Friday, January 25, 2008

Pokemon Battle Revolution

I won’t lie: at the grand ol’ age of 20, I am still hopelessly addicted to the immensely successful manga/anime/game franchise that is Pokemon. I still watch the show when I can, read the occasional manga and spend copious amounts of time on the new (well, relatively new) Pokemon Diamond on my DS. Contrary to what many believe, the game is not only meant for infantiles to feast their little paws on.

Digging deeper into the actually really complicated battle system, the game actually offers a huge amount of depth for more mature players to wage an all out strategic battle, wrapped up in cutesy disguises.

What I have never had the chance to play, though, are the console editions of the game. Since I’ve never owned a Nintendo home console (as mentioned in a previous entry), I’ve never had the chance to play Pokemon in glorious 3D as well as explore the many new options and gameplay styles that the N64 and Gamecube Pokemon games had to offer. Which meant, of course, that the moment I got my Wii, I got Pokemon Battle Revolution (the console’s sole Pokemon offering) and had a swing at it.

Unfortunately, while it does fulfil my desire for some 3D Pokemon battling, the game offers little in the way of anything else and seems a super pale shadow of the previous console offerings, from what I’ve read.

The game has a sparse collection of features and modes. Coliseum mode, which is the meat of the game, throws you into different arenas where you’ll have to battle a succession of trainers, either with a rental team comprised of unevolved Pokemon with lousy moves or your own DS-imported team, under special circumstances (for ie. certain coliseums only allow unevolved Pokemon while others only allow rental Pokemon).

While there are options for getting several rare items after completing the coliseums after many monotonous rounds, there is a lack of any RPGish element (which the previous games, while never specializing in storyline, still offered up) or even much incentive since Pokemon you use don’t get to be transferred back to the DS (as far as I know). Playing through round after round just for some items just doesn’t seem that worth it.

And…that about wraps up the actual different gameplay features. Yeah, rare items (oh and a special Pikachu that you could almost have gotten identically from Pokemon Stadium for the N64). That’s it.

Still the graphics (since that is what this game is about, I guess) are really good. Clear, crisp and vibrantly coloured, the game offers up the whole palette of Pokemon fighting in all their glory, their moves brilliantly animated with little furnishing touches like weather effects thrown in.

If you want to play your Pokemon in 3D and manage to find a copy of this game for cheap, go ahead. Just don’t expect much more than that. If you want more bang for your buck, my advise would be to just save the money and wait (and hope) for a second, more feature-filled, Pokemon game for the system. That is, of course, if you still play the game, like me.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Wii Sports

As almost anyone who has played any sort of sport with me can attest to, I’m terrible at sports. From soccer to basketball to tennis and even to the less physically demanding games like bowling, I generally show a tremendous lack of any form of aptitude for any remotely physical. It isn’t even because I’m usually not at the required level of fitness the games require. Most of the time, it’s just a genuine lack of innate, intuitive talent that hinders me from even marginally approaching any sort of good game.

Of course, that (well, only with my close friends) doesn’t stop me from continually embarrassing myself in attempt to “up my game”, be with tennis, squash or the occasional bowling match. Now, though, I’ve finally found something that’s similar but which isn’t so terribly embarrassing for me.

Sports games have been around for a terribly long time, almost since the advent of personal gaming on PCs and consoles. From baseball games to soccer management sims, from serious golfing simulators to cartoonish tennis parties, sports games have been a staple and solid genre on almost any console. With the release of the Nintendo Wii (which I covered in the last post), sports gaming has been taken to a whole new level. Now, players actually get to mimic playing the sport, rather than just pressing buttons on a controller.

As most gamers would know, the Nintendo Wii’s selling point is its unique, motion controlled remote system. The system comes pre-packaged with a free game, Wii Sports, that’s meant to showcase on the potential of this new control system. Surprisingly, however, the game is deceptively fun, becoming a sort of small cult classic thanks to wonderful controls, addictive gameplay and cutesy graphics that lends itself to any generation of gamer.

