Janus O's Video Game Studies

Old-School Gaming Review: Super Metroid

The Metroid series is known for having the first major franchise to have a female protagonist. Today, I’m going to discuss what many people say is the best of the series: Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Only in recent years have the storylines of the series achieved any significant depth. Mostly, a story was an excuse for the player to be on the mission rather than an important part of gameplay. So Super Metroid’s storyline is fairly weak, but it’s excusable.

The graphics of the game are darkly beautiful by SNES standards. From Brinstar, with its eerie plant-like environment to Maridia, a watery cave setting, the omnious volcanic area of Lower Norfair, this game is certainly a great setting to play in.

 The sound effects aren’t anything particularly special, but the music is definitely some of the best I’ve heard. Brinstar’s music is simply intoxicating, and almost worth relaxing to, while Lower Norfair’s powerful drum beats and epic melody really gets the heart pounding. It is one of the best soundtracks of the SNES era, hands down.

But where this game truly shines is its gameplay and controls. Samus Aran, the protagonist of the Metroid series, controls like a dream in this game, not being too slidey nor too stiff, and being extremely responsive to commands. The foes she faces are numerous and varied, but the bosses are especially fun to fight.

Though it’s short, and may not have replay value at first glance , there are numerous difficult-to-perform tricks, and even glitches that only experts can exploit that allow a veteran player to challenge themselves in new ways. If you get good, try attempting to get through the game with only 15% of the items, or beat the bosses in reverse order! Believe me, it’s not easy.

Though this game is no longer being produced in the form of a cartridge, you can shell out $8 for 800 Wii Points and download it for the Virtual Console, though you may need a Classic Classic controller to play it. But believe me, it’ probably better than much of the Wii’s current lineup…

I’m going to have a very fun Winter Break.

Hopefully, my Winter Break will spent, among other things, having fun with two new Wii games: Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, both well-recieved games. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the main man of video games for a spin, and I feel Galaxy will fit the bill nicely. I’ve seen videos of Metroid Prime 3 gameplay, and I’m quite excited to try it out.

Though I’m personally waiting for Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Wii is still selling like hotcakes.

Once again, the Nintendo Wii is apparently THE hot gift for the holiday season, and the PS3 and XBox 360 fanboys are still scratching their heads. My thought on this is thus: the age of casual gaming has truly begun. It was alluded to in the decreasing difficulty in newer games, but now with the coming of the Wii and its motion sensor controls, we have entered a new age.

 Long live the party games.

Game Design Brief

Title: Super Intern

Short Description: Super Intern: College students always look for an edge to “get their foot in the door.” To get their name out there as quickly as possible to have a career when they graduate. One way to do this: get an internship. However, that may not always be enough. There could be times when one is asked to do something they do not. On one hand it’s risky but it could reward them to automatically filling in a spot for a job. On the other hand, one could keep to their morals, but in the eyes of higher ups, not taking this risk could result in being a “game over.” Super Intern places you in different situations for different internships. There are several goals whether it’s, sneaking into another company and stealing ideas or going to an opposing team and stealing play calls. The choice is yours, even if the right choice might be the wrong.

Game Objects: There are several objects in this game. Being a “platformer,” objects are developed for the main character, “The Intern.” While other objects will be used as football players in one levels case or opposing people from other businesses. Other objects being used are the blocks to act as “platforms” for the character to move around if jumping cannot get them to certain areas. Points will be rewarded for collecting the necessary items or even quick “power-ups” that can help you complete your objective.

Sounds: Many sounds will also be used. When the intern is hurt we will need a sound indicating damage as well as a “success” alert to let the player know they’ve achieved the necessary goals. There will also be a “jump” sound that comes on anytime the character is jumping to a platform and/or avoiding the enemy.

Controls: The player can move around with the arrow keys with the up arrow allowing the intern to jump. The spacebar is brought in if the character can get items like cameras or guns to “shoot” certain objects.

Game Flow: The players score will start at 0 but will go up by a certain number of points depending on what evidence is collected. There are also points given out if the intern can “bribe” one of the enemies away or even takes them out to complete their goal. There will be a high score but that comes with taking more risks and getting more information.

Levels: There are three levels. One level will place the intern at a game company but your boss wants you to find out some information from a rival company. The more information you can get on these new games: the better. Another level pits you with a football team however the Coach “Big Bill” demands you to sneak onto the rivals’ side and steal some play calls and signals. Finally there is another level that demands you dig up any dirt that another head CEO can use to bring the president of its rival company down. The difficulty will depend on you the player. To be successful, more risks need to be taken. Get caught: and your player faces jail time. Come back empty: and you lose your internship.

