The player is able to control either Jill Valentine or her partner Chris Redfield while scavenging through this seemingly ordinary mansion. There are distinct differences between their respective stories and the characters themselves, some being overtly sexist. For example, Jill is not able to tolerate as many hits from enemies as Chris and she is able to carry more items. Other differences include, Jill having a lockpicking ability and starting off with her own pistol. Whereas, Chris has to search for keys in order to unlock doors and has to depend on a minor character to complete a task.

Resident Evil may not have a vast selection of enemies to annihilate with brute force but the player remains wary and apprehensive due to the fixed camera angles which only add to the tension. You can never forecast what can be lurking around the next corner.

The synopsis of Resident Evil is simple enough to follow and may even seem very-much predictable but this does not detract from how enjoyable the game is which can still be appreciated presently despite its flaws; a main one being the unbearable and laughable voice acting.

The first half of the game does not contain much complexity; the player can adjust to the awkward controls as the game progresses and combat can be easily avoided if chosen. After returning back to the central area of the mansion after a brief detour and a meeting with a murderous plant, the player is introduced to the ‘Hunters’, much more lethal and agile than your average lumbering zombies. Hunters can quite efficiently defeat the player by jumping behind and proceeding to use their deadly claws. If the health status happens to be at ‘Cautious’ or lower then the Hunter’s coup de grace (a solitary slash) should be expected and evaded carefully when retreating.

Players can save via various typewriters strategically placed in the game but in order to do this you must acquire ink ribbons which are not abundant. You must then decide if it is appropriate to save now or can this be forestalled. It is likely that not saving will work against you, if you unfortunately did not save your game and met your untimely death then you must load from the last point from which you did save. Having experienced this justified aggravation and frustration, I tried to save after completing any taxing task.

Another feature of Resident Evil worth commenting on are the magical, mystifying storage chests. If at any point of the game the player is struggling to organize their inventory, they can then go to their nearest ‘Save Room’ and be greeted by the calming music upon entering. In these rooms there are no enemies and are usually health items and ammunition scattered around to aid you. The chest itself can hold any unnecessary items which can be accessed later at any other chest too.

Resident Evil can be underestimated greatly. Puzzles cannot be classified as intricate but can be surprisingly challenging if the common sense behind them is not understood. It can be as simple as not examining an item or failing to pay attention to notes. Enemies can also outwit you, bosses are not easy to tackle if not equipped with the suitable weapons and you must frequently think of ways to conserve any of your items. This may mean trying to survive without using your shotgun, unless it’s a boss fight or not allowing to heal yourself only if you are veering towards the ‘Danger’ status. For these very same reasons, Resident Evil is considered the first game to birth the term, ‘survival horror’.

The Resident Evil franchise has transformed over the years and this has been viewed as something positive. Current installments lack elements that their predecessors incorporated to attract more gamers and to put in layman’s terms, to move on from the old and on to the new. Having said this, Resident Evil is far from a perfect game, it can even be described harshly as having an unintelligible, badly executed storyline but what it does competently is to thrill and scare while constantly making you question, ‘What am I going to face next? How much further till salvation?’ Resident Evil was a breakthrough and is to this day to any gamer familiar with to the survival horror genre who can value its contribution to late 1990s gaming, giving it the famous reputation it still retains.

Made by the now defunct Stormfront Studios and published by Electronic Arts, The Two Towers covered both the first movie and the second movie. While a slight bit confusing, I’d say it was a good call considering the game they made on the first movie sucked my balls. The Two Towers may be the best Lord of the Rings game I’ve played, besides the PC series Battle for Middle Earth, and it far surpasses any other game featuring Viggo Mortenson.

Now, I want to make it known that I hate the “hack and slash” genre of games that polluted 2001 through 2006. I guess “hack and slash” came from the “beat ‘em up” games of the early arcade days, and anyone can see that considering the similarities of both kinds of games. Both games suck, but The Two Towers does nearly everything right.

The game takes you to the two film’s locations, but staying true to its genre, it makes you fight every enemy ever. Who you fight with though is your choice, be it Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli. In the prologue however, you’re forced to play as Isildur and fight in the first movie’s opening scene. Oh, and you also have to play as Aragorn during the attack on Weathertop where Frodo is stabbed by a Morgul blade.

After that, you’re tasked with continuing the Quest of the Ring where the Council of Elrond has already taken place, and you’re now a member of the Fellowship. You follow the path of the movies, but you’re given a lot more actions, and then a boss fight through each level. While the enemies are just normal orcs and goblins, the bosses are actually quite fun, ranging from the Watcher in the Water to a cave troll and, even Saruman at the end-game bonus level.

