It's that time of the year again. The RFGen server account has run day again and we're asking for donations from our community to help with the server costs. As always, 100% of proceeds go directly to the server costs to keep the site up and running. Any prizes for contests are donated by the staff. Donation money is strictly used for paying the $85/month server bill.
It's the donations of the RFGen community that keep the site running on a daily basis. We've discussed the idea of having ads throughout the site, but as long as we can keep the site supported by members of the community we will continue to do so. All databases, collection tools, and forums are provided free of charge and are supported by our volunteer staff and the donations of the community, and we want to keep it that way!
We appreciate all who have helped out in the past and we thank all of you who continue to support the RFGen community. Without you there is no RF Generation.
You can follow this link to make a donation.
Thanks in advance and keep it on channel 3!
PS: Don't forget to PM myself or one of the staff when you give and we'll change your status to donor, which gives you some additional forum privileges 
September's Together Retro title for the game club over at http://www.racketboy.com was Urban Strike. Now I had always heard of the Strike series, but I had never actually played any of the games. Nor was I even familiar with them beyond their titles. I had no idea how they actually played at all. Because of this I decided to first spend a little time with the Genesis version first in order to get a proper feel for how the game should play so that I might compare it to the Game Boy port. And in truth, I'm glad I did. I feel like playing the 16-bit version really helped me pick up on the vast subtleties that made the Game Boy port so impressive.
If you haven't played Urban Strike or one of the other games in the series, it's a little hard to explain. Basically you control a helicopter, and the game utilizes a semi-3D sort-of isometric view. Genre-wise I guess I'd call the game strategic action. Each level contains multiple missions that can be completed in any order that you wish. And strategy such as armor, fuel, and ammo-consumption all plays a big part in the game. However all of the action is real-time. It's interesting, and unique if not a bit on the sharp-side when it comes to the learning curve. However, once you put an hour or two into figuring out what exactly it is that you're supposed to be doing, it becomes apparent that the game is actually really great.
Once I felt like I understood the game itself (it took me nearly two weeks to beat the first level), I popped in the Game Boy port. Now remember, this game almost looked too good for a 16-bit game. So condensing it down to a Game Boy title was certainly ambitious. And although certain aspects definitely suffered (there's no music, and only minimal sound effects during actual gameplay; and of course the controls had to be modified to utilize only two action buttons. However it should be noted that although much of the graphics had to be a bit downgraded, much of the layouts, animations and missions are left very close to intact. It's actually extremely impressive to see these pseudo-3D scrolling effects on the Game Boy.
Below I've taken the liberty of doing some Genesis vs. Game Boy screen shot comparisons.
 
 
 
 
Recently I've noticed that Gamestop is beginning to really condense their Game Boy Advance and Gamecube sections. As you might assume, this is a sad time for the Game Boy Player Land blog. And a sad time to be a fan of either library. I've noticed message boards blowing up with suggestions for games that we all must go out and grab before it's "too late." And yet, there's just one that keeps popping into my mind that I want to tell you all about.
Invader is a GBA Shmup that I've mentioned before. But the thing is, it's apparently very rare. At least here in the US. Even after all of Gamestop's recent price-drops, it's still $10. That's a hefty-price for a GBA cart that isnt' a first party title, or a Final Fantasy game. Indeed even Gamestop knows somethings special about this one.
Most websites claim that Invader was released in the US. But I have no proof of that. Indeed, the only copies I've ever happened upon here in the states are the European version. Copies that apparently made their way over here somehow, some way. And are indeed rare.
I'll tell you this though, friends: Invader rules. I can't say that it's the best GBA Shmup (because of Iridion II), but it's at least tied. And lucky for you the Gamestop website allows you to insert your zip code and see if your local store is carrying a certain game. So if it has Invader, you need to go get it. Trust me on this one, okay?
I just finished up the Halo: Reach campaign for the first time.
