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Feb 8th, 2008 at 19:44:09 - Beats (PSP) |
GAMEPLAY
Even with everything Beats does wrong, it still manages to be an amazing game. As I played for another hour, I really got addicted to trying out random songs in my collection. It was fun experimenting to see which types of music worked best for it and which types it didn't. This experimentation is truly where the fun of the game is found.
The note map generator is extremely impressive. It was able to make a pretty good map for about 70% of the songs I put on the game. Even when I played songs with odd time signatures and random starts and stops like The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest the Hero, it kept with the beat of the songs and it actually fit the songs very well.
The mixture of playing a game with your very own music collection and the sense of experimentation lead this to be an extremely addictive game that I'm having a really hard putting down. It might not map the notes out perfectly all the time, but the fact that it works some of the time makes it extremely addicting and adds a sense of discovery that most games today lack.
DESIGN
From a design aspect, Beats truly is an amazing; from the design of the actual game to the way it is being marketed.
One of the problems of music games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero is that they have a finite set of songs, and once you finish those songs it is really easy to get bored with the game. When you want more songs, you have to shell out another 50 dollars or so for the next iteration. Beats, however, completely avoids this problem by having a never-ending set of songs; as long as mp3 files exist, this game will never have an end. It is one of the few games that can claim to have virtually zero game exhaustion.
The user interface for the game is amazing. All of the menus are flashy and have a unique art style. On top of that, there are about 20 or so different styles you can choose between to change the whole look of the game. There are also around 30 or so different visualization types to play int he background along with the songs you play. This level of customization and art direction is almost unheard of for a bargain-bin game.
Furthermore, since it has no licensed songs, Sony was able to produce this game on a small budget. On top of this, they opted out of making it a UMD game, skipping the cost of the UMD itself, the case, shipping, etc. These points may seem pointless to your average consumer, but when you go to buy the game you see why it makes such a big difference. The full game of Beats will only cost you 5 dollars, around 35 dollars less than your average psp game.
I honestly feel that Beats represents the future of game design. It's revolutionary way of using user-generated content to create a game that is virtually endless is something we are going to see a lot more of really soon. I feel that most games in about 5 years will have at least some form of user-generated content in the game. I think games like this will sell well, especially considering the myspace/youtube generation most game companies go after.
Also, I think more and more companies will choose to make their games downloadable instead of on UMD. This was a great choice by Sony, because it really makes piracy of the game extremely hard. The PSP is notorious for how easy it is to pirate games on, and once companies see that releasing their games through the playstation store only makes this process more difficult, I think they will do the same. So, not only does it make the game cheaper to produce, but it makes it harder to steal.
I honestly really hope this game sells well, not only because it is one of my favorite psp games, but it represents most of what I believe in when it comes to game design. If you have a psp and five dollars to spare, you owe it to yourself to give this a shot.
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 15:50:43 - Beats (PSP) |
SUMMARY
Beats is a music rhythm game for the PSP. It is one of the first titles to be released as a download only on the Playstation Store. It's just like every other music rhythm game; you push buttons in time with the music when an icon passes over a certain point on the screen. If you get a certain number in a row, you get a mulitplier. It grades you on how well you stay in time with the music.
GAMEPLAY
If you look at Beats on the surface, its really hard to see what sets it apart from other music games. It doesn't have any crazy peripherals like guitar hero and dance dance revolution, a rarity in music games today. The gameplay is overly simplistic also. You push the X, square, circle, and triangle buttons along with a button on the directional pad depending on where the beat is coming from.
The music that Beats provides for you are a few sub-par non-licensed songs, another rarity in music games today. The songs really aren't that good, and aren't even that fun to play. One really cool feature, however, is jamming. You can pick apart the songs provided in the game and choose which instruments you want to play, change them up on the fly, and even record your remixes of the songs to share with friends. This was a cool feature, but it didn't keep my attention for too long.
The main thing that sets this game apart from other music games and makes it one of the best handheld games I've played is the ability to add your own mp3s into the game. Yes, thats right, any mp3 file can work with the game. All you have to do is add as many mp3 files as you want onto your memory stick and the game will make a note map for them, enabling you to play them. The most fun I got out of this game was putting ten songs on my memory stick at a time and seeing how well they translated into the game.
