Halo 3: Co-op Campaign is a Halo of a Different Color.

We've finished the fight, at least collectively. Magus, Neo, Riddel, and I have played through the campaign of Halo 3 in online co-op mode on the heroic difficulty level. I have to say that it was very fun, but it's not without flaws. The co-op mode changes up the core Halo gameplay considerably. Why? Because of other living people. Each one of them bringing something to the game. Something that isn't there when it would just be me offline with the game's AI. This is a good thing, but it also means that I must abandon my concept of what Halo campaign gameplay is. Because it's not the same game. If you can't get over that then you're going to find yourself not enjoying the game. Halo 3 co-op campaign is a far more run and gun affair. It's not the stop and pop gameplay it would be for me offline. As far as the mechanics go, the one questionable choice Bungie made is in the spawning of your team after one of them has died. It tries to spawn someone near another player where it's safe from the enemies. The respawning player literally drops down near another living player. Often times on them or right in front of them. I even was throwing a sticky grenade at a grunt as Neo spawned in front of me and it stuck him and killed him after him having been alive all of half a second. Riddel was repeatedly spawned near Magus who was near a ledge which caused her to fall to her death. For the most part the game plays very well. All of the voices from the NPCs and the enemies are all synched up. We're all hearing and seeing the exact same things. There are lag spikes more associated with the Xbox Live server load being strained as Halo 3 gets the kinks out than any sort of bad net code on Bungie's behalf. It seems as though Halo still has some of the best net code ever produced. The co-op campaign mode has provide me with another of my great gaming experiences. This happening in the final level of Halo 3 as you're making your mad rush to escape in the Warthog. Magus and Riddel were taken out and that left Neo and I and somewhere in the course of the escape I happened to hit an explosive Flood enemy who rolled the Warthog I was driving. I managed to get out and flip the Warthog back right side up as Neo was taken out from swarming Flood. I hopped back in and continued on looking for a way off the Halo. Along the way I almost lost control numerous times and barely maintained it. I came as close as close can get a couple times before finally making it out. What made this great was the fact that Magus, Neo, and Riddel were all watching this and I could hear their reactions. Gasps and oohs and ahs and laughing and surprise and it was all live and intense and very fun. It really was a great moment for me in gaming.

Freshly Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland -- Taking A Stab At Tingle's Combat.

Tingle's not a fighter. And let's face it, he can't be called a lover either. He's thirty-five and single and this is Nintendo after all. So there is no premarital sex and there might not even be sex after marriage. Tingle is an action adventure title where some combat does come in to play. If tingle comes into contact with an enemy there is a very cartoonish scuffle. You see a dust cloud and a lot of squiggles and sound effects and the like representing a brawl taking place. You also see Tingle taking damage in the form of lost Rupees. You can tap the cloud with your stylus to help Tingle out. The faster you tap the harder tingle fights and the quicker the battle will be over. Otherwise the battle will just play itself out. You're able to move the scuffle around as you would Tingle himself. Why would you want to do that? Because you'll be receiving some sort of item or monitory reward from the battle. And the more enemies you can get into the brawl the better your rewards will be. One crab gives you one type of meat. But get two crabs into the fray and you'll end up with three pieces of meat and so on down the line. The more the better. Of course you'll also take more damage potentially. That's why Tingle can hire a bodyguard. The bodyguards are hired out of salons and there is one salon per map. There are three basic types of bodyguards and each one has its own special ability. They are small, medium, and large. Small bodyguards can crawl into holes and the like. Medium bodyguards can pick locks while the large type can move obstructions like boulders. They also differ in their power and defense levels. And there are three trait types of lazy, combative, and smart. Lazy will only fight when the fight is brought to him. Combative will start a fight with anything that gets near him. And smart will only fight when told to attack or when Tingle is being attacked. They each come with their own fee. Of course smart will cost the most, with combative in the middle and lazy as the cheapest. You're able to control the bodyguards slightly by tapping them with the stylus and then an enemy. They're react based on their trait. Tapping the battle cloud of a bodyguard will also help them and speed things along. Joining Tingle in with the bodyguard during the battle and tapping away will help things along the most. Bodyguards can't die. But they can become exhausted. They'll have to be rehired at larger cost if they've become exhausted. You can drop healing potions for them to keep them in fighting form. Overall the fighting in Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is very simplistic but actually quite fun. Of course the combat is just an aside as the game's focus lies elsewhere in the adventure aspects. And more on that next time.

Halo 3: Initial Impression.

Well, here we all are. September 25, 2007. The day Halo 3 hit. We've all survived the hype. The largest amount of hype any video game has ever seen. We were bombarded with Halo 3 licensed Zunes and Xbox 360s and Mountain Dew Game Fuel and figures and controversial television commercials for months. Was it worth it? Too early to tell. From a gaming standpoint anyway. For Microsoft it's been a massive success in achieving brand awareness. Halo 3 is out there, and everybody's grandmothers know it. We've been intently deciding on which version of the game to get for months. Microsoft offered the game in three varieties. The Standard Edition, the Limited Edition, and the Legendary Edition, at $59, $69, and $129 respectively. Microsoft didn't quite get the launch off without a hitch. The Limited Edition of the game featured a special metal casing and a cheap plastic DVD well hub that wasn't strong enough to hold the discs firmly in place in shipping. Reports of severely scratched discs began coming in a few days before the street date. Essentially sending a panic through the gaming community. Microsoft has again stepped up and is offering free disc replacement for both the game and the bonus materials disc. I just wish Microsoft would have to stop having to step up. I'm thoroughly pleased that they do step up. Far more so than Nintendo or Sony would in my opinion. I'd just like to see them get it right. They deserve some success without it being mired in crap. As for the actual game itself we've spent roughly five hours just messing around in multiplayer. Just looking at maps and learning the weapons and controls anew. And actually laughing a lot. The game is fun. That much is clear. The depth will increase as we all get reacquainted with Halo and some of us are introduced to it for the first time. And there's already an awful lot there. We'll have to venture into ranked matches for some achievements and we haven't even begun messing around with Forge and the co-op campaign. Halo 3 should turn out to be one of the biggest time-sinks in gaming. And I don't believe that's a bad thing...

Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland -- Money, It's What I Want.

The point of Tingle's adventure is to collect Rupees. Enough Rupees to throw into a pool atop this ever-growing tower so that Tingle can get closer to the supposed heaven that is Rupeeland. The more Rupees you throw in, the higher the tower gets. Luckily the game provide various means of acquiring ever more Rupees. You can sell items found from combat. You can sell items created from recipes. You can earn Rupees from completing maps. You can earn rewards in the form of Rupees from helping people. The problem comes in from the fact that everything in Tingle's world costs money. And I mean everything. Want to talk to a non-player character? It'll cost you. It even goes as far as making Rupees your life. You don't take damage in combat, you lose Rupees. Run out of Rupees and it's game over. This wouldn't normally be an issue but the game employs a barter system. So when you go to talk to someone and they ask for Rupees there isn't a set amount. You have to offer up what you think will be enough to get them to talk. Still not really a problem you say? Well, if you're wrong, you don't get any information and they keep your offering. That's right. They keep it. And it doesn't count towards getting them to talk. So you're out however much. For example. You offer twenty Rupees initially and fail. Then you try thirty-five and fail. Then you try fifty and succeed. So fifty was the correct amount, but it only cost you one-hundred and five Rupees to get it right. This is made worse by there seemingly being only one save point in the entire game. So saving beforehand and restarting is an exceedingly inconvenient option. This bartering system pops up everywhere. This design choice is bafflingly stupid. It puts a potentially game breaking aspect into a what would otherwise be a wonderfully charming and fun adventure game. I'll cover a little more of the charming and fun adventure side of the game next time...

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole -- Final Opinion.

I have completed Landstalker with a time just under nineteen hours. The game is just as good as I remembered it being. Landstalker is one of the best action RPGs ever made. It's got everything covered. Charming cartoonish graphics. Great music from Motoaki Takenouchi who would go on to score Shining Force 2 among others. Tough combat to keep you on your toes. Even tougher puzzles. And a great comic story that's actually laugh out loud funny in a few places. It's also one of the toughest games ever made. Some of the puzzles might drive some people insane. And that's only half of it. Once you've figured out what you need to do, the action needed to get it done will require great skill. Landstalker's cartoonish looks hide the challenge level to be found within. If you consider yourself a fan of the action RPG or games with puzzles in action and can deal with the isometric perspective then Landstalker is a must own title. Also just don't expect the Genesis version of The Legend of Zelda 3: A Link to the Past, as Landstalker is entirely original. It was great to relive this one all these years later. I've giving Landstalker for the Genesis via the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console a 9.5. Just be sure to have a Classic Controller...

Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland -- Initial Impression.

I'm going to try and fit in another game before Halo 3 and this time we're going back to the Nintendo DS with Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. The title was developed by Vanpool. Their other credit includes the Nintendo DS game Tingle's Balloon Fight which was a Japanese Mario Club reward only title. If you earned enough Mario Club points you could trade them in for the game. Anyway, back to the game at hand. Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is an adventure title. The game has you playing as Tingle, the mildly disturbing thirty-five year old man-child that likes to dress like a fairy and collect Rupees who first showed up in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. From the time spent with the game thus far I can tell that it's going to be a well-drawn and colorful adventure. And it's going for laughs. I mean it would have to be right? I don't even want to imagine a world where anyone takes this one seriously. I had to import the game from Europe where it just came out last week. It was released in Japan the week before that. This is the first game I've imported from Europe and I noticed it automatically started up in English without any language selection option. In Europe Nintendo games are released in five languages. English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The game will automatically load based on your Nintendo DS language settings. I found that to be a cooly subtle feature of the region free Nintendo DS. The game isn't on any release list for North America as of yet. Nintendo of America had an online survey regarding how much you liked Tingle. So they were clearly fishing around to gauge the title's viability in North America. It appears the results were less than favorable for old Tingle. We'll have to see if North America is actually missing out, or lucking out, in seemingly not getting Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.

Landstalker -- Making Your Way In An Isometric World.

Landstalker uses an isometric perspective that allows for an entirely different approach to puzzles, combat, and action. An isometric perspective is a roughly three-quarters topdown view over two-dimensional backgrounds designed to mimic a three-dimensional space. Think Zaxxon. Nigel moves through the world with four-way directional movement that was originally tied to the diagonals on the Genesis controller. The game was coded with the Genesis controller in mind of course and it worked perfectly on said controller. It doesn't work so well on the Wii Remote's D-pad. Fortunately it works wonderfully on the Classic Controller's analog stick of all things, but not so well on the Classic Controller's D-pad. Landstalker takes place in a far more 3D space than Zelda's 2D games. As a result the puzzles and the action and the combat reflect this. The developers were smart in animating Nigel's sword slashing in wide arcing swings. Nigel swings around himself. He's not thrusting. You don't have to worry about lining up with an enemy as you would in other action RPGs without the isometric perspective. You do have to worry about the enemy attempting to get behind you though, as most of them will try to do so. The isometric view means that you can often walk around objects such as trees and spikes and walls. The puzzles will often make use of this. So does the action. You'll need to make directional changes mid jump. Later on in the game the jumps tend to become out and over rather than just out. Landstalker is tougher than most action RPGs because of the isometric view. Some people just can't seem to see or think clearly enough in the isometric space. If you're able to move around in the isometric space unabated then you're likely to find a challenging and rewarding action and puzzle element in Landstalker. If not, then Landstalker will clearly give you fits. I for one love the perspective as used in Landstalker. Climax Entertainment really handled the difficult perspective well in my opinion.

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole -- Initial Impression.

Next up is another Virtual Console title in the form of the Genesis game Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole from 1992. I originally played Landstalker fifteen years ago. Landstalker is another game that gets the moniker of Zelda clone. This one mistakenly so. Landstalker is definitely its own game. As I remember it, Landstalker is an isometric action RPG with tough puzzle and platforming elements. I also remember a charming story and great music and art. Let's see if my memory holds up...

Neutopia--Final Opinion.

So if Neutopia is a serious Zelda clone, why would you want to play it? Because Nintendo isn't going to ever make another The Legend of Zelda in its original style. Neutopia lasts roughly ten hours. It offers up identical gameplay to the original The Legend of Zelda. There are some changes though. The main character's sprite is huge compared to Link and far more detailed. Which alters the range of hit detection from what was found in Zelda. It makes the swordplay more complicated as you have to line up correctly to attack enemies. The main character's sword isn't the weapon you'll be using most of the time. The fire rod will be your primary weapon. It shoots out fire based on your vitality. So the more health you have the stronger it becomes. At its weakest it's shooting out a little ball of fire that goes out a few feet and does little damage. At its strongest it's shooting out a backdraft level wall of fire at the enemies that does a lot of damage and travels most of the way across the screen. The fire rod also fires in eight directions which alters up the basic Zelda gameplay considerably. Neutopia is also harder in the boss battles and the action element. Zelda wins out in the puzzle element. The story of Neutopia is more involved than that of the original Zelda, but still remains minimalist at best. The graphics are clean and colorful and somewhat cartoonish. The music is mostly bright and cheery and won't annoy. Neutopia is a fun game that's well worth the $6 entry fee. Especially for those out there who love the action RPG. I'm giving Neutopia for the TG-16 via the Virtual Console a 7.

Neutopia -- Initial Impression.

Here I am revisiting an old game I've already completed as we await Halo 3 and the other day-one titles of the season. This time going back seventeen years to 1990 and Hudson's Neutopia. I'm playing the game via the Wii's Virtual Console. The first thing that comes to mind with Neutopia is The Legend of Zelda. The term Zelda clone gets bandied about from time to time. Often times mistakenly. With Neutopia it couldn't be more accurate. Neutopia is an unabashed Zelda clone. Four-way directional movement with flip-screen animation, the pushing of rocks, the bombing of walls, the burning of bushes, and eight dungeons. Even the creature designs are beyond similar. What's the point? Is it worth it? The answers should hopefully come in the final opinion.

Shining in the Darkness -- All in One.

I've been leaving off most of the Xbox Live Arcade and Virtual Console titles I've been playing and I've started to regret that. So here is an all in one for Shining in the Darkness on the Virtual Console as I've just completed the game for the second time today. The first time was all the way back in March of 1991 on the SEGA Genesis. I had no idea at the time but Shining in the Darkness was to be the first in a series of games that would go on to become one of my most favored in all of gaming.  Shining In the Darkness introduces us to the Kingdom of Thornwood and its castle, a village, and massive labyrinth. The game takes place entirely in first person. You never see your character.  You play as the hero with a five letter name of your choosing. His childhood friends Milo Brax and Pyra Myst will be along for the ride. You're summoned to the castle one day when Princess Jessa goes missing. You wouldn't be too terribly concerned except for the fact she was being escorted by your father at the time who is now also missing.  The game's story won't be considered original, it is sixteen years old after all. But what story is there is actually done very well. It's very charming. The presentation of the game helps this along. From the map you can select the town, castle or labyrinth. That's it. There isn't any wandering in the town or castle. In both, you just hit left or right to move through the people to talk to or the buildings to enter.  Everyone is named, and everyone has a basic personality. Which is more than most games of the era can claim. The bulk of the game is spent in the labyrinth. Which makes sense, considering the game is pure dungeon crawl. And the labyrinth is just about massive. It stands five levels above ground and four below.  The battles in the game are close to that of Dragon Warrior's in that you're entering the basic commands and actually reading the results even though the creatures have the most basic of animations. Don't let the text aspect scare you off as even that remarkably comes off as charming. The battles are also lightning fast, depending on your text speed, of course. The average battle only takes twenty seconds or so with boss battles being more like a minute. It's either you kill them or they kill you, fast. Only the final battle ever extends beyond this norm.  Shining In the Darkness marks the first use of the Shining series' animated cursor menu system. Nodding heads for yes, shaking heads for no and the like. Again, quite charming.  The game is also rather sizable with it requiring roughly thirty hours to complete.  I absolutely adored the game back in 1991 and to my joy I've found it holds up exceeding well today. I would be greatly surprised if Shining in the Darkness doesn't charm you as well. In my opinion the game is absolutely perfect in what it set out to do. It does everything right. Great graphics, and amazing operatic score, a polished and fast battle engine, tough maze dungeon design, and more story than one could have expected from the genre at the time.  I considered it a perfect 10 in 1991 and I consider it a perfect 10 in 2007.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- Final Opinion.