It follows the first movie until the Fellowship splits up, and then follows the path of the three hunters all the way to Helm’s Deep. I’d say it follows the movies pretty well, but I honestly have no idea how Aragorn, Legolas or Gimli were there to defend the Westfold of Rohan since King Theoden said it happened before Eomer was banished, and that’s when they meet the three.  So basically, if you’ve seen the movies or read the books, you know what’s going on.

The gameplay is well done, and although the levels feel linear, I liked playing them and often did more than once. Of course, you could take in the fact that I was fourteen when I first played the game, and that was two years after it was released. But, I did play it again earlier, and I still find it to be one of the greatest games I’ve played.

I guess the only things I could really say about this game are just nit-picky and modernized, but I’m still going to state them. The graphics back then were lauded well and even won Stormfront a wholly deserved award for visual engineering by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in 2003, but now the presentation looks very dated. While you could say that about any game before 2009, I feel it’s especially true for The Two Towers, even on the Xbox (which arguably had the best visuals). The role play elements (progression system) could have been a bit better, considering I still have no idea how to kill anything perfectly, but that could be because I’m bad at games. You were rated for killing enemies, and I don’t think that may have been the best thing for the game. Sure, it makes it seem a little more like an arcade game, but I just think they added it in for you to get more combos. The game was also a bit buggy, but what game has zero bugs? The fact that you couldn’t play as Boromir for at least the first part of the game was also a disappointment, but maybe I’m petty.

In summation, I will reiterate that this is one of the greatest games I’ve played. If you can get past the few flaws it has, and you’re not a total cock, then you’ll play the best movie licensed game released.  Too bad Return of the King had to piss all over the greatness.

I'd be yellow too if I were in space without a suit, for a different reason however.

At its core the game has been left alone, thank the gaming gods for that one. we still get our side scrolling goodness that made us love the series way back in the day. Yes, there was a time when Sonic the Hedgehog was better than Super Mario. That’s right I said it.

The graphics are classic Genesis greatness, none of this HD fancy pantsy stuff. This is from a time when games relied on actual gameplay rather than the pizazz of graphics. The environments are large with more than one way to get from point A to point B, adding a lot of extra game time. The sprites are still from Sonic 3 but that’s ok, why fix something if it isn’t broken?  The sounds of yesteryear are here with a little added clarity. There is something about the chime of the rings that sends me to my warm and happy place.  Back in the day I used play games on a mono speaker TV, sad I know.  Now that I have full surround sound all the classics just sound awesome. Sorry got a little emotional there for a second, i’m just glad to see Sonic being so awesome again.

The gameplay is classic Sonic. Sonic and Knuckles uses the same engine as Sonic 3 with a few additions. In 1994 everything had to be updated to make Knuckles work in the Sonic universe. As we know he can glyde, climb at will and also run through certain block walls. This was a big deal back then but now, not so much. Sorry kiddies, you just had to be there to appreciate it.

Sonic and Knuckles has always been a solid game and the re-release of this great title promotes that statement even more, and it’s still a blast to play. What really makes this game so great on XBLA is that we also get Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Knuckles in Sonic 2, and Blue Sphere. This download is Achievement whore friendly. I earned 5 achievements in less than twenty minutes. If you’re a Sonic fan, this game should be in your virtual library. For 400 Microsoft points you can’t go wrong, especially when you’re given three other games to go with it. ‘Nuff said.

How boss was this toy? It's why I still get Kids Meals!

Kirby’s Dream Course may have been a bit overshadowed by the mammoth Nintendo 64 about to be released.  It’s a shame I don’t hear too many people go on about this game, it’s just as great and charming as Kirby Super Star in my book.  Enough about nostalgia, let’s get into the actual mechanics of this superb golf title.  While many Kirby games can be labeled as easy, I would say the same does not go for Dream Course.  The challenge is that you must knock out every enemy, and in turn, the final enemy turns into the hole.  Everytime you miss an enemy, you lose one of four hit points you are assigned, once all four are lost you must replay the entire course…sounds simple, right?  The game is simple to play, yet hard to master; you have control over the height, spin, and power of your hit, so with all of these factors it can be very tough to land the perfect shot.  You will find yourself trying to perfect the art of bouncing Kirby off a wall at just the right angle to make him hit an enemy and then fall into the hole…I have never been addicted to a golf game in my life, so this was a first.

