Score: B
System: PlayStation 2
Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Medium: DVD
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: E 10+
Tag Line: A charming, fun, and often hilarious platformer that just may be too short for some.
To this day, the original Ape Escape remains a rather unique platformer, one of the first titles to make full use of Sony's Dual Analog controller. Though the concept of utilizing the left analog stick to control movement wasn't anything new back in 1999, the idea of using the right analog stick to control action was, and that's where Ape Escape set itself apart from the pack. The entire game was built around this concept, from controlling the monkey-capturing net via the right analog stick, to the paddling of a boat requiring players to literally row the bow using the analog sticks, to the UFO mini-game which allowed the player to shoot in any direction via the right analog stick.
Of course, things weren't entirely perfect. The camera wasn't always the best, nothing new in the realm of platformers, and the game had an annoying habit of throwing a player out of a stage once they met the level's capture quota, which made going back and capturing those last one or two monkeys, required for 100% completion, a bit tiresome. These problems weren't anything major, they didn't render the game unplayable, but they were somewhat annoying.
The 2003 PlayStation 2 sequel was, essentially, more of the same. Sure, it marked a return of the same great gameplay and added better graphics, new gadgets, new stages, and new monkeys, but the same quibbles, the same camera problems and annoyances regarding capture quotas, also returned. Again, these didn't render the game unplayable, but they were somewhat annoying.
Thus, it shouldn't be all that surprising to learn that Ape Escape 3 really doesn't stray from tradition. As they have since the first Ape Escape, camera problems crop up from time to time, such as a monkey or enemy running behind the player or an awkward camera angle making precision movement difficult. And as it has since the first game, a quick tap of the L1 button, which centers the camera behind the player, usually remedies this problem, and it only takes a few stages for the player to master this form of camera control.
( Mesal Gear Solid and the Shinobi outfit, not to mention the Star Wars stage, help to make this the best Ape Escape yet. ) |
Though it's pretty much par for the series, it still has to be said that Shadow Hearts: From The New World is a little ..odd. Things start off normally enough when main character and amateur detective Johnny Garland is hired to find a criminal believed to be hiding somewhere in Manhattan. And except for the pair of effeminate bikers who run the traveling "Just Us Guys" item shop, well, Manhattan seems pretty normal too. It stays that way up until the end of the brief tutorial dungeon. But then Johnny stumbles across the man he was hired to find, and that's when things get weird.
First, upon hearing Johnny's name, this guy freaks out and backs himself against the wall. As he does this, a bluish-green portal forms behind him. After a few seconds, out comes a huge monster that devours the suspect whole. Just as the monster notices Johnny, a scantily-clad blue-skinned fairy-creature-thing comes crashing through the skylight and positions herself between the two. Defending Johnny, she battles and eventually defeats the monster. Then Johnny passes out and starts glowing red.
In the hours following Johnny's return to consciousness, things get perpetually odder. The fairy-creature thing is actually a shape-shifting gal named Shania that, along with her gun-touting bodyguard Natan, join up with Johnny to find the guy who hired him in the first place. Oh yea, Johnny’s knife has started to glow red, much like a lightsaber, whenever he's in battle. And no matter where they travel, those two bikers are always nearby, always flaunting their wares. In Boston the group runs across Frank, a ninja trained in the arts after a fateful plane crash stranded him near a secluded ninja temple ...in Brazil. At the Grand Canyon, Frank humorously turns a sacred cactus into the weapon he dubs "Cactus Saber."
Traveling to Chicago, the group encounters a giant talking cat, made all the more amusing when Johnny's the only one who finds the situation a little strange. Things only spiral further from there, including a prison break at Alcatraz, a movie studio run by cats (Purramount Studios), and a trip to Roswell, New Mexico which introduces Hilda, the lingerie-wearing vampire. And hey, that's only the first few hours.
However, it's not just the story that makes Shadow Hearts: From The New World unique. After all it's the battle system that players will spend most of their time with, and no amount of charm can fix a broken battle system.
( ... ) |
Score: A
System: PSP
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Medium: UMD
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: E 10+
Tag Line: A hallmark of the 16-bit era returns, better than ever.
The original Mega Man X was, and as proven by the recent Mega Man X Collection, still is one of the best Mega Man titles to date. The SNES classic took a different take on the traditional Mega Man formula, adding a few new elements that not only sped up the gameplay, but provided for additional depth and replay value as well. Now, over ten years later, Capcom's gone back and given Mega Man X the remake treatment.
Retitled Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, the classic gameplay that defined the original remains intact here. For those unfamiliar with the X series, the biggest change to the formula was Mega Man's newfound ability to climb walls by jumping against them. Given the vertical trappings of previous Mega Man titles, screens so tall Mega Man's jump seemed more of a hop, this ability was a welcome change. Along with the new Dash move, these two abilities mixed up the gameplay, allowing for faster maneuvering and more complex enemy attacks.
( Vile Mode: Unexpected and awesome. ) |
Score: B
System: PS2
Developer: Media Vision Entertainment
Publisher: XSEED Games
Medium: DVD-ROM
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: T
Tag Line: The speed of traditional turn-based battles, the strategy of slower, grid-based battle engines, and platforming. Yes, platforming.
At first glance, Wild ARMs 4 looks like it's a pretty generic RPG. The story, following youngster Jude Maverick as his world literally comes crashing down around him, isn't exactly the most original. Nor are the character designs, easily falling under the label of traditional anime. But don't let that fool you, as there's something quite decidedly different buried beneath all this.
That something would be the gameplay. You see, Wild ARMs 4 ditches the standard turn-based battle system the series, and numerous other RPGs, have employed in the past. I'm sure you know the system I'm talking about, it's the one where battles take place with a line of characters facing a line of enemies as they take turns smacking each other. This system is often characterized by the ability to breeze through most random encounters by just mashing the same button over and over again.
Instead, battles in Wild ARMs 4 take place on a grid of seven hexagons. Each of the four main characters have different attacks with varying degrees of range and effectiveness, dictating even the most mundane of random encounters to require some strategy. Special combo attacks are also available, reliant upon two or more characters sharing a grid. This means that a character's location is just as, if not more, important than the chosen attack. In other words, one simply can't just mash the attack button to get through most of the battles.
( ... )
Related Links: Hands-On: Wild ARMs 4 (For Gaming-Age.com) |
Score: C-
System: DS
Developer: Bandai
Publisher: Atari
Medium: Cartridge
Players: 1-2
Online: No
ESRB Rating: E 10+
Tagline: Another DBZ game that only appeals to DBZ fans.
At first glance, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 seems like it may have a shot at being a surprisingly exceptional portable fighting game. The title starts out with a great tutorial that not only teaches players the intricacies of its fighting system, but also introduces them to the main cast. From there, a lengthy Story Mode offers branching paths for 15 characters, exploring various "what-ifs" of the Dragon Ball Z universe whilst unlocking additional characters. Meanwhile, Z-Battle allows players to create their own team of up to three characters and duke things out without any of that fluffy story getting in the way. Yup, things seem pretty rosy, that is, until players start messing around with the other characters.
And that's where things start to fall apart. As it turns out, the differences between multiple characters are slight, and for the most part, mainly cosmetic. Each character has the same moveset and uses the same button combinations for the same moves. Sure, one character may have a stronger energy attack and a weaker physical attack while another suffers the opposite condition, or one character may have a slightly different super attack, but this doesn't have any bearing on the actual gameplay. As a result, once you're tired of one character ...you're basically tired of the whole cast.
( ... ) |
| » Grandia III (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: C+
System: PlayStation 2
Developer: Game Arts
Publisher: Square Enix
Medium: DVD
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Tag Line: Starts out awesome, ends up mediocre.
Since it was revealed early last year, Grandia III has been the one of those highly anticipated RPGs, ranking up there with Kingdom Hearts II and Final Fantasy XII. It’s for good reason too: The trailers have all featured gorgeous environments, the Grandia battle system has a favorable reputation in gaming circles, and many consider the first Grandia to have one of the best plots of the 32-bit era.
And at first, Grandia III seems to live up to expectations. The story's interesting, the battles are fun, and the characters seem likeable. But after five hours, about the time the main quest kicks in, things start to get more and more inconsistent. And when things start to fall apart in the first five hours of a thirty-five to forty hour game, well, that’s never a good sign.
