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Okay, I've had my Gamecube a couple of days now, had three late nights, and put in some serious play time, and I can honestly say that it is absolutely fantastic.
We all know what it looks like, so I won't harp on about that, except to say that purple was a very good colour choice for me. Also, I briefly held the Gamecube by it's handle, and have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with this part of it, I doubt I'll spend my days carrying my 'Cube around with me, by it's handle!
The pads are great. Playing one in a store doesn't really give you any indication of just how good they are. As I said earlier, I've put in quite a few hours play, and my hands show no ill effects of this whatsoever. I have found myself fumbling for the 'pause' button on one occasion, as it's quite small, and the 'z' seems oddly placed, but these aren't real problems, and something that will no doubt become second nature in time.
Anyway, onto the games, as I've always said that aesthetics matter little if the games don't come up to scratch. Firstly, Luigi's Mansion. This was the first game I played, and the main one I keep coming back to. Nintendo have really concentrated on making a fun game. It doesn't take long to get used to the controls, with the use of both sticks integral to catching ghosts, and exploring the mansion, and there's a training level, just to give you some practice before you head on out into the mansion.
The idea of the game is pretty simple, go into a room, bust all the ghosts, this will reveal a key, and you can head into a different room. As simple as this sounds there's plenty of variety, as many of the rooms contain bigger ghosts that cannot be caught by the usual torch-vacuum combination. One example of this would be a ghost sitting atr a dressing table, if you open the curtain she'll feel a breeze, at this point she'll get up, and you'll have your chance to suck her in.
I was very impressed with the fact that almost everything in the mansion is interactive. If there's a vase on a table, you'll be able to give it a shake, see if anything's inside. If there's a cloth on a table, you can suck it off. This really helps give value to the exploring the game, and makes relatively small rooms seem rather large indeed!
Some say that this game is quite short. Well I haven't finished it yet, and even if I finish it later today, I would have had so much fun, that I won't care that it wasn't an epic. I can't see me getting through it in the next 24 hours though, I still have 39 more Boo's to catch, and 13 more main ghosts to battle with.
Onto the second game that I played, Super Monkey Ball. Some say that the simple ideas are often the best, and as you use no buttons in the main game, you can certainly say that Super Monkey Ball is a simple idea. It reminds me of the old classic, Marble Madness, in which you had to roll a marble through a maze. Replace the marble with a monkey, and you've got Super Monkey Ball. Early courses are simple, just point the monkey towards the goal, but this soon progresses into moving platforms, tilting platforms, and levels in which you're really against the clock. No level is impossible, though some are really tough, but with enough practice you'll make it through. If there's one level that's particularly troubling you, you can practice any level you have previously played, so you can concentrate on it for a bit, make sure you can do it next time you play it in the main game.
What's kept Super Monkey Ball in my Gamecube for so long though are the multiplayer games. Monkey Race has 6 different courses to race around, and power-up's along the way. It's actually better than some of the poorer karting titles on the market, which is impressive for what many will see as just an extra feature. Monkey Fight is a strange game. Take the monkey's in their balls, and give them a boxing glove, throw in power-ups to give you a longer reach or a bigger glove, and you'll be in fits of laughter as you punch opponents off of the arena. Monkey Target has taken most of my time though. Think Pilotwings, or something similar. Slide down a ramp, open your ball to make wings, and head for the target landing pads sitting in the water. You have to pay attention to your speed, height and the wind to get it right, and I've found it incredibly addictive. There are also further games to unlock, Money Billiards, Monkey Golf, and Monkey Bowling. So far I've only played Monkey Billiards, and that too is great fun.
Next, I gave Sonic Adventure 2 a whirl. I'd read poor reviews of this game, but figured that it should still be very good, but oh my God! What the hell ahs happened to Sonic? Remember that episode of The Simpsons, where Homer gets to voice Poochy, the new character in the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons? Well Sonic has become Poochy, trying way too hard to be cool, with really bad one-liners, and the tendancy to skateboard, and grind down rails. Graphically, it's very impressive, but the game is unfortunatley a case of style over substance, to the degridation of the gameplay. One such example of this sees you being chased by a truck, but the camera is right in front of you. You can see the truck gaining on you, but you have no idea what you're running into. The music is hilariously bad, and I don't much feel like playing it ahead of the other titles I have. Once my GBA cable arrives I'll check out the linked features, but I don't think it can save this game from being a disappointment.
Finally, Rogue Leader. Wow! It is honestly just like playing the movie. The first level is the assault on the Death Star, with you in an X-Wing taking out towers, then Tie-Fighters, before taking your trench run. The fantastic thing about the trench run is that the dialogue from the movie is all there. You have Obi-Wan telling yo uto use the force, when a couple of Tie Fighters follow you Darth Vader says "The force is strong in this one". The music is also all there, you'll even know when to fire you're proton torpedoes because of the music, and memories of the film! Control is near perfect, with the shoulder buttons allowing you to alter speed, the D-pad can give orders to other pilots, and weapons are simple to use. For a fan of the original trilogy, there is nothing better than this. I've also played the Battle of Hoth, taking down those AT-AT's is simply unreal. I normally suck at this type of game, but for some reason, I'm getting through this one alright. Maybe the force really is with me?
Buying the Gamecube was a great idea, I've got three wonderful games to keep me entertained, and they're three of the most fun games I've played in a very long time.
Gamecube rules!
We all know what it looks like, so I won't harp on about that, except to say that purple was a very good colour choice for me. Also, I briefly held the Gamecube by it's handle, and have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with this part of it, I doubt I'll spend my days carrying my 'Cube around with me, by it's handle!
The pads are great. Playing one in a store doesn't really give you any indication of just how good they are. As I said earlier, I've put in quite a few hours play, and my hands show no ill effects of this whatsoever. I have found myself fumbling for the 'pause' button on one occasion, as it's quite small, and the 'z' seems oddly placed, but these aren't real problems, and something that will no doubt become second nature in time.
Anyway, onto the games, as I've always said that aesthetics matter little if the games don't come up to scratch. Firstly, Luigi's Mansion. This was the first game I played, and the main one I keep coming back to. Nintendo have really concentrated on making a fun game. It doesn't take long to get used to the controls, with the use of both sticks integral to catching ghosts, and exploring the mansion, and there's a training level, just to give you some practice before you head on out into the mansion.
The idea of the game is pretty simple, go into a room, bust all the ghosts, this will reveal a key, and you can head into a different room. As simple as this sounds there's plenty of variety, as many of the rooms contain bigger ghosts that cannot be caught by the usual torch-vacuum combination. One example of this would be a ghost sitting atr a dressing table, if you open the curtain she'll feel a breeze, at this point she'll get up, and you'll have your chance to suck her in.
I was very impressed with the fact that almost everything in the mansion is interactive. If there's a vase on a table, you'll be able to give it a shake, see if anything's inside. If there's a cloth on a table, you can suck it off. This really helps give value to the exploring the game, and makes relatively small rooms seem rather large indeed!
Some say that this game is quite short. Well I haven't finished it yet, and even if I finish it later today, I would have had so much fun, that I won't care that it wasn't an epic. I can't see me getting through it in the next 24 hours though, I still have 39 more Boo's to catch, and 13 more main ghosts to battle with.
Onto the second game that I played, Super Monkey Ball. Some say that the simple ideas are often the best, and as you use no buttons in the main game, you can certainly say that Super Monkey Ball is a simple idea. It reminds me of the old classic, Marble Madness, in which you had to roll a marble through a maze. Replace the marble with a monkey, and you've got Super Monkey Ball. Early courses are simple, just point the monkey towards the goal, but this soon progresses into moving platforms, tilting platforms, and levels in which you're really against the clock. No level is impossible, though some are really tough, but with enough practice you'll make it through. If there's one level that's particularly troubling you, you can practice any level you have previously played, so you can concentrate on it for a bit, make sure you can do it next time you play it in the main game.
What's kept Super Monkey Ball in my Gamecube for so long though are the multiplayer games. Monkey Race has 6 different courses to race around, and power-up's along the way. It's actually better than some of the poorer karting titles on the market, which is impressive for what many will see as just an extra feature. Monkey Fight is a strange game. Take the monkey's in their balls, and give them a boxing glove, throw in power-ups to give you a longer reach or a bigger glove, and you'll be in fits of laughter as you punch opponents off of the arena. Monkey Target has taken most of my time though. Think Pilotwings, or something similar. Slide down a ramp, open your ball to make wings, and head for the target landing pads sitting in the water. You have to pay attention to your speed, height and the wind to get it right, and I've found it incredibly addictive. There are also further games to unlock, Money Billiards, Monkey Golf, and Monkey Bowling. So far I've only played Monkey Billiards, and that too is great fun.
Next, I gave Sonic Adventure 2 a whirl. I'd read poor reviews of this game, but figured that it should still be very good, but oh my God! What the hell ahs happened to Sonic? Remember that episode of The Simpsons, where Homer gets to voice Poochy, the new character in the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons? Well Sonic has become Poochy, trying way too hard to be cool, with really bad one-liners, and the tendancy to skateboard, and grind down rails. Graphically, it's very impressive, but the game is unfortunatley a case of style over substance, to the degridation of the gameplay. One such example of this sees you being chased by a truck, but the camera is right in front of you. You can see the truck gaining on you, but you have no idea what you're running into. The music is hilariously bad, and I don't much feel like playing it ahead of the other titles I have. Once my GBA cable arrives I'll check out the linked features, but I don't think it can save this game from being a disappointment.
Finally, Rogue Leader. Wow! It is honestly just like playing the movie. The first level is the assault on the Death Star, with you in an X-Wing taking out towers, then Tie-Fighters, before taking your trench run. The fantastic thing about the trench run is that the dialogue from the movie is all there. You have Obi-Wan telling yo uto use the force, when a couple of Tie Fighters follow you Darth Vader says "The force is strong in this one". The music is also all there, you'll even know when to fire you're proton torpedoes because of the music, and memories of the film! Control is near perfect, with the shoulder buttons allowing you to alter speed, the D-pad can give orders to other pilots, and weapons are simple to use. For a fan of the original trilogy, there is nothing better than this. I've also played the Battle of Hoth, taking down those AT-AT's is simply unreal. I normally suck at this type of game, but for some reason, I'm getting through this one alright. Maybe the force really is with me?
Buying the Gamecube was a great idea, I've got three wonderful games to keep me entertained, and they're three of the most fun games I've played in a very long time.
Gamecube rules!
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heh, they are so real you know. I wonder if you can see them in real life?
Man, that controllers got more chunky and ugly, I liked the original one. That won't stop me getting one though!
Have you seen that new handheld on there that plays MP3's etc. I like gadgets and that looks cool.
Theres a T-Shirt I want on there too where a Lama is being targeted! :-P
Man, that controllers got more chunky and ugly, I liked the original one. That won't stop me getting one though!
Have you seen that new handheld on there that plays MP3's etc. I like gadgets and that looks cool.
Theres a T-Shirt I want on there too where a Lama is being targeted! :-P
Wooooo
The worlds most powerful handheld eh?
I'll wait for that to take off before I even consider buying one...
Sounds cool though.
The worlds most powerful handheld eh?
I'll wait for that to take off before I even consider buying one...
Sounds cool though.
It does sound tottally cool but it won't take off for sure. If it does, it will be in my pocket.
Says something about free development kits or something, thats obvouisly an attempt to make it take off but it won't. Sadly.
Says something about free development kits or something, thats obvouisly an attempt to make it take off but it won't. Sadly.
woooooooo
http://www.play.com/covers/102190m.jpg
Cant wait to get my hands on this...
http://www.play.com/covers/102190m.jpg
Cant wait to get my hands on this...
Mario looks mean... How.... suicidal.
Meka Dragon wrote:
>before taking your trench run.
*sniggers*
>before taking your trench run.
*sniggers*
Turbonutter wrote:
> I demand everyone puts the prefix "[Nintys enthusiastic
> crap]" at the start of every topic like this to prevent me from
> wasting my precious bandwidth on them. Oh, now look what you made me
> type.
Wazzock. WTF were you expecting?
> I demand everyone puts the prefix "[Nintys enthusiastic
> crap]" at the start of every topic like this to prevent me from
> wasting my precious bandwidth on them. Oh, now look what you made me
> type.
Wazzock. WTF were you expecting?
Dringo wrote:
> Is Lisa the Starfox fan????
Nope, Lisa's my wife, Malibu, my daughter is the Starfox fan.
Georgia appears to be a fan of tripping over the controller leads, well, she's done it a few times. Roll on Wavebirds!
> Is Lisa the Starfox fan????
Nope, Lisa's my wife, Malibu, my daughter is the Starfox fan.
Georgia appears to be a fan of tripping over the controller leads, well, she's done it a few times. Roll on Wavebirds!
Mr. Happy wrote:
> Does anyone know what FIFA 2002 is like on the GC..
It is pants... It looks awful - too bright and the colission detection is awful, You tackle a player and even though you miss the ref blows and you get yellow carded ! You can even see in the replay that you missed totally.
When you want to tackle you just get used to sliding in the general area that the player is in and take the ball.
I played yesterday on the default settings and one the world cup first go, even beating Argentina 5-0 in the second game. Soooo realistic.
I wont be spending much more time on this one - came as part of a bundle deal so not too bad - it will be in the EB second hand basket next weekend.
> Does anyone know what FIFA 2002 is like on the GC..
It is pants... It looks awful - too bright and the colission detection is awful, You tackle a player and even though you miss the ref blows and you get yellow carded ! You can even see in the replay that you missed totally.
When you want to tackle you just get used to sliding in the general area that the player is in and take the ball.
I played yesterday on the default settings and one the world cup first go, even beating Argentina 5-0 in the second game. Soooo realistic.
I wont be spending much more time on this one - came as part of a bundle deal so not too bad - it will be in the EB second hand basket next weekend.
The big question.......
Has Wookiee got one yet?
2-1 odds that he got bored over the weekend and went and got one.
Has Wookiee got one yet?
2-1 odds that he got bored over the weekend and went and got one.
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