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Feb 22nd, 2008 at 15:31:42 - Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) |
GAME PLAY 2
The second round of play changed somewhat. As I don’t personally own this game I was not able to get two consecutive play sessions rather this one happened roughly a week later with the same 4 players. It was clear that the other three had been playing a lot in the week that had passed and were all now playing what they had determined to be their best character. I too decided I would stick to one character, one that they had not yet unlocked at the previous gaming session. I chose to play as (SPOILERS FROM HERE UNTIL --- Wolf, Fox’s rival in Starfox 64. I liked the feel of this character, while he was slower than Fox or Falco he packs a punch and has many tricky special moves which were fun to attempt to master. Additionally many of the items had been turned off for this play session as they had been deemed unnecessary and also a hindrance to game play. Finally they had settled on only playing Final Destination… but I got them to play some of the unlocked new levels such as the arcade Mario Bros map and arcade Donkey Kong map. --- SPOILERS END HERE.) This second session while much more intense was enjoyable nonetheless.
DESIGN
The design of all the Smash games is fairly simple. The game has single dimension cardinality with jumping to simulate the simple platformer feeling of most the characters came from. The single player presents some challenges, but often times the AI is outwitted simply by making them traverse dangerous sections of the map multiple times. The true challenge of the game presents its self when the player is faced with another intelligent human player. Items can prove to be either an enhancement to game play or an annoying means to gib another player when they shouldn’t have died yet and thus giving people an arbitrary advantage. The movement of most characters is really smooth and additional techniques like the roll dodge, air dodge, and the new to Brawl running grab and head jump serve to make play all the more interesting. Additionally to correct the fact that large characters like Donkey Kong and Bowser were bad in the previous game in Brawl the designers made it such that large characters aren’t pushed around by lighter attacks. That is a quick flurry of blows from link wouldn’t even make Bowser flinch as he moves in for a devastating smash attack. The wave dash was removed in this version of the game to mixed reactions in the gamer community… Some who had mastered the technique mourn it’s loss however those who have been owned by the advanced technique feel that it was unfair in the first place. Overall the game built upon what it did right in it’s previous two installments and worked to correct it’s flaws and ended up with a game that is sure to be a favorite just like it’s predecessors.
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Feb 22nd, 2008 at 15:31:22 - Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Wii) |
SUMMARY
Smash Brawl, the third installment in the epic series of 2d platform fighters by Hal Labs delivers everything that the fans dreamed of and more for a sequel to the ever popular Smash Melee, a hit that never got old in the 6 years it reigned. Smash a 4 players populated by the best of the best of Nintendo’s classic heroes such as Mario, Samus, Pikachu and Fox McCloud. The stages are all renditions of classic video game locations where the characters in Smash once did battle in their respective games such as Mushroom Kingdom, Onnet, Yoshi’s Island and Dream Land. Brawl heralds in some changes however. First of all two fighters loosely connected with Nintendo join the fight; Sonic and Solid Snake. Secondly, a new mechanic, the “final smash” is introduced… a unique attack for each character of such mind-blowing force that it often sends enemies flying in every direction!
GAME PLAY
For the first session of game play I played some multiplayer, a 4 player free for all with 4 lives to be specific. We had the smash balls enabled (the item that enables use of the final smash move to those lucky enough to grab it when it appears on the map) along with a multitude of other items that looked like they would enhance the play experience. The players were most interested in experimenting with the new characters and testing the new play styles required to play them. I my self played as King Dedede, Meta Knight, Captain Olimar, Pokemon Trainer, Diddy Kong and my favorite from Melee, Falco who I was not the least bit surprised had been nurfed considerably and was mearly a shadow of his former over-powered glory. By the time this first session was over the players had gotten much more into the groove of things and play was becoming more and more competitive. All in all the atmosphere was charged and everyone was excited to be getting a glimpse of the new Smash game that they would likely be enjoying for years to come.
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Jan 26th, 2008 at 03:39:24 - Super Mario World (SNES) |
Summary:
Super Mario World is a sequal to the previous Super Mario game on the NES. SMW offers both a series of levels for Mario make his way to the end of, or plug in a second controller and play co-op as Mario's brother Luigi joins the adventure. The goal for each level is to reach the end of the level without being killed by enemies or terrain obstacles. The eventual goal is to defeat the King Koopa Bowser and rescue Princess Peach.
