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Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:58:16 - Metroid Prime Pinball (DS) |
Gamelog entry 2, metroid prime pinball
Gameplay:
This time around, I was a little bit more on the lookout for new and more interesting types of missions and found a few that appealed to me more than the others I had tried before. One specific mission - Phendra drifts - was a lot of fun because it incorporated a lot more elements into the gameplay rather than just being a standard pinball game. For example, it allows you to control two sets of clackers (one on the top screen, one on the bottom), there's a boss type monster, and the ability to regenerate your health, activate force fields, etc.
Of all the missions available in pinball, I thought that this one was the most fun and it was the one that I played the majority of the time, because the other missions are very easy to get bored with as there is no need for concentration or strategy.
Design:
I thought that one of the best elements of this game was the way that it makes use of the DS's two screens, and it would have been better if more of the missions could complicate the gameplay in the same way as the Phendra drifts mission did -- by allowing you to play on both screens rather than just watch on the top, play on the bottom. It also made good use of the hand controls of the DS, because the right and left buttons on the top of the DS are really similar to the hand position you would use if you actually were playing pinball in an arcade.
The game was also pretty interesting because of the use of space and the graphics. Since the DS is so small and uncomplicated, I pretty much assumed that the graphics would be similar to a gameboy or something. But, I actually thought it did a pretty good job of giving the player a sense that he or she is interacting with the world of the game, which is especially nice because it actually is a world - there are little bugs, sometimes it rains, there are bridges, etc., rather than just presenting you with a screen that looks like a pinball machine from the arcade. All in all, this game was pretty good for what it was, but still not great because in the end I don't think there's any way to make pinball that interesting. But the DS gave it a good shot!
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 16:16:48 - Metroid Prime Pinball (DS) |
Summary:
In Metroid Prime Pinball, the player chooses which type of mission they would like to play, which is essentially choosing what you want the display and theme of your pinball game to be. I chose the Pirate frigate, because I'm a sucker for pirates. The objective of the game is to use the right and left controllers on the top of the DS to manipulate the little clickers on the bottom of the screen and keep your ball in play, as well as to maximize the amount of time spent playing and possibly get more balls in play. The longer you play, the more points you earn.
Gameplay:
I actually think that the DS is a really great platform for this game, because there are two screens (one on top, one on bottom) that allow you to see what's going on in your virtual pinball machine. The top screen offers a much larger range of vision and keeps the game interesting, while you can focus on the bottom screen when its time to hit your buttons and keep your balls in play.
At first, I found this game to be a lot of fun because of all the little things that pop up in it - sometimes, random machines, robots or parasites will pop up and try and attack your balls, and you can score extra points by hitting the ball into special little zones on the screen. After about 20 minutes or so, though, it can easily get boring. I found myself just randomly hitting the buttons to keep my clackers in constant motion, and that was the only strategy necessary for me to win.
On the upside, though, if you get bored with one type of mission (pirate frigate) you can choose a different type of mission (artifact temple) to keep it interesting yet still be playing, essentially, the same game.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 19:31:16 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Gameplay
During our second round of bowling (which occured late yesterday night), I had significantly more fun than I did on the first round. This is probably for two reasons - first, because I was already familiar with how to manipulate the wii remote and strategies that had worked well for me in the past, and secondly because there was wine involved. This made us all more likely just to mess with the game - throwing the balls backwards, spinning them, etc. I really, really like this game for its sociability and easy-to-use nature.
Design
I love the design of this game. The gameplayer is able to design a videogame version of herself that then steps up and plays when she does. It's pretty realistic in its depiction of the bowling alley and you are able to interact with the prop-characters that are bowling around you. For example, if you toss your ball backwards, all the other characters in the game jump up and spin around. It's cool that the player has a sense that the game is interacting with them and what they do, not just presenting a virtual world that is unaffected by her actions.
The only potential downside of this game that I can see is that it probably wouldn't be much fun to play individually. The nature of the wii, though, fosters social gameplaying so for the most part I don't really think this is an issue because most people who buy/play wii are probably doing so with the intention of playing it socially. It was nice to have the competition between friends, especially with the presentation of strikes in the bowling game. If a player gets three strikes in a row, they get "Turkey," which is cool because there was a continual sense of anticipation whenever each one of us got two strikes in a row. Overall, this game is easy to play, tons of fun with friends and wine, and cute and funny. I love the wii-me option and the ways that the game allows you to screw with it (tossing the ball backwards, etc.). I love wii bowling!!!
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 19:22:55 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Summary
In Wii Sports, bowling, the gameplayer plays in an interactive bowling game. He or she stands up in front of the television, positions the player in whichever position they think is best suited to bowling a srike using the A button and the directional buttions (t-shaped), then they assume the bowling stance that is natural to them. Next, they press down on the trigger and actually bowl, releasing the trigger when their arm is back in the starting position. The objective of this game is to win as many points as possible by knocking over as many pins as possible.
Gameplay
Initially, I was pretty wary of this game because I'm bad at videogames in general and sports in specific. However, I played it with my neighbor and two close friends and they assured me that even a novice could easily pick up on how to play the game pretty quickly. Once I got a good understanding of how to focus, change my player position and swing my arm without feeling like an idiot in front of all of them I actually found myself having a really good time. This game is super easy to pick up, and really fun to play in a social setting.
The flow of the game was really good, because we were all hanging out as friends while also completing my homework assignment. Also, we were listening to Stereolab, which provided nice background to the interactions of our onscreen selves. What I especially liked was just how individual-oriented the wii is, it was great to see a cartoon version of myself and my friends bowling together. All in all, I had a lot of fun and will definitely be playing this even when I'm not having to blog about it.
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ketritt has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 9 days |
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