Clocktower SNES English Review

    Today, horror games are pretty much a dime a dozen. Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Amnesia, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Slender The Eight Pages just a few of the countless games that have come out in recent years designed to scare the crap out of players. Yes, survival horror has taken on many different shapes and forms over the years, but one game really helped to pioneer the survival horror genre. That game is simply known as Clock Tower.

***SPOOKY SPOILERS COULD BE AHEAD***

    Clocktower was developed by Human Entertainment and released on the Super Famicom on September 14th, 1995. The game never saw an official release outside of Japan, but fan translations of the games exist as do English translated reproduction cartridges. The game was pretty popular in Japan and many people agree that it really pioneered the survival horror genre that we know and love (fear?) today. The plot of the game is as follows. You play as a young girl named Jennifer. You along with a couple of your friends have been adopted by a Mr. Barrows and have just arrived in your new home. Mary, whom brought you into the mansion leaves to find Mr. Barrows, and when she doesn't come back, Jennifer goes to look for her. As she begins to look, a loud scream can be heard. Jennifer returns to the main foyer to discover her friends are gone. She then begins to explore the mansion for her friends all while uncovering more about the Barrow's family and Mary. From there the plot will branch off depending on what choices you make in the game leading to one of several endings.

    Graphically, Clock Tower does plenty to land right in the horror genre. You wont be finding any bright colors or cartoonish effects here. Dark colors, and plenty of creepy visual effects help to embody the horror feeling. As you play the game you will find objects and trigger events that will cause a very detailed image to come up. These images are actually quite terrifying and actually showed what the SNES was capable of doing in trying to portray horror. 

As I mentioned before, the game graphics wise is quite dark and that is certainly fitting for the genre. There isn't much in the way of crazy effects outside of a few brief cut-scenes, but the effects like lightning, mist, and poor lighting all go a long way in making this game feel really creepy despite being on a 16-bit console.

    In the sound department, Clock Tower is just plain creepy. For a good part of the game the only noise you will hear is your own footsteps. Having no music at times for some reason makes the game that much creepier. When there is music though it is usually there for a reason, and the reason is usually danger. Events that cause Jennifer to panic have music, when the main antagonist appears there's music, and while you are being chased there is music. As you sneak around the mansion, there is just the sound of your footsteps. Some people call that lazy, I think it's brilliant and all very spooky. 

    Where Clock Tower is really interesting though is in the gameplay. The game is actually a point and click adventure. You determine where Jennifer goes, but you really do not have total control over her at all. The game starts off kind of slow as you try to get used to the point and click system which at the time was largely a thing on PC as opposed to consoles. As an exploration game, you will want to click on anything you can actually click on. You can discover items that will help along the way or progress the story. Be vigilant! Once you run into the main antagonist though, the game really begins. In the beginning, he is only known as Scissorman. As you play through the game you will find out more about him. Scissorman can pop up seemingly anywhere. Sometimes there is a small cut-scene signaling his arrival, other times he just appears. At any time, Jennifer's emotions can change making it easier for her to make a mistake and be killed.

    The more Jennifer runs or the more scary things happen to her, such as Scissorman coming out of a bathtub, the darker the color around her portrait will become. Eventually it will become a dark red, when it reaches this color death is pretty certain. At times a panic event will happen where her portrait will flash. If you mash B enough you can survive whatever has triggered the event (most of the time it's when she catches Scissorman's scissors as he goes for a kill. The only way for you to get Jennifer to relax is to hold the X button. Eventually she will kneel down and slowly calm down. It takes a while for her to recover so you want to try and keep her near her calmest state until you meet with Scissorman again. 

    Despite being an overall awesome experience gameplay wise, the game does have a few flaws. One of these flaws is that Jennifer does take a real long time to fully recover from a frightening event. It's cool that it takes a long time while a frightful event is going on. For example, I agree that it should take a while to recover while Scissorman is chasing you. However when nothing is going on and you get more emotional from running, I feel like it shouldn't take equally as long. It's a minor thing, but I think it would have helped to speed up the game a little bit. Some people say that Jennifer moves too slow in general. I don't really agree with this as the slow movement I think only adds to the suspense of the game and the feeling that something could happen at anytime. My only other complaint is that I ran into several times where Jennifer would just not respond all that well. I would press the R button to run right and she'd just stand there and enter a panic situation with the Scissorman. Probably paralyzed with fear I guess? My controller works just fine so it's not that. There are a couple other minor things like backtracking a lot and getting lost easily that are really a part of most point and click adventures, but none of them really affect the game all that much. After all, getting lost in scary mansion only adds to the experience right?

    After finally playing Clock Tower I can give it a very good 8.5 out of 10 rating. I agree with anyone who says this game helped to pioneer the survival horror genre. The craziest thing about all of this to me is that it was done on the Super Famicom (SNES) and not on PC or a later console. The graphics, sounds, and gameplay all lend their hand to making this a truly suspenseful and frightening experience. Really the only flaws this game has is that it is slow in the beginning and Jennifer's recovery, and for whatever reason an occasional control failure. Honestly that part could be more of me trying to do too much at once, but at the same time, perhaps not. Either way, Clock Tower is a game of multiple endings, horrifying themes, and unforgettable experiences. If you are a fan of horror and never given this game a go, find a way to. It is worth every second!

    As always thanks for reading! I'll be taking a little bit of a break as I work on my top 20 favorite SNES games countdown. So that means that I'm planning on holding off on other blogs until that is finished. It's a work in progress and it shouldn't take too long to do!

      

Vigilante 8 Review

    The late nineties and the early two thousands saw a couple series of games where players would select a vehicle, go around collecting missiles, bombs, mines, and all kinds of other weapons and then attempt to blow up a number of other vehicles. Yes, I am talking about car combat games. Today these games are few and far between with the most recent memorable one being Twisted Metal on the Playstation 3. Back in the days of the Playstation and Nintendo 64 though, these games were a bit more abundant. Twisted Metal, a Playstation exclusive series, saw at least five entries on the Playstation One alone, then four additional games on the Playstation 2 and the handheld PSP also came out. That being said though, Nintendo seemed to be left out of the four wheeled mayhem. That would end in 1999 when a game known as Vigilante 8 was ported from the Playstation to the Nintendo 64.

