Old Skool on the N64

My brother was recently playing Legend of the Mystical Ninja on the Nintendo 64, and I was just taking an in-depth look at the graphics used in that game.

They're primitive boxy shapes with textures painted on the side. There aren't any sophisticated enhancements to make it look realistic, but yet the game still has its wacky charms. I believe it's possible for a game to stand on its own without killer graphics. In this case, Mystical Ninja has its unique fighting with massive robots, and the four different characters with their unique skills in order to keep the game interesting.

It's funny that my brother still enjoys this game so much. He was playing it yesterday on the Nintendo 64, even with its incredibly dated graphics. It's important to remember that while graphics can make a good game great, they won't make a bad game good. Prettier graphics with Mystical Ninja would definitely spice the game up a little, but it would still be the good quality fun that it has been for years.

Galaxy 5000

Oh boy... I've started playing this game again. Basically, it's a racing game in space with weapons and you try to blow up your enemies while racing around the track. It's relatively simple, but quite enjoyable.

I'm having a little trouble with it too. I know there is a warp point that allows you to warp back from either Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn to Earth... giving you time to build up funds to purchase the almighty Stiletto spaceship. Sure, I'm enjoying the game otherwise, but I always love going back to Earth with the powerful Scorpion to crush the opposing forces on the track.

I've gone through the first five races about three times today looking for that stupid warp hole and I'm just not finding it! Where is that thing????

A Gamer's Opinion on the PS

(16:55:11) PrezKennedy: the PS's 3D sucks so bad you may as well just play 2D
(16:55:41) PrezKennedy: its only one step up from StarFox... the original
(16:55:53) Conrad: not true!!!!!
(16:56:01) Conrad: you just hate Sony
(16:56:24) PrezKennedy: yeah because 99% of the games on that system looked like crap
(16:56:38) PrezKennedy: they literally deluge the market with crap
(16:56:46) Conrad: i won't deny that
(16:56:57) Conrad: but i don't buy crap anymore
(16:57:05) PrezKennedy: hahahahaha

Well, I thought it was worth mentioning anyways.

Nintendo all the way here!

Real Domain Name!

It's been up for almost a week now, but I'd like to mention that you can visit this site by going to NESGamer.net. I thought it was a really cool domain name and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get it (before some squatter did). It also will help in case the site ever moves somewhere else, which is highly unlikely.

Alright, back to gaming!!

Ongoing Games

Well, I've been playing those GameBoy Advance games, and I've taken a few screenshots of the ones I've had the most interest in playing.

Mario vs Donkey Kong
Mario vs Donkey Kong is probably the one I'm enjoying the most. I've mentioned it earlier, you basically jump around trying to rescue little Mario toys from Donkey Kong. It's pretty fun, and now I'm up to level 3-2. The music and Mario's constant giggling while he's jumping gets annoying, but I keep coming back for more. I'll definitely get this if I ever get a Nintendo DS. When I get tired, I switch over to something else, like Advance Wars 2...

Advance Wars 2
I've been playing Advance Wars 2 as well. I've accomplished some of the initial levels in the Campaign mode, and it's a pretty fun strategy game for on the road. It isn't as in-depth as the stuff on the computer, obviously. I'd still much rather play a game of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri or Command & Conquer Generals, but when you're on the run without a laptop, you have to make do with what you have. I'll probably pick this and Mario vs Donkey Kong up if I should ever manage to lay my hands on a Nintendo DS.

Doom
The last game I've been playing is Doom. Now, let me tell you I went in with low expectations. I played it on the Super Nintendo and it lacked floor and ceiling textures. To put it really bluntly, the game sucked horribly and I would never consider buying it for the system. Well, I went in and played in the GameBoy Advance and it wasn't quite as bad. Now, the frame rate and resolution are nothing to write home about, but at least the game is reasonably faithful to the original computer version. Some of the levels are clearly redone to limit the amount of memory used, but all in all, the game still plays the same. Figuring out how to change weapons and to sprint wasn't so easy. Weird button combinations are needed to change your guns, and they make it difficult for you to dodge enemy fireballs and rockets. I have to suggest jDoom for the PC instead. Doom just wasn't meant to be played on a handheld system, definitely not one with the limited power of the GameBoy Advance. Maybe the DS will be able to handle it alright.

I plan on doing some more posts like this one, maybe every weekend. Expect some interesting screenshots... and for other game shots definitely check out my Miscellany of pictures.

