravity weapon is just cheap as it usually screws me over when I’m just about to win).  But hey, if it works just as well as the first one (and it does), why fix it. Features: The usual stuff.  Arcade, career, and the usual unlockable tracks and racers.  My only complaint is that in career you can only use your money to customize your racer after you’ve won a league.  If it were realistic, you’d use the money you gained so you could have a better racer and be more likely to beat the league in the first place.  Also, there is no track editor (I really think that should be standard in racing games by now). Funfactor: Seeing as the only decent racer so far this year on the PS2 has been Star Wars Racer Revenge, the PS2 has been sorely lacking in this genre, and Wipeout Fusion more than fits the bill, with great tracks, intense races, and just lots of fun.  But more of an upgrade than a true sequel unfortunately. --Final Scores— Graphics: 8.0-Not a huge improvement, but why change what works?  Simply made much smoother and put a lot more action on the screen. Sound: 7.0-Sound effects are decent, but no voice, and music fits, but could be better. Gameplay: 8.5-No sharp turn button, and one weapon is really cheap, but otherwise it’s a successful use of the classic wipeout engine. Features: 8.0-Plenty of extras but you really should be able to upgrade your racer more often, and no track editor. Funfactor: 8.5-Head of the pack this year in racers for PS2 (although granted it’s got pretty pathetic competition). 5:41:05 PM    comment []

Review of Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon for Xbox Publisher: Universal Interactive Developer: Ronin Entertainment Genre: Fighting # Of Players: 1 Hey, it’s a Bruce Lee game!  There hasn’t been one featuring the greatest martial artist ever since way back in the days of Super Nes.  You play the role of the master of all things kung fu, whose monastery has been attacked by evil ninjas.  Worse yet, your mystical golden relic that keeps all the secrets of your monastery has been stolen.  Does it get any cheesier?  Well, it’s more than fitting, since all of Lee’s movies had cheesy plots anyways.  The real crime here is the game itself, which is easily one of the worst side scrolling fighters I have ever played. Graphics: While Lee looks nice and smooth, the enemies are all color swapped and badly animated.  Lee (and his enemies as well) seems to float randomly across the stage.  The stages are low detailed and pixilated, and yet the game still hiccups.  And I know Bruce Lee is really fast, but apparently he is so fast that he is skipping a lot of frames of animation.        Sound: Well, you get to his trademark screams, but it gets annoying when he does it for every single move.  The music is average, the sound effects are pathetically lacking, and the voice acting is pretty bad as well (although that’s actually fitting since that’s just like his movies). Gameplay: Aside from the unresponsive controls (I had to press the punch/kick button several times before it actually worked on numerous occasions, and executing a jumping attack is nearly impossible) anyone else and completely idiotic and cheap A.I., the system is put together very poorly.  I can’t choose which guy to focus on, but they will just be real cheap by knocking me into each other so I never have a chance.  It seems the only way to activate dragon power is right when you die and continue.  I like that you can earn things like moves, health and power, but when it plays this bad, so what? Features: There is a training mode, but it’s really basic.  How about being able to unlock some footage or a multi-player mode? Funfactor: This is once again, one of the worst side-scroller fighting games I’ve ever played, plain and simple (yeah there hasn’t been a good one since the 16-bit days, but this is one of the worst offenders).  This is simply an affront to gaming in general.  This was obviously made to simply make a few bucks and no real effort was put into it.  This is an affront to games in general and especially the greatest martial artist that ever lived. --Final Scores— Graphics: 3.0-Choppy animation, poor enemy design, lots of frame skippage. Sound: 4.0-Music is decent, but voice is bad and effects are downright awful. Gameplay: 2.0-I like that you can buy moves and strength and health increases, but one good idea is ruined by poor execution with bad controls and cheap A.I. Features: 5.5-Oh joy a training mode, how about some stuff related to Bruce Lee or a multi-player mode? Funfactor: 3.5-Only fun you’ll get out of this game is when you dropkick it out the window. 4:22:18 PM    comment []