***EXPLOSIVE SPOILERS COULD BE AHEAD. READ WITH CAUTION***

    Vigilante 8 is a spin off of a lesser known PC game called Interstate '76. The game was developed by Luxoflux, and published by Activision and first released on the Sony Playstation on June 4th, 1998. It was later ported to the Nintendo 64 on March 17, 1999, the Game Boy Color in January of 2000. While the game was greatly overshadowed by the Twisted Metal series on the Playstation, it rose to some popularity on the Nintendo 64 as it was basically the only option for owners of the system that didn't own a Playstation. The game received mostly positive reviews on release during a time where Twisted Metal 2 was on top of the car combat world. 

    The story of Vigilante 8 will vary depending on the character you play. The central theme though is that the game is set in an alternate version of 1975. The United States is basically falling apart so more security (the Vigilantes) seek to keep law in order in power while the Oil  Monopoly Alliance Regime hire a bunch of hitmen (the Coyotes) to do as much damage as possible in the south west United States in an effort to take over the global petroleum market. What happens when you complete a story, again is dependent on which character you play and whether or not you complete objectives.

    While a lot of people criticize Twisted Metal 2 for looking like a child's toy-box, they can not do the same here, because the graphics in Vigilante 8 look really cool. 

Each of the levels have their own unique layouts and visual effects as well. The levels vary quite a bit and include things like farmlands, a ski resort, a casino city, airfield, oil field, and more! The vehicles themselves all look nice and all the weapon animations are easy to see among all the chaos going on around you. One issue that I've always had graphically with this game is visual glitches. One of the most frequent problems I've had is when I'm playing a small car in the Valley Farms level where my car half vanishes into the wall of the waterway. There are also a few instances of the camera having problems properly positioning itself, but it's nothing that takes away from the overall enjoyment I had with this game. I'll be touching on the graphics again in a little bit as they have a pretty big impact on the game itself.

    When it comes to sound, Vigilante 8 does a pretty good job for what it is. There are countless metal crunching sounds that just sound painful and hard hitting, which is great given the genre of the game. The music is in my opinion a good attempt at bringing the disco era music onto the Nintendo 64. Right from the title screen's intro music you can easily tell what time period you are certainly in. 

All that praise being said, the voice overs are hit or miss. Some sound pretty good, but others are hard to understand. I know that they were going for a southwestern theme, and that includes some of the voices, but to this day I have no idea what a couple of these characters are saying. The good news all of the talking is confined to when a driver uses his or her special weapon. More on that in a moment.

    So with pretty good graphics and sound, the question is how does Vigilante 8 hold up in the gameplay department? The answer to that I think is pretty darn good.The vehicles range from jeeps, to trucks, to cars, to even a school bus. "Why stop with all of that?" Luxoflux asked themselves and decided it's the 70's again so lets throw an unlockable UFO into the fray too.  All of these vehicles handle in different ways, but all are a ton of fun to play. This is by no means a racing game and the physics are so crazy that every ride can do a whole bunch of things. For example, the school bus can do 180s in the air after flying or being blown off a ramp. Vehicles with ragdoll like physics makes for a hilariously good time. The controls take a short time to get used to, but once you get the hang of them, they're a breeze. Each vehicle can carry three weapons at a time plus a machine gune and each vehicle has a special weapon it can find as well.   

    I mentioned I was going to touch on graphics again and now is that time. As you take damage, your car visibly takes damage. Windows break, smoke flies out, pieces break off and it all looks great. Speaking of destruction. Pretty much anything you can shoot can be destroyed. Buildings, planes, trains, bridges, ski lifts, you name it. It can all be blown up and the explosions all look great and will literally send you flying if you are too close to a big one. The one downside to these big explosions is that the games framerate tends to drop a little bit with all the flashing going on. They probably could have toned down the explosions to fix the framerate issues, but again, it's nothing game breaking that's for sure. The levels all have different hazards and objectives. As I mentioned before those levels look great, and they all offer a host of things to blow up... That being said care must sometimes be taken.

    Underneath this demolition derby on steroids, there is a storyline I mentioned earlier. If you are playing as one of the Vigilantes, you are tasked with defending certain objectives. Some are easier to defend than others, but all can accidentally be destroyed by you if you are not careful. You cannot truly complete a character's story if you do not meet all the objectives. On the opposite side, if you play as one of the Coyotes, your objective will be to destroy something which is oh so much more fun. My advice as a Coyote is to explore every inch of the levels. Blow up whatever you like but take the time to see how big these places are and how they kind of fade in and out of view as you drive around. Almost seems lifelike in a way I think. 

    Another gameplay feature I'd like to touch on is the multiplayer because it is a lot of fun. There are a couple different multiplayer modes including coop and three deathmatch style modes. In coop you go through the game as you would in single player, but with two people. If one of you dies, it's game over. The story and objectives will always be that of player 1, so keep that in mind. The deathmatch games are all a lot of fun and certainly worth a shot. As expected with up to four players playing at a time and a ton going on on screen, the framerate can drop at any point. 

    On a scale of 1 to 10 I give Vigilante 8 a really solid 8 out of 10. This game showed up when the Twisted Metal series was really taking off, and I think got overshadowed by it. The graphics are great, but sometimes can cause framerate loss, the sound screams it's the 70's, and the gameplay is a truckload of fun. It does have it's small flaws in framerate drops, and occasional graphical glitches on certain levels, but none of them are even remotely game breaking. If you are a fan of car combat games, or just really fun deathmatch style multiplayer, check this game out. It really is an underrated gem on the Nintendo 64, and one of the only games of it's kind on the console. 

    Thanks for reading! I hope you all had a Happy Easter, or Passover, or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year. While typing this blog I had to stop myself time and time again from comparing it to Twisted Metal 2. That being said, it's probably safe to say that I'll be visiting that topic at some point in the future. I want to keep rolling along here with these blogs, but in order to do so I need to make up some videos. So, my next blog may take a little bit of time to get up as I'll be working on a few at once. First I'm going to be taking a look at an English translation of Clocktower on Super Nintendo. After that I will be redoing my top 20 Favorite Super Nintendo games. It's amazing how just a few years can shift things around, and I think it'll be worth revisiting these games once again.

