SimCity 2000 – 1993

Cities: Skylines – March 10, 2015

For those of you unfamiliar with these franchises, these fall under the genre of city builder simulation. Both of these games aim to create a representation of a god-like perspective of being a mayor, if that mayor suddenly ran out of magic power to instantly erect hospitals and eliminate plague every time there was not one thousand dollars sitting around.

In generality, these games premise is extremely similar even though there are 22 years, different platforms, and a complete change in gaming scene separating them. Simcity 2000 was released in 1993 for the Playstation 1. It received a place in gaming hearts as well as what can be considered the test of time in old gaming recognition by being made available on gog.com (good old games). Cities: Skylines released March, 2015 on steam for PC, currently has a 93% approval rating on steam, an 85 Metascore on Metacritic, and prior to its release was rumored to have the possibility of being the “spiritual successor” to SimCity 4, the sequel to SimCity 2000. [Read more…]

Mischief Makers

Time spent playing: 4:41:56

Campaign Completed: Yes

All Gold Gems: No

All S rank: No

Platforms: N64

Released in: 1997

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition

Time spent playing: 3:54:42

Campaign Completed: No

Completion Status: 33%

Difficulty: Normal

Platforms: Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox360 (playtest completed using PC version with Xbox360 controller)

Released in: 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mechanics and Gameplay

 

Mischief Makers

Mischief Makers is a side-scrolling platformer whose core gameplay mechanics are centered around four main abilities. The first is the ability to grab objects. The player can walk up to most objects in the game, be it statues, floating balls (known as clanballs), NPCs, bombs, flowers, and weapons.

Once the player grabs an object, they have the choice to either shake the object or throw it. Shaking different objects can reap different outcomes. The object can drop gems used to restore health, pay for hints, or pay for continues. It can also drop items like weapons, or unlock hidden clanballs or warp gates which take the player to new areas. Alternatively, the player can choose to throw the object. Just like with shaking, throwing different objects reaps different outcomes. Clanbombs can be thrown into glowing red block walls to destroy them. Grabbing and throwing NPCs will kill the NPC. Grabbing onto a clanball and using the throw command while pressing directional buttons will make the player jump from that clanball in the desired direction. This is used in many of the game’s zones where the player will need to chain jump from clanball to clanball in order to climb upwards on the map. [Read more…]

Red Faction

Red Faction is a first person shooter released in 2001 for PC and Playstation 2. The player controls a character named Parker, who is a prominent member of a rebellion occurring on the planet Mars in the year 2075. The tyrannical Ultor Corporation rules the mines on Mars with an iron fist; workers are lured in by false promises, only to find deplorable living conditions including beatings, malnourishment, and disease. A group called the Red Faction rises up to attempt to free themselves from Ultor’s rule; the player in control of Parker has many weapons at their disposal, which he uses to fight his way through the Mines of Mars.

Red Faction: Armageddon

Red Faction: Armageddon is the fourth and currently latest installment in the Red Faction series, released in 2011 for PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360. Darius Mason is the main character in this third person shooter, which is also set on Mars but a century after the first game. Several years after an event causes the surface of Mars to become nearly uninhabitable again due to environmental effects, the instigator of that event tricks Darius into unwittingly uncovering a cave system containing violent Martian monsters that have laid dormant for years. The creatures promptly make their way to and invade the surface and nearby inhabited caves. Similar to its predecessor, Armageddon allows the player to use various weapons to take on the enemies encountered throughout the game, but the weapons are also intended to be used to interact with the environment.

Because the games have similar titles, one being a combinative title containing the other, the first game will be referred to as Red Faction, and Red Faction: Armageddon will be referred to as simply Armageddon. [Read more…]

For more than two decades, Bethesda has been producing phenomenal role playing games within the constantly evolving Elder Scrolls universe. These action/adventure open world games take place in the high-fantasy world of Nirn that contains themes surrounding medieval rule, Celtic mythology, elves, and wizardry. In addition to this, Elder Scrolls also incorporates obscure elements such as fantasy cultures (eg. Khajiit, a race of tiger-like creatures) and horror themes (eg. vampires and demons).

In the world of Nirn, all of the Elder Scrolls games take place on the continent and empire known as Tamriel. Containing 9 different provinces, within Tamriel exists the provinces of Morrowind (Elder Scrolls 3) and Skyrim (Elder Scrolls 5) where the respective games take place at different points in time. Although these games are built upon the same fantasy world, there several differences that set the games apart aside from graphical differences. Bethesda had made numerous major changes in the 10 years between the initial releases of Morrowind and Skyrim.