( A bad story isn't the end of the world, but when the formerly-entertaining battles get tedious and repetitive due to a sharp rise in difficulty, that's a bit harder to ignore. )
Feb. 13th, 2006 @ 09:29 am
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| » Alive! |
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No, I’m not dead and no, I haven’t quit writing.
In fact, I’ve got at least nine or ten articles done - I’ve just been lazy in posting them here. Some of that is due to the part where I don’t really like some of them, but we learn through our mistakes, right?
Anyways, here’s an idea of what’s coming up:
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 (DS)
Wild ARMs 4 (PS2)
X3: Reunion (PC)
Grandia III (PS2)
Ape Escape Academy (PSP)
Ape Escape 3 (PS2)
Samurai Shodown V (Xbox)
Shadow Hearts: From The New World (PS2)
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X (PSP)
Winning Eleven 9 (PS2)
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
So yea. Updates. Soon. Yup. Some of them cool, some of them not. And for the next week or so, at least one a day.
Feb. 10th, 2006 @ 11:35 pm
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| » Mario Kart DS: Friend Code! |
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Sure I had to wait until Christmas, but I'm finally jumping on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection bandwagon with Mario Kart DS. My Friend Code:
BuddyC
133205
960221
I'm going to make an effort and try to be online in the late afternoon for the next two weeks. Be sure to send me a message with your Friend Code if you're interested - I'm looking forward to playing against you guys.
Dec. 27th, 2005 @ 09:44 am
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| » A Mr. Driller Christmas |
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I hate to brag, but I thought this was too cool not to share. A homemade Mr. Driller shirt!
Dec. 19th, 2005 @ 09:48 am
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| » Spyro: Shadow Legacy (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: D-
System: DS
Developer: Amaze Entertainment
Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Medium: Cartridge
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: E
Tag Line: How bad is it? Even the title screen is broken.
Spyro: Shadow Legacy has the unique distinction of the worst title screen I've seen in the past two decades. The title screen in question features a picture of Spyro stretched vertically across the DS' two screens. The picture is split in the middle, so that each screen features an equal amount of the image - much like folding a piece of paper in half. But the developers apparently forgot that the screens are not located directly on top of each other, with a small gap located between the two screens.
Imagine what would happen if a picture were to be ripped into two equal parts, with the top part placed a half-inch or so above the bottom chunk. Wouldn't that look a bit odd? That's exactly what happened with Spyro's title screen. By forgetting to compensate for the gap between the two screens, the developers have portrayed Spyro as having an unusually long, crooked neck. Now, normally I wouldn't be so critical of a mere title screen, but with Spyro: Shadow Legacy, it's merely an omen of things to come.
Once in the actual game, things don't look so bad. Backgrounds are pre-rendered with polygonal characters placed on top of these images, much like the older Resident Evil games. Spyro himself is fluidly animated, and that's where the problems begin. Though Spyro moves smoothly, the pre-rendered backgrounds don't. Moving left, down, up or right means the background image has to scroll, and it does so in a choppy, uneven manner. Simply put, this juxtaposition between Spyro's movements and those of his environment just doesn't look right, and is at best distracting, at worst, headache-inducing.
( Let's just say the above paragraphs are the nicest of the entire review... )
Dec. 16th, 2005 @ 08:22 pm
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| » Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: C-
System: DS
Developer: Clover Studio
Publisher: Capcom
Medium: Cartridge
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: T
Tagline: Probably the most apt subtitle I’ve seen in years.
Considering the hardware it's running on, Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble looks pretty good. In fact, with the DS held about five feet away, the title is almost indistinguishable from its more advanced GameCube and PlayStation 2 brethren. Held closer, however, the sacrifices made to get the title running on the DS become a bit more obvious: lower polygon counts on the characters, low resolution textures. Though it's really not fair to compare the graphics of portable titles to those of much more powerful consoles, it's a testament to the crew over at Clover Studio that, even if just at a distance, Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble looks rather similar to the console Joes.
Of course, this all comes at a price. At most, there's two enemies on-screen at a time, which slows down the action the series is traditionally known for. But it's not too bad, one enemy jumps in as another is defeated and the framerate stays solid. That is, until one encounters an environmental obstacle. The presence of these environmental obstacles - spinning saw blades, trains running through the middle of a stage, deadly lasers - brings the game to a choppy slideshow. Thankfully, the environmental obstacles aren't so prevalent that this becomes a major problem, but it's definitely annoying.