Single player won’t last you a long time, since there are only eight courses to play through (eight holes per course), but I think that the pick-up-and-play nature of the game will keep you coming back.  Don’t let the somewhat short length scare you off; if you are a perfectionist like myself, you won’t quit until you get gold medals on every course.  If you are good enough to score silver or gold medals on all of the normal courses, you are rewarded with an extra course, as well.  Again, may not be much, but I have always thought “quality over quantity”, and this game is bursting from the seams with quality.  The gameplay is solid, and I think the addition of items adds some depth.  I think my favorite power-ups were Parasol and Super-Jump, since they helped when I hit Kirby a bit too hard or in the wrong direction.  Tornado could be seen as quite useful, but it can be somewhat hard to control, as Kirby gets quite a boost, and you find yourself overshooting the hole.

While the single player was lots of fun, I think it shines just as brightly in the multiplayer mode, as well.  It’s a bit of a letdown to see only four playable courses.  Everything is the same from single player, but now you have to change up your strategy a bit.  Every time you hit an enemy you get a star, and sinking it in the hole gives you two stars, problem is, your friends can hit your old stars and obtain them.  Many times I found myself spending time just figuring out how to steal stars, rather than thinking about getting to the hole.  Stealing stars becomes a real game changer; in the course of one hole, you can go from a good lead to dead last, if your friend is a bit sneaky.  Apart from that, the item system is still intact and actually is even more important this time around.  I made some awesome comebacks in Multiplayer by just knowing the right time to use an offensive attack.  At the same time, I had instances were I would use a Super Jump too late, and end up flying off the edge of the stage.  Simply put, these items can be your friends or your enemies, so be patient and learn when to use them, this will make it hard for you to be defeated.

This game falls into a genre that is a bit odd; it’s not a platformer, and also comes off as an offbeat sport title…if anything, it would best be described as “unique.”  While it may have been forgotten by many, I am hoping that with the virtual console it finds a new audience or have us SNES fans remembering “the good ol’ days.”  Overall, everything from the bright graphics to the upbeat music are the definition of “charming”.  Just as fun as it was back in ’96, and I actually appreciate it more now than ever, since it seemed to have aged fairly well.  For just 800 points on the Wii Virtual Console, this is something that I think everybody should check out, even if mini-golf isn’t your thing.  At the very least, play it at a friends house, because just one course on this charming little title and you’ll be hooked.

In the third installment, DK and Diddy are captured and it is up to Dixie and Kiddy to team up and save them…yeah, its the usual “been there, done that” feeling you get with most long-running Nintendo franchises.  Anyways, The problem I had was that while Dixie is quick and has a very useful helicopter move with her hair, Kiddy feels absolutely useless.  I had the displeasure of being stuck as Kiddy the entire game, since my girlfriend and I did co-op, and she felt that she should be the girl character, so I saw firsthand how sluggish and awkward he is.  So if you are just playing this on single player, don’t be surprised if you find yourself never playing as Kiddy unless you get Dixie killed.

In his case, its okay to shake a baby.

While the visuals and music stay pretty much solid throughout, I think the main problem with DKC3, is the fact that the developers ran out of ideas.  Looking back at DKC (my favorite in the series), it had a good mix of platforming, creature-based levels, and gimmicks (for instance, the mine cart levels).  With DKC2, we saw those great attributes fleshed out a bit more and it kept it fresh, while DKC3 tried to do everything and was just kind of sloppy with the execution.  I think the fact that we have already been on a similar adventure twice before, will really turn a lot of gamers off, since DKC3 didn’t really improve very much.  Even though I didn’t care for the characters, I must say the addition of an open world map was pretty cool and unique for the time this came out.  You would ride around in a watercraft to various islands on the map (you can usually choose between a few at a time), but there were limits.  Once you beat an area, Funky Kong would upgrade your craft so you can go over terrain, and get farther along in the game.  Even though it seems pretty typical, I thought it was cool that I sometimes had a choice as to where I wanted to start first.

The gameplay this time around seemed to take a huge hit.  I thought this game would be “more of the same” which is never a bad thing with such a good series, but it seemed like the team over at Rareware, just didn’t put as much love into the level design;  there was less fun platforming, and more tedious bullshit.  The only reason I could think this game felt unpolished, was the fact that it came out around the time of the Nintendo 64, and most developers were more excited about the future generations of gaming.  There were so many levels that relied on trial and error with you hitting the right switches, making the right jumps in a mine cart, etc.  While I found many levels annoying, there was one that reigned supreme in the kingdom of cheap, crap levels…”Lightning Look-Out”.  In this level, not only are there baddies, but you are also having to dodge lightning every few seconds.  It wouldn’t be so bad if there wasn’t water throughout the entire level, and if you didn’t hit that barrel JUST right, you land in the water and get electrocuted.  As you progress and get closer to the end, you will find that you are no longer having fun and pretty  much just beating the game, instead of it beating you.