The premise of the game is simple. As a demo for the Wiimote control system, the disc comes with five games, all pared down to their simplest, most basic forms. Covering a gamut of different sports, the games include tennis, bowling, golf, baseball and boxing.

While I haven’t tried the baseball one (since I’ve never been educated on the rules of the real game), the golf and boxing games, while not terribly representative of their real life counterparts, are nonetheless sufficient for those aching to whack a golf ball, or another person, in the comfort of their own homes.

The true stars of the set, however, are the tennis and bowling games. The bowling game is a blast to play, with surprisingly sensitive and intuitive controls and a variety of ways to alter your ball path that adds depth to what I’d thought would be a barebones, aim and throw sort of game.

The tennis game is the one that I’ve been playing the most and is what I’d assume most people would associate with the title. The game is played in doubles format (in single player, every swing you make controls both your partners at the same time) and the controls are, again, surprisingly sensitive. From lobs to smashes to searing serves and huge top spins, the game allows for a wide spectrum of shots that I’m going to expect out of any tennis game appearing on the Wii from now on.

The graphics, while they won’t win any visual awards, is cutesy and bright, with the option of bringing in your own Miis (avatars that you can create on your Wii to be used in several games). Small touches like speech balloons with garbled up lines (to indicate frustration) add a lighthearted comic feel to the game. Audio-wise, the game is pretty good, with basic but realistic sounds for all the games.

While Wii Sports doesn’t pack a whole lot of depth, it is amazingly fun (especially in multiplayer mode) and, for a free demo disc, really sets the bar pretty high for future sports games on the system. 

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Nintendo Wii

I’ve always been a huge Nintendo fan, or “Nintendork”, as we’re called, from its early days when it reigned supreme in the console market with the NES and SNES to the late 90s when it lost its market share to new giant Sony before regaining its place on the throne with its latest console, the Nintendo Wii.

While I’ve been a firm supporter of the company’s handheld efforts, owning a Gameboy Colour, a Gameboy Advance (and its later, technically much more proficient edition, the GBA SP) and the new taking-the-world-by-rage Nintendo DS, I’ve never owned (but always hankered after) a Nintendo home console (especially the Gamecube, with its cubish shape and stash of excellent exclusive first party titles). All that changed, however, a few weeks ago when I signed up for Singnet’s broadband connection deal.

Along with the contract came a free bundled Nintendo Wii, which has been an object of my utmost desire since it was first introduced years ago under the name Nintendo Revolution. Now, having played the system for a few weeks, I can safely say that my obsession over the system has been fully justified.

The most revolutionary thing about the system would be, in case you haven’t heard, the motion-controlled remotes, which opens up almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to gameplay mechanics, something which the innovative Japanese game developers have made full use of.

Unlike the DS, whose dual screens often force game developers to tack on redundant gameplay elements just to fill up that second screen, the flexibility of the Wiimote allows for several different ways control schemes, from the traditional button based controls to the new fangled motion sensor ones, complete with the Wii nunchuk. Games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (which has my vote for one of the most fantastic games of 2007), Trauma Centre: Second Opinion (in which players take the role of a surgeon, utilizing the Wiimote has a scalpel and other instruments) and even the pre-included, simple yet amazingly intuitive Wii Sports all showcase the potential of this new controller.

Technically, the Wii cannot match up in most aspects to its much more powerful competitors from Sony and Microsoft but, as with the DS, Nintendo has decided to eschew impressive system specs for more focus on core gameplay and pure fun, a move which has endeared to a whole new level of casual gamers and which has resulted in their success this time around. That’s not to say the Wii cannot perform though. Games like the afore-mentioned Twilight Princess and (the game many critics hailed as best game across all platforms in 2007) Super Mario Galaxy have vastly contrasting visual styles that nonetheless hold their place graphically against games from the other consoles.

