New Completion - ActRaiser (Super Nintendo)

What do you get when you combine Final Fantasy, SimCity, and a clunky platformer?

ActRaiser is one of those games that I hear about every now and then when people talk about Enix (now SquareEnix) and old Final Fantasy games on the Super Nintendo. Usually it goes, "Man! Final Fantasy games were so much better before Enix merged with Square! And remember ActRaiser? It was so innovative!"

Often times when people call an obscure game 'innovative' it's usually a back-handed complement, short for "Not great, but at least you tried something new!" For ActRaiser, however, 'innovative' suits it perfectly. Essentially, what you get is a fairly short, average difficulty mash-up of three different game genres. As you start the game you are immediately dropped into a platforming sequence.

Fillmore - Act 1

Right away you notice just how beautiful the art is. Enix was on top of it's game, and there is no lack in quality here. The music (done by Yuzo Koshiro, who also composed the soundtracks for Streets of Rage, Beyond Oasis, and Shenmue) is equally inspired, though it isn't quite as memorable as the soundtracks for other Enix games'  (which is more a compliment to Enix, than a knock on ActRaiser).

"Fillmore" by Yuzo Koshiro, 1991

The controls are simple, but in comparison to other platformers on the Super Nintendo, I felt they were quite clunky. This is largely due to an inability to control your movement mid-jump. Realistic? Yes. Fun? Not really. Once you commit to an arc, that's it.

This becomes especially frustrating when you are jumping down to a lower level, where you can't see where the next platform is. That last little adjustment you need to avoid losing a life is not possible in ActRaiser, and you will have to simply memorize where the platform is and try it again.

As per SNES law, flying enemy's are EXTREMELY annoying. And with the fact that you can't change direction mid-jump, they become even more of a pain, always seeming to show up at the worst possible time and knock you into an instant-death pit.

As you play through you will also get magic spells which have a limited use per session, but are re-filled if you game over, which is nice. Magic spells, especially the Star power, are really useful and can get you out of most tricky situations, often helping to finish off a boss fight when your down to your last gasp.

All in all, the platforming is functional, the atmosphere is great, but I probably wouldn't rank ActRaiser in the top 10 of the genre. Fortunately, platforming is only half the equation.

Makin' it RAIN!

Once you complete a stage, you will be brought out to a top down view of the region you were just fighting in. By completing Act-1 (for every region there are two 'acts') you allow people to settle down, and begin building their town. As their God, you tell them where to build, and help protect them from monsters that constantly spawn and fly around the map wreaking havoc.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward: in real-time you control an angel that can shoot arrows. You fly around the map, find the enemies' spawn points, and direct your townsfolk towards it to seal it for good, thus making your job easier. Repeat.

In addition to monsters, your townsfolk will have to fight the elements.

While the concept is simple, it is oddly satisfying to fend off the monsters and slowly make progress towards closing off enemy lairs for good. The townsfolk construct buildings pretty quick, cycling through a 15-second timer shown on screen, and the maps aren't terribly big. The action chugs along, keeping the experience short and sweet. If you had to really grind for hours the game wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable, but luckily it finds the right balance and throws in some mini-puzzles for variety.

The best part is that as your town grows, your people will also find artifacts that they can offer you. These artifacts, such as magic spells, can then be utilized during the platforming segments of the game. In addition, as the total population grows you become stronger (more health) as well. Thus the simulation phase of the game directly feeds back into the platforming phase. This is absolutely brilliant, as it gives the player freedom to choose how to approach either section, while maintaining a sense of continuity throughout.

BOSS RUSH!!!

If the player feels they aren't strong enough to finish Act-2 in Bloodpool, then that's fine. They can easily move on to the next region, try Act-1 there, build up its population, level up, and then return in a stronger state. The order in which you visit each region is only consequential for maximizing your overall population. Thankfully, there is plenty of leeway given for you to get your self buffed-up to make most levels approachable.

All in all, this creative pacing of the game is what really makes the experience worth while. The platforming may not be the best, and the simulation isn't very deep, but the way the two are interwoven is incredibly satisfying and continues to pull the player along wanting more. This is what people mean when they call ActRaiser innovative. The game's design is so well done, that one can over look its other shortcomings and accept it for what it is. A damn fun time.

New Completion - Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf (Genesis)

Was it meant to be? On a day where I saw a real life USMC Apache helicopter fly over my house, I finally beat a game I've been unable to finish for some fifteen years. And that game is about an Apache helicopter.

