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"Triple A"

Question that I’ve posed myself is what is classed as a triple A title? Simple answers will be fired at me, from a Nintendo point of view Triple A titles include Mario, Starfox Adventures, Zelda, Metroid and Eternal Darkness. But several confusions can occur as regards what IS a triple A title, do separate consoles class different things as Triple A and can our personal preferences determine a Triple A title.

Now the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube isn’t too far away and looking at the launch line up I can’t say that I’m not impressed. But many have pointed out that launch game, Luigi’s Mansion, is far from the triple A title that we come to expect from a Nintendo launch game (like lets say Mario 64 on the good old N64). But as far as I’m concerned the launch is littered with Triple A titles. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is one of these, so is Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3, but when I say these games I get laughed at claiming that these games aren’t triple A titles. Another game, which appears not on day one but certainly during the launch period is Super Smash Brothers: Melee, but again people say this is not a Triple A title. So now I get confused and ask, “what the hell is a Triple A title??”

My quest to find out what defines a Triple A title has taken me to the dead but not forgotten SEGA Dreamcast. This system was filled with class games such as Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventures and Jet Set Radio. A system that had its fair share of amazing triple A games. Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is a prime example of a triple A Dreamcast game, the game really has shown what a console game can do with the Internet! SEGA RPG’s do normally turn out to be spectacular take the critically acclaimed Skies of Arcadia for example, one of the Dreamcast’s best Triple A titles. Now here is where a problem arises - the above Triple A titles have appeared or will appear on other systems. Crazy Taxi has got released on all formats, but why was it a Triple A title on the Dreamcast but a simply good game on other systems? Well the fact that a sequel has since appeared on the Dreamcast makes Crazy Taxi seem very much outdated but what about the others? Sonic has always been a Triple A, first rate SEGA game, it has been the game that SEGA use to show of their wares on more than one occasion. So why is it then that the awesome Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast is no more than a good game on the Gamecube? Sonic Adventure 2: Battle is an upgraded Dreamcast game but a damn good one, but that is all it is, what has caused this game to get demoted? Phantasy Star Online version 2 is about to get a release on all formats (looking at how its updated I think it should be called Phantasy Star Online version 3) but although it has generated some excitement it isn’t looking at being a Triple A title on the Gamecube, on the Playstation 2 or the X-box but it was on the Dreamcast… why? Skies of Arcadia is now going multi-format, one of the best RPG’s of all time but again this won’t get the prestigious triple A rating.

So the mystery deepens, and so my quest continues. The next part takes me to Sony’s Playstation 2 one of the most successful consoles of all time (except maybe Gameboy) and so I look why. And it isn’t hard to work that one out, the end of last year saw a wealth of triple A titles hit shores worldwide. Triple A Playstation titles seem to include Tony Hawks series, Tomb Raider series, Tekken Series, Final Fantasy series, Metal Gear Solid series and Grand Theft Auto series (I would of added Resident Evil to that list once upon a time). Now Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a huge game, it deserved Gamespots game of the year award beating competition from Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto 3, but the game is a multi-format game with both Gamecube and X-box versions - but on these systems it isn’t a Triple A title and why is that? I could say that what Playstation fans class as Triple A and what Nintendo fans class as Triple A are different, but I’m not here to make cheap digs at the opposition I’m here to find out what a Triple A title is and I am not going to lie. Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a Triple A title on the Playstation 2, but the Gamecube is a different console and the Tony Hawks series although popular, is no where near as popular as its Playstation counterpart. And for Christ’s sake how can you call a port a Triple A title? Sonic Adventure 2, yeah good but it’s a port, so is Crazy Taxi as is Tony Hawks 3. Imagine if Nintendo went around parading Tony Hawks 3 as one of the “BIG” Gamecube launch titles, a game that has been around for over 6 months on the Playstation 2 that would be quite frankly embarrassing. Which is why when the X-box make a big deal out of GTA3 and Metal Gear Solid 2 I feel like laughing, you call yourself the greatest console on the market but your best games are games that came out on the Playstation 2 6 months before?

So why isn’t Super Smash Brothers Melee classed as a Triple A title? The game will be one of my most favourite games of all time and Famitsu magazine awarded it 37/40 which is about 93%. Does personal preference not influence what is classed as a Triple A title? Super Smash Brothers is one of my favorite N64 games, beating Triple A Playstation 2 title Tekken into a cocked hat but Melee isn’t one. A game that has so many options that you would be playing it for years to come, a multiplayer game so addictive that your friends will be around everyday and it looks sooo good. And as I’ve already pointed out a high scoring game as well, so what did the game not have that lets say Mario and Zelda does? One of the things I noticed is lack of hype, it is very good game and it sold very well, the first Gamecube million seller but compare the hype Luigi’s Mansion got compared with Smash Brothers, it pales in comparison. And again I get back to what the Gamecube is, look at virtually all of the Triple A games DUE out this year, they are adventure games something Smash Brothers is not. But Resident Evil doesn’t fit in with the Gamecube image, in fact less than Smash Brothers. But do you class Resident Evil as a Triple A title, a game that got 39/40 from Famitsu, about 98% higher than what Zelda was scored. It is topping the Game charts, millions are buying Gamecube’s simply for this game but do you guys class it as Triple A? Back to Smash Brothers though the simple system although effective and original isn’t spectacular or clever and it didn’t require any huge teams to work with it in order to get over any complicated hurdles, the game although packed with options is very simple and very similar to the N64 version… does this prevent it getting the prestigious Triple A rating?

