Why Game? 1 - TextFiles.com

chain-combo, the game slows down slightly. The
fact that the PS2 is also dealing with two sets of
individualistic and highly competent AI for your
allies, as well as each and every one of those
dozens of enemies, makes no difference. Even
when other games such as Bangai-O intention-
ally use slowdown to aid in what the game is
trying to achieve, it is apparently not accept-
able. Games simply must run at full speed, at
all times, regardless of anything else, otherwise
they should be consigned to hell itself. Appar-
ently. That’s right, you will find people slighting
SkyGunner for its slowdown while totally failing
to realize that there is a “variable processor
mode” that locks the framerate and removes all
slowdown by slightly lowering the impeccable
visual quality.
Others still will lament the controls, say-
ing that the camera is too difficult to use. The
fact that it tracks a specifically selected enemy
makes things tricky to navigate. Again, such
faults are not due to the game, but due to peo-
ple failing to read the manual and experiment
with the options. The camera can be locked
behind-the-player, and the controls simplified to
be more like those of an arcade title.
In the grand scheme of things there is little
to fault with SkyGunner. The only thing going
against it is its genre; those who dislike light-
hearted and blithe settings or even the notion of
flying, will not enjoy SkyGunner. Still, you just
can’t reach some people, and so for different
reasons it has become similar to Ico, or Rez.
Some people at the time were simply empty
inside and would not allow themselves to be
swayed.
This is a terrible shame, since the things
SkyGunner attempted should have been adopted
by the games industry as a whole. They weren’t,
and as such we have games like Forbidden Siren
that in all honesty should have had both English
and Japanese dialogue, with the option for sub-
titles. With the medium of DVD now common-
place, why aren’t all games like this?
Often we have endless and generic CG
rendered cut-scenes, crude and quick to age as
technology progresses. Just think to yourself,
how many games this generation have used
hand-animated cinemas as opposed to CG? Look
at manuals, forgotten is the skill of hand-drawn
artwork it seems.
People were also so quick to judge the
optional slowdown and overlook variable pro-
cessing, one of the most innovative highlights of
game design this generation, alongside the 60Hz
option for PAL gamers.
As if this frustration at the masses could
get no worse, the hard work that went into each
of the different characters, each with their wildly
different levels, some of which housed within
them the most spectacular set-piece battles ever
seen, was all ignored and overlooked. People
simply could not see the devotion that went into
the game.
To add further insult to injury, lesser games
by lesser developers would go on to hold that
acclaimed number one spot in sales lists. Utter
generic tripe by companies such as EA, games
not even worthy of being mentioned, went on to
be bought by the thousands.
Well, this madness ends here and now. I
can only hope that this is sufficient to convince
you of the quality of SkyGunner, and encour-
age you to play it. Once you have seen these
things in action for yourself, it is then your duty
to spread the word, not only about SkyGunner,
but all great games released this generation that
have been overlooked and ignored. Go forth and
play them before the looming next-generation of
powerhouse systems arrive, and then tell oth-
ers. These games deserve the recognition.
Frustration in an Aerial Fantasy World: A Plea for SkyGunner on PS2 105