Review: Rayman Origins....PLAY THIS GAME.

There was talk leading up to the release of Ubisoft's Rayman Origins about two things; its incredible hand-drawn art style, which has been the subject of universal praise, as well as controversy over its $60 price tag. What's so surprising to me is that in an industry where many seem to want to see the return of the Platformer genre to its old school 2D roots, these same people then hesitate to pay full price for it.

In the case of Rayman Origins, that's not only too bad, but considering how awesome this game has actually turned out, it's a downright shame. I'm a big supporter of the 3D platformer and have been for some time; that's not to say I haven't liked the 2D platformers we've seen this generation, but I've never felt that it was the direction I wanted the genre to head back in. Rayman Origins is the first game that's managed to make me stop and consider that maybe there really is something to be gained by cutting out all the fluff that has been building onto the platformer genre since it went 3D. This game is platforming reduced to its purest form, but refined to an incredible degree, and it's difficult not to be convinced by it.

Graphics: Rayman Origins is one of the prettiest games I've played this console generation, and that's due not only to the gorgeous hand-drawn visuals, but the inventive character and boss designs. This entire game has a certain whimsical look to it that applies to each and every aspect of its visual appearance, and the level variety's something to be admired. It all feels like one universe, even though levels range from a fire-heavy kitchen to stormy clouds, forests, underwater segments, and more. I didn't encounter any slowdown at all that I can remember, and while there certainly are load times, they aren't so annoying that they should be labeled as a flaw. Story sequences are presented with the same wackiness as the rest of the game, and everything feels so alive and zany that it's like reading a Dr. Seuss book. You never know what crazy sights will await you around the bend. Graphically, this is a flawless experience.


Gameplay: What helps to make Rayman Origins such a remarkable game is that the controls and physics feel so.....perfect. What ends up being a stumbling block for many platformers is made so easy here that it's almost hard to understand why so many other developers get it wrong. Rayman's hover works wonders and keeps you in the air for just the right amount of time. Jumping is pressure-sensitive and also feels just right. Deciding when to hover and when to simply perform a long jump is part of the fun, especially when in one of the many areas where the game requires you to move fast. Rayman has a dash ability that gets him moving quickly, and even combat, though it may be the game's most under-utilized feature, feels fun, with an amusing charge attack as Rayman winds up his swing. Fighting in the air is also an option. What amazes me the most about Rayman Origins is that *everything* involving the control of your character has been perfected. Each power you acquire as you progress through the game, including swimming and wall-running, not to mention flying, feels just as fun to control as everything else. And yes, this is a 2D platformer designed perfectly for an analog stick; a rarity, to be sure, but I couldn't picture anybody playing this with the D-pad.

It's good that the controls work so well, because this isn't a game that's afraid to challenge you. You're free to pass levels if you can't beat them, (though if you do this too often you'll fall behind on your rescuing of the Electoons, which will eventually bar your progress through the game until you go back and collect more) and the developers have been incredibly liberal with the checkpoints. The lack of lives is also a refreshing bit of game design. Still, Rayman Origins will definitely challenge you, but with that comes the feeling of satisfaction and reward when you do get past a particularly tricky part. There's some ingenious platforming here, and even if you find yourself cursing the game, you can't help but shake your head, pick up your controller again, and think, "I hate this part, but man, is this some brilliant game design."

What's nice about the challenge is how much satisfaction you get from playing well. Similar to past Rayman games, Lums are ever-present throughout the environments, and how many you collect is tallied up at the end of the level. When you hit certain points (say, 120 Lums, or 350 Lums) you'll earn an Electoon. You can find hidden Electoons on your travels as well, and at the end of each stage, you can see how many Electoons you have collected versus how many you would be able to collect per stage. Collecting Electoons unlocks bonus Treasure Run sections, which are fast-paced levels where you race a treasure chest through tough obstacle courses that will test even the most seasoned platformer fan. As with the rest of the game, the sense of reward here is high, as completing each one earns you a red ruby, which actually serve as teeth for one of the characters who lives in the Snoring Tree, your home base. Get him all his teeth, and you unlock a whole other area of the game. Getting enough Lums per stage also awards you with a medal for a top performance, and these aren't easy to get either, but it encourages you to collect as many as possible, and hitting certain triggers will give you limited time bonuses, like doubling the value of each Lum collected for a short time; Fun stuff.

Did I mention all the characters you can unlock by collecting Electoons? There's that too. Tons of characters, all chilling out in the Snoring Tree, waiting to be controlled by you. And though I played through Rayman Origins as a solo experience, I can imagine that the excitement of unlocking all the characters is much stronger in co-op multiplayer (up to 4 can team up). There's a lot here, and this isn't a short game, either. For all the skepticism surrounding whether it would be worth paying retail pricing for, this happens to be quite a lengthy experience, and that's just beating the main story.

If there's one weak point here it'd have to be the boss battles, which, despite looking cool, often come down to trial-and-error memorization and can even feel anti-climactic at times. In fact, there are a few moments over the course of this game that don't feel as if they were designed to be completed on a first try. Trial-and-error is certainly nothing new in this genre, but it's unfortunate whenever it does crop up here because even with relaxed penalties for it, dying's never particularly fun, and some sections (few, but some) wind up feeling frustrating.

Even with those flaws, Rayman Origins is a game that, for the most part, feels like platforming excellence. I beg anybody who has ever liked this type of game to give it a shot. You don't have to be familiar with Rayman to love the game's charm, and you don't have to be a platforming expert for the controls to feel almost instantly like second nature. Definitely a must-play.

Sound: Characters talk in that usual weird "Rayman Language" while you read text boxes but story here's minimal anyway. The music features plenty of orchestration with some weird vocals going on from time to time as well. While I could have done without the vocals, or at least done with less of them, some of the music here's excellent and fits the various levels to a T. Definitely a game with a look all its own and the audio to match. Sound effects are also handled well.

Story: Essentially, the loud snoring of Rayman and his friends angers an old woman nearby, and she sends her demons out into their world as a result. Rayman must go on a mission to free those she captured and turned evil, as well as stopping this demon granny once and for all. The story's presented in a very fun way but there's not a lot of it, and even with a plot twist that I just can't make any sense of, I enjoyed what little story was here. You don't really play a game like this one for the story, and Rayman Origins' story works very well for what it sets out to do.

