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A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far, Far Away… They Didn’t Have Paternity Tests
Game's Ratings
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Graphics
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02-04-14 11:45 PM
EideticMemory is Offline
| ID: 973619 | 1182 Words
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EideticMemory
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A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far, Far Away… They Didn’t Have Paternity Tests Released in 2005, Lego Star Wars II - The Original Trilogy allows you to play through the next three episodes in the Star Wars series. To clear confusion, the first three episodes were created after the second three (the original trilogy), so while the episodes in this game are sequentially after the first three, they are older. To put it more simply: Lucas made three prequels to the three released movies at the time. Similar to the first Lego Star Wars game, I return to it after several years to provide critical analysis. I found definite improvement in comparison to the first one. So without further ado, let’s jump in! Graphics: 10 / 10 The graphics have higher clarity than the first game. Scenes have much more detail and the faces of characters are more cleanly drawn than before. All graphics serve their purpose. I did not find them miscellaneous and most were pertinent to the game. While the rooms felt a little barren, the shootable objects and enemies made up for that. The lego representations of Star Wars objects continued to amaze me and better graphics allowed made them more enjoyable to see. While graphics only negligibly improved game-play, the improvements were definitely noteworthy. Like before, movement of characters and objects were realistic and virtually glitch-free. Walls turned semi-transparent when one walks behind them and the reflections looked clearer, making the game more realistic. Keeping the first game in mind, the 3-D was better and graphics were much less of an annoyance. With only a year in between release dates, we can only praise the designers for a job well done. Even when I compare LSW II to other GBA games, I still find little to complain about. 10 / 10. Sound / Music: 10 / 10 Tremendous improvements in sound effects are quickly evident. Actions sound clearer and more realistic than before. The sound of blaster fire is one such instance. The new sound effect suits the weapons as it sounds more similar to the firing of a laser weapon versus the release of a laser beam, an inconsequential but distinct difference. The number of sound effects per second dropped slightly, which improved sound. However, the number remained high, which fit with the battle scenes. The sound effects were never annoying. The combination of new improved sound effects and the old ones helped the (already incredible) sound. The music was taken from the movies and showed improvement. There were more songs and I felt that they all still fit the scenes perfectly. They provided unique atmospheres for different scenes that worked well. I kept the music on while playing, because both the sound effects and music became more important to the experience of playing the game and were not annoying at all. 10 / 10. Addictiveness: 8 / 10 Addictiveness is not an issue in this game as levels felt less burdensome than before. While a few longer levels can tire players out, the game is much easier to binge play. Most of the time, it’s clear where to go. At first, I thought the game might be worse than the others as the game starts with the player having to go backwards along the course. While the beginning is not the only place that is confusing, progressing appears rather straight-forward. I still cannot play for hours at a time, but working through levels feel less tedious than before. I feel that the levels are tiring and can only play for only an hour at a time. LSW II is addictive, but not enough to me to binge play it. It shows improvement but did not reach perfection. 8 / 10. Story: 9 / 10 Unlike the first installment, all the movies for LSW II had already been released by the time of submission. This factor clearly had an impact on the clear portrayal of recognizable scenes from the movies. The game had less inconsistencies and virtually no contradictions with the movie. The storyline follows that of the movies with the characters achieving smaller objectives along the way. Like the first installment, LSW II can be beat within 6 hours. However, greater difficulty lies in speedrunning, since you only have four hearts. You have to invest more time into fighting enemies from afar in order to survive. The sense of jumping into levels without a clear idea of what to expect may cause a feeling of aimlessness. Familiarity with the movies helps with this feeling and will help you engage in levels that feel lengthy. The story of the movie was excellent and the game stays true to it. I rate the story 9 / 10. Depth: 10 / 10 The depth includes of backpacks to find in each level. If you collect most of the studs in a level, a bar fills up at the top of the screen. These two components allow completionists to work back through levels multiple times to get both. With many levels and spots designed for free-play, the game provides plenty of depth. Addition of new characters makes character switching a more widely used component of the game. However, this change did not only further specialize abilities. In fact, all characters that are not machines now have the ability to build, unlike in the first installment. LSW II is more strategy based with the decreased number of hearts. With only 4 hearts, it is no longer possible to easily escape a group of enemies. Fighting requires planning and taking out a few at a time. Killing nearly all enemies is no longer an option but a necessity. Clearly building upon the first game, LSW II increased depth noticeably. 10 / 10. Difficulty: 8 / 10 I found progressing through levels to be easier and only rarely annoying. However, the difficulty of the enemies increased distinctly with the reduction of hearts. This shift of difficulty is an improvement for the game, since less time is spent trying to find the way forward and more spent strategically fighting enemies. While mindlessly going through the first installment gets you lost, here it quickly gets you killed. You can’t afford to get distracted or walk into an ambush, since 12 ambushing troopers only need 4 hits to kill. The difficulty increased as a result of decreased health and increased enemies, so it deserved an 8 / 10. Overall: 9 / 10 Holistically comparing the important categories leads to an overall score of 9 / 10. This game epitomizes a good video game sequel. The game improved in nearly all individual categories and negatives of the first were fixed. Thus, the score can only rise. I recommend this game to those of you who: 1. want to play an improved continuation of the first game 2. want a game that can be beat within a matter of hours 3. requires thinking to survive and mindlessly firing weapons does not work. I loved playing it and I hope you will too! Thank you for reading! A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far, Far Away… They Didn’t Have Paternity Tests Released in 2005, Lego Star Wars II - The Original Trilogy allows you to play through the next three episodes in the Star Wars series. To clear confusion, the first three episodes were created after the second three (the original trilogy), so while the episodes in this game are sequentially after the first three, they are older. To put it more simply: Lucas made three prequels to the three released movies at the time. Similar to the first Lego Star Wars game, I return to it after several years to provide critical analysis. I found definite improvement in comparison to the first one. So without further ado, let’s jump in! Graphics: 10 / 10 The graphics have higher clarity than the first game. Scenes have much more detail and the faces of characters are more cleanly drawn than before. All graphics serve their purpose. I did not find them miscellaneous and most were pertinent to the game. While the rooms felt a little barren, the shootable objects and enemies made up for that. The lego representations of Star Wars objects continued to amaze me and better graphics allowed made them more enjoyable to see. While graphics only negligibly improved game-play, the improvements were definitely noteworthy. Like before, movement of characters and objects were realistic and virtually glitch-free. Walls turned semi-transparent when one walks behind them and the reflections looked clearer, making the game more realistic. Keeping the first game in mind, the 3-D was better and graphics were much less of an annoyance. With only a year in between release dates, we can only praise the designers for a job well done. Even when I compare LSW II to other GBA games, I still find little to complain about. 10 / 10. Sound / Music: 10 / 10 Tremendous improvements in sound effects are quickly evident. Actions sound clearer and more realistic than before. The sound of blaster fire is one such instance. The new sound effect suits the weapons as it sounds more similar to the firing of a laser weapon versus the release of a laser beam, an inconsequential but distinct difference. The number of sound effects per second dropped slightly, which improved sound. However, the number remained high, which fit with the battle scenes. The sound effects were never annoying. The combination of new improved sound effects and the old ones helped the (already incredible) sound. The music was taken from the movies and showed improvement. There were more songs and I felt that they all still fit the scenes perfectly. They provided unique atmospheres for different scenes that worked well. I kept the music on while playing, because both the sound effects and music became more important to the experience of playing the game and were not annoying at all. 10 / 10. Addictiveness: 8 / 10 Addictiveness is not an issue in this game as levels felt less burdensome than before. While a few longer levels can tire players out, the game is much easier to binge play. Most of the time, it’s clear where to go. At first, I thought the game might be worse than the others as the game starts with the player having to go backwards along the course. While the beginning is not the only place that is confusing, progressing appears rather straight-forward. I still cannot play for hours at a time, but working through levels feel less tedious than before. I feel that the levels are tiring and can only play for only an hour at a time. LSW II is addictive, but not enough to me to binge play it. It shows improvement but did not reach perfection. 8 / 10. Story: 9 / 10 Unlike the first installment, all the movies for LSW II had already been released by the time of submission. This factor clearly had an impact on the clear portrayal of recognizable scenes from the movies. The game had less inconsistencies and virtually no contradictions with the movie. The storyline follows that of the movies with the characters achieving smaller objectives along the way. Like the first installment, LSW II can be beat within 6 hours. However, greater difficulty lies in speedrunning, since you only have four hearts. You have to invest more time into fighting enemies from afar in order to survive. The sense of jumping into levels without a clear idea of what to expect may cause a feeling of aimlessness. Familiarity with the movies helps with this feeling and will help you engage in levels that feel lengthy. The story of the movie was excellent and the game stays true to it. I rate the story 9 / 10. Depth: 10 / 10 The depth includes of backpacks to find in each level. If you collect most of the studs in a level, a bar fills up at the top of the screen. These two components allow completionists to work back through levels multiple times to get both. With many levels and spots designed for free-play, the game provides plenty of depth. Addition of new characters makes character switching a more widely used component of the game. However, this change did not only further specialize abilities. In fact, all characters that are not machines now have the ability to build, unlike in the first installment. LSW II is more strategy based with the decreased number of hearts. With only 4 hearts, it is no longer possible to easily escape a group of enemies. Fighting requires planning and taking out a few at a time. Killing nearly all enemies is no longer an option but a necessity. Clearly building upon the first game, LSW II increased depth noticeably. 10 / 10. Difficulty: 8 / 10 I found progressing through levels to be easier and only rarely annoying. However, the difficulty of the enemies increased distinctly with the reduction of hearts. This shift of difficulty is an improvement for the game, since less time is spent trying to find the way forward and more spent strategically fighting enemies. While mindlessly going through the first installment gets you lost, here it quickly gets you killed. You can’t afford to get distracted or walk into an ambush, since 12 ambushing troopers only need 4 hits to kill. The difficulty increased as a result of decreased health and increased enemies, so it deserved an 8 / 10. Overall: 9 / 10 Holistically comparing the important categories leads to an overall score of 9 / 10. This game epitomizes a good video game sequel. The game improved in nearly all individual categories and negatives of the first were fixed. Thus, the score can only rise. I recommend this game to those of you who: 1. want to play an improved continuation of the first game 2. want a game that can be beat within a matter of hours 3. requires thinking to survive and mindlessly firing weapons does not work. I loved playing it and I hope you will too! Thank you for reading! |
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(edited by EideticMemory on 02-05-14 04:34 PM)
02-11-14 09:12 PM
kramer4077 is Offline
| ID: 976215 | 35 Words
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kramer4077
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Likes: 1 Dislikes: 0
EideticMemory : Nice job on the review Lots of good details too. I used to have this game on Playstation 2, so I'll have to check out this Game Boy Advance version of the game! EideticMemory : Nice job on the review Lots of good details too. I used to have this game on Playstation 2, so I'll have to check out this Game Boy Advance version of the game! |
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Post Rating: 1 Liked By: Awesome-Kid,