Lara Croft's latest adventure in The Last Revelation reached gamers hands in March 2000 courtesy of developers Core Design and publishers Eidos Interactive, and it was meant to end in the hot pants loving adventurers death. Cue sharp intakes of breath from the gaming world. (But we secretly knew Crofty wouldn't expire.)
The basic gist of the story was Lara had unwisely unleashed the Egyptian God Set onto the world (nice one lady) and now had to get him to his resting place pronto before the foul stuff hit the apocalyptic fan. And we are talking a major change in the worlds appearance here, think global warming with a BAD attitude.
In a first for a Tomb Raider title, Lara's air miles were cut severly short and included visits to only 2 countries, Cambodia and Egypt, where previously her globetrotting was enough to put a Rolling Stones world tour to shame. And when you take into account that the Cambodia level was only a simple introduction to the games controls before starting the adventure proper then it was Egypt which was the main focus.
I remember this arriving in the post back in 2000 and rushing to play the 'next gen' Tomb Raider. Don't forget before this game arrived we had only plundered tombs in 32 bit graphics on the Playstation, so jumping to lofty 128 bit visuals offered by the Dreamcast was quite a leap for Lara's gum booted feet. And it did look good, I for one dropped my jaw at the opening cut scene of Ms Croft on a camel crossing a desert in a sand storm.
Gamewise it was the usual solve-a-puzzle-to-open-every-door but at the time I forgave it for this irritating aspect. It was all about looks back then. Ive started playing it again and to be honest it hasn't aged well like other Dreamcast titles. The cut scenes still look great but progression is such a tedious affair of puzzle solving to open EVERY scene/door/blah that it quickly begins to get on your nerves. Yes you expect puzzles, they're a big part of the game but must they appear so often? Lara has a shotgun for Heavens sake! Surely a shotgun can deal with a locked door?
I paid around £2 for this on an auction site and that just about sums it up. Pay any more and someone will have raided your tomb.
On 9th September 1999, Sega released a new console to an excited public, the now legendary Dreamcast. Many would argue the first in Next Gen visuals, and online gaming, the Dreamcast was overtaken by Playstation2 but never forgotten. To this day, a decade on, it is still a powerful force in the gaming world. This is my tribute to the console and games, where a poet becomes fanboy.
Thursday 18 March 2010
Friday 12 March 2010
Trick Style
Released on September 9th, 1999 by developers Criterion Games and publisher Acclaim Entertainment, Trick Style was a launch title for the Dreamcast, set in the near future where hoverboarding has become a popular extreme sport. There are 3 main stages to compete in: London, Tokyo and Manhattan Island and boarders must race through each, pulling off gravity defying stunts as they go, in order to reach the finish line as number one. The blurb on the back of the games case also promises (erroneously in my eyes) a fourth stage called the Velodrome, but this merely consists of a few sand dunes in a small arena and is more a hub/gateway to the other levels than any real stage in itself.
There are 9 boarders on offer each with their own style, unique moves and clothing/hoverboard preferences, blah, blah, blah but each is really only a token character from the country where the hail from. Extended yawn sounds.
Readers will no doubt have picked up on my disinterest on Trick Style by now and it must be said, this title had me bored to the froth of my beer and wishing each race would end sharpish, preferably in fleshy pieces all over Big Ben.
Visually characters are blocky and buildings like Tower Bridge and the aforementioned Big Ben look very bland and paper mache-like. There is nothing to *thumbs up* this game at all and one comes away with the feeling that it was only made as an attempt to cash in on the far superior Airblade on Playstation 2. I added Trick Style to my Dreamcast collection a few days ago having missed it the first time around, and was actually looking forward to booting it up. But after playing a few hours all I wanted was to boot it into pretty shards.
Controls are simple enough in theory but are ruined by being unresponsive, resulting in all too frequent smashes into walls. The grind rails admittedly look fun but getting on them is like nailing blancmange to a ceiling. Its far from the worst game Ive ever played but being only slightly better than tripe like Hugo and Fighting Force 2 is hardly a compliment.
All in all its a frustrating affair and a total let down from what could have been with better design and tracks a very tidy game. Alas it was not to be. Trick Style can be picked up for around £1 or £2 and quite frankly unless you're aiming to collect every Dreamcast title like I am, then those prices are still steep. Its a total bail man!
There are 9 boarders on offer each with their own style, unique moves and clothing/hoverboard preferences, blah, blah, blah but each is really only a token character from the country where the hail from. Extended yawn sounds.
Readers will no doubt have picked up on my disinterest on Trick Style by now and it must be said, this title had me bored to the froth of my beer and wishing each race would end sharpish, preferably in fleshy pieces all over Big Ben.
Visually characters are blocky and buildings like Tower Bridge and the aforementioned Big Ben look very bland and paper mache-like. There is nothing to *thumbs up* this game at all and one comes away with the feeling that it was only made as an attempt to cash in on the far superior Airblade on Playstation 2. I added Trick Style to my Dreamcast collection a few days ago having missed it the first time around, and was actually looking forward to booting it up. But after playing a few hours all I wanted was to boot it into pretty shards.
Controls are simple enough in theory but are ruined by being unresponsive, resulting in all too frequent smashes into walls. The grind rails admittedly look fun but getting on them is like nailing blancmange to a ceiling. Its far from the worst game Ive ever played but being only slightly better than tripe like Hugo and Fighting Force 2 is hardly a compliment.
All in all its a frustrating affair and a total let down from what could have been with better design and tracks a very tidy game. Alas it was not to be. Trick Style can be picked up for around £1 or £2 and quite frankly unless you're aiming to collect every Dreamcast title like I am, then those prices are still steep. Its a total bail man!
