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Monday 14 January, 2008
Second Gamelog Entry
Gameplay
So its been at least 12 hours since I played the game yesterday and needless to day today's gameplay experience was similar. Today I didn't have my roommate or girlfriend to play with, so I decided to explore some of the other aspects of the game. To begin, let me reiterate that the game isn't as fun when playing by one's self. Because of this I decided to play online. In SPF2 there are 4 game modes. X*, X, Y, and Z. X* is what I played last night. The only difference between X* and X seems to be the inclusion of the diamond wild card. Without it, you need skill to win and cannot rely on luck. So to recap X* = with diamond, X = no diamond. Modes X and Y are similar to what I played last night, except the way the game is played is slightly different. Y mode doesn't seem to use diamond and instead asks that gems of the same color have to be touching. This touching can in include diagonally, horizontally, and vertically. Z mode is like X mode, except it it is played in reverse. Instead of gems falling from the top, they push up from the bottom.
So what do I think of this game's overall gameplay? Well like I said before, I am not a big fan of the puzzle genre, however this game was addictive. I say "was" because after playing it a second time around, it seems to have lost its original appeal. Playing the different modes made it a little bit more interesting, but the gameplay gets old fast. I guess the original appeal came from playing the game with friends. If you play the game against the computer, or strangers online, the game seems a bit hollow. Granted, there is an option to play with friends online, but I'd much rather have them come over and play face to face. That said, there is also no reward or major motivation to keep a person playing for long periods of time. No reward, no unlock-able content that I could find. Perhaps I just haven't played long enough.
Design
To begin, the game reminds me a lot of tetris. Falling gems, classic music, high scores, what is there not to love? Well the truth is the music in SPF2 does get annoying but is actually necessary to keep the excitement and adrenaline going in the game. It seems to be composed of upbeat japanese video game music that makes you feel strangely upbeat and annoyed. Another design characteristic is the use of Capcom's 2D sprites. The game itself looks like its structured like a classic Capcom 2D fighting game fused with tetris. In the starting menu, you start by selecting which mode you would like to play. X*, X, Y, or Z. Then the screen takes you to character selection. In the character selection, Capcom has included many of its well known characters from Street Fighter to Night Stalkers. In this section there is some strategy to picking characters, but in the end it doesn't really matter if your skilled enough. After picking characters, the game begins. This is what Iv been writing about of the majority of this game log.
The actual game play has the two characters in the center of the screen fighting. On the left and right side, are the playing areas for the players. Every time a player explodes gems, uses an orb, or diamond, the sprites on screen attack each other. There are also indicators on the screen to help the players with upcoming damage and gems. I believe that this basically covers the design and feel of SPF2. There are, however, a few other things to note. The game itself was originally an arcade game that recently became available on the PS3 and Xbox360. When playing this game, its important to remember how this game was originally meant to be played. Side by side in a dark noisy arcade.
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