Verdict: Reviewing this game for its single-player alone, it's possible that my score would be even higher had I gotten to experience its multiplayer. This is a great game that challenges you but rewards you well for your accomplishments. It has a constant charm, the visuals never cease to amaze, the controls work like a dream, and there's so much to play through and unlock here. Though the gameplay may not have quite the level of variety of something like the excellent Mario Galaxy series, and while there are some frustrating trial-and-error stuff and bosses who could have used some work, Rayman Origins succedes to a degree that I hadn't expected it to. This is an incredible 2D platformer, easily one of my favorites of this console generation, and one definitely worth whatever price you can find it for, so snap it up!

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Presentation: Simple but entertaining story, easy to learn gameplay, and plenty to do even after the end credits.

Graphics: Beauty. That's all that needs to be said.

Gameplay: Great controls, lots of level variety, great system that rewards your skill. Some parts feel a little unfair but it's very difficult to hate this game even during those moments.

Sound: Solid music and your usual Rayman vocal delivery. Could have done without the vocal audio tracks though.

Replay Value: This is a long game just to complete, letalone to do all it has to offer.

Overall: 8.5/10

(My reviews go on a .5 scale)

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Demo Impressions

Final Fantasy XIII was released a couple years ago to a rather mixed reception from fans and critics. Though its Metascore in the low 80s was solid by most standards, it fell far below where main numbered entries in the Final Fantasy series have typically found themselves, and fans were divided on a game that felt more like an action game than an RPG.

I liked Final Fantasy XIII, and though I wouldn't have called its completely linear approach and dramatic scaling back of many RPG elements like NPC interaction and town exploration a worthy direction for the series to head in, for what it was, I thought it was enjoyable. A sequel was the last thing on my mind when the end credits rolled, however, so I wasn't sure what to originally think once the sequel was rumored and then, eventually, announced.

But now we have a demo, a pretty expansive one too, and after having sunk my teeth into it, it's clear that Final Fantasy XIII-2 aims to be a very different game from its predecessor, one that's making obvious steps to address many of the original's shortcomings.

First thing's first, though. If you aren't familiar with Final Fantasy XIII's combat system, this demo might throw you for a loop. Though it attempts to explain it to you with a small tutorial, people new to the game will definitely not know the difference between a Commando and a Ravager, or what the Crystarium is, or anything like that. So for those of you new to the FF13 saga, I'd recommend waiting for the actual game to release before diving in, otherwise I'm sure you'll be fairly lost.

For the rest of us, though, FFXIII-2's demo provides a nice look at the game. After a pretty straightforward boss fight, you're put right into the middle of a big ruin in the midst of a heavy downfall. You can wander around this area and, yes, talk to NPCs and even visit an item salesperson! You can hang around the populated area for a while or venture into the ruins, where you'll encounter battles on your way to defeat the big bad guy whose making life tough for those in the area.

This is a pretty big area. FF13-2 incorporates a system similar to that found in the Star Ocean series, where the map has a "Percentage Explored" indicator letting you know how much of the area you've walked through, though unlike Star Ocean, areas you haven't been yet still appear on your map, albeit in a darkened form. Once you venture into the ruins, you can still see people hanging around, a few of which you can choose to talk to. Some will even give you sidequests you can elect to take on, and these award you with CP to upgrade your characters.

It's just Noel (new character) and Serah this time around, but you can actually switch your controlled character in battle now, and the 3rd slot is taken up by a monster who you can level up in the Crystarium as well. I wasn't so sure about this feature at first, but in this demo, it seemed to work pretty well. Besides some cinematic actions and a few new status ailments, the battle system feels similar to FF13, though, maybe because this is likely early in the game, it felt to me a little slower-paced.

Interestingly, enemies no longer wander the field. Instead, they'll randomly drop right near you as you explore, sort of like a random battle, but once they drop, you have the option to fight them or run away, or even accomplish a preemptive strike. While I personally preferred the roaming enemies from 13, this is a pretty good way to handle random encounters.

At one point in the demo, you're offered the choice to either face the boss head-on, or to instead look for a machine to maybe disable it. You get the option of choosing who to "discuss" this with, and then you get to make your choice. Though the choice is rather obvious in this case, hopefully other decisions like this in the game itself will prove to be a bit more of a gray area, since it has the potential to be a very cool feature.

As far as other aspects of the demo goes, you have a fully-rotating camera now, though I can tell it'll take some time to get used to. Naturally, with the environments offering you a bit more free-roaming, FF13's perfect sense of "pacing" isn't there. FF13 knew, for example, exactly how many battles would take place between cutscenes, and it paced itself well accordingly. This game doesn't have that advantage, so it doesn't quite feel as exciting as FF13 did, though of course, for many fans, that'll be just fine. The music, though, kind of disappointed me. While I was surprised by the quality of some of it, a lot of the music (especially the boss theme) comes across as generic "futuristic noice," something FF13's soundtrack did a great job at avoiding. 2 FF13 tracks do appear in the demo, and their quality over the rest of the soundtrack's pretty noticeable.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this demo. It has Chocobo-riding item salespeople, lots of NPC interaction, sidequests to take on, a big area to explore, a can-be-tough boss to fight, and even a talking moogle. The chemistry between Noel and Serah seems good, too, based on what I've seen. The "time traveling" aspects of the game were almost entirely absent from the demo, so I have no idea how that'll work, though I hope it's not too confusing. I'm definitely eager to play more, and can't wait for the game's release in late January.

Review: It may lack the polish that I've come to expect from the Zelda series, but Skyward Sword's an unbelievably fun game definitely worth experiencing

The release of a Zelda game is almost always greeted with unheard of amounts of anticipation by all generations of Nintendo fans. Skyward Sword, once thought to be the Wii's final hurrah (thankfully we're getting Xenoblade in Spring 2012 afterall) was looked at with a mixture of both excitement as well as skepticism, similar to how fans viewed the controversial Wind Waker back on the Gamecube before its release. Featuring a non-traditional graphics style and a reportedly heavy emphasis on motion controls, it's easy to see why some were concerned that this Zelda game wouldn't live up to the rest.

While I'll be the first to admit that several of these decisions didn't quite pan out, I'm happy to say that Skyward Sword delivers in a big way at providing an epic adventure that's, from start to finish, fun to play, and it's definitely a game that lives up to the Zelda name.

