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Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:14:46 - Spyro (2): Ripto's Rage! (PS) |
Entry #2
Gameplay:
The second time around I realized that, for a Playstation game, Spyro 2 has a very fluid feel to it. The player can easily move his or her avatar from world to world. This brought about a major design flaw that I found to be very annoying throughout my gameplay experience. The camera is non-responsive. When I moved Spyro around, for the most part, the camera did a decent job of staying behind him. There were times when I was looking at Spyro’s face while moving forward, this made it nearly impossible to see where I was going, and where I needed to be. This can be especially bad in platform games because the player won’t be able to see the platform he/she needs to jump to.
I still had a lot of fun playing Spyro 2 for another forty-five minutes. As I progressed through the game, the levels began to get much harder which gave me more incentive to keep playing. The sense of challenge and the reward of talismans and orbs were primarily what kept me playing. The type of gameplay also developed very nicely. Some of the challenges involved solving puzzles by jumping on giant puzzle pieces in order to solve it. There was even a challenge where Spyro skated around on a frozen pond and shot a puck past a goalie using his mouth. The game’s ability to constantly change the type of play kept me engulfed as well as wanting more.
Design:
Spyro 2 has superb level design, probably the best of any game I can recall on the Playstation console. There is a very linear way to travel through each level, but in nearly every level there are “secret” areas with hidden gems and extra challenges. In addition to these “secret” areas, there are even more dynamics to each level. Sometimes there are places you can only reach until you learn a new maneuver later in the game. You must then come back to the level to explore the level further.
Often, the levels of Spyro 2 expand into the sky, which is a very cool idea. The player starts on the lowest level, and jumps platforms to get higher and higher into the sky. From these higher places the player can see the rest of the level and find different areas they had not seen before. Overall I found this game to be very inventive, fun and cute. This game, in my opinion, holds up to today’s standards. I plan on continuing to play through until the end.
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:14:05 - Spyro (2): Ripto's Rage! (PS) |
Entry #1
Summary:
This action/adventure platformer game starts with your character, Spyro, a small purple dragon, flying through a magical portal. Spyro is greeted by a couple of friendly characters including a scientist who created the portal, a fawn and a cheetah. Ripto soon comes and destroys the portal back to your home, declares he “hates dragons” and runs off. The objective of the game is to travel through different portals in order to collect magical talismans to help defeat the evil Ripto, as well as to collect orbs and gems along the way.
Gameplay:
Once in the first world (level), memories began popping up in my head from when I played this game as a small child. The feel of the game itself is very childish, fun and whimsical. One word that comes to mind to describe all of the characters and items in the game would be, cute. Although many times in games, cute can mean stupid and boring, Spyro 2 does a great job of making “cute”, fun. In addition to all of these attributes of the game, the music helps to create a happy, yet relaxing atmosphere. The music is soothing and integrates very well into the game. It adds a great dynamic to the game without being a distraction, which can be a very hard thing to achieve. The bright and vibrant colors throughout the levels also help to create the atmosphere, which can add a level of comfort for new players.
The first level (or world) is very basic and obviously a way to introduce the mechanics of the game to the player for the first time. The player figures out how to walk around, ram or flame enemies and collect gems, which are the fundamentals of the gameplay in Spyro 2. There are several objectives in the home world, a sort of hub to all the other worlds. These objectives are also tools to help the player learn how to utilize all of the functions in the game, such as learning how to jump across platforms and how to glide.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:15:28.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:40:04 - Super Mario World (SNES) |
[Entry 2]
Gameplay:
The second session was very different than the first, instead of playing with a friend I played on my own. The experience was very immersive. My focus was set completely on Mario and reaching the end of each level. As I played longer my proficiency skyrocketed. I was running through each level at top speed, hitting enemies on their heads and getting all sorts of power-ups.
Super Mario World was and still is a very creative and in many respects revolutionary game. The main map of all the levels gives you the feeling that you are playing in a very large area when in fact you are not. Each level consists of basically the same elements. One generally has to get from the beginning of the level on the left, to the end on the right. It’s amazing how the creators of this game were able keep the player interested in a game where the basic goal is almost always identical to the last. Some of the techniques that made this possible were things such as the different mushrooms, power-ups, the ability to hold shells and shoot them too, and even bonus and secret levels.
Design:
Although I love this game, there is something I though that could have used some improvement. At the end of each ‘sub-world’ there is a boss in his castle. This was completely fine with me, but the actual boss battles left something to be desired. Each time, Mario only has to hit the boss three times to defeat him! I don’t know what the thinking is on this; possibly to keep it easy enough so that the player can progress, or maybe to place less emphasis on each boss. Whatever the reason, I thought that the boss battles should have demanded more from the player than merely jumping on someone’s head three times.
Overall I had a lot of fun playing Super Mario World. It may be about 18 years old now, but it still can compete with current games, which is a very rare thing. I am glad to still own a copy and recommend it to anyone who has never played.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:39:24 - Super Mario World (SNES) |
[Entry 1]
Summary:
You begin the game as Mario, the infamous Italian plumber character created by Nintendo. The story is started right away with an urgent note containing the premise of the game, “Princess Toadstool is missing again!” You must go through a series of worlds as Mario in order to defeat bosses and ultimately save the princess from Bowser to beat the game.
Gameplay:
This was not the first time I had played Super Mario World. As a younger kid several of my friends owned this game and I loved to go and play two-player with them. For my first round of game play I played two-player with a friend of mine. The experience was much more engaging than playing by myself as well as a lot more fun. The way two player works is that one person plays as Mario and the other as Luigi. The game is exactly the same except that each person trades off playing either by level or if you die. The interaction between players is key in two-player mode. Since each person is essentially on the same side working towards the same ends, there is a certain sense of comradery. While playing there is constant communication between players, even if it is not through words. For example, the person watching often makes “OOhh” and “Awwww” sounds according to how well you’re playing. This is almost a kind of encouragement.
One Thing that makes this game so special to me is the memories it evokes. Once the very first level came onto the screen and the music started up, my mind shot back to grade school and playing the game with my best friends. Once I could get over how good the memories made me feel I could concentrate on the game itself and rediscover what made this game good in the first place. What struck me more than anything else in this game was the music. Although it is very simple, lo-fi electronic music, the lead sounds are very catchy and carry you through each level. The music changes in each level according to scenery, which your character is traveling through. When you guide Mario through underground levels the music sounds evil and it echoes through the caves giving the sensation that you are really down there jumping on koopa’s heads.
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R2D2 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 10 days |
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