[2 Minute Review] Space Invaders Extreme (PSP)
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Can a thirty year old game that uses old gameplay be updated for the sound bite generation?
The fine folks at Taito (now a Square Enix company) have taken a classic formula—and made it extreme—with a few surprises.
DO: Uh, it’s Space Invaders. Invaders have come from space in tight formations and your ship moves left and right and pew! pews! the enemy.
TYPE: Classic arcade (from the late 1970s). In this day it’s called casual.
PLATFORM: PSP (reviewed here) and DS
PRICE: $19.99
MEAT: Quite possibly, Space Invaders was the first videogame I ever played. I could not pass up nostalgia. Taito has taken the old formula and improved it quite a bit—while keeping that same, familiar 30-year-old play. What’s new? Shooting different colored invaders in chains can net you bonus weapons. (The laser is a nice touch.) The catch is that the bonus weapons have a time limit. However, you can “lock” them in place by holding down a shoulder button. Your ship then fires its normal bullets. Let go of the lock and it’s back to the bonus weapon. The game has various levels and some challenging bosses. Yes, bosses.
PERKS: refreshing update to old gameplay; trippy, Lumines-like visuals and music; strategic bosses; bonus weapons; bonus levels; ability to shoot the invaders missiles; DS version has wi-fi play and rankings
SCREAMS: to be on Xbox Live like Pacman C.E.; to have online leaderboards; Uh…PSP online play? WTH? It’s not that complex.
VERDICT: +. Own it on PSP for shiny visuals or the DS for bragging rights. Young gamers should give it a try.
[2 Minute Review] Trials 2:Second Edition
Are a simplistic physics engine, simplistic controls, and impressive visuals enough to make a great game?
Yes, yes, and yes. Read on.
DO: You control a bike rider in a straight line in a warehouse full of ramps, jumps, and other obstacles. The catch: the way you lean forward and back on the bike. There are timed modes and stunt modes. Uses a keyboard or gamepad.
TYPE: Casual (that can be played for hours or as little as 30 seconds)
PLATFORM: Digital download online or via Steam
PRICE: $9.99, FREE Demo
MEAT: I picked this game up via Steam the weekend it came out at$8.99. This is one of those games where everything just clicks: visuals, controls, sound, game play, and price. I am surprised that it’s not more popular than it already is (in the indie-underground). The goal of getting to the end of the obstacle course is simple enough. However, it’s the journey that is the challenge. I imagine that most players right out of the gate will gun the bike. A couple of broken bones—or fatality—and they’ll learn that this game is about timing and finesse.
PERKS: Leaderboards; achievements (Steam); team play; download-able content; video editor; price
SCREAMS: To be on Xbox Live—at the same price. To be a mainstream game. To not have such a competitive online community—watch the videos—those guys are insane.
VERDICT: +. Own it on Steam.
I am feeling generous, and to celebrate our first 2 Minute Review I’ll be gifting one copy of this game via Steam. All you have to do is post your Steam ID in the comments and leave us some feedback on the review (like the idea? thoughts?). Drawing closes a week from posting.
Blast Works: Build Trade Destroy
Our family bought a vehicle—a van, we’re now an official “family”—this last week so I was not going to get anything outside of my two budgeted games of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (can I have an AMEN!) and Lego Indiana Jones.. Blast Works may be an exception.
Monday Madness?
This is going to be a big madness. Due to recent excitement, we’ve got to catch up three weeks worth.
GAME: Gamers With Jobs featured a game a while back called Ether Cannon. It’s Asteroids with pretty visuals, concussion visuals.
PICS: Ever heard of the website PostSecret? Gamers With Jobs (again) started the same thing with games. The Teamfortress 2 pyro is my favorite. Post 1. Post 2.
GAME: Luminara, a much better take on Asteroids—much better. Now with trippy visuals, excellent controls, and a catchy soundtrack.
GAME: Do you like the Civilization games? Then you’ll love this FREE, dumbed-down, web-based version. Call it Ikariam. I’ll be sharing the server I’m on eventually.
PICS: Somebody took some screencaps of Metroid Prime 3 and made them 3D. I’ve got some glasses and I’ll admit: awesome. Thanks, Kotaku.
GAME: Audiosurf has recently added some new features. Why do I keep coming back to this game? Oh, yeah, because of allowing me to use my own songs. I don’t have to pay for each and every new song. Zing?
VIDEO: I usually cannot stand watching sportcasters, but somebody at TNT is teh phunny.
GAME: Zombies. That’s all I’m going to say. The Last Stand gets a sequel.
GAME: 1up has the first footage of Gears of War 2. Can you say $60 expansion pack? Sure you can.
GAME: Make your own Ouendan (Elite Beat Agents) clone for the PC. They’ve got video. N-E-A-T.
PICS: Warning! LEGO! I have two excellent posts. These guys have skills we should all have: the Germinated Ruby and the works of Izzo.
Well, the post was not as large as I thought after I weeded out some links I’d like to dedicate time for their own posts.
Monday Madness…on a Tuesday?
A twelve hour workday yesterday wiped me out. Enjoy your weekly links week late. (This post is brought to you LEGO free).
I actually keep this bookmarked on my toolbar for when I need a quick laugh. It’s how Superman II should have ended.
Lastly, two amazingly addictive flash games:
- The Last Canopy, a flash shooter with an interesting charge mechanic: you suck the power out of your enemies and use it against them.
- Compulse, a game where you control falling balls through exits using excellent physics rules, snappy Asian music, and uh…just try it. It even saves your progress. “A game has been created in your honor.” Love it.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you about my little renaissance I’ve had with Puzzle Quest. It is the only game I’ve really put some time into this last month while my family and I were (and are) under the weather. Well, it seems as if D3 Publishers of America has finally release information about their pseudo-sequel called Puzzle Quest: Galactrix. This person is excited. Puzzle Quest is the only game I have bought three times: DS, 360, and PC.
If you’ve never played it, get the PC demo. I guarantee, you’ll get it for something. (It’s available everywhere at budget pricing). Kotaku was able to score an interview with the developer and they were able to address some things and find out a little more about the gameplay.
The round pieces have changed to hexagonal ones and extra challenge has been added by the movement of the hexagons once you have matched up your three or more. Instead of dropping straight down, your columns slide diagonally, and depending on which piece you move, the columns will fill in either from the left or the right. Gravity will have a bearing on the various movements of the pieces as well making you have to think in several directions at once.
One of the things I asked about was whether the AI was going to be improved over the seemingly punishingly difficult AI of the original Puzzle Quest. I was told that the developers had heard players issues and it was something they were working on.
The game is set to be released later this year, and that’s just not soon enough.
Thanks to Kotaku for the pic. Be sure to head there for more info.
Timeless List: Warning Forever
There are a few games that I keep on my “list”. These are games that no matter what, when I reinstall my OS or upgrade my computer they are the first things to be installed. There’s a criteria that these games have to meet: replayability over more than 18 months, easy to pick up but difficult to master, and cause me to stay up all night on more than two occasions. So far, only two titles make that list, but I’ve now added a third. Last Friday, it met the 18 month requirement.
I introduce you to Warning Forever.
I don’t know what it is about this game that keeps drawing me back to it. It’s perfect for killing some time on a break at work and it’s also great for getting lost in immersive, repetitive gameplay. What makes this shooter unique from most other games is that it’s a game of bosses. Yes, you read that right. There are no wave after wave of peons. Just bosses. More accurately, you could say that it’s a boss that learns.
The player has a certain amount of time to defeat the boss, you’re also penalized for dying. The boss certainly isn’t. Every time you face him, he evolves to best suit your playing style. Keep attacking him from the front and the next evolution you face will have more armor in the front. If he kills you with rockets during one phase, you can be sure that he will have stocked up on more rockets next time around. Basically, he adapts to your strengths and preys on your weaknesses.
This type of responsive AI really causes the player to have to think ahead strategically. Do you widen your attack radius and cause the boss to armor up all over, or do you narrow your attack to certain areas? Do you attack from the side, front, or behind? Maybe you decide to circle the boss? Whatever you do, you get a sense over time that you are playing a real entity. (Which might be a good indicator that you need to stop).
There are nine possible evolution paths with subpaths under each evolution for the boss. This mathimatically tranlastes to fifteen or sixteen levels you face before reaching the end. I’ve only gotten to twelve. Needless to say, it gets intense. It’s also different eact time you play.
The game can be customized is areas of time, lives, and other options such as sudden death. There’s a high score list as well as a neat feature of using your own MP3s for music. For a simplisticly styled game, the vector graphics hold up well, even in this day and age of Geometry Wars style gameplay. The control scheme may turn players off, actually, because it does take three to five playthroughs to get a feel for it. However, it’s a lot like riding a bike. It just simply clicks and you’ll see how intuitive the control really is.
Here’s the best part: it’s FREE. It was programmed by Japanese developer Hikoza T Ohkubo and is available on his website. It’s a small download that’s great for running of a USB stick. Don’t tell the devloper, but if he sold it, I would most definitely pick it up.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for the image of which I slightly edited).
BONUS: Be sure to check out Ray Hound as well.
Trebuchet Challenge
Who says games can’t be educational?
I posted a while ago about how I was introduced to the ultimate siege weapon, the trebuchet, by the most excellent Age of Empires 2, Age of Kings. So not only was AoK a blast to play, it was actually teaching me, rather subversively, the nuances of siege weaponry, with historical accuracy. So let the engineering nerd within me tray and subversively teach you the nuances of physics by presenting to you “The Treb Challenge,” from GlobalSpec.com, an engineering search engine I use quite a bit at work.
It’s nothing exciting, a simple trebuchet simulator, but it does a great job of demonstrating Newtonian Physics in a visual and easy-to-understand manner. You’re presented with a basic trebuchet with parameters like projectile mass, counterweight mass, and wind speed, which can be adjusted. With your trebuchet ready to launch, you’re presented with challenges like distance, accuracy, and power. Balancing things like mass, trajectory, and counter-weight is can be challenging but easy to get the hang of.
It’s everything a flash game should be — fun, quick, and mindless. Okay, maybe not that last part. I don’t usually link to flash-based online games because there are better sites for that, but this one piqued the engineer in me and just struck me as something that’s not only a fun little diversion, but can actually be used as a teaching tool.
Imagine that!
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What we're playing
Tony
GTA IV | Mario Kart Wii | Super Mario Galaxy
Nat
Okami | Bioshock | Overlord | Mario Kart Wii | Boom Blox | FF7: Crisis Core | The World Ends With You | DiRT | Rogue Trooper (PC) -
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