Storyline: Skyward Sword doesn't do a ton to break from the typical Zelda formula as far as the story progression is concerned. Though the settings and villains often prove to be different, the Zelda series can't ever seem to break away from the whole "collect 3 pieces of this" aspect of its narrative, and this game's no exception. Where Skyward Sword proves to be a big step forward in terms of storytelling though is in the way it conveys emotion. Much more cinematic cutscenes with some pretty impressive character animation do well to cover up the series' continued use of text boxes instead of voice acted speech, and with the exception of one crucial cutscene towards the end, I didn't find myself even once missing the voice acting. Link and Zelda are close from the very start, which raises the stakes and allows you to care far more about these characters then you otherwise would. There are a couple surprisingly powerful moments in here that definitely caught me off guard, including the game's truly epic ending. While Zelda is a series that has always placed gameplay first, (and that hasn't changed) Skyward Sword sees welcome improvements to its storytelling that definitely make its simple tale more involving.

Graphics: Visually-speaking, though, Skyward Sword's a bit of a letdown, with a graphics style that never managed to win me over despite some very pretty moments. Neither fully cel-shaded like Wind Waker nor carrying the more realistic look of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword instead finds its balance somewhere in between with a cartoony look reminiscent of a pastel painting, and though that certainly explains the game's muddy-looking walls and blurry backgrounds, there's not much else I can say except that it just looks rough. Wind Waker's cel shading had a clean and well-defined look to it, as did the watercolor painting style featured in Okami, for example, but Skyward Sword's visuals, in ways that I find hard to explain, just never managed to win me over. From a gameplay perspective, they occasionally even cause problems, such as when you can't see cracks in the wall that you're supposed to bomb because the textures on the walls look so blurry, or when you can't spot a ledge that you're supposed to grab onto for the same reason. Also, beware if you're playing this on an HDTV, as this makes jaggies that are probably much harder to spot in SD quite apparent. It's not a bad looking game, and this section of the review isn't meant to be a deal-breaker, but all in all, I can only assume that the aging graphics capabilities of the Wii system prevented Nintendo from fully reaching whatever direction they were hoping to take this game's visuals. Skyward Sword's graphics style is definitely interesting, but also probably its weakest aspect.

Gameplay: And here we arrive at the crux of any Zelda game. The series has always been about providing a big world to explore, dungeons to work your way through, sidequests to take on, heart pieces to find, enemies to defeat, and treasure to open. Skyward Sword has all of these things, but many of them are given a different spin that may alienate some long-time fans of the series. The game's divided into two areas; the sky and the world below. Skyloft, the only town and the world's hub, proves to be a charming but rather small village floating in the clouds, and it's here that many of Skyward Sword's sidequests can be taken on. Once you jump from the floating island and summon your bird in mid-air, you can then fly throughout the clouds as you seek treasure and the locations where you can dive to the dungeons below. The ground's divided up into 3 areas; Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano, and Lanayru Desert, and these expand over the course of the game as you acquire new powers and venture into uncharted territory. It was an interesting decision that fans will either love or hate; instead of giving us a big world map with tons of different little places to visit, we instead have 3 well-developed environment types that constantly expand as you return to them over the course of the game. Though these environments prove to be massive and though the dungeons hidden within them are varied, it's hard to escape the feeling that you're returning to the same "desert, fire, or forest" environments again and again, even though you may be exploring new places in them.

The sky world, on the other hand, doesn't grow by a whole lot. Though you at one point do gain access to a new area, the sky you explore proves to be far smaller than the overworlds in Twilight Princess and Wind Waker were, with less to do. As a whole, exploration was scaled back in Skyward Sword. That's not to say that there isn't any, but the game progresses primarily in a linear fashion, with little made to be available for exploration until the game decides that you're ready to explore it. Even treasure chests on the sky islands are un-openable until you first access their "goddess cube" triggers in the dungeons down below, which then mark the chests in the sky on your map that you can now open. On one hand, this is a good thing; afterall, who can resist venturing off the beaten path to collect treasure that's now conveniently marked on your map? On the other hand, this system provides little incentive to do any exploring until the game tells you to, since any treasure you find can't be opened until you first activate its corresponding cube on the ground. Skyward Sword also proves to be quite dated in a number of areas; there's still no Quest Menu to keep track of sidequests you've taken on, requiring you to head back to the character who assigned the quest to talk to him if you forgot where to go or what to do. The lack of this in a game made in 2011 is mind-boggling, as is the small size of Skyloft and the (too) few things to do in it. Though Skyward Sword provides many more "RPG elements" than action/adventure games usually do, it still feels laughably dated in these places compared to games like Mass Effect or Skyrim. Strangely, day to night changes have been mostly eliminated, with night time triggering only in Skyloft (with few exceptions) and only when you allow Link to go to sleep. You can't leave Skyloft and fly at night, which just seems lazy, and it's unfortunate, because I think it would have been a pretty cool sight.

In another decision that some fans will love and others will hate, combat has been revamped to take advantage of the Wii's Motion Plus peripheral. Now you actually control Link's sword, with the game giving you the ability to strike horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and to thrust forward, all of which comes from the motion of your Wii Remote. As far as combat's concerned, I definitely think the emphasis on motion controls have helped create much more strategic enemy encounters. Enemies will hold shields or swords out in certain ways, blocking your attacks unless you hit them in the other direction, so knowing which ways to attack enemies is a must for beating the game, and thrusting your shield forward with the Nunchuk, which must be done at exactly the right moment or your shield will take damage, becomes almost a requirement towards the end of the game. It's definitely not as strategic as the combat in a game like, say, Red Steel 2, where your arsenal of moves expanded over the course of the game, but it's fun and helps shake up the standard Zelda combat mechanics and it responds well, for the most part.

Many of the power-ups have also been mapped to motion controls, and from the amazingly fun Beetle power to the gust bellows to the usual whips, clawshots, and bomb gloves, all of it works incredibly well and benefits from the motion controls. That said, Skyward Sword's reliance on motion controls let it down it in a few key ways as well. As if we were back in 2006 again, this game attaches motion controls to almost everything, including actions that would have proven to be far easier with the analog stick. Flying through the sky is controlled entirely with motion (with no option to use an analog stick) which proves to be more than a little tiring. Diving is also motion-controlled, and though I got the hang of it eventually, it took me 10+ tries in a very bad tutorial to pull off a dive successfully. Triggering your skyward strike is also a very hit-or-miss process, with the game sometimes recognizing your motion and sometimes missing it, and the system involving drawing symbols on certain walls to recover items is laughably broken. Boss keys now must be inserted into the doors by twisting them and arranging them in the correct way to fit them in the slots, another task made more, not less, frustrating with motion control. The Motion Plus can also find itself off-center with surprising frequency, and though it's not a big problem to set the controller on a flat surface to re-calibrate it, these issues all make Skyward Sword feel unpolished at times, and rarely, even a little unfinished. I'm not going to go on about a glitch that can prevent you from progressing through the game (believe it or not, these aren't new to the Zelda series, and there is a fix available should it happen to you) but I did run into another bug when I had to restart a boss battle because the boss remained frozen in one position and I was unable to get the fight to progress to its 2nd part. It's not my intention to harp on these issues, but Zelda games have always carried a level of polish; I may have disliked Twilight Princess, but I couldn't deny while playing it that it was an incredibly polished experience that was clearly given the right amount of development time. This game, not so much.

But where Skyward Sword unquestionably triumphs is in its dungeon designs. Gone are the tedious and maze-like dungeons that made Twilight Princess a living nightmare at times, instead replaced here with dungeons that are designed so well that they hardly feel like "dungeons" at all; instead, they're almost all a total blast to play through. They make use of all the powers you've collected over the course of the game, and with the game's great menus, you can switch between them on the fly. Save points have finally been scattered throughout, meaning you can now turn off the game mid-dungeon and not have to boot it up again to find Link back at the beginning. The map system has been totally revamped, and while some may mourn the removal of the Compass (we just have the Dungeon Maps this time around, which have the functions of the compasses built into them automatically) I doubt anybody will miss the outdated map system of past Zelda titles. The fact that a lot of the dungeons in Skyward Sword also take place in outdoor environments (blurring the line between what is a dungeon and what isn't,) is also a nice touch.

It's certainly not without its flaws; hit or miss motion controls, an overworld with too few things to do, only 3 environment types that you continually return to, and a small hub town and an outdated sidequest system are things that prevent Skyward Sword from scoring higher. They make the game feel a bit less epic than it is, as well as making it feel like it could have used a few more months in development to iron some of the motion control kinks out. But the fast pacing, the incredible dungeons, the great powerups, fun sword play, and the always-amazing feeling of arriving in a new environment loaded with secrets and enemies that only Zelda provides make Skyward Sword a winner and one of the more fun Zelda entries.

Audio: Another triumph of Skyward Sword is its fully-orchestrated soundtrack, which is nothing short of incredible. I can't even say anything more about this except that you'll never want the series to go back to MIDI soundtracks again, it's just that amazing. Unlike in Twilight Princess, where I found myself missing the voice acting, improved cutscene presentation makes it almost a non-issue here, and as always with Zelda, some of the best moments are when the music's cut entirely and you get to savor the atmospheric sounds of the environments. Awesome as always.

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Verdict: Well, Nintendo has done it again. Skyward Sword's proven itself to be worth the wait and more than lived up to the hype. There may have been some missed opportunities and a lack of polish here or there, but when it comes down to it, Zelda is Zelda, and it's something that Nintendo does incredibly well. A plot that manages successfully to pull at your emotions, a charming world, fun dungeons, a great sense of pacing, and of course all that there is to explore and experience makes Skyward Sword a must-play, not only for Wii owners, but for fans of deep action/adventure games that you can really sink your teeth into. Pick it up.


Presentation: Better storytelling with scenes that really pull at the heartstrings. Great item and equipment menus, a scaled back but still large world. Sidequest system needs an overhaul, though.

Graphics: Some moments of pure beauty, but it's hard not to feel that the developers lacked a concrete direction here. There are a lot of styles at play, and the game certainly has a unique look to it, but not one of the series' best.

Gameplay: Epic dungeons, great bosses, some cool new features (sprinting, those intense spirit realms) make up for a bit of a disappointing hub town and overworld. Motion control either works really well or provides some frustration depending on the moment. Awesome final boss fights. Some annoying repetition, fetch-questing, and backtracking.

Sound: Prepare to have your mind blown. A Zelda game has never sounded so good.

Replay Value: It's a little shorter than Twilight Princess (thankfully) but unquestionably the better game. Hero Mode is unlocked upon completion like always. While playing, lots to do and explore.

Overall: 8.5/10

Final Thoughts; Play it.

Note: My review scores go on a .5 scale.

Review: It's hard not to feel that this game could have been so much more, but for what it is, Sonic Generations is a fun, well-made tribute to the blue blur.

There's nothing like watching the character from your first video game turning 20 to remind you of how old you are. Well, that and knowing that 11-12 year olds these days missed the 90s altogether....damn. But yes, 2011 marks Sonic's 20th birthday, and Sega has chosen to celebrate it by releasing Sonic Generations, a game which pays tribute to Sonic's many adventures over the past two decades. With gameplay evenly split between Sonic's current self and his Sega Genesis self, with some of the series' best level design, and with lots of replay value and bonus missions to complete, there's no doubt that Sonic Generations is a quality title and a definite pick-up for anyone who has ever called themselves a Sonic fan.

The game begins -where else- at Sonic's birthday party. Many of the series' characters are there, congratulating Sonic on growing a year older. Their celebrations are cut short, however, by a mysterious and villainous force, which pulls them all into a new world drained of color. Sonic wakes up to find his friends frozen, and he sets out to unfreeze them and bring color back to this world, which consists of a collection of his memories. Soon he meets his Classic self, a design based on Sonic's Sega Genesis character model, and the plot occasionally, but not nearly often enough, features a fun dynamic between the two as they work together to stop the entity responsible for their troubles.

The important thing about the two Sonics turns out not to be their role in the storyline but rather how they influence the gameplay. Each of the game's zones features two acts; one in which you play as Classic Sonic, with his Genesis gameplay intact, and one in which you play as Modern Sonic, which is a far better-controlling take on Sonic's gameplay from his last 360/PS3 adventure, Sonic Unleashed. I was definitely concerned initially, especially after the mess that was the first episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, about how Classic Sonic would control and play, but my fears were put to rest almost immediately. Though there are some slight differences, and he moves noticeably faster when spin dashing, Classic Sonic controls very much in the spirit of how he did in the Genesis games, with physics to match, and I found myself instantly at home while playing as him. This section of gameplay takes place of course pretty much entirely in 2D, and offers some of the longest Classic Sonic levels in the series' history. It's hard not to be impressed by the many paths always available throughout each act. The fact that I knew, from my familiarity with the Genesis games, that "okay, I can jump on that guy, and he'll give me enough height to reach that ledge!" and the fact that SonicTeam really still has a knack for inventive 2D platforming, makes for some truly fun levels here. So much so in fact that I found myself shaking my head and asking myself many times why they decided to outsource Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to DIMPS when SonicTeam clearly knows 2D platforming so well.

The good news is that Modern Sonic also plays remarkably well. There are far fewer bottomless pits than there were in Unleashed and Sonic Colors, his Drifting mechanics, which felt nearly useless in the past, have been improved significantly, many paths have been added, the QTE trick system is gone, and all in all, his controls feel much tighter. The amount of paths through these levels is nothing short of stunning. Many times I found myself falling down a pit, totally ready to lose a life, but to my surprise, I'd end up still alive, but on a different path, and that's the way Sonic should be. The trial-and-error level design mechanics which put a dent in my enjoyment of last year's Sonic Colors are gone here. Bottomless pits are marked, there are lots of opportunities for 3D platforming (playing as Modern Sonic is not simply a boost-fest) and the speed at which Sonic tears through these levels is at times nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Sonic Generations is also loaded with fan service. The many Sonic tunes that can be found and unlocked, their new remixes, all the unlockable concept art, the fact that each stage is a re-imagination of a past Sonic stage, and of course, the return of Classic Sonic's gameplay, will ensure that long-time fans of the series will have plenty to be excited about as they play through Sonic Generations.

In its central gameplay, this game definitely delivers. I have almost no complaints about how both Classic and Modern Sonic play, and this is a huge landmark for the series. Here there are no gimmicky powers (with the exception of the Planet Wisp stage) there are no Werehogs, and there are no other playable characters; it's simply Sonic as he is now and Sonic as he was then, and I couldn't be happier with how both of them play.

That's not to say that Sonic Generations is perfect, though I really wish I could say that it was. Despite the rock solid gameplay, I can't help but feel disappointed in the game that's wrapped around it. For all the commotion about Sonic's 20th birthday and the epic game this promised to be, Sonic Generations feels small to me, almost more like a taste of Sonic's past than a full-fledged tribute, and while I know that some fans will be completely happy with this, for me it all feels a little half-assed.

First thing's first; The Hedgehog Engine which powered Sonic Unleashed returns here, and along with it, the bright visuals and incredible draw distance. Everything has the same warm glow that Unleashed did, and it creates some beautiful-looking areas. Also returning however is the unstable framerate. While nothing in Sonic Generations feels quite as choppy as the framerate in Unleashed levels like Adabat or Eggmanland, Generations never reaches its silky smooth heights either, falling somewhere in the middle. In almost any given level you'll run into some choppiness, and though it's not game-ruining by any stretch, it is a bit of a bummer, especially with Sonic's emphasis on speed, to see him hitting so many framerate rough patches. It's also unfortunate that SonicTeam, maybe in an attempt to help the framerate or hide Sonic Generations' sometimes embarrassingly bad texturework, went overboard with the motion blur. Every time Sonic speeds up, especially Classic Sonic, his surroundings and the background images become so blurry that I at one point questioned whether there was something wrong with my eyes. Go back and boot up Sonic Unleashed and you'll find a much sharper picture, and why this was done, I have no idea, but it makes it difficult to appreciate the colorful graphics when they frequently dissolve into a background blur. There's even several instances of pop-up, which I don't remember ever happening in Unleashed. It might be that Sonic Generations received a budget cut, or that less care went into its visuals with Hedgehog Engine creator and Unleashed director Yoshihisa Hashimoto no longer with SonicTeam, but either way, it's sad that the visuals aren't all that they could have been.

It's also amazing to me that SonicTeam didn't feel compelled to include more levels than they have. Here we have a game that's supposed to cover and celebrate Sonic's history, and it does, to an extent, but with only 9 zones, it feels more a checklist of each game than a full-on celebration of them. Some games, like Sonic 3, aren't represented at all, which is weird, since the game's producer, Takashi Iizuka, started his work on the series with Sonic 3. Don't get me wrong, it's amazing to get to blast through Chemical Plant as Modern Sonic, actually, it's a series highlight. But....really; there wasn't more from the incredible Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that they wanted to include? It's in this way that Sonic Generations feels more like a sampling from each game than a full-on embrace of them. Every Sonic game here is represented by only 1 stage, and while saying that they didn't always pick the best stage is of course a matter of opinion, it's a thought that I feel many will have. The few levels included when there were so many amazing ones to pick from is all the more surprising when the game ends as quickly as it does. Another 3 levels even would have been ideal, but like Sonic Colors, I felt that Generations ends just a little too soon.

The fact that these levels are all re-imaginings of older levels, along with the fact that the game puts them in order, gives Sonic Generations the unintended consequence of feeling predictable. Though I made it a point to avoid knowing all the levels that were to be included beforehand, it turned out to be unavoidable for me and probably for most people playing as well. So when you know what all the included levels are going to look like, and you know what order they'll appear in, and with both Classic and Modern Sonic being refinements of past gameplay styles rather than new experiences, you pretty much know from the start what Sonic Generations has to offer, and the game has almost no surprises up its sleeve. There are some cool rival battles and a fun boss fight or two, but even in this category it feels like there should have been far more. What's offered is great, but why are there so few of them? And why is the final boss so awful?

The story also leaves much to be desired. The world, which consists of a white path and a bunch of old levels littering it, is the blandest ever to be featured in a Sonic game, and the mini-cutscenes that take place when Sonic frees his friends are incredibly awkward. Again, there was so much to pull from, including the potentially awesome dynamic of Classic and Modern Sonic working together, but even with the great new voice actors returning from Colors, Sonic Generations feels like fan fiction that was thrown together in about 45 minutes. How can you make a Sonic game where Dr. Eggman feels like a cameo appearance?

