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Feb 9th, 2007 at 22:14:00 - E.V.O.: Search for Eden (SNES) |
Man, this game is weird. For those of you that don't know, EVO is a game of evolution. You start out as a crappy fish, you eat other crappy fish to gain Evolution Points, and then you can evolve/upgrade parts of your crappy fish (body, tail, jaws, etc.) and become a not-so-crappy fish. There are different chapters (The Age of Fish, Age of Amphibians, Age of Dinosaurs, Age of Mammals, and Age of Eden) which correspond to stages of evolution and determine what kind of creature your little evolving guy will be for that time period.
I started playing this game completely randomly a few years ago. It's one of those on-and-off type games. I'd get stuck at a point, forget about it for a while, then start playing it again a few months or a year later. Tonight was one of those times.
I last left off at Chapter 3, Age of the Dinosaurs, apparently. But it was somewhere near the beginning, so my dinosaur still sucked. One issue I have with this game is that it can be SO repetitive and time consuming/boring at times. Just like leveling up your party in an RPG, you have so spend excessive amounts of time eating other animals in EVO just to get enough EP to give your little guy decent body parts.
Which I did. I spent a good amount of time making sure my dino had really powerful jaws. And then a few levels later I went and turned into a bird, which meant all of my sweet dino evolutions disappeared. Boo. Eventually I evolved my bird like crazy, and went to the last area and oh no, asteroids! It's time for the Ice Age.
The asteroids falling to Earth to kill the dinosaurs scene was a little...weird, for being part of a Super Nintendo game. It was kind of depressing and a little disturbing and even seemed a bit violent for the time. I dunno, it was more emotional than I would have expected from a game like this. Which I like. I like it when games get me to feel something.
So, onto the Ice Age. Apparently I'll get to evolve into a mammal here. I hope it's something sweet.
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Feb 7th, 2007 at 22:54:09 - Banjo-Kazooie (N64) |
Mad Monster Mansion ho! I actually remembered this level being more...I don't know, annoying or complicated or something. But it was quite enjoyable this time.
Pumpkin transformation? Yes yes yes. So cute. Bouncing along. Only annoying thing about all the transformations is that you can't attack, except for the crocodile. ...And the washing machine. I think. I should turn into the washing machine.
The triumphant "YOU FOUND AN EGG!" fanfare music still plays every time I enter the area where an SNS item once was. It's kind of sad, because I get all excited and there's nothing there. Looks like Rare never bothered to program in that the music should turn off if there's nothing there.
My roommate has been watching me play every now and then over the past week. She says, "I like your game. It has funny sound effects and good music." She was imiating Kazooie's noises while I played.
I also set up everything I need to make it to Rusty Bucket Bay. (And that level I know I don't like.) Which was annoying in of itself. I couldn't remember what I had to do or where to go, so I ran around Grunty's Lair for a stupid amount of time.
Of course, I can't help compare B-K to Mario 64, since both were really amazing and somewhat similar N64 platformers. I hated in Mario 64 that you could only go after one star at a time, because after you got one, you were expelled from the level. At least in Banjo-Kazooie you can go after everything in the level in one shot.
But I really dislike the fact that the notes you get in a level only count for that life or that run through the level. I don't like having to re-collect them all if I die or decide to stop playing. I played Rusty Bucket Bay for about five minutes and I accidentally fell into a bottomless abyss. When Banjo and Kazooie respawned at the exit pad, Bottles announced, "Wow! Your high score for this level is 5 notes!" Bottles, don't be a smartass.
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Feb 6th, 2007 at 21:50:29 - Banjo-Kazooie (N64) |
Done since last post: Clanker's Cavern, Freezeezy Peak, and Gobi's Valley. Only three worlds left now! I'm excited about Click Clock Wood. At least, I remember it being an interesting world.
I like the way the music in an overall area changes depending on where you go. Like in Gruntilda's Lair, the background music is essentially the same, but it sounds more "swampy" when you're near Bubblegloop Swamp's area, or "wintery" when you're in the room for Freezeezy Peak. Or in Gobi's Valley, the music is different in the start area of the level than when you're by the pyramids. I can't really think of any other games where that happens...but maybe I'm just forgetting. It just seems particularly prominent in Banjo-Kazooie.
I can't think of anything particularly intelligent to say this time around. I'm still having a lot of fun, though the challenges are certainly getting more difficult in the later levels. I'm getting more of those heart-beating anxiety fits you tend to have when you're trying really hard to do well in a game and the challenge is hard so you might mess up. Video games can be more stressful than you think! I would especially get worked up over games when I was younger.
By the way, a little something for anyone interested: http://www.rarewitchproject.com/ These are the guys that originally hacked Banjo-Kazooie and found the Stop N Swop codes. They have a lot of interesting things from BK and other Rare games. I love reading about game hacks, since it shows some of the ideas programmers were originally playing with (or that they were just playing around in general), and what kinds of things just get left in a game. Mysterious!~ Okay. I'm a dork.
In conclusion, I can't wait to turn into a pumpkin. Best transformation ever.
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Feb 4th, 2007 at 04:03:49 - Banjo-Kazooie (N64) |
This game makes me feel happy inside. After watching it played during lecture, I felt a sudden rush of nostalgia and knew I had to play it from the beginning rightnowyes. It's almost definitely my favorite N64 platformer. I played it to DEATH way back when. I even got all of the Stop N Swop items when the codes were first released--six eggs and the ice key. Oh, Rare. You used to make the best games. Please stop being owned by Microsoft.
Sidenote: Did you know that if you have the Stop N Swop items in one save file on your cartridge, they show up in all the others? When I got to Treasure Trove Cove in my brand new game, Sharkfood Island was already risen and there was nothing inside. I checked the totals menu and sure enough, all the Stop N Swop items were in the menu. Odd, and slightly disappointing. I had wanted to get them all over again.
I love all the moves you get to use in the game. Especially because it makes use of the two characters so well. Bird + bear = fun. Punching and rolling as Banjo bear, using Kazooie's Talon Trot to walk faster, making Kazooie flap her wings to give you extra leverage on jumps. Not even Mario could do that. (Sorry, Mario. I still love you.)
I love how they put eyes on EVERYTHING in the game. I love faces on things. It's like making every leaky bucket, carrot, book, orange, and pumpkin a character. It's...I dunno, different. I like different. Everything should be a character, why not?
The way the characters "talk" is also rather clever and endearing. I prefer games without voice acting most times anyway, so I'm glad that N64 cartridges didn't have enough space for that. My roommate likes it too, she though it was hilarious the first time she heard the characters "conversing."
So, I managed to clean out both Mumbo's Mountain and Treasure Trove Cove pretty quickly. I moved on to Bubblegloop Swamp, where I first started getting some trouble. I got everything there eventually except for the Jiggy with Mr. Vile. I'll wait until I've got my running shoes.
Then I decided to go through Clanker's Cavern, which I was putting off. Because I hate water levels. They always end up causing so much anxiety and my character is going to run out of air noooooo. I like it when you don't have an air limit in a game. It makes water levels much less stressful.
But anyway, this I swear to you, true story--I get through the level, all 10 Jiggys, all 6 Jinjos, both honeycomb pieces, and 99 notes. I have no idea where the last lone note is, but I'm looking around for it when one of my kittens decides to climb on top of my N64 and hits the reset button with her foot. I screamed out loud. My roommate said, "You'd been doing that level for a long time." I stopped playing for the evening.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 4th, 2007 at 04:05:57.
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eriph has been with GameLog for 17 years, 10 months, and 12 days |
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