If ODST's narrative theme was co-operative survival (further punctuated by the addition of the Firefight mode) then Reach attempts, and largely succeeds, to embody foreboding loss. Even the extensive marketing blurbs "Before the beginning, you know the end," and "Remember Reach" try to pull at the heartstrings of players who have invested nearly a decade into the franchise. We know with a Star Wars Episode III certainty that all but a sliver of hope is lost, and the big campaign hook is to see and play out those final hours.
So it came as quite the surprise to me, a person who normally appreciates this type of theme and approach, that Reach is my least favorite Halo narrative. I'm writing this coming fresh off completing the campaign on Heroic with two friends, and this blog is based off my thoughts directly afterward.
Sporting vivid earth tones after three majorly purple hued games, the graphics and texture work are greatly improved. The enemy intelligence is remarkably challenging. Martin O'Donnell's masterful score once again captures the appropriate mix of energy, awe, and somber emotion. The weapon, grenade, and melee balance make the combat feel pitch perfect (always debatable, but it felt right to me.) The multiplayer alone sells the game, and Reach is by far the most extensive offering in this department.
Yet as much as I enjoy large-scale Halo LAN parties, and absolutely fell in love with the Firefight mode, at heart I'm a fan of the series because I very much got into the Halo universe itself. I love a good sci-fi yarn, and while the fiction of Halo doesn't offer anything new (indeed, much of it easily comes across as generic space marine warfare) the passion behind the product shines through. There is a great amount of affection given to the universe of Halo, brought to light through comics, novels, short movies, pretty much any available media. Even non canon comedy spin-offs such as Red vs. Blue and Odd One Out (from the Halo Legends compilation) help weave a multi-part construct that is distinctly Halo. The series has long outgrown video games and become a cultural staple, defended by some as ardently as Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, even if it is not quite as ubiquitous.
I don't try to justify the faults in the game or explain away the flaws. I've just found myself enjoying each game in the series, and feel more invested with every game, book, comic, or radio controlled Warthog.
I've come to realize that a big part of my enjoyment is from the retelling of the classic superhero mythology. In the original trilogy, Master Chief spent long stretches of the game time 'lone gunning' it. Marines were dropped off or assisted in larger skirmishes or assaults, giving the game an appropriate feel of being part of a larger army, but just as often it came down to you and MC, with the sweet whisperings of lady Cortana in your helmet. You were the last hope, and the fate of not just humanity but all life in the galaxy repeatedly depended on your success. Whether or not Halo is our generation's Star Wars, Master Chief is certainly our Superman: a being created beyond Earth, invincible yet mortal, alien yet human, selfless yet fallible, intelligent yet gullible. It is by design that our beloved Spartan 117 has a voice, and a smooth, certain, calming one. Halo games buck the FPS trend of the silent protagonist because we don't want to just be Master Chief, we want to believe in Master Chief.
Microsoft's marketing wisely noted this:
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Now it doesn't really matter if you don't buy into all that and just play countless hours of multiplayer, because Halo's success has moved beyond campaign stories, online deathmatches, and even gaming itself. There is so much franchise material developed that it is now entirely possible to be an extensive Halo fan and never pick up a 360 controller. Between books, comics, movies, and toys, one can know the entire universe fiction and never touch an Xbox 360.
That being said, the first three Halo games wrapped the narrative around Master Chief and Cortana (and to a lesser extent, the Arbiter), and it was their story. The universe is strong enough to survive in their shadow to some extent; despite the 'expansion pack' debacle coloring ODST, the side story it told helped humanize the universe's events in the wake of the larger-than-life heroes. The effect was less jarring than it might otherwise have been because even though the game told the player that we were no longer Superman, the game played out largely the same as if you were; hiding behind cover healed 'stamina' instead of shields, and perhaps the enemies looked a little taller, but often the effect came across as playing a different Master Chief in a sort of detective film noir side mission. The separate levels of the other ODSTs mapped out a sort of playable short story compilation that helped give the game its own identity, one that the game's silent 'Rookie' protagonist couldn't project. Personally I felt it worked, if only because it was still Halo even if it sometimes seemed just a little derivative, and because your character still felt powerful enough to continue selling a bit of the Superman saving the world feel.
In Reach, there is another level of separation: the protagonist is a Spartan III, which should ideally bridge the gap between what should have been a tough but outmatched marine and technology-enabled super warrior. For those less familiar with the fiction (mainly told in the novel "Ghosts of Onyx") Spartan IIIs represent a more quickly produced, cheaper, more expendable variant of the Spartan program through the use of less intensive modification methods. Not as superhuman as Spartan IIs, the third generation nonetheless represent the pinnacle of military technology. Yet in Reach, the player feels even more vulnerable than in ODST. On the Heroic setting (developer Bungie's recommended default) only one or two hits from many weapons will drop a player, or at the very least all of their shields. While the technology for Spartan IIIs are supposed to favor less armor and more stealth, the effect is that the player feels less like a Superman and more like an expendable soldier on the front line. This is perhaps consistent with the story fiction, but it had an interesting effect on me personally:
Often I didn't feel as though I was playing a Halo game, but something more akin to Call of Duty or Medal of Honor. Almost the entire game takes place on the planet of Reach, a brown, grey, and earthen landscape spotted by brown, grey, and earthen industrialized complexes. It lends a more relate-able gravitas to a series known for its purple and pink colors and bizarre geographical architecture, and helps sell the idea of a more human note of urgency and despair.
It also at times takes the game only a few shades away from the feel of a generic war game. With more focus on the fate of humanity and less on the awe, the mystery, the alien connection to the conflict, ironically I felt less drawn into the plight of Noble Six and any emotion I was supposed to feel for them. This was most noticeable in an oddly backwards realization about my favorite cinematic in the game. Without giving away too much of a spoiler, at one moment a character is running with your squad, a shot rings out, and the character's head snaps back, dead in an instant from a random sniper shot fired from a random enemy from a random location. There is no long dialogue, no epic speech, no cries out to an ultimate nemesis. Just the true, indiscriminate nature of war. I appreciated the bluntness, as realism used properly helps the investment in the narrative.
The problem is that the moment made me realize, until then, I hadn't really cared that much. I hadn't felt the grand, epic stage on the canvas of the Halo story. It was another war game. Fun combat, great action, well made, just very little investment. For most games that's not a big problem, but for a game designed around playing out a big piece of the Halo fiction? That didn't seem right.
The story does pick up at about the halfway mark, eventually ties into the original trilogy, and ends as it should. But the sudden death of that character signaled that I had played for several hours and I hadn't really invested anything, something that had never happened to me in a Halo game before. Normally the story, such as it is, catches my attention enough that even beyond the fun of playing, I want to see the adventure out. I want to get caught up in the atmosphere and let it become my impetus to 'finish the fight.' And by taking away my Superman status and letting me play as another cog in the war machine- albeit a shiny, tougher than normal cog- I felt more like fodder than savior. And at least for me, that reduced the grandstanding nature of the story into what the series' critics always claim Halo really is; an unoriginal space marine simulator.
But then, that's the nature of a franchise. Much ink real and digital has been spilled discussing the nature of sequels. Once a media product is given an addition to its series, inevitably they will all be compared and contrasted ad infinitum. No series will make everyone happy every time, and every change will have fans and critics. I'm thrilled that Reach's campaign is being so well received, even if I still prefer the story in Halo 3, ODST, or even Halo Wars.
Am I being way too hypersensitive? Well, despite my negative tone, I did have a really fun time with the game so far. The campaign was by no means bad; just about every review I've read claims it to be the best Halo has to offer. And to be fair, Bungie made clear that they are moving on from Master Chief and, one last time, exploring other corners of the vast place they created. Reach is consistent with what it sells itself as and makes no excuses by pretending to be something it isn't. (Proven in part by the smart and limited use of vehicle and space segments that, in less talented hands, could have overtaken the gameplay instead of complementing it.) I was just surprised that, despite having fun, I didn't personally delve into this darker corner at the edge of the Halo Universe as deep as expected. It's still a great video game, and for that, fun is more than enough.
Now, about the rehab I'll need to be pulled away from the new Firefight...
Continue reading Unloved #17: Journey to Silius
As Site Director Emeritus (and Current Acting Site Director), I wish to announce the appointment of Adam Bickley to Technical Director of RF Generation.
What does that mean? That means that Adam is now responsible for the back end of the site. More simply stated, he gets to assist Mike and make sure the site runs smoothly from a simply keeping going standpoint. He will have a lot to learn, so be nice to him.
This may seem abrupt to some, but Adam has had access to the back end for a while as a third set of eyes watching over the site in the event the server has a "hiccup". He has the technical background necessary to keep the site in tip top shape.
In case you are wondering, Eddie and I will still be around. We are not going anywhere. We will still be the programmers. We will do what we can to bring new stuff to the site. I am about to lose internet for two weeks so my only internet comfort will be my test site. Maybe I'll tinker with something that is needed for the site...
Congrats Adam! I hope you find your new abilities exciting and don't use your new found powers for evil!
So, the first episode has been released, I'm going to be working on getting it up on iTunes for easier subscribing, and now it's time for you guys to chime in for an upcoming episode. (We have the next episode blocked out and should be recording very soon!)
What we want from you is to ask us some questions. slackur and I both agreed that there should be some sort of an introductory episode that lets you know just where we are coming from when we are giving our opinions. The time between our ages is about the same as a console generation, so while we have probably played many of the same games, we are bound to have different viewpoints on different games and topics. So, we would like to get some input from you (yeah, you, the listener!) about what you want to know about us. We'll be answering your questions in an upcoming episode. You can comment here or in the thread here: http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=10781.0
Look for more episodes soon (with your input!) and don't forget to keep it on channel 3!
What you're looking at above is a (rather bad cellphone) of my new 2-Player Cube setup. This is something I've wanted to put together for quite some time. In fact, not that long ago I even acquired a set of elusive Gamecube component cables so that I could connect the Game Boy Players (one hooked up to my computer monitor, the other to my TV) on my two Cubes from one end of the room to the other. Alas, I cannot find a GBA Link Cable long enough to pull this off.
I did however recently come across a 5.4" LCD screen that sits atop a Gamecube. I couldn't turn it down when the gears in my head started clanking together again about the old 2-P Cube setup that I had been wanting to try out. I know it's sort of silly considering the GBA's are portable in nature so trying it on a portable screen sort of defeats the purpose. But I suppose more than anything it was a proof of concept (for my own eyes). Eventually I'd like to just get a second LCD monitor and have each Cube hooked up to its own monitor side-by-side. Combined with the pictured arcade sticks, this would make for a great setup to play ports of the Street Fighter games and things of that nature.
Also, once I come across a second Gamecube broadband adapter, it means LAN-time baby. But until then I'll be experimenting with the various games that benefit from multi-player released on the GBA. Surprisingly, a fair amount of games incorporated a single-cartridge multi-boot mode, such as Chu Chu Rocket (pictured above). On the flip-side, this will probably give me an excuse to get a second copy of Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival.
It's a sickness, I know.
I just posted episode 1 of the RF Generation podcast minutes ago. Give it a listen and tell us what you thought! Your feature requests, show topic ideas, and just plain comments about our initial go are also welcome!
http://rfgeneration.podomatic.com
Enjoy!
So the Vanquish demo arrived on XBox Live. I thoroughly enjoy developer Platinum's titles (Bayonetta, Okami, Viewtiful Joe Series) but until this demo arrived, I had little interest in another third-person sci-fi shooter. Any other time of the year it might have blipped on the radar. But in the same time frame as Halo: Reach, a new take on Castlevania, and another Call of Duty (I'll be honest, I'm only getting it for the radio-controlled RC car equipped with an AV feed for spying on/playing with my kids) it had to stand out, and the screen shots didn't really sell it for me.
