| play4fun's Last 25 Game Reviews |
Army Men: RTS
07-15-14 10:50 PM
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Plain, Simple, and Fun, but Not Suitable for Consoles
Imagine a world where your toy soldiers are preparing armies and create vehicles and weapons of mass destruction by using every day objects in your bedroom as resources. I'm referring to some of the plastic toys that you see in your toy store (or one dollar store) where they come in green, tan, and other colors, with different tanks, soldiers, etc. If you still don't know what I'm talking about, think those green soldiers from Toy Story and imagine a game that focuses only on them. A game company called 3DO has been doing this for a long time with the series called the Army Men series. This series brings these toy soldiers to life as the war between green and tan armies rages on in the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, and the yard, and hope that there is no magnifying glass super weapon that can melt their side to smithereens.
This particular game however, takes the series to a different genre, and even though it is not the first time 3DO attempted this on a console, it's probably more well known for console players because of the easily recognizable title called Army Men: RTS, or Real Time Strategy. This genre is more popular to PC gamers than console gamers, where players must beat an opposing army by building, producing and commanding an army of different units while managing resource. One might realize from playing this game (and any RTS game) on the console, even though the company tries their best in making it possible, the game is not suited for consoles like the GameCube.
Not Flashy, Straightforward Design
The main focus for this game series has never been crisp, sharp graphics. They just need to design just enough of the appearance to make it seem believable and interesting. The setting takes place in everyday rooms of a house, only zoomed in so that the world seems a lot larger and placed in the perspective of a toy. Because of this, you would see textures of the world to be ... Read the rest of this Review
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Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure
07-02-14 11:35 PM
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It's More Fun In Real Life Than Playing This Game
Sometimes you might stumble upon a game that makes you question the brains of a game company. You ask how is it possible to spend a lot of time, money, staff, effort on something, and produce something that is worth playing for less than 3 hours total. You wonder how this type of game would produce a profit. Universal Studios Theme Park for the Gamecube is one of those games. Fitting to its name, Universal Studios is "universally" known as being one of the worst games of all time and is argued as the worst game for the GameCube console. For something that is made on a sixth generation console like the GameCube, one might think that these claims are over-exaggerated and is not as bad as people say. Sadly, I was cursed to somehow have this game in possession and have tried to play through this monstrosity. I can confirm with both critics and gamers alike that the game developers are better off saving their time and money than creating this game into existence.
Nothing Special in Appearance
I can tell that much of the focus was placed on design, but that is not saying a lot consider how plain it looks. For a game that is licensed under a well-known movie studio brand, it would be their top priority to make their game recognizable to the masses. That is the only attraction that the game developers have to attract people to buy this game, and to their credit, they have done enough to at least succeed in that. The animation and models in this game are not terrible and they are able to produce some type of resemblance to the Universal Studios Japan park, including the iconic Universal Globe. They have also placed a lot of effort in making the mascot of the game, Woody Woodpecker, to be recognizable. However, much of the game is boringly generic. The people who goes into the theme park are all designed with the same body model with a different skin and a different size. In looking at the environment of the game, most of the a... Read the rest of this Review
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Golden Axe
05-24-13 01:40 PM
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Golden Axe (GEN) Review
As I was looking through games that I know, I noticed, to my surprise, that the Golden Axe franchise has a lack of reviews and plays. It is one of the classic franchises that SEGA has produced and these games should be mentioned among similar levels with other SEGA games like Sonic and Streets of Rage. With that, I've decided to replay through the main Golden Axe games (Golden Axe 1, 2, 3, and Revenge of Death Adder) and give a review for all of them.
Originally made for arcades, Golden Axe is a Hack and Slash game that iss set in a medieval fantasy world. The main storyline is about an evil person by the name of Death Adder. He captures the castle of the land, the King and his daughter, and their magical relic (The Golden Axe). Death Adder threatens to destroy the royal family and the Golden Axe if the people did not accept him as their ruler. Three heroes were up to the task of travelling to the castle and defeat Death Adder. They are Gilius, the axe-wielding dwarf, Ax, the man with the two handed sword, and Tyris, the sword fighting amazon woman. All three of them lost someone close to them due to Death Adder so they traveled across the land and slash through multiple enemies to reach Death Adder and defeat Him. This game was faithfully ported to the SEGA Genesis for the ability to play at home.
Has the Looks, but Looks Don't Add to the Game
The game does a good job creating a fantasy world. A whole backstory creates a world of Good and Evil. As the player goes on to each level, a part of the map would reveal the pathway of the heroes as well as a description of the progression in the story. Each level is uniquely designed with where they are in the story, from a town on a turtle, to a death valley, to landing at the castle through riding an eagle. The sound of the game reflects on what the characters are doing and makes the immersion of this quest more believable. The soundtrack portrays the medieval fee... Read the rest of this Review
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Secret of Monkey Island, The
05-16-13 08:37 PM
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The Secret of Monkey Island (SCD) Review
Anyone wanted to cry like a little kid losing his favorite toy when Disney announced the shutdown of LucasArts? I know I did. This company was known for their video games relating to their movie franchise, like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. One genre that this company excelled on back in the day was Point-and-Click Adventure games. Some of their notable games included Maniac Mansion, Sam and Max, and LOOM, and even though LucasArts is gone, its legacy continues on. Some former employees of the company formed Telltale Games, which is a publisher currently known for their episodic adventure games. They continued the simple adventure game concept as well as creating the recently acclaimed Walking Dead game.