What I have deduced from my quest is that how good a game is doesn’t honestly matter originality, how the game is made, the look and the ideas, that is what makes it a Triple A title. Animal Forest + is a brilliantly huge game, amazingly original and complicated with the in built clock (Famitsu scored it 37/40) but it has graphics borrowed from the N64 version, does this stop it being Triple A game. If a game is a port then it can’t be called a Triple A title on the system it was ported on to and no matter how much you like the game, if it doesn’t obey the above rules then it isn’t a triple A title… What a load of crap! Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 is a port ok, but it was the game of last year, it is brilliant, it is fun, it is good looking and so therefore it is a Triple A title port or no port. Grand Theft Auto 3, one of the best games of all time can’t be classed as AAA on the X-box because it was on the Playstation 2 first, now that is just rubbish. Super Smash Brothers melee, yes it is similar to the first game, but this one has an adventure mode, tones more characters, more spectacular arenas, tones of extra Gameplay options and for major Smash Brothers fans a Triple A title, it has sold over 1 million copies it got 37/40 a brilliant score and it is absolutely amazing… this is a Triple A title. Why isn’t Sonic Adventure 2: Battle a Triple A title? Simple, the Dreamcast is not up to par with the Gamecube, a Triple A title on the Dreamcast but the Dreamcast is old now and so Sonic Adventure 2 really isn’t that good, a Sonic Adventure 3 maybe but not an enhanced Dreamcast port. Triple A titles, are the biggest, most enjoyable, best looking games in the world and weather it is a port or relatively unpopular title like Jet Set Radio it doesn’t stop it being as good as it is. So the Gamecube launch may not have games people call Triple A it does have titles that are Triple A standard, like Tony Hawks 3. And so in conclusion a Triple A title is a damn good game.

Here’s to the future.

Dringo.

Dringo wrote:
it is still the
> adventure game metroid fans know and love.

Not it's not. It's Shigsy's interpretation of someone else's 16 bit classic.

If it was the adventure game that Metroid fans know and love:

Why can't we see Samus?
Why is there no platforming?
Why is that game being based round cramped level design rather than level design being based around a game?

I could understand perfectly if they gave us the OPTION to go into first person mode with that lovely visor idea because that would be useful.

But FORCING us to play through the entire game in first person destroys a lot of the freedom to do things your own way, one of the things that made Super Metroid so great.

Metroid SHOULD have been a Jet Force Gemini style third person game (general platforming until R is held to put the game into aiming mode) with an option to switch into first person in order to look at surroundings properly or for more accurate aiming.

Play through Super Metroid.
Read my topic in the Nintendo forum.
Samus, a much better character than even Link or Mario, is wasted on a first person shooter.

If Nintendo had done it right, they'd have combined 2 popular genres , with a strong lead character and a "mature" theme.

Tomb Raider was crap but was incredibly popular because it was the first 3D "mature" platformer.
Now if Nintendo had gone on to make one with 10 times the playability and imagination....

I agree with your branding SB as AAA but Metroid is still an adventure game. Shigsy has explained that it isn't a first person shooter as such, yes it is first person and you shoot but as MEtroid games oftern take place in confined areas 3D is hard to do so they made it first person but it is still the adventure game metroid fans know and love. Shigsy has explained that Metroid fans as well as new comewrs to the franchise will love the game and maybe even feel nostalgic.

Smash Brothers is Triple A.

People who've not played it properly will disagree, especially if they were some anti-Nintendo Zealot looking for the worst in it.

I'd say it's no Tekken or Virtua Fighter simply because it's something so much better.

Fast, fun, extremely playable, easy to get into, difficult to master and wholly unpredictable.
Also, being a multiplayer game, you're likely to get 10 Zelda's worth of play time.

I'm refusing to Label Metroid Prime as a Triple A title.
You'd have to read my Nintendo forum post to see why I think that they've seriously misused the franchise.

Putting it simply, if you went to a Snes owner, showed screenshots of Smash Brothers Melee and Metroid Prime and asked them which was the Metroid game, unless they were up to date on Gamecube news, they'd choose Smash Brothers (even with Link, Mario and Donkey Kong in the picture), simply because it's the only one where you can see Samus, the character fans assosiate Metroid with.

They wouldn't have made that mistake with Zelda or Mario games...

If you've got a character as great as Samus, why put them in a game where no one can see them???

i thought the post is about the band- AAA

Yeah... but as long as you love the games does it matter.

It's a number of triple A titles that attracts many fans and gamers to the company's consoles.
Without these kinds of brilliant and innovative games, we probably wouldn't even bother with consoles all together!!

Think of how dull and boring both the real world and the gaming world would be without Triple A titles.... :S

It was reviewed by Thumb Bandits who called it the best PS2 game.

I've played the ICO demo, and although the graphics are not bad, the sense of atmosphere that the game is supposed to create just isn't there.

By the way, has the game been released yet? First impressions, after all, always turn out to be wrong. Just think MGS2.

Dringo wrote:
> Famitsu magazine awarded it 37/40 which is about 93%.

What a very silly award scheme

Ico i first saw on thumbandits PS2 game or not i was incredibly impressed.