I have finished Metroid Prime 3: Corruption with a time of twenty-two hours and fifty-six minutes with one-hundred percent for items collected. The much touted controls work perfectly fine in that they're up to the level of a regular wired controller. I wouldn't dare call them innovative as they essentially bring Metroid Prime up to first person shooter standard abilities. The gimmicks of opening the doors and the like by mimicking the onscreen action needed with the Wii remote are rather cool, but still ultimately gimmicks. The same lock on issue that was present in the first two games is here on the same exact level. The controls are good, no more, no less. The graphics are a mixed bag. Again the Wii with 480p via component cables seemingly hurts as much as it helps. Metroid Prime 3 is the best looking game on the system. But it's also a game with some jagged edges here and there. And overall the game doesn't look as good as lesser X360 or PS3 titles. I know that people may consider this an unfair consideration but seeing how it's only going to worsen as the generation goes forward I feel the need to keep pondering the situation. Musically the game is on par with the two previous Metroid Prime titles. Same basic style. If you liked the music in those, you'll like it here. If you didn't, then Metroid Prime 3 won't be winning you over in that regard. The newly added voice work does help the game considerably. Even if the quality never escapes average. Good to see someone at Nintendo, albeit via Retro Studios, is moving slowly into the now. The voice work brings the story that much more alive. And considering that this is arguably the most story intensive of the entire Metroid series, that can only be a good thing. Corruption's story ends the Metroid Prime trilogy on a high note while teasing that there will be more to come before the events of Metroid 2: Return of Samus and Super Metroid. Could this be another clue regarding Metroid Dread? I believe so. The gameplay of Metroid Prime 3 with its new Wii enabled moves and far better balancing of exploration and backtracking as well as difficulty is the best of the games in the Prime trilogy. Special note should be made of the boss battles. They are all great and epic struggles. Some of the best boss battles can be found within Metroid Prime 3. The game still features the insane amount of scanning that needs to be done to get through the story and collect much of the history. But this time it has a reward in the form of tokens. These tokens are collected from scanning items and creatures and lore and just about everything else. You'll also get some by defeating bosses. They come in four colors. Red, blue, yellow, and green. The green ones are of special note. They can only be obtained by sending what are called friend vouchers to another person on your friend's list playing Metroid Prime 3. Then said person sends you his vouchers in return which become friend tokens and only then are they capable of being spent to unlock items. The rewards to be bought are selections of the score, concept art, and goofy things like a bobble-head of your Mii for Samus' ship. The best thing to be said about Metroid Prime 3 is that it's another real game for the Wii, which at this point desperately needs to get all the games for core gamers it can get outside of the Virtual Console. I'm giving Metroid Prime 3: Corruption a 9.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption -- Controlling Ms. Aran.

Having explored fifty-three percent of the rooms within Metroid Prime 3: Corruption I can safely say these are not the greatest controls ever devised for a first person shooter. Give me Halo's controls thank you very much. With that being said however they aren't bad. They work. Samus is moved around with the analog stick of the nunchuck. The Z button is used to lock on to enemies or grapple points. The problem is that it's one very sketchy lock on system. The same one that's plagued all three Metroid Prime games. While locked on you can move Samus around and aim her gun arm around at anything you wish. That's the big improvement here. Something that's been around forever in the first person shooter genre. But then again, Metroid Prime isn't a first person shooter supposedly. But now you have the free movement and independent aiming. The A button on the Wii Remote serves as your trigger with jump assigned to B. Missiles are assigned to down on the D-pad. The minus button serves as your means of switching visor modes and the plus button initiates and cancels hyper mode. Button 1 will bring up your map and button 2 is for hints. There is a little more to it than just adding first person shooter functionality to Metroid Prime. There are some Wii enabled gimmicks that work well enough as to not feel so gimmicky. The new grapple beam allows you to shoot out an energy beam from Samus' left hand that she can use to swing from hotpoint to hotpoint like Tarzan. This function has been brought into the combat. You can use the grapple beam to remove the shields from enemies and as well as flip switches and pull open hatches and other obstructions. It's as simple as targeting whatever and using Z to lock-on and then making a gesture towards the screen with the nunchuck to have Samus shoot the beam. It will latch on to whatever and then you make a sharp pulling gesture with the nunchuck to pull the shield from the enemy or flip that switch. You no longer flip the basic switch in Metroid Prime. Every little thing requires a cute Wii gimmick. Like pointing the Wii Remote at the screen and holding A to grab a switch that you must pull out of its socket by pulling the Wii Remote closer to you. Then turning said switch like a key, and then pushing the Wii Remote back closer towards the television as to reinsert the key. There are numerous and clever versions of this basic mimic the onscreen function with the Wii Remote design. The controls work as well as they could given that even the lock on function sucked with the Gamecube controller for the first two games in the trilogy. So far we've learned that you can play Zelda with the Wii controls quite well and Metroid functions well enough and that Sonic controls beyond bad with them. Good to know the three real games on the system are all over the place as far as controls go isn't it?