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Feb 9th, 2008 at 03:35:25 - Marble Mania (Wii) |
Gameplay:
The more that I play this game the more addicted I become. Instead of becoming bored of it as I might with a single or possible even multi level multi player game, I can’t put the Wii mote down. This feeling is created for me by simplicity of the game as a whole. It is difficult to not fall off of the edge, but there isn’t a bunch of different combos to memorize or buttons to push. All you have to do is tilt your hand.
The simplicity of the actions made by the player also helps create a sense of flow to the game. As you tilt your hand to the side the little panda glides across the screen in a sometimes ethereal way making cute little grunts. After you have had to repeat a level several times going through the level is like driving in a hover car. You anticipate turns and your marble doesn’t deviate from the center and inch. It feels like flying and makes passing the level smooth. The levels steadily progress in difficulty, which makes each new challenge less daunting.
Design:
One of the things that I particularly liked about this game was that it was a game of precision, not timing. I was disappointed when I got further along in the game and there were rotating lights that if you touched would send you back to the start. The game was adequate without this added challenge that in my opinion was overdoing a good thing.
This game is very much single player oriented and doesn’t leave a large amount for discussion. In this way it is more an exercise of dexterity and a brainteaser than a possibility for social interaction.
The interesting part of this game is that though it is a game of progression, there is no hint of a choice in the path that the player must take. It is made very clear that there is only one, often narrow way towards the goal. This path is also deceivingly simple. The challenges aren’t always easy to see as in fighting games (i.e. punch a minion three times and it dies).
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Feb 9th, 2008 at 02:27:59 - Marble Mania (Wii) |
Summary:
Marble Mania is a game based on old-fashioned marble tilt game. The point of the game is to guide a marble through an obstacle course and collect all the red jewels and make it into the goal.
Gameplay:
While playing this game my adrenaline began to pump. I favored the slow and steady approach to the game so my hands started to shake a little when I was concentrating more thoroughly on what I was doing. This increased as the levels progressed. This game seemed more serious to me than fighting games because it was about precision and it was completely unforgiving. This aspect made me more eager to dedicate myself to it and I found it addicting.
Some of the marbles were actually animals that made cute noises as they rolled around the maze. This is the closest that this particular game comes to characters. This was very aesthetically pleasing as were the different backgrounds, some more than others. The first scenes were set in a forest area and were very calm and low pressure. The next levels were set in a candy land kitchen. This was nice as it put the player into a sugared frenzy and the cute factor was high. This higher levels of the one’s that I got to were set in a city and they were my least favorite. The animation was good but the setting was dull and it made me feel all the pressure with less of the tension cutting cuteness.
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Jan 26th, 2008 at 03:09:27 - Katamari (PS2) |
Summary:
Katamari is a single player puzzle like game. It is very unique in that it has an adventurous feeling but is more of a puzzle in that there is very little conflict. The goal is to roll the katamari around the level in order to reach a certain size. In the higher levels there is a time limit. The player can only pick up objects based on relative size.
Gameplay:
I was very annoyed with Katamari. Very Very annoyed. It was too easy to get stuck and not be able to fix the mistake in time. The player needs to feel like it’s still possible to win up until the very end otherwise there is less incentive to play. I also found the music annoying. It was a nice score but the addition of words to the music made it seem that much more repetitive. Were there no lyrics I would have really enjoyed it.
I enjoyed the story a lot. The actual storyline wasn’t extraordinary, though it was original. What I really enjoyed about it was the dialogue. There was a lot of it and I’m sure that after a couple times playing this game it would start to wear on me, but it was funny and held my interest long enough to read all of it. This definitely deserves applause as most gamers, myself included are in the game for the action, not the introduction.
I liked the animation in the game because it was simple. The characters were mainly shapes without a lot of intricate detail. Their movements were basic and predictable. Sometimes in-depth animation can be very visually aesthetic however it can get in the way of playing the game. In Katamari the characters were simple but very cute, helping the player to identify with them, but not become overwhelmed by them.
Gameplay:
I was much less frustrated this time as I played my way through a few levels. I definitely mastered the controls more and was able to steer more accurately as a result. However, now that finishing a level was actually a dim possibility it was more frustrating when I didn’t make it.
The story was less involving this time and I became more aware of the puzzle aspect of the game. In that way everything looked less foreign but also less intriguing. I still enjoyed the game but it felt as if I could have been playing any other puzzle game and it wouldn’t have made me miss Katamari.
Design:
The game has a very simple concept by design. The makers therefore made the navigation of the game easier and the actual completion of the game harder. This is a quality of a puzzle game. The effort is more mental. Remembering where certain objects are and how big you have to be to pick them up. In this way the game is more systematic than challenge requiring mastery of difficult skills very quickly and randomly. This is a very effective game design because it makes it playable for all levels of gamers. They don’t have to spend a lot of time training after which they lose interest in the game itself. Instead they can jump straight into the game and let the levels improve their skills.
What’s interesting about the game world is that like most videogames it gives the illusion of many choices and lots of open space. However they very carefully control your movement by only letting you pick up objects relatively smaller than you. So at first you spend your time in the area with the small objects and then move progressively into the areas with the bigger objects. Without even realizing it the makers are guiding you through the game. They very effectively simulated a choice for the player.
My main objection to this game is the view at which you sometimes see the game. When going under a table of behind a pole you lose sight of the katamari and the character. I know that this creates more of a challenge but I see this as unnecessary. By keeping the character and katamari in sight at all times the game makers would cut out a lot of the frustration that first time players could become discouraged by. If this were cut out it would not change the difficulty of the game drastically but it would lessen feelings of ill will by players just trying to make it through the lower levels.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 26th, 2008 at 03:12:02.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 02:51:01 - Super Smash Brothers (N64) |
Summary:
Super Smash Brothers is a multi-player game for up to four people that combines many Nintendo icons with the objective of setting them against each other in various environments. The game can be set to a time limit or a battle to the death.
Gameplay:
Super Smash Brothers hooked me really quickly and brought me to a higher emotional state than I have previously experienced in a game. I found myself shouting at the game and the other player, all in good fun of course, and I became very tied to the outcome of the match. My opponent was a friend of mine who quickly became my mentor in the game, as he is much better than I am.
I found that as a beginner I needed to play as characters that were moderately fast and therefore moderately powerful. If I chose characters that were too fast I would fall off the edge of the playing field. However if I chose characters that were too slow I didn’t have enough time to evade attacks nor was I experienced enough to execute the careful planning that all slower attacks require.
The best part about this game is the combination of many of the Nintendo characters. For people like me whose gaming experience is limited to what little I have played in college, this game is like an overview of all of the characters. Players can learn how to use different characters all in one game. It is also interesting because it very directly pits characters that would not normally fight against each other, providing as a direct means of measuring strengths and weaknesses.
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Summary:
The second time I played Super Smash I realized that there is also an option that is a single player fighting game that becomes increasingly difficult with each level. Going through the levels is what allows the owner of the game to get new character and win trophies. This is as important a part of the game as the multi-player fighting.
Design:
The graphics in this game are very advanced. I watched some of the older games being played and there is a very noticeable difference between both the graphics and the music. Mario was in color but was only 2D and the music is more melodic than a series of mechanical beeps.
The conflict is more automatic because it is a multi-player game as opposed to a single level based game. The players create as much conflict as their competitiveness will allow.
As a beginner I found it difficult to master even basic moves in an immediately combative situation. There is a training mode but the game is most commonly played in melee mode which doesn’t allow for much learning through experience.
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dreamalot2007 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 7 days |
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