Life can be funny sometimes.

I FINALLY BEAT YOUR GAME MIKE POSEHN! DO YOU HEAR ME?!

There's so much I could say about this game that actually has nothing to do with the game itself. Moments, people, certain emotions; it's nostalgia down to it's purest form. This game ranks amongst my top three most nostalgic games (with Earthworm Jim, and Vectorman). When I think of my childhood, or even the 90's in general, I often picture sitting in front of a CRT television with the glow of orange reflecting off of everything in the room and a tiny little green helicopter flimsly flittering around the screen.

I also think of frustration. You see, Desert Strike is a really difficult game. Not so much in the technique, though that is certainly important, but mostly in patience and endurance. These are all things most 8 year-olds lack, and I was no exception.

'Don't be sad fellas! I'll be back in 15 minutes after I fail the mission again!'

But that's the beauty of maturing. You become stronger, smarter, more persistent, never willing to be defeated by a simple play thing! Well, except for the couple times I rage quitted last night. But today was different! Today I had a purpose! And when I looked up and saw that Apache helicopter fly o're head, I knew what I must do!

Grind! A lot! And keep grinding until somehow I fluked my way to victory. Albeit I killed my own co-pilot once, was shot down by running into buildings a few times, and wove a tapestry of curse words that could be seen from space ('A Christmas Story' refernce for ya there). But in the end I succeeded. I SHOOK GEORGE HERBERT WALKER TEXAS RANGER BUSH'S HAND!

Now onto the game itself. This game, despite what I said above, is surprisingly short. 4 missions to be exact. Each mission has a set of objectives to be completed in order. You fly around, shooting missiles or a chain gun, at various targets across a large isometric map. You have limited ammo and fuel which you must monitor throughout the mission, and replenish by picking up items scattered and or hidden across the map. You can also pick up health items to repair your helicopter, as well as a few *very rare* extra lives. You are initially given three lives to finish the mission, and if you run out of lives it's 'Game Over' and you must start all over.

Thankfully, if you do finish a mission successfully you are given a password so that you can resume from the last uncompleted mission. This was something I did not comprehend as a child, and thus why I never could beat this game. For whatever reason, in my small little underdeveloped brain, passwords were for cheats. The idea of using them as a checkpoint was so foreign and beyond me, I never really had a chance. And this would haunt me and my ability to beat old games for a long time.... but that's another story.

I saw this a lot as a child.

Thankfully I'm not such a puritan anymore. I happily used those passwords and HOLY HELL that makes the game a lot more bearable. Now I just have to take things a mission at a time. And that's what I did. All in all Desert Strike is still a lot of fun. I think it has held up a lot better than most games from the early 90's, and visually it still impresses me for a Genesis game.

Whether or not I would recommend it to a casual fan of games? Probably not. It's not long enough, nor rewarding enough for the effort it requires to see it through. But if you had a Genesis/Super Nintendo and somehow missed this game, it is absolutely worth a look. I know I feel much better about finally checking this one off the list.

Oh, and it has a rad theme song too:

In conclusion, I'm just glad it's over. It was so stressful! But now I don't have to worry any more because there's definitely not a sequel for....

 

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

New Completion - Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES)

Add another notch to the belt. This time it's the SNES sequel from my favorite primate-centric series:

Along with the much needed help of my girlfriend, we together were able to conquer this revered title in a matter of weeks. That might not sound like much of an achievement, but after it took us an entire Summer to beat the first DKC, you can imagine we we're quite proud of the rapidity with which we finished this entry.

The biggest change with this title, at least from a game play perspective, was the ability to go back and save by spending coins you collect from within the levels. This meant you could save after every single completed level, and just before a boss level. From a convenience perspective, this made beating the game far easier than DKC.

As for the actual mechanics of the levels, it was really refreshing to see new moves like Dixie Kong's hair-twirling float, or any of the various new animals (the snake, or the spider for example) incorporated over and over rather than just as one off bonuses like the previous title.

Squawks to the rescue!

As improved as the levels are, the music is even more fantastic. With such a vibrant and varied soundtrack from heart-pumping, shredding rock to comical sea-shanties the reputation of DKC2 having a stellar soundtrack is well deserved. Props to David Wise, the composer of both DKC and DKC2, on delivering again.

"Snakey Chantey" by David Wise

This game was a wonderful experience, and absolutely an advancement over its predecessor which is always a huge plus. I can't recommend it any more highly to those that have not played it, but still own a SNES.