Speaking of slow down, Joe's ability to slow down time remains intact. However, his other powers didn't fare so well in the portable transition. Fast-forward is gone entirely, replaced instead by Scratch, which quite literally allows the player to scratch the screen to damage enemies and solve puzzles by tapping the R trigger. Zoom-in has been modified a bit and is now called Slide, activated by dragging a finger vertically along the side of the DS screen. Whereas the action normally takes place on the bottom screen, with a zoomed-in view of Joe on the top, Slide temporarily switches the screens, stunning enemies and permitting players to solve puzzles by touching a specific part of the environment, such as a button, lever, or keypad.
( . . . )
Dec. 15th, 2005 @ 03:44 pm
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| » Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: A
System: PS2
Developer: Level 5
Publisher: Square Enix
Medium: DVD-ROM
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB Rating: T
Tagline: Like RPGs? Snag this one.
Speaking candidly, I have to admit that I'm not, on any level, a fan of Dragon Ball. Now, I know this may seem an odd way to begin an article meant to discuss the merits of Dragon Quest VIII, but stick with me. You see, the characters of Dragon Quest VIII were designed by Akira Toriyama, who is perhaps better known as the creator of Dragon Ball Z. And in bringing Mr. Toriyama's designs to 3D, developer Level 5 opted for a graphical technique known as cel-shading, which gives the characters a cartoon-esque look. Therefore, when Dragon Quest VIII opens with a shot of its main cast, including a squat, shriveled green monster, a bulky, spikey-helmeted fellow and the relatively normal-looking hero, all bearing the distinctive stylings of Akira Toriyama, you certainly wouldn't at fault for thinking that you've somehow found yourself in the midst of the latest Dragon Ball spinoff.
But fifteen minutes later, that feeling all but disappears. That's all the time it takes for Dragon Quest VIII to introduce what it has to offer, beginning with a bit of story, a smidgen of battle, some brief dialogue, a snippet of exploration, and finally throwing the first of many quests your way. At this point, thanks to some mystery regarding the importance of your party's horse, the persistence of your overbearing Yoda-esque boss, and the delightful British accent of a fellow party member, any qualms regarding the art style are pushed to the back of your mind, replaced instead by a desire to dig deeper into the game itself.
That's because the world of Dragon Quest VIII is a downright charming place. The overworld is a huge, beautiful environment just begging to be explored. I know that sounds trite and cliche, but it's genuinely true - I was frequently sidetracked from my quests just because I wanted to see if I could get up to that cliff or what was beyond that hill.
( Yea, it's good. But you knew that. And I ran out of time writing this review, so it's a little short. )
Nov. 16th, 2005 @ 03:53 pm
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| » Guitar Hero |
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The sheer awesomness of Guitar Hero makes it that much harder to plop myself in front of the computer and write about games I didn't like all that much, like Zatch Bell or Gretzky NHL 06. I mean, the guitar is right there, not even five feet away from me.
Oh, and Shadow of the Colossus was everything I was hoping for and more. Looking forward to replaying it whenever the next dry spell hits.
Anyways, back to "Bark at the Moon."
Nov. 7th, 2005 @ 05:04 pm
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| » Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles |
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Score: D
System: PS2, GC
Developer: Eighting
Publisher: Bandai
Medium: DVD-ROM
Players: 1-2
Online: No
ESRB Rating: Teen
Tag Line: An ultimately forgettable combination of Super Smash Brothers with a traditional 3D fighter.
Imitation isn't a bad thing, especially when properly done. In fact, it's how games have evolved since the very beginning. One developer does one thing, another developer sees some unrealized potential in the concept, another sees a way to expand upon their effort, and so on. Unfortunately, for every forward step, there's a lot of missteps along the path, games that just didn't live to whatever inspired them. Unfortunately, Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles is one of those missteps.
That's not to say Zatch Bell is a horrible game. It fares slightly better than that, ending up as a decent, yet ultimately forgettable, fighter that fans of Zatch Bell will surely dig. But unless you're a huge Zatch fan, you're not going to care one bit that this is a Zatch Bell game. Rather, you're scoping out the gameplay, hoping this is one of those rare licensed games with such awesome gameplay their appeal extends to those not familiar with the license. And that's just not the case here.
