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Jan 24th, 2008 at 04:17:53 - Super Mario World (SNES) |
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This entry is spoiler-free. Well, mostly spoiler-free; there’s not much to spoil in terms of story in a Mario game. Keep in mind, though, that I do talk a bit about hidden levels and Easter Eggs, so if you’d rather find those on your own, you probably don’t want to read this entry.
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SUMMARY:
Super Mario World (Nintendo – 1991 – SNES) is a classic two-dimensional platformer. The game features Mario, the famous plumber, travelling through seven distinct locales of the Mario world to rescue Princess Toadstool, who has once again been taken captive by Bowser. Super Mario World includes classic platforming action in a variety of themed locales with the simple goal of making it to the end of the level.
GAMEPLAY:
First, a bit of clarification here; for this assignment, I am playing Super Mario World on the Wii with the Virtual Console, using a Virtual Console controller. I tried using a GameCube controller and found the game controls to be too frustrating, so I switched to the Virtual Console controller and began anew. I wasn’t that far into the game, anyway. Regardless, the Virtual Console version of Super Mario World is no different from the original release on the SNES, so this should have no effect on my analysis of the design. Great, now that that’s out of the way, on to my gameplay reflections.
It’s interesting coming back to this game after having played it last as a child. Back when I was a child, this game was amazingly fun and sucked quite a bit of my time away. I recall being challenged by many of the levels as I got acquainted to the universe and having fun trying to find some of the other alternate paths and hidden levels – though such side quests were reserved for much later in the game.
Returning to the game as an eighteen-year-old game designer-in-training, I could really sum up my initial experience with the game with one word: “Meh.” It’s not that I didn’t have any fun – I was having a pretty good time reliving the levels I had played when I was a child. But it had a “been there, done that” feel to it all. I had seen the challenges before, some more than others, so the experience wasn’t really fresh and new.
To make it a fresh experience, I went ahead and took an almost elitist approach to it and sought to unlock all the possible paths and levels in the game as early as I could. It’s not that I was intentionally seeking to do this – this desire to unlock all the secret levels early sort of developed subconsciously. This made the experience a bit more interesting, as I was bouncing around and about unlocking the bonus switches, side routes, and Star Road levels. I can’t exactly say why I subconsciously decided to go this route. Maybe it was the concept that I knew about these secrets so why not go and unlock them early.
In terms of story, there’s much left to be desired. In case you didn’t know, Princess Toadstool (now Princess Peach) has been captured by Bowser, the King of the Koopas, and it’s up to Mario, the plumber, to jump in and save the day. Actually, there’s a bit of a backstory about how they went on vacation and the whole game takes place in this vacation world, but the way the game is developed, you don’t know much about it unless you peek at the manual. And, ultimately, the story really doesn’t seem to matter anyway. As far as the game mechanic is concerned, the goal is to get to the end of the level without dying. Simple enough, eh?
The gameplay mechanics themselves are pretty solid. Once I switched over to the Virtual Console controller, which is more like the SNES controller than the GameCube one is, I felt in control of Mario’s every move, which is critical in a platformer. The levels exhibit variety in terms of the challenges presented. That said, there wasn’t too much variety. The levels all had the same linear feel to them, though there were times where you could find secret exits, and the baddies really didn’t feel all that different. I will say, though, I love the feather power-up. Caped Mario is by far my favorite in the game simply because the cape is so useful, be it for floating over hazards, spinning away blocks, or attacking enemies. I was almost disappointed whenever I got a fire flower instead of a feather.
That’s all the thoughts I could dump into one entry for now. I look forward to playing more of Super Mario World and posting more of my thoughts later.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 24th, 2008 at 04:19:21.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 02:20:21 - Psychonauts (XBX) |
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WARNING! This entry contains spoilers. I try to be careful not to spoil many plot points in my entries, but I am fairly lenient when sharing level, gameplay, and character information. Long story short, if you haven't played a good portion of the game, this entry may spoil some of the game. Read at your own risk.
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GAMEPLAY
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First, let me get out of the way that the game has gotten much better since the last time I played. I feel I have gotten a good handle on the controls, though there are still an instance or two where the controller can be a little too sensitive. Also, the game's pacing has improved greatly since the Captain Oleander's Basic Braining level.
I think the one comment I have that's most important is, so far, the game hasn't lost my interest. My character keeps learning new skills that make it easier to complete tasks in interesting ways, and the levels are ingenious in design. Sprinkled with fantastic humor, the game is a delight to play. So far, my favorite level is Lungfishopolis. Following the adage "It's more scared of you than you are of it," Lungfishopolis takes place in the mind of a giant fish monster, where Raz (you) become a giant-sized monster in a level reminiscent of the Monster Movies of old. The opening cinematic to this level is downright hilarious, seeing Raz as a giant monster reacting in surprise.