To the game's credit, though, while it does end quickly, the replay value's pretty good. Each zone has a series of missions to undertake, both as Classic and Modern Sonic. Completing only one mission per zone is required to progress through the game, but doing others helps net you tons of unlockable music and concept art, and there are also powerups you can buy for the Sonics, or to unlock by collecting the Red Rings throughout the stages. People wanting to explore all of these possibilities can pump untold amounts of hours into the game, though unlocking music and concept art, while cool, ultimately didn't prove to be enough of an incentive for me to continue playing the game much beyond its conclusion; maybe before the age of Youtube it would have been, but you can hear all the music there and you can only view so much concept art before that loses its appeal too.

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Verdict: All of these flaws serve not to ruin the game, they just prevent Sonic Generations from being the ultimate tribute that I think it wants to be. The number of levels included barely scratches the surface of Sonic's stay in gaming, the story's a big missed opportunity, the game offers little in the way of surprises, and the added missions, while cool, still don't feel like enough. Why not bring back some of Sonic's great mini-games like Chao raising, the multiplayer battle features, the Twinkle Park racing, Colors' co-op play.....something? Sonic Generations feels like a selection of great Sonic levels, and they truly are great, in a game that feels like it was hastily thrown together around them. For many fans, this will be completely fine and a more than fitting tribute. For others, like myself, Sonic Generations feels a little bit empty. Still, what can't be denied is that level design-wise, this game's incredible, and there's no shortage of fun to be had here. I recommend Sonic Generations to all fans of Sonic; it's a tribute that, while, in my opinion, is incomplete, is still very much worth experiencing.


Presentation: Convenient but rather bland hub world, basic and thrown together storyline. But lots to complete if you want to, and there's no shortage of fan service to be had.

Graphics: Colorful but blurry and with poor textures and a sometimes rocky framerate. Not an awful-looking game but far from being great, and this is coming from someone who still finds Sonic Unleashed to be the best-looking platformer this generation.

Gameplay: Fast action, great platforming, tons of multiple paths, no other characters or fluff to slow things down. This is Sonic done right. Optional bonus missions are hit and miss and the game's over too quickly. Needs more bosses and levels!

Sound: Some of the remixes are pretty awful but many of the originals are here. The classic Sonic sounds are of course intact. Very nostalgic audio experience. Voice acting, especially for Modern Sonic, is pretty good.

Replay Value: Lots of bonus missions to do, not a whole lot of compelling content to unlock. Still, completionists will be kept busy for a long time.

Overall: 8/10

(My reviews go on a .5 scale. This review was for the Xbox 360 version.)

Review: Star Fox 64 3D is a lot of fun, but not for $40.

I have to say, playing Star Fox 64 3D gave me one of the biggest moments of complete shock that I've experienced in a video game in a long time. But before I get into that, some background; this was my first time ever playing Star Fox 64, and after Ocarina of Time was brought over to the 3DS very successfully, it seemed that there was no better time to give this classic N64 title a shot as well. Sure enough, Star Fox 64 has been brought over to the 3DS with flying colors. The game makes great use of the 3D effect, the graphics have been given a major revamp, the action's fun, and the (traditional) controls work very well. All the markings of a great game, but then, after literally 1 hour and 57 minutes of playtime, I got the end credits; now, that bummed me out.

It's an interesting point of discussion; this is of course a remake of an older title, and an older title which was very well-received. With the graphical updates, the 3D, the new gyro controls (though do yourself a favor and switch these off) and a lack of a true Star Fox game since Namco dropped the ball with Star Fox Assault back on the Gamecube, Nintendo probably felt little reason to add more to this remake, but the question is, should they have? I have to say that despite how much I enjoyed the game, hitting the end credits so quickly put a big dent in my overall experience, and I just can't get past that. I'm definitely falling on the "game's not worth a buy at a full price" side of the fence here.

Now, to be fair, there's more to do after you watch the ending, as Star Fox 64 is a very score-driven game and there are multiple paths and other levels to access, but still, you're looking at under 5 hours of playtime here and I just can't justify that for a $40 price point in this day and age.

That said, there are some things I definitely have to commend here that might add some value to this purchase. As a showcase for the 3DS' 3D capabilities, Star Fox 64 is pretty fantastic. With enemy aircraft flying the skies, with all the bullets constantly soaring by the screen, with the game's fast speeds and hectic action, this feels like it was born to to play in 3D and it does this very well. You can opt to use the system's tilt controls for steering but I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would use this option, as this removes your eyes from the screen and messes with the 3D effect, and given how great this game's 3D presentation is, I'd stick with that over the gyro controls, but you have a choice, which is nice. The standard controls work well and the game runs pretty fluidly for the most part, with the exception of some framerate drops here and there, and the voice acting's still awful, which I guess gives the game a little bit of extra charm. If you've never played Star Fox 64 before then this is a great way to get to experience it...


...but why didn't they add more to this? If they knew they were going to remake a very short game, why not add new levels, why not add online to the multiplayer, why not fix the pop-up, why not do *something* to justify this game's $40 price point?


Verdict: This really should have been an entirely new Star Fox game, which would have been a real treat. Still, for those of us who haven't played the original, this is great fun and a fine showcase for the 3DS, well, while it lasts. It's a short game, one that I just can't say is worth the money. If you don't mind a game that's this short, feel free to change my score to an 8/10, because what's here is great, there's just not enough of it. At least, for my tastes.

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Presentation: The classically bad voice actors and lip sync have been left in place, for better or worse. Menus are slick and the story gets you from one level to the next. Makes great use of the 3D.

Graphics: Maybe not the best-looking 3DS game and some pop-up definitely shows, but there are some beautiful moments and overall this is a great update visually over the N64 game.

Gameplay: A lot of fun, great controls, intense action, great old school gameplay re-packaged for a modern audience.

Sound: Nintendo fans will have no trouble recognizing these tunes.

Value: Under 2 hours to reach the end credits, 5 hours of gameplay here at most if you want to reach additional levels via branching paths and harder difficulty settings. But still, short, and lack of online's incredibly weak.

Overall: 6.5/10, though 8/10 if you can nab it for under $20.

Note: My reviews go on a .5 scale.

Blog Post: Have to say, Activision deserves some credit for Skylanders.

Anyone remember Spyro the Dragon back on the Playstation? A counterpart to the linear and straightforward Crash Bandicoot, Spyro leaned more heavily on the exploration and collection elements that Nintendo 64 platformers specialized in. Though I have to say that I never got into Spyro personally, I many of my friends loved the games and they were all well-regarded in the critical community.