That's because after the first ten minutes, you've come dangerously close to mastering the game. The control scheme is simple, one button for physical attacks, one button for spells, a block button, an evade button, and a super-attack that must be charged for a few seconds before use. Without complex combos to memorize, most fights can simply be won through mashing the two attack buttons.
( Like Super Smash Brothers, minus everthing that made SSB worth playing. )
Nov. 7th, 2005 @ 05:02 pm
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| » Hands-On: Dragon Quest 8 (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Since everyone reading this has probably played Dragon Quest 8, it seems a bit redudant to post the preview in its entirety. Still, it's over at Gaming-Age for those interested.
Nov. 2nd, 2005 @ 06:24 pm
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| » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: C
System: PSP
Developer: G-artists
Publisher: Bandai
Medium: UMD
Players: 1-4
Online: No
ESRB Rating: Teen
Tag Line: Good, just not great.
As a franchise, Ghost in the Shell may be best described as polymorphic as it's not restricted to just one market. Not just a movie, not just a manga, not just an action figure line, not just a popular television show, and not just a video game, Ghost in the Shell is all of these, sometimes more than once. And remarkably, knowledge in one aspect of the massive Ghost in the Shell machine isn't necessary to enjoy another, so those that have never read the manga can enjoy the movie, those that have never seen the show can enjoy the game, and so forth.
In the realm of gaming, though, Ghost in the Shell has been rather hit-or-miss. Long ago, longer than I'd like to admit, Exact and THQ conspired to bring us Ghost in the Shell on PSOne, an action-shooter that, in the tradition of Ghost in the Shell, turned out to be a cult-classic. Unfortunately, Bandai and Cavia's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex on the PS2 didn't fare so well, widely criticized for its short length and initially-awkward controls. This time around, Bandai's snatched up the latest collaboration between Sony Computer Entertainment Japan and G-artists, a fun but somewhat flawed first-person shooter that ends up much like its predecessor.
( . . . )
Nov. 1st, 2005 @ 09:27 am
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| » Jak X: Combat Racing (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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Score: B-
System: PlayStation 2
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony
Medium: DVD-ROM
Players: 1-2
Online: Yes
ESRB Rating: Teen
Tag Line: The best cart racer in years, though that’s not saying much.
Last year, I wasn't so nice to Jak 3. Specifically, it felt like Naughty Dog just couldn't decide if they wanted to make a racer, a platformer or a car combat game, so they went ahead and did all three, with some other miscellaneous genres thrown in for good measure. Though variety in games is encouraged to keep the player from getting bored, Jak 3 just tried to do too much and left me feeling more disoriented and frustrated than entertained.
With Jak X, it looks like Naughty Dog has learned from their mistakes, at least in part. Jak X: Combat Racing, as the title implies, focuses more on the combat and racing elements of the Jak universe. Gone is the platforming, left instead to the upcoming PSP title Daxter, so we're left with a game that's all about going as fast as you possibly can while attempting to blow up everything that moves. In other words, a cart racer in the vein of Mario Kart. But despite being more limited in genre than Jak 3, it's definitely not lacking in variety.
That's mostly thanks to a well-designed single player campaign that's constantly switching up your objectives, ensuring you're not doing the same thing over and over again. Apart from the obvious racing and time trial bits, there's Turbo Dash, which has the player blasting through the stage, using turbo at every opportunity to fill up Power Cells, Freeze Rally, which puts the player in hunt of Time Freeze icons in hopes of getting a low time, Death Race, where the track is filled with enemy drones and your objective is to destroy as many of them as possible, and Rush Hour, where the goal is to run into select colors of enemy drones. Taking a break from racing, there's the self-explanatory Deathmatch mode, the expected Capture the Flag mode, Artifact Race, where artifacts spawn across the map and the player who collects the most wins, and finally, Assassin mode, in which one player is selected as the target and everyone else is on a mission to destroy them.