Bad monkey.

Wrapping up, this is a game you should get if you just have a lot of nostalgia for it or are a completest.  I know I sounded a bit harsh, but this really isn’t an awful game…I just feel it isn’t good enough to be a part of the DKC series.  If you are looking for a good platformer, stick with the original two, and leave it at that.  With uninspired gameplay that didn’t keep the formula fresh enough, you will find yourself becoming bored and really having to force yourself to finish.  To me, that does not make a good gaming experience, and your 800 Nintendo Points can be spent on something better in the Virtual Console library.

"Hey! HEY! You fine. Why don't we put down these swords and - AH MY ARM!"

Star Wars fans haven’t exactly been taken care of in the last decade. The only shining light truly being a game called “Knights of the Old Republic” by famed RPG developer, Bioware. It was released in 2003, and was quickly hailed as one of the greatest games of its generation. But that’s it. After ten years that’s all that fans can truly be proud of. Sure there were other projects, some of which could even be considered “good,” but very few are memorable.

Star Wars fans haven’t exactly been taken care of in the last decade. The only shining light truly being a game called “Knights of the Old Republic” by famed RPG developer, Bioware. It was released in 2003, and was quickly hailed as one of the greatest games of its generation. But that’s it. After ten years that’s all that fans can truly be proud of. Sure there were other projects, some of which could even be considered “good,” but very few are memorable.

Released less than one month before hand: “Star Wars Galaxies” from the same team behind the hugely popular “Everquest.” Many forget that “Everquest” was the “World of Warcraft” of its time. It seemed like a match made in heaven. Little did fans realize, SWG would become the perfect embodiment of all that had gone wrong with the franchise.

Let’s face it, the first time any Star Wars saw an MMO in action, they all thought the same thing. The idea of being able to live in the SW universe seemed like a dream, and yet here was a chance to do so. I don’t envy the development team; it was a huge undertaking.

What was released in 2003 was one of the most ambitious MMOs of all time. I remember logging in on the first week, creating my character, and going to Tatooine. I opened my map and decided to walk to Mos Eisley, expecting it to take me five or ten minutes to go half way across the planet. It took me about two hours. In “Everquest” you would take five steps before hitting a load screen, and here was one out of ten planets.

"Hey! HEY! You fine. Why don't we put down these swords and - AH MY LEG!"

Like most MMOs, the launch was a bit shaky. Severs went off and on. Bugs were plentiful. It took months to get vehicles and mounts in the game, meaning that we’d have to walk everywhere we wanted to go. But it had potential. Every MMO is a work in progress, and the developer, SOE, set the foundation for something huge. I was hooked.

It was the first MMO that I had ever played that gave a sense of ownership. Anyone could have a house. Not just an instance, an actual place in the world where you could go. People would pass it going to a fro. You could allow anyone to walk in and see your stuff. They weren’t all the same static model, either, nor were they filled with the same stock furniture. You placed your most prized possessions on display. You had the control.

Even the class system provided freedom. You didn’t choose one class from level one to eighty. You decided which skills you wanted. You could mix and match to create your own combination. There weren’t levels, it gave you a “title” when you achieved a certain skill set. It’s the way MMOs should be: The developers create a world and you live in it. With every restriction, it turns more into a linear game rather that a living, breathing world.

"You don't understand, we were in the entire series! We're worth at least $5."

SWG’s potential quickly faded though. The developers seemed more focus on adding a constant stream of new content rather than fixing what was already there. Many features were broken or incomplete, and they would sit in the game for years before taken care of, and by that I mean replaced with a new system that was even worse off. Players were disgruntled, and numbers started to dwindle. Even the lure of Star Wars lore couldn’t save this sinking ship.

Perhaps it was written from the start. In hindsight, a Star Wars MMO that launched without space should have been a tipping point. That’s like releasing a pirate MMO without water. They eventually released a space-centric expansion pack, but it felt like a separate game rather than a fluent addition.

The slow unraveling of the game was made official when an “update” was released which took away the profession system and replaced it with nine very “WoW”-esk options. Suddenly there was a level system and combat had more of a shooter vibe. Once again, the development team tried to create something new rather than fix what was there. This was the final straw for many loyal players.

Without SWG, the unemployment rate for MMO Storm Troopers sky rocketed.

Now, a new Star Wars MMO has been announced. And from the same company that made KOTOR, no less. Not much has been announced, but the stuff that has looks promising. Anyone who has played “Mass Effect” can see the direction Bioware is taking it’s games. It looks like the same level of detail will be given to the online world.