It's also been interesting seeing the story unfold as I have been playing, starting with the initial discovery that things just aren't right, all the way to the ultimate discovery of what's actually going on. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but I'll just say that the discovery process is interesting, as the unique style of the game lends to an untraditional discovery process. Even beyond the discovery of the story is the discovery of Raz's character and past. As Raz learns new abilities and unlocks new levels, we learn about what led Raz to come to the summer camp, as well as his fear of water.
Overall, this game is simply addicting to play. I know I was supposed to play 45 minutes of the game for this log, but it turns out I got so engrossed in the gameplay that I ended up playing for much longer than that. I was just so interested in the plot and seeing what level or skill lied ahead that I just wanted to keep going.
DESIGN
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The most important part of this game is innovative design. The concept of entering the minds of a variety of characters opens the typical limits of the level designer to create these inner worlds that are simply quirky and interesting. Thanks to this, you get to play a variety of levels, from a war-ridden battlefield, to a disco party, to a Monster Movie in the mind of a fish. Yes, reread that. A fish. It’s out-of-the-box thinking like that that makes Psychonauts fun to play. In fact, it’s wondering what creative level is up ahead that is one of the main reasons to keep playing.
Even beyond the creativity the levels exhibit, Psychonauts provided a lot of entertainment in its presentation and tone. The game never really takes itself too seriously, providing many quirky moments in its cutscenes, scenarios, and even in the interactivity with objects when roaming around camp. Raz can interact with many objects around camp, and many of these interactions provide humorous quips from Raz. The player is not only encouraged to discover the outer reaches of camp, but receives rewards for doing so in the form of Psi-Cards, which, when enough are collected, allow Raz to learn new abilities.
Finally, a lot of credit should be given for the narrative control exhibited in Psychonauts. As you play through the various levels of the game, you don’t take a backseat to the narrative in the story. Instead, you actively discover the story’s twists while adventuring through the various levels. Also, the same goes for Raz’s characterization. The player discovers Raz’s past as he’s forced to confront the thoughts and fears in his mind and around camp.
If there’s one thing that the game could have used, it would be a little more polish on some of the gameplay mechanics. Loading takes a ridiculous amount of time, the controls could be a little less sensitive, the lock-on feature is unpredictable, and the graphics engine could use a boost. Yet, it’s important to keep in mind these are minor quips that are greatly outweighed by the great design exhibited in Psychonauts.
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Jan 13th, 2008 at 23:41:03 - Psychonauts (XBX) |
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This entry is spoiler-free.
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SUMMARY
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Psychonauts (Majesco/Double Fine - 2005 - PS2) is an adventure platformer by Creative Director Tim Schafer. The player plays as Raz, a psychonaut-in-training at a psychic summer camp. Through the game, Raz enters the minds of a variety of characters, which act as the various platforming levels in the game, all the while learning new psychic abilities that he can use.
GAMEPLAY
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Going into the game, I had high hopes that I was going to have a great time playing Psychonauts. After all, I had read reviews on the internet calling it an innovative game featuring great humor. Also, I knew that the game had received an award at the Game Developer's Conference (GDC) - a high honor indeed! Finally, there was the persistence of my peers, who have all told me Psychonauts is absolutely fun to play. Needless to say, I was excited to put the game in and get going.
So far, from what I have played, I have to say that the game is pretty good, but not great. The opening cutscene, where Raz "crashes" the campfire gathering, was a pretty funny and quirky way to start the game. I find a lot of humor, though, in the environment and incidental dialog. For instance, there's one segment in Coach Oleander's Obstacle Course where you have to hang from a ledge to cross a bottomless pit. As Raz is crossing, he encounters the Coach's projection against a wall and the two have an exchange where Coach Oleander calls Raz "Slowey Joey." Raz replies "But that's not my name!" It's moments like these that I find absolutely clever and are a delight to come across.
Humor aside, however, I feel the game is dragging slightly. Just to clarify for those that may have played the game, the farthest I've gotten so far is through Basic Braining, or Coach Oleander's Obstacle Course. Yes, I know it is a tutorial level, which are notorious for being unentertaining. But they could have made the level a tad more bearable by speeding up the pacing here. The tutorial information was spread too sparsely through the course, leading to a long level. It wasn't horrible, but it was slow.
On the other hand, it might have been good to have such a long level initially where you don't die from minor error, because there is a bit of a learning curve to the controls. The controls make sense, but are quite sensitive. It takes a little while to get down the timing of jumps down, as well as Raz's running speed. Some sections require delicate control of Raz, which becomes tedious because Raz tends to run so fast it becomes hard to control him.
But these are minor quips about the game - I'm probably feeling nit-picky right now. Overall, I've enjoyed what I've played of Psychonauts so far. Though the first level is slow, playing through Coach Oleander's war-ridden level is interesting nonetheless. The humor is great, and it's refreshing to see a game these days that seeks to be unique in style and creativity. I think the ultimate comment comes from the fact that I can't wait to go back and keep playing, to see what adventures and minds lay in store for Raz.
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zimmi88 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 12 days |
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