Newer Mario Games for the GBA

I had the opportunity to play two Mario games yesterday; Mario Pinball Land and Mario vs Donkey Kong. They were both recently released for the GameBoy Advance. I've played Mario vs Donkey Kong a bit more, as it has been more fun than Mario Pinball Land. So far I've made it up to level 2-4 in that game, and I've been making decent progress. The puzzles in it haven't been too hard yet, but I know they're going to increase in difficulty soon.

Mario Pinball Land has been a bit of a disappointment. The gameplay is pretty monotonous, even though the pinball levels are unique. You get to fight the usual array of Mario baddies and collect coins and stars, but after awhile it's just boring. I definitely have no interest in picking it up for the GameBoy Advance as it hasn't been very enjoyable.

Well, I'm going to head back and play some more Mario vs Donkey Kong... or maybe I'll try and beat the next level in Advance Wars 2. At least I'll have something to do on my freetime before this Christmas! Afterwards, well, hopefully I'll be able to play a new Nintendo DS!

SimCopter Ready for Takeoff!

My friend was playing SimCopter last night, and today he gave me the CD to install it on my own computer. I'd just like to take a moment and reminisce about the days when you could run an entire game off of a CD-ROM. The smallest install for SimCopter is two megabytes. The nearly complete install, is a massive 38 megabytes. As a matter of fact, you could run several games like these off a USB flash drive. You could literally have all the original Sim games on one small drive that you could plug in and run on any computer with a version of Windows installed. These days, a game's online manual file can be more than 38 megabytes.

After taking about one minute to install, I loaded up SimCopter and gave it a shot. Obviously, in this day and age it's possible to easily run the game at maximum settings with no problem whatsoever. Strangely enough, I had the game crash within a minute though. I restarted it and then put in the infamous I'm the CEO of McDonnell Douglas cheat code, and I had all of the helicopters at my disposal. I always enjoy flying the Apache and firing missiles at buildings. I have actually played through the game and accomplished my missions way back in the day. You can do a variety of things like rescue people, transport people, put out fires, shoot down UFO's, quell riots and summon public services.

The game is very open-ended, and if you have SimCity 2000, you can import your cities into it and fly around in them unrestricted. It's really helpful to have an airport, although the game will find a place to put a hangar if you don't have one. If you pick this game up, and can look past its dated graphics, you'll see a pretty fun helicopter rescue game underneath looking back at you.

3D Makes the Game Not

Today at lunch my friends and I were discussing all the upcoming games for the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, and we got on the topic of 3D games. Being the gamer that I am, 3D doesn't have to be in the game for me to like it. I still enjoy side-scrollers, and I still enjoy old games even though new games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 model physics, lighting and everything else with a fantastic level of detail. Even if they have 3D up the wazoo, with everything modeled perfectly, and the gameplay sucks... the 3D element isn't going to save it. In fact, it would be safe to say that it probably would suck even more than if it were just 2D, since incompetent game designers would be hard pressed to screw-up a 2D scroller.

Anyways, back to the DS and PSP. I like to make jokes about the PSP since it always looks so large in all of the advertisements for it. and I've taken a real interest in the DS. It really looks to be a fantastic system. I've even had the chance to play Super Mario 64 DS, and I can say that it played very nicely. The graphics were even better than the Nintendo 64 version. Strangely, my friends were saying that the PSP would be more of a PlayStation-on-the-go. I've always been of the impression that the Nintendo 64's graphics were pretty darn good, outshining the PlayStation easily.

They brought up how much better the 3D graphics were going to be, and I daresay, one even said that it would be immersive. Hold on, immersive?? The screen isn't very big. How can it be immersive? We got into an argument over whether 3D really matters... and here I am now, talking about why I'm perfectly happy with 2D games.

I personally don't think it matters. I'm really looking forward to the newest Mario game on the DS, which won't be 3D. As long as the game looks beautiful and of high-quality, 2D is just fine with me. A nice side-scrolling shooter is great too. Ever played Raiden Trad? Very good game! In the end, as long as the game is fun, 3D just doesn't matter.

Quick Rundown of Today's Games

This is just a rundown of the games I've played today. In list format along with a brief opinion on each one. More in-depth reviews will come in time for them.

