As some of you poor bastards with empty wallets may know, the binge portion of our gaming year is upon us. It's hard to pick and choose exactly what you want, but this past wednesday in particular was especially brutal for fans of music-based games across three different systems.
Unfortunately this genre has become pretty popular, which means the games just recently released have fallen victim to their share of horrible "popular" music. Regardless the games are still fun, even if they assault the fortress of Good Taste. So let's kick things off:
Also available in this package..
(new coat of paint, but the same damn guitar
)
Guitar Hero 2 essentially picks up where the original left off, benefitting from some visual upgrades and a few new gameplay options, fans will know what to expect from this follow-up. Lots and lots of new songs, new guitar options, lots of new characters, improved visuals, lots of unlockables..
While in a technical sense the sequel is superior, the song selection and covers are not. Honestly, I dont know half of these songs. The original just had more songs that existed outside of the buttrock...whatever else rock some of these songs exist in. I mean even the unlockables largely sound the same. The original just had a lot more 'sound variety' in its library. HOWEVER, the song Trogdor and the Song provided by motherfucking FREEZEPOP (FREQUENCY HELLO) are omg omg omg.
At a count of 55, there are still quite a few songs that are easy to recognize. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, the game is excellent and superior on a technical level. First off, there is a tutorial mode. This is there because the game IS harder. All of the songs (well..on medium) present excellent challenges and do a fantastic job mixing things up. In fact after playing 2 I went back to the original for a few sets and found it to feel a little easy on Medium.
Point being Guitar Hero 1 had a few REALLY HARD SONGS and the rest just required a little practice. The songs in Guitar Hero 2, recognizable or not, have consistant levels of challenge and in the end the result is a better game. If I honestly believed this game should bank on its music selection, I could buy a few CD and kick back with a Whiskey Sour. As it stands im here to play a game, and GH2 offers me LOTS of that.
Remember that "popular" music I warned you about? Well this is one of the games affected. The original Lumines, despite being really popular for the music it contained originally, apparently needed a trendy refit that would allow players to sample the works of
Hoobastank. Honestly, Hoobastank. Remember that name, because there is a disturbing trend at play here.
As I played through the first three skins I found the first forgettable, the second downright jarring, and the third well, not bad. The second one, whatever song it was, was pretty much just some guy screaming in the background (not singing!) while I feverishly attempted to stack the blocks and get to the next song. Honestly the game feels a little bit harder, but maybe its some of the lame skins I am initially dealt.
My initial reaction to this game has been one of cautious optimism. The game LOOKS great, the gameplay is still there, and a few of the skins are OK. The thing is as a music game that contains "popular" vocal tracks I am more likely to HATE than LIKE. The stuff in the original could be sorta phased out, but if anyone plays the second skin in Lumines II they will totally understand what I am saying. It's crap.
Lumines II may be feature rich, and to be honest I havent delved into those yet. Its just, if I cant play arcade mode and enjoy it, it doesnt bode well for the rest of those modes. I am hoping later skins prove to be more appealing. I bark about gameplay being more important, but in this case, Lumines without good music is just a weird horizontal Tetris, and I won't have it.
Like Rez, this is almost not a music title. I mean people argued that the music in Rez mattered, but if the general public can't pick it out, and its that buried in the gameplay...well then it really doesnt matter, does it?
First off, this is going to be one of those low production run titles that will fade away into immediate obscurity until some big magazine or website gets nostalgic for it and the hunt begins on ebay to purchase 80 dollar copies. It's that damn weird and pretty and yes, quirky. It's also fucking hard. I dont care what anyone says "oh its easy MAF youre a fucking idiot" well fuck you guys its hard. I can't even beat the first boss yet.
Basically you control these self destructing bombs of a sort and you fly around and try to get these stars/crystals/spheres in range and blow them up by blowing yourself up. You have a limited number of these 'bombs', but it is a number that can increase in level by meeting certain conditions. There is also a time limit for each level that can also be added to by meeting certain conditions. Destroying certain shapes and achieving scores increases your bomb count, time count, and can provide some eye candy laced chain reaction explosions that provide OMG POINTS.
The boss itself usually requires some special condition as well. For example the boss may only be damaged by explosions that hurt 5 other enemies in the blast. Sometimes 12. As a result the game becomes a weird race against the clock to destroy enough enemies to keep the clock running, keep a score high, and have enough bombs to take on the boss in some capable fashion.
In this simple formula lies the challenge. The game is pretty, it has a relatively simple concept, and the analog nub works wonderfully for it. For 30 dollars it is one of those unknown keepers that should provide plenty of hours of TEETH GRINDING FUN RITE?!
Just dont expect to brag about this game to your friends, chances are they will never hear of it.
While I didnt grab this game a friend of mine did, and he can chime in with his thoughts at some point in this thread, but i'll pimp it cause it fits in the thread. Basically this is the sequel to some JAPANESE WACKY GAME where you are a pep squad that runs around town and POWERS PEOPLE UP in critical social situations by CHEERING THEM ON with various hilarious poses. Each scenario is complete with some honestly hilarious animated shorts that wouldnt be such a pain in the ass if they werent so funny to watch. God damnit I gotta PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME!
So you use the stylus to coordinate these rythm based movements on the touch pad to keep that pep-squad moving to the funky beat of whatever song is currently playing. The better they do, the better the person they are cheering does in their challenging social situation. Now some people will tell you they beat it quickly, and fact of the matter is, they did. However THIS GAME IS NOT EASY THEY BEAT IT QUICKLY CAUSE THE FIRST ONE WAS SO FUN AND THEY NEVER STOPPED FUCKING PLAYING IT.
They are now masters, and new adopters are the fucking stupid apprentices that will curse and shove their feet through televisions as their pep squad fails to help the poor citizens out.
Now, I have one word for you..you might have seen this coming:
HoobastankThat's right kids, there is a STANK in musical games and this is it. Of all the SHIT bands and songs on Lumines II and Elite Beat Agents, HOOBASTANK surpasses them all and provides experiences that will make your ears bleed and long for the day you hear Phoenix Dark belt out some church song he learned in home schooling.
Granted, I havent played the other songs. Unlike lumines I think Elite Beat Agents can SURVIVE without the strength of its audio library because the gameplay is fairly unique (stylus) and incredibly engaging. I AM playing the original and while its kicking my ass im having a fun time of it. I just wish I could read those wacky jappy menus.