During my first hour, most of the songs I threw at the game worked pretty well. There were a few songs that it didn't map the song as I would have wanted, but there were just as many times where it did it perfectly. When songs would work perfectly, it really made me love this game. It was like experiencing some of my favorite songs on a completely new level. I was taking an active role in the songs I was listening to, not a passive one like usual.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:00:43.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 17:24:54 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
GAMEPLAY:
After playing for another hour, it really hit me how innovative this game really is. I'm really surprised that it has held up this long without feeling gimmicky. There have been countless times while playing where I spend a lot of time just messing around with the gravity pulls of different planets.
The storybook elements are pretty interesting. After beating certain levels, you unlocks pages in a storybook that tells the story of Lumas and the mysterious Rosalina. While the story isn't amazing, it does add a much needed layer of depth to Mario. I still think the next Mario game is going to need a completely different story however. This just seems like putting a band-aid on a much larger problem.
One of the problems I had with Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine is that it really didn't feel like a Mario game like Super Mario World. It felt like a platforming game with Mario thrown on. Somehow, they were able to fix this with Mario Galaxy. Every once in a while, the camera shifts to 2D and it turns into a complete throwback to older Mario games, while keeping the innovative feel of Mario Galaxy.
DESIGN:
One design element that has been a staple in 3d mario games is that you must collect 120 stars to beat the game and save the princess. Now that this is the third mario game with this goal, it is starting to get a little overused. I think this game could have benefited by having a different ultimate goal, something new and original.
Also, when you go to play certain galaxies sometimes, it forces you to do a certain challenge, like a speed run of a Star. There were a few times I tried to go into a galaxy to show a friend a cool level, but I couldn't access it. Not the biggest problem, but small little problems like these are easy to fix and can greatly enhance the appeal of a game.
The designers of this game really did the unthinkable. When they asked Miyamoto what to put in the next Mario game, all he said to them is he wanted there to be spherical worlds. They took this vague and simplistic idea, and successfully crafted an entire game around it. When Mario Galaxy was announced, I really wasn't looking forward too it. I thought it looked really gimmicky, and that the whole space concept was going to be tacked on.
What really made this idea work is the incredible level design. Although very linear, the pacing is perfect. They do a good job in tricking you into thinking that you are in a much larger world, but there is usually only one way to truly go.
I was also incredibly impressed with the graphical effects they were able to pull on on wii. There are some amazing particle effects, textures, and more that I thought were not possible on the Wii. At points, it looks like an Xbox360 launch game, which is quite impressive.
Overall, I think it's my favorite Mario game, and probably my favorite Wii game at the moment. I never thought Nintendo could truly deliver a spiritual sequel to Mario 64, but I think they have succeeded here.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 15:38:12 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
SUMMARY:
In the long awaited return of Mario to the 3D realm, Peach, yet again, has been kidnapped by Bowser and Mario goes on a quest to save her. The twist this time is that he must travel through space to find her. You go through many intuitive levels and complete goals to collect stars.
GAMEPLAY:
Anyone who has played a 3D Mario game before will be familiar with how Mario Galaxy plays, with a few exceptions. Your standard Mario moves such as the triple-jump and the long jump are back, with a few twists however. Right when I got to the first galaxy, I started to realize how different this actually was from, say, Mario 64. As you blast around through space, you land on spherical worlds, each with their own gravity. This might seem like a simple gimmick at first, but it really innovates the Mario experience and brings it to a whole new level.
The story is extremely familiar. If you have played any mario game, there will be no surprises here. It seems that Miyamoto and Nintendo are a little scared to change the story of Mario drastically, which I think is really hindering this game from what it really could be. I think I would be drawn to the game a whole lot more if it had a new story, not the same rehashed Mario saves the princess story with a new coat of paint just thrown on.
The game is extremely interesting to play. The levels are really varied, which I was surprised about. I thought the small spherical worlds would get old after time, but they held up extremely well and every galaxy introduced a new idea that kept the game fresh.
For the first time in a Mario game, a full orchestra is playing the score. The soundtrack is amazing, and the death of the low-budget midi songs really enhance the experience. The soundtrack makes you happy, and has a really epic feel that perfectly fits the game, especially when Mario is flying through space.
From the first time I put the game in, one overwhelming emotion hit me; happiness. This is an emotion missing from most games today. Games are so focused on scaring people and being overly violent that happiness often gets left out. I dare you to try and play this game and not smile the whole time while playing it; I'd say its near impossible.
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PlanetSmasherN9 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 9 months, and 10 days |
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