Thoughts on a Nintendo Classic Mistake

    Hey everyone. So I know in my last blog I said my next blog would be taking a look at some Donkey Kong levels and themes and what not, but I'm putting that on hold for a bit and am going to do a couple other blogs first. The first of those is obviously this one. I read earlier today that Nintendo is going to be discontinuing the NES Classic Edition in North America and I of course have my own two cents to throw into the big criticism pot. Before I get started I want to throw out there that I personally never had intentions on getting an NES Classic, so this is not a ranting post because of that. I also want to throw out that I by no means hate Nintendo because of this and will continue to blog about their classic games more than anything else. So.... Yeah...

    When the NES Classic was announced, just about everyone I know who knows what a video game is was extremely excited. This was a chance for people to get their hands on a miniature version of the console that really started the home video game craze. The console that rocketed Nintendo to the top of the heap and the console that nowadays people seem to crave to play. Now as cartridges are becoming more and more expensive and more and more of them die out, Nintendo seemed to have an answer. They revealed the NES Classic as a way to play thirty classic and certainly highly in demand titles. Hard to find games such as Kid Icarus were suddenly looking like they were going to be easy grabs on the Classic. My only gripe was that the console did not have a slot for NES cartridges like the Sega Genesis Classic has. It would have been nice to be able to use original cartridges, but that's not what this is about. The NES Classic was released and instantly sold out everywhere. Then in a similar fashion to the Super Smash Bros Wii/3DS Amiibos, Nintendo claims they underestimated how popular the console would be. My question then was how and my question now is how?

    All Nintendo had to do was open their eyes past the virtual console of the Wii U to see that there is a stupidly high demand for their retro games. Before the NES classic came out games like Mega Man 2 eclipsed the forty dollar mark. We're talking about a game that came out back in 1988, and there are plenty more like it and plenty more that were and are much more expensive as well. The march goes on if you take a look at the price of both Super Nintendo and several Nintendo 64 games as well. Yes there are people out there just collecting and reselling at a higher price, but there are also a ton of people out there playing the games still and wanting to get their hands on them. Another clue for Nintendo should have been the virtual console itself. Between the 3DS, the Wii, and the Wii U, Nintendo has to know how much the games have sold on the virtual console. To think that people who may have just purchased Super Mario Bros. and say Castlevania wouldn't have jumped at the opportunity to have twenty eight additional classic titles plus a replica of the original system they were made for plus a remake of the original controller instead of a sideways wiimote is just crazy. If I was bigger into eight bit gaming I would have jumped at the chance to nab them all for just sixty dollars.

    I think the choice to release so few of these systems and then discontinue it has everything to do with economics. The price for the NES Classic is sixty dollars. The price of NES virtual console games is four dollars and ninety nine cents. After some math it's easy to see where Nintendo will make the most money. It was nice for Nintendo to throw some of it's fans a bone with the NES Classic, but it was not meant for everyone. If anything it being so scarce led to more virtual console purchases of the various titles. Now I of course have no proof of that being the case at all, but I know if my friend had never played Castlevania or the original Legend of Zelda and suddenly he had it and said it was awesome and I've never played it. My Wii U would have been on and the game purchased.

    I'm not big into conspiracy theories, but Nintendo's choices with the Classic, and the Wii U for that matter I think were just poor choices. It was a poor choice to release the Nintendo Classic with no real ambition on having it readily available like Sega and Atari's classic systems. It was a poor choice to then say that more were coming and make the same underestimation again. It was a poor choice to get so many people's hype levels up just to drop them on their heads. Lastly, it was a poor choice to announce the discontinuation of a product that so many people are still looking for among a massive wave of advertisements for yet another console that nobody can get their hands on in the Switch. Nintendo took a great, great idea in the Classic and managed to really mess it up big time.

    If you've looked at this blog at all outside of this post you already know I am a huge Nintendo fan and always have been, but I do feel for those people looking for the NES Classic. Many don't want a Switch or a Wii U or anything other than an NES and some games. Many want to be able to go back to the eight bit gaming era without having to throw an arm and a leg into a deal to get a working NES and the original cartridges. The Classic gave those people a chance and Nintendo dropped the ball on all of them. Now rumors are already flying about an eventual Super Nintendo Classic and Nintendo 64 Classic. Those are the two systems I've had growing up and those are two things I'd watch very closely. If anything I hope Nintendo learned (probably not) from the mistakes made with the NES Classic should they move forward with future classic consoles. Retro gaming is alive and well and if Sega can drop a Genesis Classic in 2016 that can stay on the shelves, continue to be produced, and have the same offerings of a cartridge and original controller ports, than I can't think of one reason Nintendo couldn't do the same outside of the money is in the virtual console and not remakes of classic consoles.

    Sorry about the rant here, but I really do feel badly for those who were waiting still for the NES Classic. With Nintendo being so concerned about emulators and fan made games, I just don't get why they wouldn't want to take every avenue to try and encourage people to buy their products over using an emulator. That's a side note to the whole rant though... As always, thank you for reading. As I said at the top, I'm putting that Donkey Kong Country blog on the back burner for a bit and am going to go ahead with my Vigilante 8 Nintendo 64 review next.    

Mega Man Soccer Review

    Mega Man was one of the most popular franchises on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The classic platforming shooter was alive and well in this series and that carried over onto the Super Nintendo where Mega Man VII was released. By then, fans were starting to want something a bit new and innovative. Enter the Mega Man X trilogy on the Super Nintendo. All three games are wildly popular and the latter two still retain a ridiculously high price tag after all these years. Lost in the shuffle of all the Mega Man games is an often forgotten about sports title called Mega Man Soccer

***INSERT MESSAGE ABOUT POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD HERE***

    Mega Man Soccer was developed by Sun L and published by Capcom. It was released on the Super Nintendo in North America on April 3rd, 1994. As is the case with other Mega Man games, the Japanese title for the game is Rock Man's Soccer. The story behind the game is that there is a televised soccer game going on. Suddenly an explosion happens and when the smoke settled, several of Dr. Wiley's Robot Masters had taken the places of the regular soccer players. Seeing this development, Dr. Light sends Mega Man along with his own group of Robot Masters to challenge Dr. Wiley. More on the crazy story this game has later... For now lets look at the graphics, sound, and gameplay shall we?