Now, all I have to do is find DKC3 to complete the trilogy. Wish me luck!

New Completion - Super Mario World (SNES)

After many months of on and off playing/grinding/hair-yanking/crying, Super Mario World has finally been defeated.

This accomplishment has been about 15 years in the making. This was the very first SNES game I ever played. I remember walking across the street in the middle of Winter to my friend's house where he had just finished setting up the Super Nintendo he got for Christmas.

With a crunch of the cartridge, and the shove of a metallic purple strap-thingy (what the hell do you call those anyway?), the classic intro music began beeping to our heart's content...

The following few years were filled with my friend and I chugging through the first few levels only to get completely stumped on the VERY FIRST ghost house and, being the impatient 6-9 year-olds we were, giving up and moving on to something more immediately satisfying like World Heroes 2 or TMNT: Turtles in Time.

Eventually, the N64 and Goldeneye came out, then the Playstation 2 and GTAIII; and the next thing you know I'm not even hanging out with this friend anymore as the natural progression of life lead us in two different directions.

Years went by without ever even thinking about coming back to this game. I had no idea of it's historical importance. I had no clue that it was a standard bearer for all games to come after it. Only in the last few years when I really delved into the history of games and the ever evolving hierarchy of classics did I realize my plight.

So when I had the good fortune to discover that my girlfriend a) had a SNES, and b) actually loves to play it, I immediately reached for her copy of Super Mario.

We beat that first Ghost House about five minutes in.

Of course, having a full time student life and getting snagged on certain parts prolonged the process. But all in all, I'm really happy we finally got it done. I finally feel like a certain part of my childhood has closure. That, more than the experience of the game itself, was the most rewarding feeling.

Replay! - Virtual Bart

The Simpsons and Aram Jabbari!?!

PERFECTION.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this replay is Aram Jabbari.

Replay Rating: 9.9

Replay! - Zombies Ate My Neighbors (Genesis, SNES)

I'm posting this a day late as a result of being out of town.

Fortunately, there wasn't much for me to say about it. Brent Weinbach is obnoxious, and Kyle Hilliard is really bad at talking and playing simultaneously.

Matt and Tim try to overcome this but it's not enough to save this episode; which is unfortunate because "Zombies Ate My Neighbors" is a really cool game. Oh and there's a unicycle game, too. Yup.

Replay Rating: 2

New addition to the Hall

I'm proud to announce that as of yesterday afternoon, another digital leviathan was harpooned.

Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo, 1994) -- Summer 2012

Special thanks to my girlfriend, who made for a great partner (usually as DK, and myself as Diddy Kong). I couldn't have done it without her!

Roadblocks

In every game, there is usually at least one spot where most players get stuck. Now days, it usually just takes a few extra attempts and some intuition to get through. However, in the early 90's games were much more brutal. Some roadblocks loomed so large, that players gave up entirely, never to plug that cartridge back in.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I hesitantly put that cartridge back in.

Donkey Kong Country for the SNES remains as one of the most difficult platformers from the 16-bit era. Foolishly, I bought it for my girlfriend's birthday thinking we could breeze right through it. I really don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I was just coming off the high of having beaten Rayman Origins a week or so prior. Whatever the case, we forged on with complete disregard for the masochistic level design that lurked ahead.

We got through some difficult spots, reached a few checkpoints, and were generally feeling optimistic about our chances. Then we got to the Mountain world. Specifically the first level, "Snow Barrel Blast". Oh, what little did we know.

This level was designed by a disgruntled developer who hated children. It requires perfect timing, quick reflexes, and the ability to see through pixelized snow on an unacceptably low resolution screen. And just when you think you've put the worst behind you, it gives you a platforming section with diminutive cliffs, covered in slippery ice. Because that's what gaming needs: more slippery ice platforms.

Enraged, and on the verge of tears, we called it quits. Donkey Kong Country laid dormant, collecting dusk on a shelf for months. Until yesterday. After hours of grinding, and making small bits of progress each attempt, we finally conquered DK's hell on ice. And you know what? It was completely worth it. The exhilaration of finally conquering something that you know has sucked the souls out of so many others before you is... indescribable. Seriously, I can't describe it. I don't have good enough diction.

So of course, now I will show you a video of someone beating this level, in one try, and effectively ruin the sense of dread and frustration I attempted to craft in the previous paragraphs. Hooray.