DEWmocracy

Sounds like a bad rip-off of Blade Runner and Final Fantasy games. *rolls eyes*

Machinima

http://vimeo.com/377260

This was a pretty easy scene to act out, as it required very little movement and only two people. Half-Life Team Fortress 2 provided lip movements and facial expressions for the characters, so all we had to do is look for the phrases that worked best.

 The only significant problem (which we eventually got around) was the fact that the black guy only had a beer bottle and a grenade launcher as a weapon. So, instead of just getting shot in the arm, the other guy got blown up, which, in retrospect, was funnier.

 All and all, it was okay, making something like this.

Machinima Audio Source

Audio source

 This is the famous “English motherf**ker, do you speak it?!” scene.

Review: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, is considered by those disappointed with the 3D games today, to be the last great system. And one of the last games to appear on that system is also one of its best: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.

In terms of chronology, this game is the first in the timeline. In this game, you do not play as either of the famous Mario brothers. Rather, you play as one of the dinosaur steeds who had been their good friends in the first Super Mario World: the Yoshis. And it is an adventure that can be enjoyed by all.

The story is fairly simple…the evil wizard Kamek sees the Mario Brothers posing trouble in the future, and orders his flunkies to capture the stork, who is delivering the two babies to their parents, and bring them back to him. While the grunts do capture the stork, they lose one of the babies, Baby Mario, who falls onto the back of a green Yoshi. The green Yoshi, alongside his friends, who are Yoshis of other colors, decide to reunite the two babies and free the stork.  

 The first impression given is the graphics.And this game SCREAMS “kiddy”. Its graphics are colorful, bright, and often cute, even in the creepier castle levels. But it is an example of some of the most beautifully done graphics ever done for this system. Turning away from this game just because it looks kiddy will be denying yourself one of the best 2D platform adventures ever designed.

The sound, along with the graphics, also is pretty kid-friendly. Many of the tunes are frightfully catchy, ranging from the sedate lazy tunes of the game’s first level, “Make Eggs, Throw Eggs”, to the upbeat, energetic and extremely catchy theme in the game’s fifth level “Hop! Hop! Donut Lifts!” and right up to the game’s final battle, which hits you with a punk rock and electric guitar theme. And when Yoshi touches one of the white puffballs known simply as Fuzzies, the music slows down as Yoshi stumbles about in a wavy and distorted level in what may be the closest thing to depicting an actual drug “trip” you’ll ever see in a kid’s game, which can create a sense of ilinx, or sensory disruption. 

The gameplay, of course, is central. And it does not disappoint. Your mission in each level is to get to the goal with Baby Mario on your back so you can pass him to the next Yoshi, in sort of a relay. You drop Baby Mario if you get hit, and the combination of a ticking timer and an incessantly crying Baby Mario motivate the player to get him back.

There are several ways to go through this game: you can blaze through the levels and get through as fast as possible. That’s all well and good, but this game also rewards exploration and a good deal of thinking with a points system. In every level there are 20 Red Coins (camouflaged as regular coins) and 5 special Flowers. These, along with remaining Stars on the meter, contribute to the score for the level. To ensure getting a perfect 100 points (30 Stars, 20 Red Coins, 5 Flowers), the player must explore almost every nook and cranny of the level and try everything. Many levels hide Flowers and Red Coins in secret areas that most would ignore, and a few levels are only beaten by a little thinking, as well as trial and error. 

The game’s learning curve is pretty gradual, telling you about abilities just as they’re about to come into play. While using the abilities is easy enough, knowing how to make the most of them can confound some players. The difficulty progression is very good…it starts off easy and ends on a reasonably difficult way, making it enjoyable for players of all ages.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island is a game for the Super Nintendo that should be in every gamer’s library, as it is the gold standard of what a good 2D platform game can be. Though it may be difficult to find the original outside of Ebay, you can also pick up Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, for the Game Boy Advance, which is a portable remake of the game, with another set of special levels that are unlocked after beating it.

The blame game once again…

Will it ever end?

 Once again, people are pointing fingers at video games for causing violent crime. It’s really making me sick. What the heck is giving people the idea that video games make us want to go out and blow people’s heads off?

In almost every instance of something like this, the cause has been something different. In this case, it’s police officers being plain dunderheads, and gangs getting their hands on military-grade weapons. Gangs are caused by the society they live in, which gives most gang members, which are low-income city dwellers who live in slums, no other option.