    The graphics in Mega Man soccer in comparison to many sport games on the Super Nintendo are very good. Overall I'd say that they fit into the Mega Man universe quite well too, Mega Man and the Robot Masters are all easy to tell apart from one another and it's certainly easy to tell who is who. Being a sports game, there really isn't much in the way of flashy effects or anything of that nature, but there are unique animations for all the characters when scoring a goal, and there are various visual effects happen to the soccer ball when fired as a power shot. What happens to a Robot Master when hit by a power shot varies based on what the shot is, but some have different animations than others. For example, Bubbleman's bubble will stun a player, and capture them in a bubble. Meanwhile, if Cutman fires a power shot that hits a Robot Master, that master will simply temporarily fall into a bunch of pieces. Little visual effects like that were a nice touch in this kind of a game.

    As far as the sound goes, the game does a decent job. The sounds of robots kicking the ball around is great (with the exception of odd shot sound), the sound of blasting a power shot is good, and the crowd roars for a goal. The real question mark for sound in this game is the music. I've read various opinions as to whether or not the music in this game is good and honestly, the best way to figure that out is to play the game, listen, and decide for yourself. For me personally, I think that it's a mixed bag. Some levels such as Cutman's stage and Dustman's stage I think are great while a few of the others I felt could have been better. 

    Where Mega Man Soccer really struggles is sadly the gameplay. It sounds easy enough, play soccer with a team of Robot Masters. The execution though is often times frustrating though. While playing you will be facing several issues that are completely out of your control. First, if there are too many Robot Masters on screen, or if multiple Robot Masters are attempting a slide tackle, the game suffers from a massive frame rate drop. It basically puts the game into a short term slow motion, which in a game of soccer, is annoying. Another issue is how the computer selects which character you are controlling. In many sports games, such as EA Sports NHL franchise, a simply press of a button will change which player you are controlling. In Mega Man Soccer, the computer chooses for you by which player is closest to the ball. This can be quite confusing when none of your players are on screen and you need to use the radar. Even with the radar though, things get more confusing as two players may be a similar distance to the ball, so the computer will keep switching back and forth between those two players. Normally the AI will get the ball and then you'll have a character to use. 

There are several different modes to choose from here. There is the classic Exhibition match where you can create your own team of Robot Masters, there is a League Mode which acts like a season mode, there is a Tournament mode as well, but the main mode is the Capcom Championship. In this mode, you start off with a team of Mega Mans and as you defeat each Robot Master, you can add him to your team. That being said you can only put one of each Robot Master who is not Mega Man on the team. The rules are set at two five minute halves and each team is allowed two power shots. If a game is tied at the end, the game goes to a very luck based shootout. In the shootout, the defending goaltender must guess which direction the offensive player is going to shoot. The problem is there is virtually no approach so it's just hit the button and hope for the best. 

    All is not bad though with the gameplay. Passes are generally foot to foot, clearing the ball is a good defensive strategy moreso than in the Super Mario Strikers series, and the power shots add a bit of strategy. The reason I say that is because some of the Robot Masters are immune to other Robot Master's power shots. This leads to some interesting half time choices as to where to position your players and just which player to position in which location. As seems to be the case with a lot of sports games of the time, there are easy ways to net goals. There are a couple areas on the field that have a very high chance of a goal being scored if the ball is shot from them. I always find it much more fun though to try to get the goalie out of position for a goal. Just feels more rewarding that way. Anyway, here's a short gameplay video so you guys can get a feel for what this game looks like, sounds like, and acts like.

    On a scale of 1 to 10 I have to give Mega Man Soccer a 6.5. The game is fun, do not get me wrong on that. I have played it a bunch and beaten it as well. The controls are really a killer though. Nothing is more frustrating than a late close game and the computer can't decide which player you can control. Actually there is something more frustrating. After you grind your way through the Capcom Championship you are greeted with one of the worst ending is gaming. NOTHING. That's right, there is nothing. Not one single acknowledgment that you beat the game at all. There are no credits, no music, nothing. The game literally just resets and takes you back to the title screen like nothing happened. It's a cruel sick joke considering the work you put in to make it through. That stands true for the other game modes as well. There is literally no ending to the game if that makes any sense.

    While the controls are very frustrating and the ending just not existing, the game still does a lot of cool things. For one, being able to customize your team as you progress was something really nice to see and is something I wish made an appearance in the Mario Strikers games. The graphics are great and the sound effects are at the least respectable. To me what this game feels like in a word is unfinished. There is a very interesting groundwork here that sadly was never revisited. Things like being able to customize your team, multiple game modes, unique power shots, being able to pick who plays where, and an expansive roster of Mega Man characters were all things that could have been expanded upon in future games,  Had the control issues on this game been fixed, and an actual ending been given, it probably would be one of my favorite sports games and I would certainly have rated it higher. I still like it now, but time has taken it's toll as the Mario Strikers games on the Gamecube and Wii, while still having issues, feel more complete and better overall. 

    Thanks as always for reading! My next blog will be some thoughts on different level and world themes in Donkey Kong Country 1, 2, and 3! I'll be taking a look at how the moods of these games change as you progress through them and what I see in these game's worlds and some level backgrounds as well. So yes, expect another love fest in the next blog! I'm also working on a top 10 list involving Donkey Kong Country games, but that won't be out for a little bit yet. My next review though will be on Vigilante 8 on the Nintendo 64!

Paperboy (NES) Review

    Back in 1985 arcade games really ruled the gaming world. One of the games that was insanely popular had nothing to do with smashing buildings or defeating a certain barrel throwing ape. No, back in 1985 one of the best things you could do in an arcade was deliver the newspaper. That's right folks, deliver newspapers. Imagine today walking into the closest arcade and thinking to yourself "Boy I sure can't wait to play that new game where you deliver the newspaper". I mean, the arcade cabinet itself even plays with bike handlebars as the controller.

***THE FOLLOWING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN WILL***

It happened back in the eighties and it will never happen again, unless of course you're one of those people who love the game known as Paperboy. Paperboy would become so popular that it would be ported to almost every home console and handheld that came out through the late eighties and nineties. The game would eventually get a sequel on the Super Nintendo, Paperboy 2, as well as a 3D version on the Nintendo 64. For today's blog though I am going to look at the port on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

    Paperboy was actually the very first NES game developed in the United States. It was originally developed as an arcade game by Atari and ported to the NES in 1988. The story of Paperboy is quite simply and very easy to understand. You play as the paperboy who spends his mornings doing his paper route. He must deliver the newspapers to the correct houses for seven days. So the game is a seven day long paper delivery marathon. The game sounds easy right? Personally I think it fits right in the middle as far as difficulty goes, not too hard, but not easy either. The game does have a nice difficulty scale though as things get more chaotic as the week goes on. Keeping in mind that this game was originally an arcade game from the mid eighties, lets take a look and see what the game is like.