Aesthetically, the Wii has taken a leaf out of Apple’s book, going for the pure, simple-yet-elegant marble white as its main (in fact, almost only) colour and coming packed in what must be one of the smallest home console bodies ever (especially compared to the behemoth that is the Sony Playstation 3). While it’s nothing groundbreaking and is susceptible to dirt and grime, it does look pleasant sitting on any home entertainment platform and its weight and size are definite a plus when you want to cart the system to a friend’s place or to a chalet for some mass fun.

For those who haven’t gotten a Wii or aren’t planning to, I’d highly recommend the system. From hardcore gamers (yes, the Wii doesn’t only churn out kiddy games. Just look at the highly acclaimed Resident Evil series exclusive to the system) to the most casual of nongamers, there’s something for any- and everybody. And, judging from some of the AAA titles slated for release this year, it looks like the system will only get better.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

I Am Legend

Based upon Richard Matheson’s groundbreaking 1954 science fiction classic of the same name (a story which many popular movies, books and even games have cited as inspiration, including the Resident Evil series and British film 28 Days Later), I Am Legend is the latest and third film iteration based on the story.

Sadly, while it is certainly an intellectual and artistic notch higher than horror-gore b-flicks like Dawn of the Dead, a schizophrenic lack of focus and a terribly botched ending prevents the movie from reaching the cult classic status its source material enjoys.

Starring Will Smith as main character Robert Neville, I Am Legend tells the story of a post-apocalyptic world where apparently the whole of mankind has been obliterated by a genetic disease (with some turning into nocturnal, savage zombies that feed on flesh and blood and bear no semblance to the humans that they used to be) and Neville, previously a colonel in the US army as well as a genetic scientist, is apparently the sole survivor, immune to the strand of virus that ravaged humanity.

As the occasional flashbacks flesh out (pardon the pun) the backstory fully, showing exactly how the virus came to be –ironically, as a cancer cure-, Neville, together with his trusty canine companion Sam, scours the streets during the day for supplies and dabbles with finding a cure for the vampiric zombies in his (really souped up) lab in the basement of his house. During the night, when the creatures awake, he bolts his windows and doors to avoid alerting the creatures.

While the story might not seem terribly novel or even remotely complicated by today’s science fiction standards, it was, as mentioned, a significant milestone in science fiction history and still packs enough of a plot to sustain the movie.

While the zombies themselves look completely computer generated, they are nonetheless pretty horrific and kudos to the visuals and audio department for crafting an artistic masterpiece from an aesthetic perspective, creating a bleak yet utterly realistic and overwhelmingly grand desolate world (although one would wonder where, after three years of no humans upkeeping any plants or facilities, the electricity or water would come from).

The acting, too, is top notch. While not a terrible departure from his macho heroic protagonist roles of past, Smith manages to evince an unbelievably believable (one would think, having no actual real-life point of reference) Neville, a sore survivor who has not only seen his entire race literally die or suffer a fate even worse than death but has had to constantly be alert for any attack from said monsters.

While I Am Legend seems to tick all the prerequisite boxes for a successful horror science fiction masterpiece, where the movie fails in is in the delivery. Alternating between solemn, insightful moments of grim noir and very sudden cheap scares (imagine monsters leaping out the darkness, all gory, drooling and screaming a la Resident Evil), the movie never seems to find a balance between the two contrasting treatments, which results in a somewhat disorienting, unfocussed viewing experience.

Also, while it does seem to move along at a decent pace (the beginning could have been a bit faster though), the whole movie suddenly comes to a grinding halt with its rushed, eye-brow raising ending. I won’t reveal more here just that it’s suffice to say that viewers who have been caught unawares by the out-of-the-blue ending would leave the flick with a bad taste in their mouths.

I Am Legend could have been, well, legendary. Alas, it’s more like I Am Just Okay.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars