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Jan 19th, 2007 at 18:05:23 - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) |
Who, among my generation, doesn't know what a "warp whistle" is? If this SMB3 reference went over your head, or you're unfamiliar with the acronym SMB3 for "Super Mario Brothers 3," pay attention.
The warp whistle is like the Konami code. The former can transport you almost anywhere within SMB3, whereas the Konami code -- named so because it was implemented as a secret in a number of Konami's NES games -- can grant you invincibility in Contra.
Both may seem like "cheats," but in reality I feel they represent a lost era of video gaming that may never return. Because NES developers only had so many kilobytes of data to work with (I could be wrong but I believe most NES ROM images are about a megabyte), the game designers whose games have attained "classic" status were those who packed the most "game" into their microchips -- more bang for your buck, per se. SMB3 and Contra are both games that are not cheapened by "cheats," but are in fact enhanced.
I played Mario 3 for a few hours with a notepad next to me, which proved unnecessary as I was too busy toying with the game's impeccable engine to write notes. If you were to look up "platform game" in the dictionary, (or -- let's be realistic -- on Wikipedia,) I imagine SMB3 would need to be mentioned as (a) being one of the most successful traditional platform games, and (b) having one of the tightest, "analog" control systems ever. I say "analog" in that it's such a close connection between your Mario on screen and the rectangle NES controller in your hand that it doesn't feel like a series of binary calculations. Instead, it feels like a direct link between Mario's movement and your... soul?
That is to say, there is some art in SMB3 manipulation. Grabbing turtle shells, bopping from falling platforms and floating gently in the clouds above entire levels are all extensions of the player's ability to master the simple 8-direction, two-buttion controls. If you're in for a treat, check on YouTube for some Mario 3 speed runs. Remember the tank, jet, and boat levels in World 8 right before Bowser's castle? Imagine those borderline impossibles levels as if played and pwnd by Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Classic games like Contra and SMB3 continue to entertain because they are games with excellent reward systems. Gamers of all different types can derive entertainment from these games, whether newcomers to the platformer genre (SMB3's worlds seem to reflect the grade level of the player: as a 1st grader, I could pretty much topple World 1, but I couldn't really defeat World 8 until 8th grade) or experts who have essentially downloaded the ROM image into their brains.
By granting players the ability to cheat and jump ahead to the greatest challenges in the game, they eliminate the need for masters to bore themselves with the details of the lesser levels. It is why I was able to spend as much time and have as much fun replaying SMB3 as I did in order to write this GameLog.
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Jan 13th, 2007 at 00:14:30 - Gears of War (360) |
Gears of War has consumed my life in the best way imaginable. I look forward to playing and continuously improving my skill.
The gameplay is extremely well balanced. It's a tactical third-person shooter with first-person elements. There are a variety of weapons for the players to equip, and each one has its purpose, as well as two different ways of being used: ranged and melee. To use the ranged, the player uses the right trigger on the Xbox 360 controller, whereas the melee attack is employed with the B button. This is not a random placement: it makes sense to have the ranged command be linked to the controller's trigger as to better emulate firing a real gun; it keeps the ranged shots being used more frequently than melee shots and thus increases the pace / excitement of games; and it imposes a penalty on those taking their hand of the trigger to swing their fists / weapon at the opposing player.
Not that the melee function isn't useful. As if dodging around the extremely large and detailed levels wasn't control enough, the melee function serves as a way of breaking combat from artificial video game scenarios into an effective approximation of real-life combat. There are no "safe zones" in the amazingly well-crafted levels. Ranged weapons, close-range weapons, and even grenades are only as effective as the player using it.
A good indicator of the excellent emphasis on balance in Gears of War: when playing online, it could be 4 veterans against 4 complete amateurs, and yet both teams could -- and most likely would -- have a reasonably even distribution of points at the end of the game, with people of all skill levels capable of scoring kills. This aids the user in improving his skill, as the reward for attentive gameplay is increased ability in operating and understanding the game.
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Chris Hopkins has been with GameLog for 17 years, 10 months, and 11 days |
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