Gameplay 1:
Though I have played through this game many times and discovered all the secret levels I opted to start a fresh game and attempt to view the game as a new player would. By the end of the first gaming session I had managed to knock out the first world and was close to engaging the second boss.
The simple platform jumping fun that comes from this game paired with the power-ups the Mario can collect such as fire power or flight makes adventuring through Super Mario World enjoyable time and time again. Some gamers may chose to do time trials, or unlock the many secret levels of the game through beating red stages via some hidden alternate method unique to each level. Furthermore the highly unique graphics of the Super Mario World astonish gamers with vivid colors and strange architecture.
Gameplay 2:
In this session of gaming I ventured into the second castle, then from there into the vanilla dome and into castle three. In all of the above the visual style has transformed from the magical bright colors of the outdoor world to a dark and dank setting cast in the caves of the vanilla dome and then into some sinister reptilian architecture of the castle levels, augmented by the lava pits common of all boss castles. These later levels provided a more rigorous challenge for the player but were also much more entertaining, balancing the effort/reward ratio.
The approach to level design seems to have changed a little since the previous world. In one particular case the level flow was from bottom to top rather than from left to right like all previous levels and the player had to work his way to the top with a series of pillars and ladders and platforms and the like. Another implemented an automatic scrolling screen forcing the player to keep pace for fall off the screen and die.
Design:
The design of this Super Mario World is roughly similar to the previous ones in that you jump from platform to platform in a 1 dimensional with jumping with the inclusion of power ups and strange monsters to prevent you from reaching your ultimate goal of the end of the level.
In Super Mario World little has changed from Super Mario 3, except the for implementation of the feather cape, which allows Mario to fly whereas the previous leaf raccoon suit only allowed Mario to slow fall. Level design wise more has been done with moving platforms than in the previous game, and the concept of switch blocks was implemented which allows the player to make levels easier if they discover secret levels with switch blocks in them.
Lastly, Super Mario World heralded in Yoshi, Mario's lovable dinosaur companion who Mario rides into battle againts the Goomba and Koopa armies that Bowser commands. All in all the game bears an epic experience that is fun to the end and every time you play it again.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 01:25:07 - World of Warcraft (PC) |
World of Warcraft 2nd Session
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The second primary aspect of WoW is the part that pus the war in warcraft, the constant battle between the Horde and the Alliance. The game has five modes of player versus player interaction.
The very first and most basic mode is unregulated world PvP. In the outside world, provided you are playing on a PvP enabled server players of the opposing faction can do battle against players of any level, no matter if the match up is a fair fight between two paladins or a dirty one shot ambush by a level 70 rogue made against a defenseless level 20 mage, all is fair in outdoor PvP.
The second, a little different, is outdoor PvP objectives, such as a tower that can be captured by either alliance or horde. A good example of this is Halaa which is a town comprised strictly of PvP objectives and PvP rewards for completing these objectives.
The third kind of PvP is an outdoor arena, a zone where you can kill members of your own faction. The arena is a good place to bring any unsettled disputes and to show off your skills.
The fourth and fifth are conciderably different from the first three in that they are regulated matches arranged by a pairing algorithm. The battlegrounds are the fourth kind of PvP and these are four different maps which are instanced (only the people placed in it will be able to be in it and they are assured that no outsiders will tamper with their game). Matches are of sizes 10v10, 15v15 and 40v40. These battlegrounds are each theamed very differently, the 10v10 is a capture the flag, there are 2 15v15s, one is a fight to hold on to 5 different towers, the other is a fight to hold 4 towers and play capture the flag, and the 40v40 is a protect the king/number of lives fight. The point on the first 4 mentioned thus far is to gather honor points which can be redeemed for PvP tooled loot.
Finally there is the rated arena. This is the newest addition to the wow player versus player functionalities and it is by and far the most rewarding both in honing your skills and in the rewards you get from it. The Arena is in sizes 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5. I for this session played 2v2 with a priest friend (healer class) and we were paired up against teams with a similar team rating. When you make a new team your rating begins at 1500. Wins increase your team score and loses decrease it, simple enough.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 15th, 2008 at 03:42:09.
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Tabh has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 13 days |
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