    Visually the game is pretty simple. You ride your bike down a typical suburban street that is full of hazards. It's easy to tell what the hazards are, but it's not easy to tell whether or not you're going to hit them until often times the last minute. Another visual issue that new players may find with this game is that the game almost looks like it's on a diagonal. After a couple rounds though that disorienting view becomes normal.... At least it did with me... 

    The graphics for what the game is and the era it came out in are simple, but not bad. Far worse looking games exist both in the arcades and the Nintendo. As far as sound goes, there isn't much to hear really. The same melody plays each day of the week, so that'll get stuck in your head. Other than that there is a bonus area with a different tune and that's about it for music. Other sounds in the game are what I would call ok. The sound of the newspaper smacking into things sounds pretty good, but the sound that is made when you crash sounds like a small explosion versus simply falling off a bike. I guess the sound of glass shattering when you throw the paper through a window is pleasant in that oh crap kind of way. Other than those things, not much to talk about here.

    Now for the big part of the game that makes Paperboy both unique and interesting, the gameplay. Each day starts off with a map showing you which houses are subscribed to the newspaper and which ones aren't. The houses are color coded so thankfully you do not need to memorize the map. Subscribers are easy to lose, but difficult to gain. If you miss a house, or break a subscriber's window with a paper, you will lose the subscription. If you get a perfect delivery percentage on a level, you will gain a subscriber. The game will only count a delivery if you land the paper in a mailbox or doorstep. Keep in mind that you are moving, so your paper will not fly in a straight line. So where is the fun in this? Well you can rake in points by causing utter destruction of the neighborhood. Windows on non subscriber's houses are free game and a great way to earn some points. Other things such as lamps, garbage cans, and tombstones (what?) can all be knocked over for some bonus points. Just be careful not to run out of papers for your clients. If you do you can find some more along the way, but you'll probably miss a house or two. 

    The life of a paperboy  is full of danger as things such as rogue tires and lawnmowers, dogs, skateboarders, angry clients, tornadoes, and the grim reaper are all out to prevent you from making that delivery. On a final gameplay note, the controls work okay at best. Paperboy goes where you want him to go, but the small area of the screen in which you can work with makes dodging obstacles very difficult. Add to that the speed factor of the paperboy. He is not very fast on that bike so trying to make a quick dodge may send you in the right direction, but not fast enough to avoid wrecking the bike.

   

    On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd throw Paperboy a 7. There's just something about this game that is strangely addicting. Somehow Atari managed to take a now basically non-existent job and turn it into a functioning game. The challenge is certainly there and that challenge spans through the countless ports of this game that exist today. The NES version of the game boasts plain, but effective 8-bit graphics The sounds and music though leave more to be desired, but is an improvement over the arcade original. The real plus side to Paperboy is in the end it's gameplay. It's something really unique that hasn't really been replicated in an effective way. Sure the game has a sequel and a 3D version, but neither of those really stack up to the original game. Yes, it has it's issues, and today looks quite dated considering the time it came out and the fact that paperboys are an oddity now, but the game is still quite fun. Tack on the sheer amount of history that this game has going for it and you have a solid classic that has aged, but is worth throwing a couple quarters at in a retro arcade or playing on a cheap cartridge on the NES.

    Thanks for reading this short review on Paperboy. Next up on the review side of things will be a look at a spin-off Mega Man game known as Mega Man Soccer. 

    

The Kirby Series: Kirby's Dreamland 2

    Since the release of Kirby's Adventure on the Nintendo Entertainment System, fans of the series were treated to a variety of spin-off games involving the lovable pink blob. Kirby's Pinball Land, Dream Course, and Avalanche all treated fans to fun and interesting styles of game, but the series had not seen a true traditional style game in quite some time, which was surprising considering how big of a jump the series made between Kirby's Dreamland and Adventure. In mid 1995 the fans prayers were answered as Kirby would be returning to the Game Boy for Kirby's Dreamland 2.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD. READ WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE IN MIND***

    Kirby's Dreamland 2 was developed by HAL Laboratory and released in North America on May 1st, 1995. Given the time the game came out, it was given a special color scheme and border if it were to be played on the Super Nintendo's Super Game Boy. Nintendo had planned on remaking this game as Kirby's Dreamland 2 DX for the Game Boy Color, but it along with a remake of Metroid II were both scrapped. Despite the remake being cancelled, Kirby's Dreamland 2 is among the best selling Game Boy games with well over a million sold. 

    The game picks up after Kirby's Adventure. As is normally the case, Kirby is relaxing when an evil force known simply as Dark Matter possesses King Dedede and destroys the rainbow bridges that connects the seven rainbow islands. At the same time, Dark Matter planned on using King Dedede to takeover Dreamland as a whole. Kirby floats into action in a similar manner as he had on previous adventures. By eating everything in site of course. Upon collecting all the rainbow drops, Kirby is able to forge the rainbow sword which forces Dark Matter out of King Dedede. After a final showdown with Dark Matter itself, Kirby, after creating a new rainbow bridge, once again returns to a life of relaxation and eating.

    Graphically, the game is one of the better looking games on the Game Boy. The sprites are clear and easy to see. The environments are fun yet simple, but still capture the Dreamland feeling from the original game as well as it's NES sequel. Some small upgrades from the original Game Boy game are really the only graphical difference. If you have played the original, then you know what I am talking about. 

    So the graphics are good for the Game Boy as should be expected with this series. The real question is knowing how good of a job was done with Kirby's Adventure, how does Kirby fair in his return to the Game Boy from a gameplay standpoint. The simple answer is excellent. As a more detailed view of it all goes, you can watch the VERY FIRST gameplay video to go along with these blogs to get a look at how the game works! 

