January 16, 2008
Super Mario Galaxy
I got a Wii for my birthday a few months ago, and I haven't had that much fun playing games, since a very long time. Take for instance Super Mario Galaxy. According to Game Rankings the best game since Ocarina Of Time. I don't know about that, but it's the best Wii game I've played so far, that's for sure.
It's the first really successful translation of a 2D platform gameplay mechanic to 3D. Maybe it's the 'gravity system' (most objects you can walk on are like little planets with gravity pulling you towards it from all sides, no matter how small they are), the excellent camera movement (lot's of 3rd person games have the tendency to get that wrong) and the rewarding pulling of 'star bites' (little stars) towards you by pointing at them with the Wiimote. Also, the music is just perfect and the difficulty is exactly right (for me that is) with challenging but not ridiculously difficult bosses. It's all balanced very well, and it's, simply, fun! So if you're looking for a great game to buy a Wii for, you can stop looking! If you allready have a Wii, you should be playing the game right now instead of reading this!
Posted by Dominique at 12:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 06, 2006
Retro Game Review : Manic Miner PC
Always looking for fun retro games (yep I'm way in my thirties), I stumbled on this rare pearl called Manic Miner PC by Andy Noble.
Manic Miner was originally a Spectrum game (I think), but I remember the c64 version. With these games it's all about perfectly timing your jumps, taking into account static & moving enemies and crumbling platforms. Collect all the keys and go to the exit. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, go ahead and try, this game is as hard as I remember it to be.
The graphics capture the atmosphere of a true 8-bitter, though slightly updated to a 256 color palette. Sound is also quite convincing. Really, if you're looking for a challenging classic platformer, this is as good as they get. In my opinion that is, don't hesitate to comment if you think differently.
Posted by Dominique at 09:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack