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Sep 4th, 2009 at 16:40:47 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) |
GAMELOG 1
SUMMARY
I have not played Super Mario Brothers since my grandparents got rid of their NES system some 10 years ago so picking it back up was quite a treat. I used the familiar character Mario and lead him though the platform genre game while exploring different worlds on the quest to rescue princess toadstool. Although the plot has been done before I found while replaying the first few levels of Super Mario Brothers 3, why I enjoyed it so much.
GAMEPLAY
While playing Mario 3 i was taken back to the mushroom kingdom and leading Mario back through a whole new adventure. I chose to play this game because Mario may be one of the most simply designed and enjoyable games of all time. Being able to jump on the heads of bad guys, collect cool power up, and explore vastly different and enjoyable worlds really makes the Mario franchise one of the best.
Playing though the first few levels I was confronted by old foes (Gumbas, Turtles, and the Flower Monsters that live in the pipes). I was able to quickly remember the controls and jump on their heads or shoot them with the fireballs. But the game play was not all old school. On the third level I was confronted by a sky level to where I was very high in the air on platforms trying to make my way to the end of the side scrolling falling platforms. Overall it was a very enjoyable, nostalgic experience.
GAMEPLAY #2
When I continued to play the game I noticed a few things that I had forgot about in this Mario such as the mini games that randomly appear and the mini bosses on the map. After completing the 4th stage or so a icon the looked like a spade playing card appeared on the map. When I went to it I was taken to a "mini-game" where I had to try and match up a picture with parts of the picture scrolling across the screen (similar to slot but I had to stop each piece myself). Then depending on which picture you created, you got a few more extra lives. There are also little "hammer brother" mini boss which randomly goes around the map and if Mario lands on him takes him to a little mini boss challenge to where if you win you receive a power up reward.
There are also castles on each map that Mario encounters. Here the familiar castle music plays and Mario must dodge flying fire balls and skeleton enemies. Once I reached the end it was not the Bowser boss from the first Mario series but an angry looking bear monster that hoped around the screen. After jumping on him a few times he was killed and I completed the castle. As for the final boss, there is a ship that Mario gets on at the end of each map. Here Mario dodges fire, side scrolling bullets and many other enemies on his way to the end of the ship. When he gets there, Mario goes down a pipe to fight a Koopa boos. Each of these bosses is turtle, monster like in look and each has a special power and magic wand. After defeating the boss Mario returns the wand to the king of that world and undoes the harmful transformation that the boss Mario just defeated had done.
DESIGN
Mario 3 brings many new elements into the game.
Item stores: - denoted as a mushroom house on the map, here Mario is presented with 3 boxes each containing a random power up to help him on his journey. Mario may chose one, then the item store can no longer be accessed.
Inventory - when the player hits the select button, Mario's inventory comes up. Here Mario can store power ups that he is not currently using, unlike in the old system where you could have one at the time and they would overwrite each other and take effect instantly.
New abilities and power ups - In Mario three mario encouters some new object and items which give him new abilieies:
- Leaf: The leaf gives mario the ability to run and take off in flight for a short time. One use then gone.
- "Tanooki Suit": give Mario raccoon and tanuki appearances and gives him the ability to fly for a short period of time. One use then gone.
- "Frog Suit": which increases the Mario's speed and agility under water.One use then gone.
- "Hammer Suit": would allow Mario to throw hammers at his enemies like a hammer brother. One use then gone.
- Magic Whistle: Mario could play this flute and wrap to different worlds. One use then gone.
- "P-wing": A magic item that would allow Mario to fly for an extended period of time without having to have the running start.
-"Cloud": gives Mario the ability to skip over one level.
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Aug 23rd, 2009 at 21:09:41 - Civilization Revolution (iPod) (Other) |
Summary
I recently played Civilization Revolution for the iPod Touch. Civilization is a turn based strategy game in which players assume the roles of famous world leaders such as Caesar or Napoleon and attempt to lead that civilization to world dominance. In the game there are a few ways to win, be a war monger and go in to destroy the other civilizations, build all the forty seven technologies for a technological victory, hit eight economic milestones and achieve an economic victory, or have a total or either great people or great wonders in your city or a cultural victory.
Gameplay
When I first started playing the game I noticed it had an easy to follow user interface and I quickly had my difficulty and map chosen and was on to the character selection screen. Here I was able to scroll through the list of world leader with the touch screen and view each leaders set of perks that make him/her better than the other characters. I chose Caesar as I am a Roman history buff. The game knew it was my first time playing and asked me to take a tutorial which I declined as I like to know how to do things by trying. I quickly found this was a terrible idea when I lost in 4 turns. So I was off to start again.
Gameplay 2
On my second run of the game I felt a little better and got more into the game. Seeing the different civilizations with famous cities such as Rome, Washington, and Paris was cool. I was quickly drawn into the game trying to advance my civilization to produce better attack units to take over. I soon realized that you not only have to try to take over the map but also keep your own cities happy as anarchy soon swept through and I could no longer build. I was intrigued that the game play was so in-depth, I was soon at war with Gangues Khan, had alliance with Abraham Lincoln, and was trading goods with Alexander the Great. After about 30 minutes I progressed from a republic to Communism, archers to tanks had taken over the map.
Design
I would highly recommend Civilization Revolution to anyone who enjoys turn based strategy games. The flow of the game is great and the touch screen controls are pretty much flawless and very easy to use. All of the buttons are fairly large on the screen and getting a character to move is as simple as a drag of a finger. Combat is simulated for you so all you have to worry about is building strong units/armies. I really enjoyed the simplistic nature of the combat as it made me feel as if I were playing “Risk”. The AI in the game was very well done as other nations will try to barter, ally, and also declare war with you. The computer moves are well designed and are aggressive, making the game very challenging. If I were to take something away from this for the design of my own game, it would be the idea of familiar historical characters as main characters. I think this idea helps the player relate to the game and automatically chose a favorite character.
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