    The game plays in a similar fashion to Kirby's Adventure. In total, seven of Kirby's copy abilities from Kirby's Adventure made the transition back to the Game Boy. While at first glance it may not seem all that impressive, there is something else to consider. As you can see in the above video, you can see something that hadn't been seen in either of the previous two games. This game debuted Rick, a big hamster that Kirby can ride on. Not only can Kirby ride on Rick as well as Kine, the ocean sunfish, and Coo the owl. In addition to those animal friends, Gooey, a creature that is actually made of the same thing as Dark Matter, will occasionally appear and restore Kirby's health if he is already with another one of his animal friends. The animal friends themselves all have their pros and cons. For example, Kine is an amazing swimmer, but is basically a literal fish out of water. He can hop around but nowhere near the efficiency of Rick. Coo grips Kirby in his talons and takes to the skies. The biggest plus to these animals is that they can all make use of Kirby's abilities and all do in different ways. It's a really neat feature that actually makes up for there being only seven different copy abilities. In the end it feels more like there are twenty eight different abilities.

    Other than the animal friends, some other new features include the collection of little star pieces. Collect enough and you will be rewarded with an extra life. In addition, each level contains a rainbow drop that need to be collected to fully defeat Dark Matter. Kirby's Adventure had secret switches to open paths to various mini-games. Those switches are absent in this game, but the rainbow drops more than make up for them. You may have noticed that I did not mention the controls yet? Well that's because there isn't much to say about them. I never ran into any issues with the controls and Kirby handles in a very similar fashion to how he did in Kirby's Dreamland, but with the added fun of Kirby's copy powers.

    As far as sounds go, the game introduces some fun new tracks to go along with the levels. In particular I found the sounds that play when joining up with an animal buddy to be some of the most memorable on the Game Boy. Otherwise, the sound effects themselves are largely from the original Game Boy game, with some new additions for Kirby's ability sounds and stuff of that nature. Overall it's a solid bunch of sounds for the Game Boy for sure.

    On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give this game an 8.5 out of 10. My reasons for this are as follows. For one Dreamland 2 took everything from the first game and expanded on it. It is in every way better than the original in which itself is a very good game. While it didn't expand on Kirby's copy abilities directly, the addition of the animal friends was really well done and the fact that they all make unique uses of Kirby's abilities more than makes up for many of the abilities from Kirby's Adventure being absent.  While adding all of this new content in HAL Laboratory managed to not miss a beat on the gameplay, sound or graphics. All in the all the game is a very impressive title in the often times ignored Game Boy library. While it may not have the flashiness, vibrant colors, or number of abilities as later games, it remains one of the best and actually one of the more difficult to complete entries in the series.

    Thanks for reading this review on Kirby's Dreamland 2. It's been a very busy few days on this blog in a lot of different ways. Our new banner is up as well as a temporary background that is less explosive than the old one. Eventually we'll have a more interesting background, but for now the one we have will do the job. As you could tell, I've also started to add videos to my blogs. I'm not sure how many per blog I'll be doing or even if every blog will have one, but it is something I want to do more of and so far for both the Game Boy and Super Nintendo it's gone pretty smoothly. The next entry into the Kirby Series will be Kirby Super Star on the Super Nintendo. My next blog however will be a review of the classic arcade hit that was ported to the NES and pretty much every other system under the sun, Paperboy!

    

Gex: Enter the Gecko Review

    Back in the late 1990's the console wars were more than on between Sony and Nintendo. Both companies had their state of the art systems, the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation, fighting for pixelated supremacy. Popular Sony characters such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro opposed Nintendo's power in Mario, Link, and well... Rareware as a whole. Stuck in the middle of this war were a few lesser known characters such as Rayman (at the time he was lesser known) and eventually Gex the Gecko. Gex had originally debuted on the 3DO, PC, and Playstation, but with the release of Gex Enter the Gecko and Gex 64, he was thrown into the middle of raging console war.

***As always these reviews made contain SPOILERS. Read on with that knowledge***

 

    Gex Enter the Gecko was developed by Crystal Dynamics and released on the Sony Playstation in North America on February 24, 1998. The game would also see releases on the Nintendo 64 as Gex 64: Enter the Gecko as well as on PC and Game Boy Color. It is the second game in a series of three that began with Gex and ended with Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. The game was met with varying reviews depending on the platform it was being played on. Both the Playstation and PC versions received mostly positive reviews while the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color games were met with mixed reviews. Personally, I think the Playstation is the better between the two console versions of the game. 

    The plot of the game is actually pretty entertaining. Gex, after having defeated Rez at the end of the first game decides to head off into the sunset and retire to take up a life of relaxation watching T.V.. One day the T.V. went black and suddenly an all too familiar face simply starting flashing on the screen over and over and over again. It was the face of Rez. Shortly thereafter two government officials showed up on Gex's doorstep requesting his help to take down Rez who had taken over the Media Dimension. At first Gex declines stating that he is retired, but he is knocked out by one of the officials. Upon awakening he is interrogated by the government. Gex complies and tells them what he knows about Rez. Again, the agents ask him for help, but again he denies until a large briefcase full of cash is opened for him. In addition to the cash a fancy secret agent suit was also promised to the lizard. The agents tell Gex that they want to see Rez "disappear" and his body hidden. With that Gex sets out to save the Media Dimension.

    With the plot now out of the way. let's take a look at some of the key things that make up this game. Gameplay wise it is very similar to most 3D platformers of the era. So if you have played Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie, then you probably have an idea about the gameplay I am referring to here. As is also the case with these types of games, the camera tends to be a bit of an issue at times, but Gex seems to have a better camera than Mario, which is good. The biggest issue I faced gameplay wise was that when it comes to platforming, Gex feels slippery. His jumps and landings just feel kind of awkward and not as crisp as say Mario or Banjo's in their respective games. Ironically, the slippery lizard has slippery controls. I mean in a way I guess it kind of makes sense. Despite being slippery, the controls never really got to a point where I got frustrated with them.

    Gex does have a nice little array of lizard based moves he can use. One is simply being a gecko and climbing up walls on all fours. Another is that he can use his tongue to eat up yummy insects. Lastly Gex can whip his tail at enemies or pull a Scrooge Mc.Duck and bounce on it like a pogo stick. He will use these abilities as he traverses through zones that spoof various hit T.V. and movie genres such as horror movies, cartoons, history, the future, and Kung-Fu. He will also need to get through two Rez channels to defeat his nemesis once again. Along the way Gex will be collecting remote controls. In a similar fashion to Super Mario 64's stars, each level will contain multiple remotes as well as a hidden remote for collecting all of the 120 collectibles in a level. The remotes all do different things from opening levels, to gates, to unlocking secret levels, so the incentive is certainly there to find them all.