Among the games that LucasArts created back in the day, there was one game that arguably defined the company as the King of Adventure Games in the 90s. That game is The Secret of Monkey Island. Many of my friends started off playing computer games because of this gem. It really sets the standard of what it takes to make a great story-oriented adventure game. Even though this game is set for computers, it has been ported to the SEGA CD, which is what I will be reviewing in this article.
Looks Old-Fashioned, but Has the Charm
What some modern gamers might notice about this game is how old it looks, but during that time, it was praised for the innovation of how it looked. The graphics look great for its time. The type of detail and shading that was implemented in the game is impressive with the type of technology that they used. There are limitations to how good the graphics can be. The faces of the characters can seem simple when seen from a far distance and there are some areas of background that can seem pixelated from the edges. There are also limitations to the amount of colors that can be used in the program. Nevertheless, these ... Read the rest of this Review
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Afterburner 3
04-25-13 06:16 PM
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After Burner III (SCD) Review
Not too long ago, I wrote a review about one of my favorite childhood flight simulators: After Burner II. It was a memorable game that I can enjoy again and again. During my research on that game for my review, I discovered that there is actually a sequel made following this game: After Burner III on the SEGA CD. The reason why I've never heard of this game is because the arcade version was only available in Japan, and the United States didn't get a port version of this game till a year later. The only reason I was interested in trying this game is because how memorable After Burner II was and realizing that the third game can be played in cockpit mode made me curious on whether it would make the gameplay more realistic and more exciting.
With this being on the SEGA CD, I had high hopes that it was going to be an advancement in how it looked and how it sounded, and at first I was really impressed with the beginning cinematic: the voice of the narrator, the better looking F-14 fighter jet...it all looked like it was going in the right direction. Then, I started playing the game and my idea of an upgraded immersion was crushed, crumbled up, and thrown away in the trash. The fighter jet didn't look like it has any texture at all. It looked like it was incompletely designed by a bad 3D graphics program. As my view moved into the cockpit, I see that a lot of effort was placed in the design of the cockpit, which looked decent. It has a forward radar, a damage counter, a speed gauge and a target window for missiles. This is probably the only part of the game where detail was apparent, because everything else looks either badly pixilated or generic. The choices of color for most of the stages are rather dull and bland and the design of the ground is simply one color with a random shape or object duplicated throughout the bottom. It doesn't pop out, which makes me feel less excited about playi... Read the rest of this Review
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After Burner II
04-21-13 10:39 PM
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After Burner II (GEN) Review
One thing that fascinates us when we play video games is their capability in creating an immersion that takes us out from reality and bring us into the tasks done in the game, even if we never experienced the real deal. This is the reason why different companies and departments use video games or simulations to train people for the real task without suffering the real consequences if you fail, like in the military or driving school. I believe a good example of this is a game called "After Burner II" on the SEGA Genesis. This is the first flight simulator that I've ever played and I can't stop playing this as a kid; finding ways to improve my mobility through the levels; practicing my aim while approaching high speeds; adjusting my speed to avoid danger on my tail. All of these abilities can make one have a taste of the excitement and the endangerment felt from firefighting against enemy fighters...all in the comfort and safety of your home. The SEGA Genesis may not have the movable chair like the arcade version, this port still does the game justice through a console.
Disclaimer: After Burner II on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive is a very good and close conversion from the arcade version to the console. Many people think that After Burner II is basically After Burner I with minor adjustments, so it would be appropriate to treat this review as a review for a good After Burner port. There is an After Burner I version that is ported to the SEGA Master Systems in the RGR. This is NOT a good conversion and it is not a representation of how good the original arcade game is. You have been warned.
Gameplay: 8
This is a typical shoot 'em up game with the main purpose of destroying anything and everything in front of you. What's impressive about this game is that it is able to utilize most of the controls for a specific purpose. If you use the default controls, the fighter fires its Vulcan gun automatically, while you can fire missiles when you locked... Read the rest of this Review
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Power Rangers - Time Force
03-28-13 03:48 PM
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Power Rangers Time Force (GBA) Review
It can be very disappointing when a gaming company ruins an official game for a different media, like movies or shows. If a show has a following of devoted viewers, it is tempting for the gaming company to put less effort on the game because there can be a mindset that no matter how good or how bad the game turns out, the fans of the show would buy it nevertheless. This is not enjoyable for gamers. After playing this game and beating it [in less than an hour], I believe that Power Rangers Time Force on the Game Boy Advance is a prime example that this game was made with the purpose of appealing to the fans of the show without really making a good effort of designing it.
Graphics: 4
It's ok. With this being made in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance, I'm not that impressed with it. The sprites look kinda blurry and if there is no background context that describes the time period for me, I would have been confused as to who I am fighting in the game. Speaking of which, the background graphics is actually looked pretty good and it is very appropriate for the time period that the Power Rangers traveled into. Other than that, meh.
Sound: 6
Probably the best features in the game. The music was ok. The theme was taken from the TV show, which the quality actually sounded pretty good. Each level has it's own theme that (kinda) goes along with the time period (Ancient Egypt, Rome, Wild West, etc), which is appropriate. That being said, the audio is not that special. You play this game and the music is not something that you would say that is memorable. As a matter of fact, I played the game muted. It wasn't until I started writing this review that I went back to listen to the audio, and guess what? I didn't feel like I missed anything.
Addictiveness: 1
I don't watch Power Rangers (not this version, at least. I did a little of the original ones) and I can't say that I am a fan of the show, but even if I am, I would not even bother thinking abo... Read the rest of this Review
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