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Mar 6th, 2008 at 02:01:21 - Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) |
Gameplay2:
After another hour of Contra III: The Alien Wars, I realized something very peculiar; This game is very much like a space-shooter. The player implements quick thinking, fast reflexes, and pattern memorization to be successful. Also present is the infinite ammo, special items, bombs, and one-hit deaths. Contra is a walking shmup... a washmup.
Also after and hour, Contra 3 is still amazingly hard. The third level returned us to the side-scrolling but heavily focused on hanging and climbing. While moving on a pole or a wall, a character cannot shoot thus emphasizing the importance of distance and timing. Jumping to grab another pole was also a challenge for the floor was absent. Being not as experienced with platforming, my teammate once again resorted to stealing my lives.
The next level introduced yet another new style, shooting from the back of a motorcycle. We drove and shot at enemies at the same time. I wonder why we have weapons that can destroy these aliens in one hit but still don't have flying vehicles. Even future governments put too much funding into battle. These motorcycle levels are faster paced but focus more on dodging than shooting. The players must dodge incoming ground and aerial attacks from all sides.
We got stuck on this level for this game is amazingly hard. We are considering lowering the difficulty but that feels like lowering our standards.
Design:
As I mentioned earlier, this game is very much like a space shooter. The character must dodge, shoot, and react in a similar speed and different types of enemies continually attack. One button is mapped to jumping, one to shooting, one to changing gun type, and one to bombs. I pretty much held the fire button down unless I was climbing, which requires two hands. These guys have insane arm strength by the way.
The game itself slows down when too many bullets are on the screen at once, which can happen due to the spread shot gun. While some may argue that this destroys the pace, I say it adds to the suspense, when it is not too often that is. The game looks nice but enemies can get a little repetitive.
I didn't really notice the soundtrack because I was so into the gameplay but that is probably best for this type of game. Something too abrasive would distract the players from the action, which demands high concentration.
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Mar 6th, 2008 at 01:30:59 - Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) |
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Summary: For my this final gamelog assignment, I decided to play Konami's Contra III: The Alien Wars. This side-scrolling shooter pits the protagonists, Jimbo and Sully, against a full out alien invasion. The characters have and infinite supply of ammo but die upon being hit.
Gameplay 1: As my friend and I turned on the game, we decided that in order to beat the game in as little time as possible, we should use the famous Konami code. So we grabbed our controllers, typed in the code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, START), and ... nothing happened. We tried again to find that once again the code had not worked. Konami decided to make gamers prove their worth by forcing them to prove themselves in a codeless game of Contra. So my friend and I took a deep breath and plunged into battle.
One cutscene describes the whole story, Aliens are killing humans so kill them first, and then the play begins. Both characters start out with automatic guns so the players can just hold down the fire button instead of rapidly tapping. The game is very intense and frantic as bullets are flying in every direction and one hit means certain death. While it is fun to yell at the TV when both players die, a teammate will be more of a deadwieght if skills are not up to par. There is no friendly fire but the other player can nudge the screen in a certain direction, thus trapping on dooming his teammate.
After beating the first level, the game spun into a totally different style of play. Jimbo and Sully are controlled in an over-head view and there is no longer a linear path to follow. Players instead choose a start point and search-and-destroy some specific targets. The shoulder buttons now control turning and the characters can no longer jump. I don't know why perspective of an outside element would change the skills of characters but all for the fun of the game, right? Sadly, these over-head parts are not too fun. While the side-scrolling levels have a distinct rhythm and flow to them, these levels just leave the player running in circles, literally.
We are still trying to workout a plan of attack for this first over-head level and a way to keep my partner from stealing my lives. I thought staying alive would be a good plan but from the way he is playing, he doesn't seem to agree.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 00:05:50 - Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) |
Gameplay 2:
After all these years, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is still amazing. Another hour of gameplay quickly turned into three more hours as my friend and I fought through level after level. I honestly did not want to stop but we needed to make sure we had ample time to write our gamelogs. As I noticed with Super Mario Bros. 3 earlier, cooperative games are an extremely enjoyable experience for me. Sure I love delving into an epic R.P.G. story and getting lost in the world but screaming and laughing as we both run into bees and fall off cliffs is just as fun.
I truly love the art of this game but it seems that not everyone does. My friend's roommate felt the game had hit an uncanny valley between 2-d and 3-d that was asthetically unpleasing. So we told him to look the other way and went back to the game.
Design:
The platforming of this game is top notch. It is right up there with Mario in level design. All of the levels have bananas and secrets spread out as quick rewards. The secrets are a great treat for sometimes when I thought I died, a secret barrel saved my life and helped me get one more. The placement of enemies seems inversely proportionally to the platforming aspect. When there are really difficult jumps, enemies are scarce and vice versa. Well, at least for the first few worlds. There are checkpoints in the middle of all the levels for while not they are not too lengthy, death lurks around every corner. There is no life system so Diddy and Dixie both die upon being hit. Once Diddy (player 1) dies, Dixie (player 2) takes over. The players can also use their teammate as a projectile to help accomplish some puzzles.
The sound design of the game is amazing. As I stated before, just the opening tune brought back all the great memories of the game. I wouldn't be surprised if people caught me whistling the themes for the next few days. The music sets a great tone for the game, for example, the snow levels have a very lonesome, frigid feel to them while the carnival levels seem horrifyingly energetic.
The controls are strange when played on a Gamecube controller. They just feel unnatural. I think I will try to borrow a classic controller and try again with that. Being more SNES derived, I think the classic controller would be better suited.
All in all the game is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Forgive me, that was uncalled for.
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Feb 20th, 2008 at 22:56:55 - Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) |
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Summary:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is the second chapter in the platforming based Donkey Kong Country series. The player takes the roles of Diddy Kong and Dixie as they try to save Donkey Kong from King k. Rool. Similar to the predecessor, the game takes place over many very different landscapes.
Gameplay:
I asked my floormate to download DKC2 via the Wii's virtual console system so we could play it for our gamelogs. The game smartly allows a player to control both Diddy and Dixie or have a friend take the role of Dixie. As we fired up the game nostalgia hit me like an anchor. I played this game as a child and just that opening tune was enough to bring all the memories rushing back. I grabbed the first player controller and dove head-first into the game. We started off on the pirate ship that was the final level of Donkey Kong Country 1. A new theme in this second game was the pirate based enemies. The first game had just various deadly animals floating around but in DKC2 most of the enemies are dressed in pirate garb or lumber around on peg-legs. The reasoning behind this is not explained. If I remember correctly, the detailed story behind the game was included in the game's manual when it first made its debut on the SNES.
After an hour of playing, my friend and I had completed the first world and were well on our way up the mountain to rescue D.K. The worlds are very different but the art everywhere is beautiful. Things have a psuedo-3-D look to them due to the rendered art. The animations are very smooth and the whole game moves very nicely.
Playing with a Gamecube controller is a little strange though. The button layout just does not match up to the genius and intuitiveness of the magnificent SNES controller. Possibly after another hour of playing we will get the hang of it.
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SkyKing has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 10 days |
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