Why Game? 1 - TextFiles.com

SkyGunner - PS2
John Szczepaniak
Videogames can be frustrating things. They
especially frustrate when trying to proclaim the
joys of an exceptionally well crafted title to a
crowd deafened and desensitized to gaming; a
crowd who is blind to the many nigh-on-perfect
facets of a game where genuine love, blood,
sweat and tears have been poured into it.
SkyGunner on the PS2 perfectly exemplifies this
frustration.
It’s difficult to know where
to begin when talking about
SkyGunner, arguably one of
this generation’s, and Atlus’,
finest games. Magazines at the
time were seemingly apathetic
to its many charms, giving it a
lukewarm reception with mostly
mediocre reviews and average
scores. At a time when everyone
seemed to be clamoring for bigger
and more amazing 3D graphics (not to mention
free-roaming, off-rails control), a game finally
arrived that did everything everyone seemed to
be screaming for, and people ignored it. To cor-
rect this heresy it fell on the gamers themselves
to spread the news via word of mouth, though
as you can imagine little ended up being said.
A few years late, the aim of this article is to
unashamedly slam some sense into you and
encourage everyone to try it before the next-
102 The Gamer’s Quarter Issue #3
generation arrives and consigns it the annals of
gaming hell.
A Wonderful Life Experience?
Attempting to describe the whole, instead
of each of its parts, would take very long and
could easily be ignored by a generation of now
cynical and jaded gamers. After all, everyone
plays for different reasons.
For those purists who regard gaming as
an experience and take the entire
package into account, this title
is without doubt the most
perfect localization of a
Japanese game known to
Western civilization. This
becomes apparent on the
long bus journey home when
ripping open the packag-
ing. Not only has the original
cover art remained intact, but the
whole comic book atmosphere of the
original is retained as well. Eschewing a tradi-
tional Japanese manga style, small Francophile
and sepia toned images adorn the many pages,
introducing you to its lovingly-crafted fantasy
world set high in the air. To highlight just how
much care had been invested in the booklet
alone, the final pages not only contain the entire
intro song written in both Japanese and English,
but also a page of French translations explaining
the meaning of every character’s name.