( ... )
Oct. 29th, 2005 @ 05:01 pm
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| » Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex [PSP] Hands-On (For Gaming-Age.com) |
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"Oh no, not another generic first-person shooter," I thought upon booting the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex preview code Bandai just sent over. Now, I know the PSP hasn't seen that many first-person shooters, but the formula for a first-person shooter based on a license is pretty well-refined, requiring only a franchise's distinctive weaponry and setting to pull off. And honestly, the first mission didn't do much to change my mind. Fighting with the controls, I mindlessly ran around, tapping the right trigger whenever I saw a bad guy. Skipping through the in-game cinematics to the next mission, I didn't expect much of a change.
But then something weird happened. This mission had an actual objective that went beyond killing every bad guy in sight, and even more, I actually failed it because I wasn't stealthy enough. Eventually I made my way further in the level, and that's when something really cool happened.
But first, you need to know about Tachikomas. In the world of Ghost in the Shell, there are these walking, talking, spider-like tanks known as Tachikomas. And in the game, a Tachikoma accompanies you throughout most missions, generally providing backup. You can even assume direct control of them if you'd like, a great course of action if you're running low on health.
Anyways, I walk into this warehouse and I'm ambushed from all sides. I go up to the balcony and start slaughtering bad guys, and as I'm coming down the stairs, a group rushes me from my right. That's when my Tachikoma casually walks up to them and repeatedly blasts them all with the shotgun I equipped it with before the mission. Bam, no more bad guys to my right.
Okay, that might not sound quite as awesome to you, but this incident was enough to show me that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex might be more than just another generic shooter. So I decided to give it another chance.
( ... )
Oct. 20th, 2005 @ 09:48 am
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| » Coming Soon |
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Lots of stuff coming up, some good, some not so. Between this and school, the next few weeks are packed, not to mention my upcoming attempts at squeezing some time into Shadow of the Colossus.
Jak X: Combat Racing [PS2]
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex [PSP]
Dragon Quest 8 [PS2]
Guitar Hero [PS2]
Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles [PS2]
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow [PS2]
DICE: DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises [PS2]
Oct. 19th, 2005 @ 01:16 pm
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| » Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 |
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Score: B-
System(s): PS2
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Medium: DVD-ROM
Players: 1-2
Online: Yes
ESRB: E10+
Tagline: What DDR fans have come to expect.
It's been a while since I've played a DDR game. Ever since the series first hit America back in 2001, I was pretty adamant about picking up the latest version, to the point where I spent an embarrassing amount of time with Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix. But then, about the time DDR Max hit PS2, the series and I just started to grow apart. Oh sure, I'd still get the latest mix and play it for a bit, but I wasn't so gung-ho about getting it immediately upon release, and as time passed, my dance pad saw less and less use. I didn't end up grabbing DDR Max until DDR Max 2 came out, and it wasn't until DDR Extreme was upon us that DDR Max 2 earned a place on my shelf. And just as I was getting ready to go get last year's DDR Extreme, DDR Extreme 2 appeared at my door.
Despite my lack of experience with DDR Extreme, I still have a decent idea of what it brought to the table. I know there was a nifty Mission Mode, and the various EyeToy mini-games were considered more of a novelty than anything else. Looking at the songlist, it appears Extreme was also a decent mix of classic DDR songs (.59, Kick the Can, Drop the Bomb) and newer, licensed material (Planet Rock, Move Your Feet).
Unsurprisingly, Extreme 2 continues this trend, mixing contemporary tracks (Sean Paul's Get Bust, Fatboy Slim's Wonderful Night, Sneaker Pimp's Spin Spin Sugar) with the more traditional DDR songs (Butterfly (Upswing Mix), Boom Boom Dollar (K.O.G G3 Mix), Brilliant 2U, Dynamite Rave).
But here's where Extreme 2 changes things up a bit. In previous DDR games, the bulk of the songlist was unlocked through continual play, the general rule of thumb a new song for every five songs played. Unfortunately, Extreme 2 does away with this. Instead, Extreme 2's unlockable songs are tied to performance, such as earning high scores in the various gameplay modes or accomplishments in Dance Master Mode, similar to Extreme's Mission Mode. Presented with a specific song and challenge, players must pass this challenge to proceed to the next song, eventually unlocking new characters, songs, arrow designs and gameplay modes in the store's shop. Once unlocked, items can be purchased using points earned from playing through the game.
( LiveJournal-Exclusive Story: One time I broke my foot because of DDR. Yes, seriously. )
Oct. 19th, 2005 @ 12:59 pm
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