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"I like to toy with my games."

You know how it is with most games.
You finish them and that's it, they're done.
Left on the shelf to collect dust or sold/swapped on.

Well you might come back to them for some replayability.
This replayability comes in many forms.

There might be challenges to do, like get a high score for a competition.
You might want to go down memory lane by playing through the story/levels again.

These might have you back once or twice, but they won't keep you hooked on a game.

The best form of replayability is by far a multiplayer - that's why Goldeneye and Smash Brothers have lasted so well.
Ofcourse, a fake multiplayer (CPU simulants) doesn't really cut it in this arena (only good for practice really) so this option doesn't work unless your friends/siblings are availble to play.

And they won't always be.

But don't worry, if there's no one around, there is a second best way of replaying games. You might not have a particular challenge/score or goal in mind, but there's nothing like "toying" with a game for the fun of it.

"Toying"?

I'll explain.


I'm sure most of you remember Goldeneye.
Nowdays it's old, out of date and slow, but when it was released (4 and a half years ago) the graphics, realism, physics, AI and animations blew EVERYONE away.
And although I didn't really notice it at the time, one of the best things about the single player mode was that even when you'd beaten every level on every difficulty setting, unlocked every secret and cheat, there was still loads of fun to be had.

Shooting the guards hats off was an obvious "mini-game" you could make.
Sneaking up on guards and teasing with the AI was another.
Having fun using stealth and sniper rifles, using secret unlocked weapons to replay older levels - it was somewhat satisfying to blow away all those annoying guards who seemed so tough when you had a PP7, only to see them get mowed down by your brand new RCP-90's.

Better still, when you had invisibilty on, the guards would not be able to see you, and would go about their routine patrol as normal.
I spent HOURS putting a remote mine in their path and waiting to set it off as they crossed it.

It was hilarious watching them fly.


There's loads more examples but I'm sure you get the idea by now.
Freedom to play the game, explore various glitches and their amusing results (there's nothing like killing Natalia in a cut scene! ;-D), toy with the guards and their (what at the time seemed to be very advanced) AI.


Naturally, when you add in the multiplayer, the long, challenging single player mode to all this messing around, it's little wonder that this game lasted as my ONLY N64 game for the first FOUR months.
And even with newer games around, I'd still come back to it.


Anyway, back to "Toying" with games:

While Goldeneye is probably the best example in the world, there are plenty of other games that have been set far from the crowd thanks to the way you choose to play them.


I know that most PS/PS2 owners will be lost on my Goldeneye descriptions, but I'm certain you enjoyed the Metal Gear Solid series in a similar way.
The game supposedly lasts for no more than 12-15 hours.

Now if that was the only gameplay people got out of, it wouldn't be so highly regarded. There are the odd secret and difficulty setting to come back for, that wouldn't extend the gameplay to "Classic" deserving proportions.

I think what really made MGS great, was how you could come back and "Toy" with it. Now I've not played much of either the original or the sequel, but I've read enough of Ant's ravings to recognise where his enjoyment comes from.

Teasing guards by banging on walls to send them running towards the noise, hiding in cupboards/boxes or other crazy tricks to avoid them.
It's basically playing hide and seek with the computer AI, and playing are EXACTLY what games are all about.

As I've not played the games, I can't give any specific examples of how you could "toy" with it, I think that anyone who's played them properly won't find it difficult to do so.


So what's the other PS2 game that everyone raves about.

GTA3? What a coincidence...


Again, I've not played it, but EVERY review I read said that by far the best thing about it was the way you could ignore the missions and just mess around in the city doing whatever the hell you want.

Want to beat up innocent civilians? Rob cars? Blow up buildings? Fight the police? Do the missions?

It's entirely up to you.
There's a preset challenge in the form of missions (because you will want something like that at first), but once you're through with the challenge, there's nothing like coming back and messing with the virtual city YOUR way.

The sophisticated AI of the game allowed you to explore the game's design at your will and experiment in any way you felt like.
And the virtual people would react to what you did too.

Little wonder so many hailed it as the best game ever.



So what brings "Toying" to my attention then?

Well, the most recent example would have to be Smash Brothers Melee.
One of the reasons I always prefered the N64 version to "realistic" beat em ups was that the control/gameplay system gave you freedom to fight your own way and style.

Your call to use items or moves, attack or counter, go all out aggression or attack when the time is right.


The Gamecube version takes this even further.
Many of the moves and skills aren't even necessary to win battles, but they're so much fun to learn and master, and so stylish to use and show off with, there's plenty of incentive to spend time mastering them and generally experimenting with your character's skills.

I would go into more detail but I've gone on enough already and a good Smash Brothers example can be found in the Nintendo forum under the topic:

"3 Smash Brothers Melee skills you HAVE to master!"



Toying really sets the good games from the true classics.
Think of every great game you've played, when you've come back to it and WHY you came back to it. It becomes how important toying is when it comes to replayability.

Thanks for reading this overlong and overdone topic! :-)

I don't really know, you don't need your action replay to see it, go to the edge of the dock and use your sniper rifle to look at it. I walked over there and that is just it, a drone gun.

I liked making extra multiplayer levels like dam and statue, or making other ones bigger like facility.

Tiltawhirl wrote:
just stupid things like when the guards said stuff like
> "he was my best friend" when you'd just shot his mate in the
> head.

I played through the start of Pelargic 2 level a millions times just to see that bit again, and again, and again! Classic moment of toying - not necessary to beat the level but great fun to do.



Dringo Wrote:
>Action Replay, best way to toy with your game.

Not THE best way but it certainly pushed the possibilities to the limits.
I never actually got round to getting one but I read countless articles in magazines about the neat tricks you could do with them.

Apparently there was a secret area on the Dam level that had been left out of the final version. Having seen a screenshot of the secret island, seeing as it had a huge massive drone gun on it, perhaps Rare had the player's best interests at heart! :-D

Dringo wrote:
> Action Replay, best way to toy with your game.

As you well know (having issue 2 of G-force) a demo of the GameCube's Action Replay will soon be arriving on G-Force magazine's double sided DVDs.

Great post. :D

I used to 'toy' with games like Goldeneye for hours, just trying out new things, experiment etc. It's usually Rare who put liitle extras into game, and its so worthwhile, becuase it can increase the longevity of gameplay and add so much more fun to the experience. I guess that's just a testament to their ability an commitment to excellence.

Or just an excuse for taking so damn long to make a game!!

Action Replay, best way to toy with your game.

Good post, honestly, but it was a bit to long.

Anyway the longer the better, right

Good post, I used to toy with Perfect Dark and Goldeneye to the nth degree and Rare put so many little secrets in the game that it lasted me for ages, just stupid things like when the guards said stuff like "he was my best friend" when you'd just shot his mate in the head. I new both games AI inside out, back to front and upside down by the time i'd finished with them.

You know how it is with most games.
You finish them and that's it, they're done.
Left on the shelf to collect dust or sold/swapped on.

Well you might come back to them for some replayability.
This replayability comes in many forms.

There might be challenges to do, like get a high score for a competition.
You might want to go down memory lane by playing through the story/levels again.

These might have you back once or twice, but they won't keep you hooked on a game.

The best form of replayability is by far a multiplayer - that's why Goldeneye and Smash Brothers have lasted so well.
Ofcourse, a fake multiplayer (CPU simulants) doesn't really cut it in this arena (only good for practice really) so this option doesn't work unless your friends/siblings are availble to play.

And they won't always be.

But don't worry, if there's no one around, there is a second best way of replaying games. You might not have a particular challenge/score or goal in mind, but there's nothing like "toying" with a game for the fun of it.

"Toying"?

I'll explain.


I'm sure most of you remember Goldeneye.
Nowdays it's old, out of date and slow, but when it was released (4 and a half years ago) the graphics, realism, physics, AI and animations blew EVERYONE away.
And although I didn't really notice it at the time, one of the best things about the single player mode was that even when you'd beaten every level on every difficulty setting, unlocked every secret and cheat, there was still loads of fun to be had.

Shooting the guards hats off was an obvious "mini-game" you could make.
Sneaking up on guards and teasing with the AI was another.
Having fun using stealth and sniper rifles, using secret unlocked weapons to replay older levels - it was somewhat satisfying to blow away all those annoying guards who seemed so tough when you had a PP7, only to see them get mowed down by your brand new RCP-90's.

Better still, when you had invisibilty on, the guards would not be able to see you, and would go about their routine patrol as normal.
I spent HOURS putting a remote mine in their path and waiting to set it off as they crossed it.

It was hilarious watching them fly.


There's loads more examples but I'm sure you get the idea by now.
Freedom to play the game, explore various glitches and their amusing results (there's nothing like killing Natalia in a cut scene! ;-D), toy with the guards and their (what at the time seemed to be very advanced) AI.


Naturally, when you add in the multiplayer, the long, challenging single player mode to all this messing around, it's little wonder that this game lasted as my ONLY N64 game for the first FOUR months.
And even with newer games around, I'd still come back to it.


Anyway, back to "Toying" with games:

While Goldeneye is probably the best example in the world, there are plenty of other games that have been set far from the crowd thanks to the way you choose to play them.


I know that most PS/PS2 owners will be lost on my Goldeneye descriptions, but I'm certain you enjoyed the Metal Gear Solid series in a similar way.
The game supposedly lasts for no more than 12-15 hours.

Now if that was the only gameplay people got out of, it wouldn't be so highly regarded. There are the odd secret and difficulty setting to come back for, that wouldn't extend the gameplay to "Classic" deserving proportions.

I think what really made MGS great, was how you could come back and "Toy" with it. Now I've not played much of either the original or the sequel, but I've read enough of Ant's ravings to recognise where his enjoyment comes from.

Teasing guards by banging on walls to send them running towards the noise, hiding in cupboards/boxes or other crazy tricks to avoid them.
It's basically playing hide and seek with the computer AI, and playing are EXACTLY what games are all about.

As I've not played the games, I can't give any specific examples of how you could "toy" with it, I think that anyone who's played them properly won't find it difficult to do so.


So what's the other PS2 game that everyone raves about.

GTA3? What a coincidence...


Again, I've not played it, but EVERY review I read said that by far the best thing about it was the way you could ignore the missions and just mess around in the city doing whatever the hell you want.

Want to beat up innocent civilians? Rob cars? Blow up buildings? Fight the police? Do the missions?

It's entirely up to you.
There's a preset challenge in the form of missions (because you will want something like that at first), but once you're through with the challenge, there's nothing like coming back and messing with the virtual city YOUR way.

The sophisticated AI of the game allowed you to explore the game's design at your will and experiment in any way you felt like.
And the virtual people would react to what you did too.

Little wonder so many hailed it as the best game ever.



So what brings "Toying" to my attention then?

Well, the most recent example would have to be Smash Brothers Melee.
One of the reasons I always prefered the N64 version to "realistic" beat em ups was that the control/gameplay system gave you freedom to fight your own way and style.

Your call to use items or moves, attack or counter, go all out aggression or attack when the time is right.


The Gamecube version takes this even further.
Many of the moves and skills aren't even necessary to win battles, but they're so much fun to learn and master, and so stylish to use and show off with, there's plenty of incentive to spend time mastering them and generally experimenting with your character's skills.

I would go into more detail but I've gone on enough already and a good Smash Brothers example can be found in the Nintendo forum under the topic:

"3 Smash Brothers Melee skills you HAVE to master!"



Toying really sets the good games from the true classics.
Think of every great game you've played, when you've come back to it and WHY you came back to it. It becomes how important toying is when it comes to replayability.

Thanks for reading this overlong and overdone topic! :-)