After the third title in the series, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, series developer Insomniac went on ultimately to create Ratchet and Clank, and, eventually, the Resistance series, while Spyro was left in the hands of a variety of different studios. All of whom, it's widely agreed upon, failed to re-capture the quality and the magic of Insomniac's Spyro titles.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is notable in that it's not even trying to appeal to old Spyro fans; instead, it's focusing almost entirely on little kids of the Bakugan and Beyblade generation. These kids (and their parents) are used to "collecting stuff," just as my generation loved collecting our Pokemon cards, and Skylanders is likely to make Activision boatloads of money. Simply put, to unlock new playable characters in the game, you actually have to go out and buy their toys, (30 in all) place them on the Portal of Power, and watch the game bring them to life. The game itself plays it safe, with simple combat mechanics and un-adventurous game design. The point of Skylanders is to jump into battle with your new action figures (and with your friends) and the game looks to deliver on that front.

In a mark of complete genius, it doesn't even matter which system you're playing on. All of your character's progress, stat boosts, power-ups, experiences, etc. are saved to each toy, which can then be taken to any Portal of Power, even if it's on a different system, be loaded into it, and boom, you're enjoying co-op with your friend. It's platform-agnostic multiplayer play and actually a pretty great idea.

In an unusual move, Skylanders was developed with the Wii as its primary console, (at one point it was planned to be a Wii exclusive, likely before Activision saw the $$$ potential) with the ports to other systems being handled by different studios. The graphics look great for a Wii game, film composer Hans Zimmer is doing the music, the story was written by two of the Toy Story scribes, and the characters and their toys are of course cool-looking enough that kids will love them and will definitely want to buy as many as possible. Will it matter to them that developer, Toys for Bob's previous releases include "blah" games like as Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and 102 Dalmations: Puppies to the Rescue?

In a sense, with the near death of 3D platforming, it's pretty depressing to see such a beloved genre come to this. Skylanders is a calculated release, to be sure; a product of pure market research and a grab for the cash from a young, lucrative demographic. Looking around at the industry press and seeing and the reactions from long-time gamers, it's impossible to deny the complete and total indifference among them for Skylanders. I have to say, though, that little kids are going to love this game; I would have, if I were a little kid, and apparently Activision's spending tons of money to get its appeal out there to them.

I guess if there's any hope for this, it's that these kids will grow up to demand more (and better) 3D platformers, but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part. Either way, I have to say, in an age when beloved (non-Nintendo) gaming franchises are failing to find an audience in today's market, Activision deserves props for getting kids who weren't even alive when this franchise was in its heyday to once again care about it. Even if their interest has nothing whatsoever to do with Spyro himself.

Review: Ocarina of Time 3DS proves to be a fun game for a first-timer like myself.

Back in the late 90s, the video game industry reached a major paradigm shift; we saw the evolution from 2D to 3D, and developers at Nintendo, Sega, as well as countless others were faced with the unenviable task of bringing their beloved classic franchises into the 3D gaming landscape. There were success stories and failures from these undertakings, but one series whose 3D rebirth was seen as a resounding success was the Legend of Zelda. Ocarina of Time received rave reviews and countless perfect scores upon its release on the N64, and the game has been heralded ever since as a classic.

I had missed out on most of this, having owned an N64 but using it mainly for multiplayer purposes, most of my single player gaming at the time taking place on the Dreamcast. Ocarina had spent a small amount of time in my N64 system but it wasn't a game I had ever managed to get far in. Years later I checked out the Gamecube Zelda game, Wind Waker, which I loved. Twilight Princess, its followup, not so much. Playing Ocarina of Time though was something I had been wanting to do for quite a while, and after giving it a shot on the Wii's Virtual Console and hating the experience (the controls, whose buttons obviously didn't match the N64 buttons the game was telling me to use, were difficult to get the hang of, the menu system felt clunky and totally unintuitive, the graphics, while impressive for their time, felt muddy, etc) I decided that, with the 3DS getting its price drop, there was no better time to check the game out.

Now that you know my history with the Zelda series, I'll jump right in with my review of Ocarina of Time 3D, a game that's not simply a port of the N64 original but a remake with a complete visual overhaul, a far-improved interface with an easier-to-use menu system, better controls, and of course, the 3D capabilities offered by the handheld. Though Ocarina of Time has aged in ways that this remake doesn't do a whole lot to address, it's an enjoyable game and one I'm glad I finally got to experience.

Visuals: Surrounded by a roster of mostly underwhelming titles, Ocarina of Time 3D is a game that truly demonstrates the capabilities of Nintendo's new handheld. The world's vibrant and colorful, the characters of Link and Zelda look, in my opinion, the best they've ever looked, (yes, including Twilight Princess) the bosses especially look awesome, the non-player characters have entertaining appearances...and overall, it's hard not to be impressed by just how great this looks. It's hard to tell that it originated from the Nintendo 64, with that system's often-muddy textures replaced by visuals that can best be described as "sharp." The wide variety of locales to explore all carry with them a unique look and the 3D adds a great amount of depth to the visuals that make things really pop. Cutscenes, especially with the 3D on, look excellent; always impressively cinematic for N64 cutscenes, this remake allows them to really shine. There's some slowdown during a couple of the more hectic boss fights and a few traces of enemies or objects popping in, but aside from that, I have no complaints about Ocarina of Time 3D's visual presentation.

Gameplay: After your "wake up in the village" tutorial that has since become standard in the Zelda series, you're free to explore a map that feels, well, almost tiny today, but back on the N64 I can imagine gamers' jaws dropping at the sight of it. This is a game that encourages exploration at every turn. When you're in Castle Town you can enter shops to play mini-games, you can complete sidequests to collect heart pieces and more powerful weapons, you can increase the amount of money you carry, and all sorts of stuff. Following the main quest takes you through a couple of towns and a series of dungeons as you work to thwart the evil Gannondorf. The dungeons can present a challenge but they're rarely too tedious due to their often incredibly well-thought out design. They're created around a central room, so dying during a dungeon or having to save your progress and quit (both of which keep your progress but start you at the entrance) isn't nearly as big a pain as it became in future Zelda games, especially Twilight Princess and its maze-like dungeons, where wandering back to where you left off was an ordeal. The 3DS version also has another advantage; you can simply close your system to put it in sleep mode, and can continue the game from exactly that point next time you open it up, which, as you can imagine, comes in handy. The bosses are generally fun, with no two feeling exactly alike, though you won't find them to be as impressive as in the more modern Zelda games.