The game seems to be focusing on story, which hasn’t been done to this extent on an MMO before. Every character, both NPC and player characters, will have voice overs. No more wall of text to bore you. And the story options change depending on who’s with you.

A class system has already been announced, and I seriously doubt it will contain the level of freedom that SWG did at its prime. That may not be a bad thing, though. Maybe structure is what a good MMO needs. It may provide Bioware more freedom to make the game what they want it to be, and they have a great track record of creating rich worlds. KOTOR and Mass Effect were almost MMO in scope. It’s not wise to get excited about anything Star Wars related these days, but it’s hard to not get your hype meter going with these guys.

Don't pay the monthly fees and it's the Rancor for you.

After the latest released Bioware video, it made me want to start up SWG again. If for anything, just to see how the game plays six years later. Luckily, they were having a “play for free” week. I must say, I was surprised at what direction it has taken.

There is more emphasis than ever on collecting. Collector’s items that were easy to get during a certain time period are now worth a fortune. It just reinforces how much more items are valued in this game, especially compared to other MMOs. These are items that provide absolutely no benefit to player. You simply put them in your house. And yet players are spending more on them than weapons and armor.

I don’t blame them though. The combat is still not fun. Missions are even more boring than WoW. All the good missions are usually a hassle to get to, provide minimal rewards, and/or require other people to complete. Other people being a surprisingly scarce resource.

It was almost eerie to walk through major cities and see so few people. To see someone else was so uncommon that it would often warrant a “stop-and-chat.” When I went into the chat channels, I scrolled through the fifty or so official channels and didn’t find one person. Cantinas, which use to be hot-spots, were bare. Just a few years ago it wasn’t uncommon to even run into people in the middle of nowhere.

If you thought it was annoying in Ep 2, I've got good news for - oh wait, I don't.

The biggest addition is a Trading Card Game which is playable either in-game or through a separate application. It’s just another thing that goes onto the “features no one asked for, and no one needs” list, and the “desperate attempt to make money” list as well. Having to buy virtual cards with real money to play a card game within a game is excessive to say the least. The only real saving grace is that some packs contain items that can be redeemed in the actual game. More collections.

SWG is more fun in theory than when actually playing it. The parts that should be fun aren’t and vice versa. SOE has found a way to make being a Jedi tedious and stale. I wouldn’t want the game to go away for good, but I don’t want to have to pay to play it either. I consider it a lost cause. After six years, you have to accept things for what they are. The devs will never work on this game enough to make it good. Bioware, you’re on deck.

Known as Dragon Ball: Final Bout in Japan, adding two letters doesn’t make it better.

By inputing a code, you could add 5 new characters bringing the tally to 27. 27 horrible characters.

Enter Dragon Ball Z: Legends (Idainaru Denetsu). Released on the Sega Saturn and Playstation in 1996, it is a far cry different from the previously listed games. While the others were straight forward combo based fighters, Legends was all about tug of war. The gameplay relies on four basic moves: melee, energy, power up, and block. All your attacks were dependent on keeping your power gauge charged. But charging would also keep you open to enemy attacks. By mercilessly unleashing a flurry of attacks on your opponent, the battle would shift in your favor, and once your side took up the balance bar, the character you selected would unleash a signature attack on the enemy you were fighting.

To anyone BUT a DBZ fan, that cover must be confusing.

While most fighters were 1on1, this one was 3on3. Although at many times during the early stages of the campaign it would be 3on1 to allow your allies to help take over some of the combat. The story mode goes through the entire DBZ sagas. You will begin fighting Vegeta and end fighting Kid Buu. Depending on which saga you were in, you could select from the available characters during the story. VS battles follow the same structure. Once you’ve finished the game (which shouldn’t take very long at all once you’re familiar with the controls) you unlock the characters and can choose from each of them to fight your friends.

Although I loved this game when I was young, I had feared that my nostalgia would not be enough to make me enjoy it today. I had long since had the mod chip in my PS1 removed since it conflicted with me playing regular US games. No, technology wasn’t as advanced as it is today. Who knows what happened to my games, I probably sold them. I’ve sold many games in my youth only to regret it now. Luckily, I was able to find Legends again on Goozex for a mere 200pts ($10). Since PS3 games cannot play region locked games, I was able to get the game onto my PSP, and viola. It was like riding a bike. I managed to get through what took me days in hours. Smiling all the way.

Unfortunately, this game’s shining moment has faded. It’s relevance in today’s game market is non-existent, and it will undoubtedly remain buried along with many other import titles. Still, as long as someone remembers it, and enjoyed it, it will have been for something.

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