Thursday 11 March 2010
Resident Evil 2
No introduction needs to be made for this absolute classic game. Devolped by Capcom and joint published by Capcom and Virgin Interactive, Resident Evil 2 was released on the Dreamcast on April 28, 2000. Produced by survival horror master Shinji Mikami, it was the sequel to the groundbreaking Resident Evil on the Playstation, and it took survival horror and visuals to the next level, building on the fantastic gameplay that had been such genius in the original.
Readers will have to excuse my near fanboy ramblings that may crop up in this 'review' because Resident Evil 2 is one of my most favourite titles in the gaming world. (Not to mention one of my most played, clocking up well over 50 playthroughs and counting.)
It all kicks off on September 27, 1998, as the citizens of Raccoon City have been turned into zombies by a biological weapon known as the T-virus. Leon Kennedy turns up on his first day at work as a rookie Racoon Police Department officer to find the city in chaos, and no doubt thinking to himself, 'Hm this wasn't in the brochure!' Alongside him is the ever versatile Claire who has come in search of her brother Chris, a member of the S.T.A.R.S team who has disappeared.
A battle for survival through hoards of zombies, mutant Lickers, leprous dogs, giant spiders and the persistant (but unnervingly cool) Birkin monster ensues and it is truly a hard-to-put-down game. From deserted streets to distant moans from zombies this has a unique atmosphere, making it truly plausible that armageddon has arrived.
It is a 2 disc affair and players get to battle through as both Leon AND Claire, not only that but both characters have 2 scenarios (A & B) so there is a huge replay value here and to get to know the entire story, which is all intertwined, you must play through every scenario. Its a touch of class and as you play through one characters story, you see it affecting the others scenario. Brilliant!
When I first got this game (albeit for Playstation) I couldn't put it down for months, I was hooked immediately by its gorgeous looks and immersive story/atmosphere. Sure the controls are not 100% fluid but personally they have always been more than satisfying for me despite gripes from other critics.
Also each character has a NPC to look after: Leon has the sultry Ada Wong whilst Claire has the token child-in-need Sherrie Birkin (daughter of Dr William Birkin who evolves into Birkin Monster the games ultimate baddie.) Some non player characters can be annoying and accident prone but in Resident Evil 2 they were no problem and followed without hazard.
Everything feels right in this fabulous title and I am not alone in its praise. And added bonus for Dreamcast owners is the enhanced visuals which to this Dreamcast/Resi Evil 2 fanatic is the added cherry on top of an already outstanding trifle!
Later chapters in the series (RE4 & RE5) have discarded the classic shuffling zombies in favour of plague infected models capable of sprinting and in doing so have stripped away the zombie element which made it such a brilliant game. But they are certainly present here, from police zombies to shuffling dead girls in sport sneakers and shorts. This is Resident Evil at its very best and only a fool (or a zombie) would choose to ignore it.
On auction sites and depending on the platform, Resi Evil 2 can be bought for anything inbetween £7 to £15 (I recently payed £8 for my copy on Dreamcast) but even at the higher prices its still chump change because this is one of the best installments in the survival horror genre and certainly has tons of replay value. Go on, take a bite!! Outstanding.
Readers will have to excuse my near fanboy ramblings that may crop up in this 'review' because Resident Evil 2 is one of my most favourite titles in the gaming world. (Not to mention one of my most played, clocking up well over 50 playthroughs and counting.)
It all kicks off on September 27, 1998, as the citizens of Raccoon City have been turned into zombies by a biological weapon known as the T-virus. Leon Kennedy turns up on his first day at work as a rookie Racoon Police Department officer to find the city in chaos, and no doubt thinking to himself, 'Hm this wasn't in the brochure!' Alongside him is the ever versatile Claire who has come in search of her brother Chris, a member of the S.T.A.R.S team who has disappeared.
A battle for survival through hoards of zombies, mutant Lickers, leprous dogs, giant spiders and the persistant (but unnervingly cool) Birkin monster ensues and it is truly a hard-to-put-down game. From deserted streets to distant moans from zombies this has a unique atmosphere, making it truly plausible that armageddon has arrived.
It is a 2 disc affair and players get to battle through as both Leon AND Claire, not only that but both characters have 2 scenarios (A & B) so there is a huge replay value here and to get to know the entire story, which is all intertwined, you must play through every scenario. Its a touch of class and as you play through one characters story, you see it affecting the others scenario. Brilliant!
When I first got this game (albeit for Playstation) I couldn't put it down for months, I was hooked immediately by its gorgeous looks and immersive story/atmosphere. Sure the controls are not 100% fluid but personally they have always been more than satisfying for me despite gripes from other critics.
Also each character has a NPC to look after: Leon has the sultry Ada Wong whilst Claire has the token child-in-need Sherrie Birkin (daughter of Dr William Birkin who evolves into Birkin Monster the games ultimate baddie.) Some non player characters can be annoying and accident prone but in Resident Evil 2 they were no problem and followed without hazard.
Everything feels right in this fabulous title and I am not alone in its praise. And added bonus for Dreamcast owners is the enhanced visuals which to this Dreamcast/Resi Evil 2 fanatic is the added cherry on top of an already outstanding trifle!
Later chapters in the series (RE4 & RE5) have discarded the classic shuffling zombies in favour of plague infected models capable of sprinting and in doing so have stripped away the zombie element which made it such a brilliant game. But they are certainly present here, from police zombies to shuffling dead girls in sport sneakers and shorts. This is Resident Evil at its very best and only a fool (or a zombie) would choose to ignore it.
On auction sites and depending on the platform, Resi Evil 2 can be bought for anything inbetween £7 to £15 (I recently payed £8 for my copy on Dreamcast) but even at the higher prices its still chump change because this is one of the best installments in the survival horror genre and certainly has tons of replay value. Go on, take a bite!! Outstanding.
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