Ocarina of Time has a cool time travel aspect that plays a large role in both the game's story and in its gameplay. At a certain point during this adventure, Link becomes an adult, and Adult Link uses different weapons than Childhood Link, and his world has some key differences from the one he left behind. The game also makes great use of the ocarina in its title, and it proves to be one of the cooler Zelda game "devices" that you get to use. The world you get to explore is charming, with a couple of surprisingly busy towns (surprising due to this being an N64 game, not exactly surprising by today's standards) and some locations, like Zora's Domain, that prove to be incredibly memorable. During the 31 hours it took me to complete this game's main quest (with a small amount of sidequesting) I really felt like I had seen and experienced so much, which is the markings of an epic adventure.

My issues with this game are shared, to an extent, with the issues I had with Twilight Princess, mainly, its emphasis on dungeons. Ocarina of Time is a dungeon-heavy experience, with you going essentially from one dungeon to another. Though you do have an endless opportunity to explore the game's world, the vast majority of your main quest is spent in dungeons. The story itself, which can be both charming and interesting at times, begins to feel like little more than a checklist to get you from one dungeon to another as the game goes on. This is the opposite of a Zelda game like Wind Waker, whose out-of-dungeon world was its main attraction and received the most play time. OOT resembles Twilight Princess in the sense that the dungeons are what you'll spend most of your time doing. The key difference between the two games is that Ocarina of Time's dungeons are actually pretty fun for the most part, (well, maybe not Jabu-Jabu's belly) whereas Twilight Princess' made me want to pull my hair out. Still, I can't help but find myself wishing in games like this that the world outside played just as big a role as the inside of the dungeons. There's certainly lots to do in Ocarina of Time, but as far as the main story goes, it's a dungeon crawl.

Another issue I have with Ocarina of Time is its sometimes lack of explanation for what it wants you to do. Games today often avoid this, letting you know at least a general idea of where you're next supposed to go. Ocarina of Time does this to a certain extent, but in other instances, it's guilty of expecting you to figure out what to do on your own, which isn't easy when there's so many optional tasks to undertake at any given moment, making it hard to tell the difference between the two. When I first began playing I found myself wandering aimlessly through a maze in the game's opening village, believing that this was where I was supposed to go. In reality, that was for much later in the game. At another point, you're supposed to get inside the belly of a giant creature with no explanation whatsoever on how to do this; you have to go back to collect a certain object and bring it back to him, but good luck finding that one out without checking a walkthrough. Acquiring required items like the fire arrows and the lens of truth similarly involves backtracking to areas you've been already but with no guidance from the game as to what these areas are or even that you need these items, until you find yourself partway through a dungeon and realize that you can't progress without them. And don't even get me started on the sleeping guy and the chicken egg.

The game's map attempts to guide you in the right direction by highlighting certain areas but doesn't always do such a great job of it, and Navi, the helper you're given, has no personality and offers such useless advice that it's at times unintentionally hilarious. Exclusive to the 3DS version, Navi now tells you after a certain amount of time that she's tired and that you "should maybe consider taking a break," which comes across as unnecessary. Does Nintendo really think that we can't tell when we're tired? The 3DS version also offers you hint videos for bosses if it sees you dying, or also in select areas of the game, you can view video hints of how to solve certain puzzles. These additions I imagine can be helpful for casual gamers or those new to this type of game, but OOT 3D does such a poor job of letting you know about them that I wouldn't be surprised if most people miss these features entirely.

These flaws aside, though, Ocarina of Time's a fun game, one that I almost always found myself eager to turn on. I wish it wasn't as dungeon-heavy as it is, and I wish some effort was made to make it a bit more helpful in case you got stuck, but all in all, it's easy to see why this captivated so many people back on the N64. The dungeon progression's like clockwork, and even today there's some shockingly clever game design to be experienced in them.

Sound: Some repeating tracks aside, Ocarina of Time sports a great soundtrack that never fails to set the mood. Zora's Domain has a relaxing song that perfectly captures its mood, the world map theme's appropriately epic, the towns have music that fit their atmosphere, and the dungeons feature foreboding and dark tunes without going overboard with them. Cutscene music's also good, particularly during the game's ending, and the sound effects are as great as they always are in Zelda, especially at night.

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Verdict: Ocarina of Time's a game that has held up pretty well despite its age. Its aspects that may have made it difficult for new gamers to jump in before (dated graphics and menus, N64 controls) are fixed in this version, making Ocarina of Time 3D the definitive version of the title for those who haven't yet experienced it. Some aspects show their age, most notably in the way it tells you what to do, and its dungeon-heavy nature isn't my favorite, but all in all, this is a true epic and an important game in the industry's history. If you're entirely new to the Zelda series I'd still recommend checking out Wind Waker first (my personal favorite so far) but for Zelda fans who have yet to experience this adventure, the time has never been better.

Presentation: Story gets the job done without doing a whole lot more. This is certainly not the strongest Zelda game story-wise, though certain moments, especially the game's ending, have the capability to tug at the heartstrings. Cutscenes look great, especially in 3D. Menu interface is vastly improved and makes all the difference. Game makes great use of the touch screen.

Graphics: Beautiful game that sheds its N64 roots almost entirely. A true showcase of the 3DS' capabilities and a sign that 3D can be used for more than just a gimmick. Some slowdown.

Gameplay: This is the game that all future Zelda games would be based on, and it was absolutely revolutionary for its time. Today, it shows its age in some areas and features a little too big a focus on dungeons for my liking. Still, the world's got plenty to offer and the dungeons are often fun and showcase some very smart design. Fun game.

Audio: Great soundtrack despite the short length of many of its songs. Nice use of sound effects.

Replay Value: You unlock the Master Quest when you beat it (though it should have been available from the start for the many who have already played OOT in one form or another) and the game itself has the potential to take you tons of time if you try to do everything.

Overall: 7.5/10(Final thought: I liked it much better than Twilight Princess, but nowhere near as much as Wind Waker. Have never played Majora's Mask.) (Note: My reviews go on a .5 scale.)