Race Drivin' (SNES) - slow, unresponsive, worthless
Revolution X (SNES) - slow, boring
Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis) - fast-paced, repetitive
Super Dodge Ball (NES) - repetitive, fun
Super Dodgeball Advance (GBA) - repetitive, fun
Super Battleship (SNES) - fun, valuable
StarFox Competition (SNES) - rehashed time attack

Playing Paperboy 2...

I spent some time playing Paperboy 2 last night... I remember the old days playing the original Paperboy on the Nintendo. You would always go one direction avoiding obstacles and trying to get the paper to the door or in the newspaper bin and then at the end of the level you would drive through a small obstacle course to complete the level.

Well, Paperboy 2 simply adds to that. You can play on both sides of the road now (not at the same time though), and you also have much more to avoid and throw your newspapers at. The game will keep you busy for a few hours before you'll begin to lose interest due to its repetitiveness, but you'll come back to play again later. The game has about 21 levels or more, one for each day of the week on three different courses.

I'll post the review up soon on PrezKennedy.org.

Advance Wars 2 is Pretty Cool...

I now have the opportunity to play some GameBoy games that I would have never bought on my own, so I loaded up Advance Wars 2. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't a big fan of the first Advance Wars. I played it for a little while, and I thought it was at least somewhat amusing on a long road trip, but I wouldn't ever play it when I could play something on the computer instead. My brother brings his GameBoy Advance and Advance Wars along on our long road trips... and thats why I played it.

For the second one, it's very similar to the first. There are new tactics, a few new units, and the graphics have been updated slightly. At the core however, the gameplay hasn't changed a bit. I'm more interested in this game than its prequel, so something must have changed. I've played the first few levels of the game and I'm really enjoying it. Advance Wars 2 also has all the usual options like multiplayer and skirmishes for quicker battles, but I've only been focusing on playing the campaign so far.

I highly recommend you check this game out if you liked the first one, or even if you like strategy games in general. You won't be disappointed that something this nice comes in such a small package!

So Many Games to Try (The First Being ActRaiser)

I have a large collection of new games I'm going to try out and review. I'll be posting some commentary here and the corresponding review on PrezKennedy.org. I'll be going through a large catalog of Nintendo, Super Nintendo, GameBoy, and Genesis games over the course of the next several months. Obviously, some of them are going to suck royally so I doubt I'll even complete them... but I will mention the ones that are worth getting if you can still find them.

Last night for instance, I was playing ActRaiser, an old game for the Super Nintendo. I actually ended up playing it for about two hours... fighting enemies and building up my towns. Unfortunately the town-building element isn't very complex, but it's still fun to pass the time with. I'll have the review up soon on PrezKennedy.org...

FarCry on a Radeon 9800PRO

I've enjoyed playing FarCry since it was released. Why, I remember playing the demo levels over and over because they were just that much fun. I enjoyed exploiting some of the flaws in the demo so I could just drive around on the PT boat and check out the various islands. Back then I was using a GeForce 4 MX440. In August I bought a GeForce FX5700LE, almost specifically so I could use better settings in FarCry, but unfortunately... it just doesn't have the horsepower to run newer games. I ran 3DMark03 and it only managed to score around 1200. Pretty sad for a new card huh? Well, I finally put in the Radeon 9800PRO my friend gave me (he upgraded to an GeForce FX5950), and boy, the difference was phenomenal! I went from getting around 1000 in 3DMark03, to around 5300!

I can run FarCry at its maximum settings and it runs perfectly. I was drooling when I saw the lighting and shadow effects. It looks simply stunning. It reminds me of the first time I saw the lights swinging in Donkey Kong Country, and how realistic they looked. The difference here is that the light can be shot, making the light and shadows dance in the room. The water effects are beautiful too, the fluidity of it all makes it look so realistic. The only thing it needs are water droplets and footprints in the sand to complete the realistic look.

Now I'll definitely need to complete the game. I have no excuses to avoid it since it runs so beautifully. Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend (inbetween projects...)

Super Mario Brothers 3

I consider Super Mario Brothers 3 to be one of the classic games. Nintendo apparently agrees, as they've rereleased it on more than one occasion in the Super Mario All-Stars compilation and a slightly remade version for Super Mario Advance 4.

I bought the original edition of the game when it came out back in 1990, when I was just seven years old. I still remember staying up a little late to play it, with my mom and brother watching me play. It wasn't a very difficult game other than a few parts, and I'm fairly certain I still haven't visited every single level in it... and I probably never will since I know the secrets to get the warp whistles and jump right to World 8. Besides, World 7, the Pipe World, was an annoying complex of mazes and other hazards.