[Read more…]

 

 

             VS.

 

 

 

The Game Boy Advance was many kids’ first introduction into video games and as a result some nostalgic reviews may elevate the actual quality of the games. Obviously, processing power of the current generation of computers and smart phones is going to blow the gaming platforms of 2003 out of the water and even more so mobile Game Boy platforms. Graphics is only one of many new features that mobile gaming was able to improve upon and the technology of today is able to greatly influence the design of the game play itself. So the question to explore is how has the years improved the overall quality of essentially the same core game play with two very different game executions.

 

MADDEN 2003

Madden 2003 for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) is based on the sport of NFL football and by 2003, the Madden video game franchise has been around for about 15 years. The popular PlayStation 2 version of Madden 2003 should not be confused with the GBA version which more closely resembles Madden of the late 90s except for the players. The game play itself is as close to a representation to the game of football in a video game style of play. In as simple of an explanation as possible, the player has actions to kick the ball with timing a click creating the difficulty. The player picks the plays and controls the quarterback/ball carrier and tries to find an open receiver to pass to or can try to run around defenders. On defense, the player picks a defensive formation and controls a single player to make a tackle or disrupt a play. Control is certainly lacking in this game as a runner can run forwards, backwards, sideways, or at a 45 degree angle and as a result running is a difficult game play option. Passing is hit or miss and there does seem to be some randomness to a wide open receiver dropping the ball. Interceptions and fumbles are uncommon as there is such little control the player is actually responsible for, but instances do occur at random or maybe game balancing intervals.

So why is the game fun? [Read more…]

Upon entering the world of gaming, you quickly come to realize that there are seemingly as many genres as there are stars in the sky. In typical fashion, a game will come along that defines one of these genre, and Diablo 2 is just one such game.

Released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000, Diablo 2 set the mark for the ARPG, or action role playing game, genre. With revolutionary 8 axis movement, fast paced combat, and multiple difficulty settings to provide an ever increasing difficulty for the players, the bar was set very high.

The Diablo universe is set in an apocalyptic world where Angels and Demons are at war, and the battle ground for that fight is on Earth, the greatest enemy of all being the Lord of Terror, Diablo. As a wandering warrior, you are faced with conquering everything from unspeakable abominations to hordes of the undead in your question to defeat Diablo and capture him inside “The Dark Soulstone.” It is your eventual failure to do so that leads to the story of Diablo 3.

The play style of the Diablo series, at it’s core, has remained mostly untouched. Choose your hero, battle through massive numbers of enemies, collect ever more powerful items to equip your hero with, rinse and repeat. It is in how that goal is accomplished where the differences really shine.

In Diablo 2, players focused on beating each subsequent difficulty to move onto the next harder, which increased the levels of enemies, the experience they grant, and the quality of items that they drop. Once the final difficulty is reached, the only way to progress is by doing “boss runs”, or starting a game, and killing your way to the final boss, and then resetting the game to do it all over again.

[Read more…]

Graphics

FIFA 2000 – Most of the characters look very similar to each other with very minimal facial expressions. Minimal detail when performing certain actions like shooting the ball, passing, or throwing the ball back into bound. Some wear damage can be seen in the pitch and all the fields look exactly the same. Shadows on players are all the same, each player has 4 shadow figures perpendicular to each other

FIFA 2014 – More detailed facial structures of each character is capable of showing recognizable facial expressions. It is easily seen which part of the foot the characters kick the ball by the motion they make or the way their feet bend which is something that was impossible to determine with FIFA 2000. Based on the time of day the player decides to play the match, the different shadows can be seen appearing on the characters and based on the shadows the player can determine where the sun is located.

[Read more…]

When thinking of Nintendo, it is no surprise that the first image that comes to mind is Super Mario. Super Mario was first featured as a character in the 1983 game Mario Bros pictured below:

This might not be the game that first comes to mind when thinking of the original games featuring Super Mario as a character. That is because its sequel Super Mario Bros released in 1985 stole the hearts of many gamers around the globe, making Super Mario the forefront of Nintendo.

For those unfamiliar with the original Super Mario Bros released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it is easy to understand the goal of the game as it is very simple. Mario serves as the protagonist in this 2D side scrolling game as he attempts to save his beloved Princess Peach. Princess Peach was abducted by the antagonist Bowser and can only be saved by defeating Bowser and his minions. Some of the most recognizable minions include:

[Read more…]