inside - Seren - Bangor University

16 SEREN October 2001 GAMES games@seren.bangor.ac.ukGAME REVIEWThis isFootball2002Playstation 2Football games tend be likeracing games; the good ones areexcellent, while the rest are abysmalwastes of everyone’s time. Inorder to be any good, a footy gamemust either show some originality(like Liberogrande International), orjust have solid gameplay and goodgraphics (the all-conquering FIFAseries). So, is the latest in a longline of soccer sims a graceful,unstoppable Brazil, or just anotherflat, uninspiring Wales?First off, the graphics are stunning.The players move realistically,1. Manic Miner (1983)Long gone are the days of the Spectrum, with itsrubber keys and tape-based tomfoolery, but stillwith us are the memories of the truly wonderfulgames that strove against the garish primary-colourdisplay to present us with an experience neverto be forgotten. Leading those brave souls was asmall white man with no fear and an insatiablelust for shiny things. His name was Miner Willy.The task was simple: lead Willy to the sparklyitems (usually keys) and then put him in a box.Repeat. In his way were many weird and wonderfulcreatures, such as mutant pom-poms, killertelephones, carnivorous khazis, and a fat manwith a trumpet for a face. Utterly barking, and,in my humble opinion, inferior only to the gamethat came after it: Jet Set Willy, in which he wouldmeet pirouetting kangaroos and grumpy penguins,and even turn into a pig with wings (although itTIF 2002 aims to recreate the stadium experienceand in the more famous teams theyhave recognisable facial features.The crowd members are individuallyanimated, and the weather conditionsare extremely convincing.On long shots, it almost feels as ifyou’re watching the match on TV.TIF 2002 also plays well. Thecontrols are instinctive, and pullingoff some fancy moves is relativelyeasy. There have been bettercontrol systems on footy games(the aforementioned FIFA), but thisis more than adequate. The level ofdifficulty is also perfectly judged,with France being harder to beatthan Rotherham United. This mayseem glaringly obvious, but somefootball games fall down at thishurdle.Another plus is the large numberof teams available. These rangefrom national sides (from Brazil to,yes, Wales) to domestic teams fromaround the world. For example,the English and Scottish first divisionsare represented. The sheernumber of teams harks back to thegood old days of Sensible Soccer onthe Amiga, and is a most welcomefeature.There are, of course, a numberof downsides. The less popularteams don’t even have the rightplayer names, let alone the famousfaces of the bigger squads. So,although you can play as the mightySheffield Wednesday, there’s noreal player names, which diminishesthe experience.Even more irritating, though, isthe commentary. Sports games feelthe need to have annoying footballpundit’s voices on a loop, sayingthe same things fifteen times amatch. It is a device that neverworks, and this is no exception.In conclusion then, not a badgame by any stretch, though it’sbeen done better. Not quite Brazil,more like Holland. Dan HartleyMAD! A sideways glance at bonkers gamescould’ve been anything—this was on a Spectrum48K after all).Often imitated, never beaten, Willy remains theking of the platform collect-‘em-up. But the bestbit of both games? The falling foot that snuffed outhis life after your miserable attempts at success.All together now—eeeeeeeeeeeee splat. Classic!GAME REVIEWMario Kart:Super CircuitGame Boy AdvanceMario Kart is a wonderful thing.The SNES original was one of themost addictive games that evergraced a little plastic box. Thisreviewer was bursting Battle Modeballoons and vainly attempting tobeat time trial records for a quiteabsurd duration. So, with the lackof any really decent games thus faron the GBA, it was quite lovely tosee Mario Kart: Super Circuit zoomover the horizon. My old addictiveplaything was back in town.The GBA version has a definiteretrospective advantage over itstwo predecessors. It presents itselfin the style of the SNES version,yet borrows many ideas from theN64—three lap tracks, the leaderseekingspiky shell and, thankfully,the ability to save time trialGAME REVIEWSmall but perfectly-formed: Mario busts a leftDark CloudPlaystation 2ghosts.The graphics here are significantlybetter than the original version,giving a lot more detail to thebackgrounds and making the racesthemselves as smooth as you couldpossibly hope for. Still, this isn’t 32bit quality graphics: the SNES wasonly 16 bit and this isn’t that muchbetter.Gameplay remains much thesame, but it does feel great just tohave the option of playing it anywhere,against up to three otherpeople. And the impressive thinghere is the volume of tracks they’vemanaged to cram in – twenty newones, plus the twenty old onesfrom the original game (yay!). Itmay reek of a lack of designer confidencein the new tracks, but whocares? Come to me, Lady Nostalgia,we share the same bed tonight....To sum up, Super Circuit, by combiningthe successes of the othergames, has become the best MarioKart game there is, and probablythe best game on the GBA rightnow. Chris ChapmanOne thing the PS2 will never beshort of is RPGs. The Japanese areplainly mad for them, and for yearswe’ve been knee-deep in Final Fantasies,Zeldas and Phantasy Stars, inas many shapes, sizes and formatsas you could imagine. So when anew one arrives, it can be quitedifficult to really give a damn.Dark Cloud does little to changethis. A moderately pretty intro(more effectively atmospheric thantechnically good), backed by woefullytinny and lifeless music, leadsup to the standard half-hour ofplot-intensive exposition. Apparently,some big evil mad bloke hasdecided to summon a huge, fat,pink demon known as the DarkGenie to wreak vengeance on everybodyfor no discernible reason.The result is that your home village,and all the people within it,are turned into orbs, and cast allaround the globe. Your task is tofind these orbs, break them open,and restore everything to normal.Jesus....In effect, this game involves runningaround in caves, hitting thingswith a variety of weapons in a realtimesituation which is more PhantasyStar than Final Fantasy. Onceyou have smashed an orb, though,things become a bit more amusing,as you then have to arrange buildings,roads and rivers as you see fit,in a manner reminiscent of ThemePark. There is also a faintly daftsoundingfishing sub-game, wherefish can be caught and exchangedfor items.Dark Cloud isn’t bad. It offers apleasant distraction, but it simplydoesn’t stand out from the crowd.The characters seem devoid ofweight, and the dialogue is as bobbinsas the music, but there is stillmuch fun to be had. Fans of RPGsmay want to check it out, but don’texpect any revelations.