    So the gameplay, while a bit slippery is certainly not a deterrent in this game. Graphically, this game is crazy. It's dark, it's bright, it's creepy, it's funny, it's for a Playstation game, really cool looking. Not only that, but the levels themselves are massive and beautiful at the same time. Certain levels will even contain different areas to explore which adds that much more depth to the game. 

In kind of a bizarre, yet almost fitting graphical issue, the game's levels are so big that the developers had to make use of a lot of fog. The system could only handle so much on screen so when Gex is further away from something it vanishes into a fog. As Gex approaches that fog lifts. On certain levels like Toon T.V., the fog virtually plays right into the level. It's a pretty neat touch and it works in this game quite well. In addition to the levels, Gex himself looks pretty good and will undergo some costume changes as the game goes on. The first time I played through this game I thought it was so cool to see Gex dressed as a rabbit or James Bond as I made my way through. It was just something that at the time I had never seen before in a game like this. 

    As far as sound goes, the game isn't bad, but it's not amazing either. The music is alright, but the real winner is the sound effects and Gex himself. Some notable sound effects is when Gex delivers a tail whip, it literally sounds like Gex just whipped something. It's got a real snap to it I guess is what I'm trying to say. The sounds of Gex climbing on the walls and eating insects is cartoon-esque and funny. Now that I think about it, most of the sound effects in the game are like that, and it works. The best sounds though are the ones coming out of Gex's mouth. Throughout the game he will be cracking one liners and mocking certain movies and quotes as well. Right up to the end of the final battle, the game's humor stays in tack and keeps things nice and fresh.

    If I had to rate Gex: Enter the Gecko on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd agree with a good number of people and throw the game an 8 out of 10. Gex, in my opinion does not get the recognition he deserves here. Is the game as groundbreaking as Super Mario 64? No. Is it as collectible heavy as Banjo Kazooie? No. Despite that though, the game does have plenty to collect and has a bunch of really fun and interesting levels. As the years go by I've come to appreciate this game more, not only for the game itself, but all the references to things that were big as I was growing up. Looney Tunes, Scream, Indiana Jones, all of those and more were always such a big deal and to see a game kind of poking fun at them all with a lizard at the helm is just all kinds of fun for me. While it may be logged in the books of history as just another 3D platform game, Gex; Enter the Gecko in my estimation remains an underrated gem on the Sony Playstation that boasts comedy, fun gameplay, and a host of large levels. If you have never given this game a try and you are a fan of 3D platformers, then do yourself a favor and check it out! Heck, if you grew up in the eighties or nineties check the game out for some laughs.

    Thank you all once again for reading. You may have noticed some things starting to change a bit around here. For one the banner has been removed as we are under construction. The about us page is also under construction now and I'll be looking to add some videos to future blogs as well. Right now that is a work in progress as I've figured out how to do it with the Super Nintendo only so far. I'm sure it's not that different from system to system, but I've gotta work with the time I have. The next blog will be the reviving of the Kirby series as I take a look at Kirby's Dreamland 2 on Game Boy!

    

      

    

     

Blog Update

    Hello everyone and welcome to a quick update as to what will be going on on this blog. I know that after a lengthy absence I kind of jumped into a plethora of Donkey Kong Country blogs. Frankly those blogs I had started working on a long time ago and just never got around to finishing and cutting up from the one big blog that at one point they were all in. I felt that it was important to do those blogs sooner rather than later because the Donkey Kong Country series is really what got me into gaming on the scale that I am into it now. Without those games I can't honestly say I would be as into gaming as I am today. That being said, there is a period of Donkey Kong games that I only touched on in those blogs. Those games a lot of people like to call the dark age of Donkey Kong. I am in that boat as well and eventually I will get to those games and take a look at them, but for now I will be taking a small break from the Donkey Kong Universe.

    As I take a look at my 2017 blogs thus far I can see that, with the exception of my latest Disney gaming blog, that every one of them had to do with Rareware games. Seeing Rare games pop up is going to be a thing on this blog moving forward as they are one of my favorite companies and put out a bunch of games that I really enjoy. What is coming up next though will not be Rare centered. I'm going to be moving back towards doing some reviews on retro games spanning a number of systems. I will also be having a second blogger helping out here in the near future as well. I'll be putting up a bio page soon that will fill you guys in a bit more on who we are and what we do and why we are doing this blog. 

    With the Donkey Kong Country blogs I looked at Tropical Freeze on the Wii U as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns and the 3DS port of that game. That does not mean that I will be doing full reviews on any of them. I still will be focusing on anything that is in the pre PS2, Gamecube, Xbox era of games. I know many people are starting to look at those three systems as retro, but for now I'm still holding off on bringing them into the fold of this blog as there is literally a mountain of things I want to look at and share before I even scratch that surface. Tropical Freeze and Returns just happened to fall into the theme of the blog series. Speaking of series I will be bringing back the Kirby series that I started back in 2015. That series was a series of review blogs that would span all of the North American released Kirby games. The series sputtered out though when I started planning for my wedding and just never came back after all was said and done with that. So I do plan on continuing on with it finally at it will go all the way up to the Kirby's 20th Anniversary Collection which came out on the Nintendo Wii.

    I'm also looking at changing up the blog layout a bit too. We shall see what happens with that, but I'd like to do something with it as much as I do like it right now. Another change that is more of a possibility is that I may be adding some gameplay videos into the mix. I have been able to do this since I started this blog, but have avoided it due to not having a proper way of recording straight from my Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64. etc. I am looking into eventually getting a capture card that will let me put some of that stuff on here so when I'm blogging about a certain level or area I'll actually be able to show you guys more than a screenshot. Progress takes time and I am working on getting that capture card in the not too distant future. 

    So that is what is all coming down the pipe soon. I'll be getting back to doing some game reviews, the Kirby series, having a second blogger on here, and possibly having a capture card to record some gameplay. There will also be more blogs on Donkey Kong Country and other Rareware games, so don't think those are all said and done for too long. Really the plate is open for anything so thanks as always for reading and I look forwards to bringing you guys a review on Gex: Enter the Gecko on the Sony Playstation in the next blog! In the mean time check out this level of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Kind of a look into some of the future with this blog!