Then I tried the Demo.
Whee!! Fluid, stylized action that felt like a hyper Gears of War, set in a clone of a Robotech universe, with a character in Issac Clarke's armor and wielding a gun stolen from the new Transformer movies. It was fast, over the top, Sega-brand arcade-y while containing depth, and I could see how the game's presentation and control combined into a beautiful player guided ballet in the vein of the new Ninja Gaidens and Devil May Cry.
At least, I think that's how it would feel if I could play it.
You see, I'm a southpaw. No, not a feline from Mississippi, a left hander. In a 3D space, my left hand has to control the look, and my right hand the movement. This, of course, is reverse of the traditional play control. No, it's not as simple as 'just get used to it the normal way.' Try playing one of the few games that manually allow a southpaw setting on the opposite of your preference and you may get a glimpse of my pain. And to all the Lefties in the forums that say an alternate control setup is unnecessary because they can play on the default, I'm happy you don't have a problem. I literally get nauseous playing the 'normal' way for more than ten or fifteen minutes, and I refuse to take Dramamine or other dimenhydrinates or medications to play a game. I've tried off and on for years, and it still makes me motion sick. Its not a problem if I can simply have the thumb sticks swapped.
Except it is. Because developers aren't really paying attention to between 10% and 15% of their gaming population, they may offer a southpaw control option that swaps the analogue stick controls, but obviously don't play test it. Let me give you a perfect example:
Gears of War supports an internal southpaw control option. It makes the left stick the look controls, and the right stick movement. We good now? Not hardly. Because G.o.W is a 'stop and pop' shooter, the player uses the 'A' button as a context sensitive control for taking cover, rolling to cover, jumping over cover, etc. The 'A' button is probably the most important button after the shoot button. Its directly above the right stick.
And. You. Can't. Change. It.
For normal controls, not a problem. But for southpaw, I need to move that right 'movement' stick in a direction while pressing the 'A' button. The button directly to the right of the stick. Let me give you a visual example of what my hand has to do to press 'A' while moving my character to cover:
Yeah. Any game requiring me to move the right thumb stick while pressing a face button (pretty much every 3D game) requires some crazy move like that. If I just move all my fingers across the face buttons 'arcade stick' style, then I can't reach the top bumpers and triggers. For Gears, they could have just let me change the 'A' functions with one of the bumpers (the left bumber is only used to give an arrow locating AI team-mates for crying out loud! I need that more than the game-designed-around-it cover system?!?!) Obviously, someone at Epic never play tested the southpaw option much, or this GLARING oversight of the unmappable 'A' button would have been addressed.
In fact, any 3D game requiring the use of face buttons that can't be remapped to the four top-side buttons on the 360 or PS3 controller is just a slap in the face to any southpaw-required gamer like me. It gets worse; many games won't even let you swap the thumb sticks anyway. Even the 360's internal southpaw preference is unsupported in many AAA games, including Battlefield 2, Lost Planet and Lost Planet 2, Bioshock, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, just to name a small few. I had to buy a hardwired modded controller that internally swapped the sticks just to play these games, and that still doesn't address the face button problem.
What, are we still in the '90s? Why on earth, in this day of unprecedented mainstream gaming popularity, can we not get universal control mapping options on every game? Especially the large-scale developed ones? Sure, developers have their preference on how a game should be controlled; make that the default. Why alienate even a small percentage of the gaming population over such an easily correctable issue?
Maybe it's just me. For a long time I assumed it was. Then I read this:
http://lawofthegame.blogs...8/southpaw-manifesto.html
I'm not alone!
Every time I submit a complain about this (I even called a few companies directly) all I would hear is a standard, 'thank you for bringing this to our attention, all of our customer's feedback is important to us, and we'll consider it for future releases' reply that would be the same line if I complained that their games didn't feature enough custard filled donuts.
Us southpaws have struggled in vain over this control issue ever since the Playstation era (though strangely, the Dreamcast featured several games with Southpaw defaults.) Please, help us bug developers enough so they will listen. Everyone wants to play games with the controls set up the way they are most comfortable, and even if you aren't a southpaw, there is almost certainly a game you would change a few buttons around on. Why are we still waiting?
Recently while doing a bit of research I came across what is possibly the strangest Game Boy Color accessories out there: the Singer IZEK bundle. To be frank, I've seen a lot of odd Game Boy accessories out there, but this one was so unusual and expensive that I felt I had to share it with you all.
For $399 you get the IZEK sewing machine, a special GBC link cable, and a GBC cart that "contains stitch pattern designs. The Game Boy's on-screen menu will guide you through all the functions you need to make sewing fun and easy."
 
Here's the features as listed on the website found at http://sewandserge.com/se...s&brand=Singer&model=IZEK:
* LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEED!
* Select stitches have length, width and mirror image adjustment capabilities
* Five buttonhole styles
* Letters (block, script or outline format), numbers and symbols
* Combine up to three stitches for combination patterns
* Create your own custom stitches
* Favorite patterns, letters and custom designs can be saved in memory
* Menu displays information in English, French or Spanish
* 84 actual stitch patterns
* 25 Year Manufacturers Warranty
* FREE Shipping
As a collector, there's a tiny part of me that would love to have the cartridge just to say I have it. But you have to draw the line somewhere. I am however extremely interested to know if anybody out there has ever seen one of these in person, and can maybe explain how the Game Boy Color connectivity is even useful.
During every Castlevania title, from the NES original to each anticipated portable release of the last few years, one thought has permeated my time and enjoyment of the series:
'I am never moving to Romania.'
One thought that actually never popped into my head?
'What would make these games even more awesome is if six players could speen-run through a montage of levels from previous games.'
Oh, and 'Shanoa is vapid and soulless and somehow still endearing and attractive.' I never thought that. Ever. Moving on.
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We Castlevania fans were all hyped when the series was announced for XBLA, as a good modern console 2D version has been as rare as that last item drop you've waited hours for. Then it was announced that this new incarnation would:
a.) Be six stages long, with a half-hour timer on each
b.) Be comprised of characters, enemies, stages, and everything else from the last six GBA/DS titles
c.) Not have traditional RPG-lite character leveling
d.) Would feature 6 player co-op play
e.) Would cost 15 bucks worth of Microsoft's imaginary funny money.
Put together, this starts throwing up red flags all over the place. How would a standard 'Metroidvania' game that thrives off exploration and atmosphere work as a fast-paced attack-spamming teamwork based action-platformer? It seems counter intuitive to what the series' fans have come to expect. And indeed, many Castlevania fans will skip this one altogether with only thoughts of vague disappointment over 'what could have been.'
I'm such a fan of the franchise I bought Castlevania Judgment, a game whose design could have worked but instead felt so disconnected it might as well have been Castlevania: DraKart Racers in the Night of Despair, so I approached with tepid caution. Could I just play this as a single player adventure at all? Is it too easy to blast through with six vampire killers? (The profession, not the mystical whip.) How do cleaned up sprites from a low resolution portable, some bordering on a decade old, look on an HD set? Will it be any fun? And most importantly, will this give me any juicy story elements for my Alucard-marries-Maria-while-a-lovelorn-Trevor-dies-of-a-broken-heart fanfiction?
Well, there aren't many straight answers over this one. (Except the last one, which is a solid no. I don't write fanfics, I leave that to Paul W.S. Anderson.) Let's get the biggest problems addressed right away:
First, there is no real narrative, no solid story, and no satisfactory explanation as to why the various protagonists from different centuries are gathered together for a slay-ride. Those assuming Harmony of Despair expands or even links together plot threats in the convoluted Castlevania time-line can give up on getting anything here.
Second, while single player gameplay is possible, it is clear the game design is for multiplayer. Big chunks of each level are difficult or even inaccessible with only one person, and the bosses are even worse. There is no scaling for player count; each enemy and boss deals and takes the same damage whether there are one or six heroes, leading some fights to be frustrating and even unfair. (I'm looking at you, stage 2 Puppet Master. You are evil even for a Castlevania villain.) There is fun to be had in single player, but it is much more limited.
Third, and this is directly connected to single player, is that there is no overall 'grinding' that the 'Metroidvania' type games are known for. Oh, there is certainly farming, but no characters 'level up' overall from repeated monster killing. The closest are Jonathan and Shanoa's secondary abilities gaining levels through consistent use (which does power up their respective main attacks.) The rest of the characters have to absorb spells (Charlotte) souls (Soma) learn magic attacks (Alucard) or just get lucky drops for equipment. For the majority of stats, the only improvement method is through better gear found in random (read: super rare) drops.
Fourth, even for multiplayer, the online setup is clunky. For a multiplayer experience designed to revolve around farming, players have to form a party before the host selects what level to play. If your Charlotte needs to farm Death's Scythe attack from level 5, you won't know if the new party you've joined has any intention of going there at all. Worse, the host can only select levels every party member has gotten to, so if you want to play on Hard mode (where all the best drops are) you just have to hope your entire party that randomly joined has also gotten there, and that the host wants it in the first place.
Fifth, if you're a fellow diehard fan of the series, you've already seen all of these graphics before. Sure, they look better now than ever, but part of the appeal of each new 2D Castlevania is the excellent art, sprite, and animation design. Every game in the series borrows some graphical elements from those before, but Harmony of Despair lifts each level wholesale from previous games and rearranges them into an extended remix.
Sixth, menu navigation and documentation are incredibly poor. 'Main Menu' is actually the character equip screen, you can only visit the menus at specific areas in-game, no pausing even in single player, and the game has countless important facets (say, how to level-up spells or use character abilities) that are not described or even mentioned. You practically have to learn by accident, experimentation, or Gamefaqs.
Seventh, (yes, seventh) no couch co-op!
Eighth, NO COUCH CO-OP!!?! Wha? C'mon, that's just lazy, stupid, stupid, greedy, or both. Wait...well, two at least. Sure, there would be some tug-o-war with the map zooming on the same screen, but no split screen or anything? Someone's trying to fleece de moneys out of each and every player.
Ninth, well, see seven and eight.
So why even bother paying $15 for what surely sounds like a bizarre failed experiment?
Simply because it can be a ton of fun.
I've already talked almost half a dozen friends who were on the fence or had no interest at all into buying what we all agreed was an overpriced game, and yet we can't stop playing! For all the missteps and technical issues, grabbing a crew and running through challenging platforming and traditional Castlevania combat just feels right. It isn't the same as a new 2d Castlevania, but instead a bizarre offshoot that yanks familiar mechanics, sights, and sounds, and congeals into a mutant Frankenstein monster that shouldn't be alive, yet sings and dances. Even playing online with strangers, something I rarely enjoy, has been an absolute blast. Almost every night I get messages, texts, or calls asking if I want to play. That hasn't happened since Halo 3.
It may have ultimately better fit an online mod some kids hacked together for the fun of it, but it actually works. There are some intelligent design decisions hidden in the clunky and under-documented interface, such as every player getting character specific drops when an item chest is opened, or the dual crush combos between different characters that can decimate certain bosses. Even the eclectic methods separating each character's farming needs means there are always reasons to go back to earlier levels with beginner parties. And even if they are from previous games, the controls, graphics, music, and effects are the same quality goods we've come to expect. Not superb, but definitely Castlevania.
The interest will fade, as it is a limited design. But our crew is having so much fun farming loot and making different character builds that for the time being it has been money well spent. Who would have thought?
What's next, an iPhone puzzle game based on Symphony of the Night?
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Oh. Nevermind.
Continue reading Unloved #16: Iggy's Reckin' Balls
So... it's now been over a year since I announced the RF Generation Podcast. That went... nowhere. Again, after chatting in the IRC room again, slackur brought up the question to me about just what happened. I had nothing but excuses. It's been in the back of my mind for a long time, but the excitement that he brought to the discussion reinvigorated my desire to podcast for this site. We are beginning the framework and some initial topics and scripts now, but feel it's time to officially...
REANNOUNCE THE RF GENERATION PODCAST!
To reiterate my previous blog post on this: this podcast is for you, the members. slackur and I will be your co-hosts. We will, eventually, have guests from the community as well.
Starting off, we're looking at bi-weekly episodes, but if it takes off (and we get good at this), we may move to a weekly schedule. slackur is working on some topics for us to start off with, but we're going to have a topic in the forums to take your reactions, your topic suggestions, or any other comments you may have about it.
Hopefully, it's not another year before a topic like this comes up and we hope to hear from you guys soon!
EDIT: Wanted to include a link to the new topic in the forums.
http://www.rfgeneration.c...m/index.php?topic=10730.0
I'm a longtime fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. The comic book and original cartoon was a big deal to me when I was young. I saw the original trilogy in the theaters. Not only did I have all three soundtracks, but I begged my parents to bring me to Pizza Hut so I could get the Coming Out Of Their Shells cassette as well. I had an air-conditioner box filled with the action figures. And luckily for me, there were a lot of video games based on the series. This is the first in a series of posts that will explore some of the titles related to the Game Boy Player Land blog. First up -- we'll take a look at the three Game Boy Advance games.
 
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released by Konami in 2003. It was intended as a handheld port of the Gamecube game of the same title. Not surprisingly, the Game Boy Advance and the Gamecube games are completely different. While the Gamecube title was 3D, this one would be a sidescroller. It plays rather similar to some of the Game Boy Konami games from the series, though oddly it strays from the formula of the Ninja Turtle beat-em-ups that Konami had perfected in the arcades. However, this isn't to say the game is bad. It's a rather competent game that allows a good amount of playing time seeing as each turtle has his own levels to tackle. Konami being Konami also included several levels of other genres, such as switching to first person to keep things interesting. What's funny is that level-varying concept seems to be borrowed from the Battletoads games, which of course were a bit of a ripoff of the Ninja Turtles to begin with. Ultimately, the game isn't a classic, but it is worth a few bucks for the several hours you could sink it to it.
 
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus Konami used the same formula as the previous game, though seems to make everything a lot better. It's also a 2D take on the 3D Gamecube game of the same title, it allows each turtle to complete his own missions, and it throws in some other kinds of levels like Shmup-inspired ones to keep things fresh. However, it seems that to some degree this game just pulls everything off slightly better than the first. It's almost ineffable, but it just feels like a better and more perfected game. The controls are comfortable, the graphics and animations are great, and the music is good. Collectors should note that the first two games were reissued together on a single GBA cart as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Double Pack.
 
TMNT was released in 2007 to coincide with the CGI movie of the same title, and it's easily the best of the GBA games. Though it plays the closest to the Konami arcade games, this game was actually published by Ubisoft. Although the Gamecube version is a 3D game similar to the Konami ones, the GBA port is an old school brawler and completely worth checking out. The graphics are fantastic and will appeal to fans of the comic books, and the gameplay is pure classic arcade beatemup. This one is not to be overlooked!
I'm aware that there was a GBA Video release that contained a couple of episodes of the revival cartoon, but I've never bothered to pick this one up. Later posts will focus on the Game Boy and Gamecube Ninja Turtles games. But what did you all think of the Game Boy Advance releases?
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