I've beaten Super Mario Brothers 3 several times, and I'll tell you its one of the best games around. If you'd like to see someone beat it using an emulator (to pull off some crazy moves), you should check out that and some other stuff on Open Source Gaming's Miscellaneous Downloads. I felt it was worth showing to others, even if it was fabricated. Isn't it amazing what you can do with an emulator? I remember spending untold lives trying to get through some of those levels. I would have to imagine I'd spend a lot more lives trying to beat the game today.

If you've never played Super Mario Brothers 3, I highly suggest you pick it up for the GameBoy Advance SP or the Nintendo DS. Honestly though, how could you have never played Super Mario Brothers 3? :-P

My First Super NES Game

Christmas 1995...

The entire family was in Maryland for Christmas that year. My grandfather and uncle from Illinois had traveled nearly 900 miles to visit us. It would be an exciting Christmas... and a memorable one too.

The whole family was downstairs getting ready for Christmas dinner and we were playing our very first Super Nintendo game, even though the SNES had been out for a few years by that point. Donkey Kong Country, a revolutionary game in the graphics department, was easily able to surpass anything else out on the market. Compared to even the 32X, it was simply beautiful. The pre-rendered graphics allowed the SNES to run the game, even though the CPU is slower than the Sega Genesis.

We had been playing it almost all day, and by dinnertime, we had reached the Treetop village and we were fighting our way through tons of barrel shooting puzzles. Right when we were about to turn the game off to go eat dinner, the power went out. Fortunately we had saved earlier, but some of our progress had been lost along the way.

We would end up enjoying a candlelit dinner, since the power was out. Strangely enough, this power outage only affected our street, and even then it didn't affect one of the houses at the top of the street. I guess they were on a different line or something. So, we ended up having a memorable Christmas, and that's the same time I got Donkey Kong Country, still one of my most highly regarded console games. Even though we didn't get to play it that night because the power didn't turn back on until around 2 AM, we still had an enjoyable night with the family celebrating Christmas. :-)

Remember your Family...

I know that sometimes those games really can suck you and you totally forget about what's going on around you. Most notably, what your family is up to. I've had the bad habit of paying more attention to my games than my family... even when they were from far out of town. I urge any serious gamer not to make that same mistake, since you'll regret missing those experiences someday. I for one have spent many a Thanksgiving playing computer or Nintendo games instead of spending time with my family and Grandparents, and now that family has changed so much since I was little. I could have spent a lot more time with my Grandmother before she died, and I could have spent a lot more time with everyone else that has visited on those special occasions.

I think it's important to remember that the game will always be there, but your family members may not be. You may as well put down the controller when far off relatives are visiting, because there will always be tomorrow when no one is around so you can play your games. Besides, some of those games aren't that great to be making this tradeoff anyways. I mean seriously, Command & Conquer: Renegade? Boy, I really wish I had spent more time with my relatives instead of playing my way through that game. I could have just waited a day and beaten it the next. Instead, I rushed to finish it while family was visiting,

What a silly, silly mistake!!

P.S. This also applies to girlfriends and wives. They really don't like when you pick your video games over them. Just a tiny bit of advice if you didn't already know!

Worst Game Ever - Back to the Future for NES

When people complain about Battlecruiser 3000 A.D. for being a really lame game that was really buggy and didn't even work out the box... I agree with them. But, when they say it's the worst game ever, our paths diverge. I've played Back to the Future on the NES, and that was the worst experience I've ever had. I felt so stupid after buying that game that for the longest time I wouldn't even mention that I owned it.

The game starts out in Hill Valley, 1955. You have to evade obstacles, crazy people with hoola-hoops and other things while you skateboard up towards the top of the screen. The first level, while annoying, is fairly easy to complete. Unfortunately, the second level is where it all goes downhill. Downhill to the point that in all the years that I've owned the game, I've never tried to beat it. Basically it plays a little like Root Beer tapper, except you throw stuff at goons in order to keep them off your back. You have to take out 100 of them to progress. Before making it even halfway, it becomes incredibly difficult. You may as well pick up a Game Genie if you want to progress beyond that point.

I've never bothered with the game since then. It's simply so bad I can't stand to even consider popping it in and playing it. I just thought it would be a fitting way to start of my new gaming experiences journal. :-)

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