Donkey Kong Country: The New Era

    Welcome back everyone to what will be the final installment in this series of blogs on my thoughts about the Donkey Kong Country series. This blog will be quickly followed by another blog which will simply be an update on everything that's going on around here, but for now, let's set the scene for this blog.

    The dark ages had arrived in full. Rareware said a final goodbye to the Donkey Kong Country series with the release of an expanded remake in Donkey Kong Country 3. Fans of the great ape and his friends and enemies were left wondering what could be next. For a while the answer was nothing short of disaster as Donkey Kong left the style of game that took him and the Super Nintendo to unforgettable heights. He picked up a pair of bongos that he had no idea what to do with despite having used them in the past. We also saw him and Diddy pick up swinging on peg-boards and participating in several Mario based sports games. We even saw Donkey Kong take up the reigns of his grandfather, Cranky as a villain in the Mario vs Donkey Kong series. Yes the dark days seemed to really be here and they were for five years. Then suddenly Retro Studios dropped an ape sized bombshell when they announced that Donkey Kong Country would be returning on the Nintendo Wii.

    My hype was unreal. I preordered the game, got a special banana wii mote holder and held my breath as I plunged into what was finally after about thirteen years, a brand new Donkey Kong Country game (counting from Donkey Kong Country 3 on SNES). My thoughts when I fired this game up was "Oh yeah here we finally go again." as the classic Donkey Kong Country music came back remixed and sounding more rocking then ever before. My smile faded a little bit when I came to learn that King K. Rool was not in the game. In fact I was very sad to see that none of the Kremlings were in the game. Then my feeling sad about that turned to, well I'm not sure if I'd call it confusion or disappointment as the enemies revealed themselves as.... well... wood. Yeah, little tiki guys are the big baddies of the game. Kind of comical, but they pale in comparison to the Kremlings. Whatever, as long as the game was still fun I was in. I quickly found that classic DK barrel and busted it open to get Diddy whom jumped right on Donkey's back. I quickly realized that you cannot switch characters. I was kind of put off by that a bit as switching characters had always been such a staple in the series. I became mostly okay with it though as Diddy can briefly use his jet pack to make Donkey hover a little bit. It kind of reminded my of Dixie's hair spin, but a much watered down and straight up nerfed version of it.

    I figured that things would be different this time around, but I guess I was not prepared at the time for it to be that different right off the bat. Another thing that I quickly noticed that I wasn't a big fan of was that without Diddy I could tank a hit before dying. In all of the older games if you took a hit without your partner Kong, you were dead. Once you get Diddy in this game it will take four hits to kill you. After two you lose Diddy, but still four hits seemed like a lot to me. In addition to that, I felt and still do feel that there are waaaaay too many extra lives in the game. At the end of some levels I was able to rack up five or more and that's not counting the ones I got from collecting bananas or from completing bonus rooms. As I continued on my way, my hype settling down as I realized that I was not playing the next installment of Donkey Kong Country, but rather a reboot and completely new direction I discovered something I found kind of silly. The world map looks extremely similar to the New Super Mario Bros. series that spans the DS, Wii, 3DS, and Wii U. 

    Yes that is a bit of a nit pick and I'm not even saying I don't like it. I just personally had a chuckle with it. There is just one more thing that dropped my hype for this game significantly as I played. The first was when I realized what system I was playing on. That of course being the Nintendo Wii which could only mean one possible thing, motion controls. Yes motion controls were jammed into this game. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii you had to shake the wiimote to use the helicopter mushroom or do a spin jump. Two things that are important, but not constantly used in the game. Here you need to do the same thing to do Donkey Kong's signature roll or ground pound moves. Both moves are used very frequently throughout the game so I found myself feeling like I was always shaking the controller. While it is minimal motion controls, it is still enough to annoy me, especially when the Wii has a classic controller which was completely ignored here in favor of the motion controls. 

    So you may expect me to come out now and say that I do not like this game, well that's not going to happen and here is why. First of all the game looks simply beautiful. The environments and enemies are all bright, vibrant, and lively. Had it been Rare at the helm I think the enemies would have been different, but the game probably would have looked just as beautiful. As I played I felt that the game did feel like a Donkey Kong Country game, just different. The levels were all very well done, albeit I personally did not find any of them overly difficult. In fact, much like New Super Mario Bros. Wii I ended the game with 99 lives. The levels here have a ton of variety. The classic mine cart levels return with some really neat new effects and there are new challenges with each level. One of my personal favorites is Tidal Terror where massive tidal waves attempt to was you and everything else off screen. It's cool because the waves actually come from the background. Honestly the level reminded me more of the Scarecrow levels in Batman Arkham Asylum in having to duck against walls and whatnot to avoid his gaze. 

    So the levels are fun and beautiful. That's all that needs to be said about them. As far as sound goes I really have to tip my hat to Retro Studios. They took on quite a project in revamping many of the classic Donkey Kong Country tunes for this game and I think they did a pretty good job. The new songs that were created for the game are also good, but for me, hearing those nostalgic tunes redone was really really neat and a tip of the hat to Rare and David Wise's past work. Of course the biggest thing for a game is the gameplay itself and I think Donkey Kong Country Returns gets it mostly right. Returning from previous games are Donkey Kong's roll and ground pound abilities as well as climbing, jumping, swinging, blasting out of barrels, throwing objects and enemies, and a plethora of other things. 

    

    One of the most important returning feature is the return of Rambi the rhino. While Rambi unfortunately is the only animal buddy in the game he makes more than an impact and it is great to see him in his first new adventure in the series since Donkey Kong Country 2. Putting him in over the other animal buddies seems like the right choice and is certainly the best fan service choice out of any of them. I mean it would certainly have been great to see some more, but I'll touch on that later. With the exception of the motion controls bogging down and over complicating things the gameplay is pretty solid. My only other complaint is that this game is one where speed is not a factor in a similar fashion to Donkey Kong Country 3, but worse. In that game while both characters are slower than the second game, you were still able to pick up some speed while rolling through consecutive enemies. In fact that was a staple of the original three games as well as their Game Boy Advance remakes. That feature is lost in this game and I think it shows and does actually hurt a little bit when you know you could make a certain jump much easier if you only had more speed. Where there is loss there is gain though as Donkey Kong Country Returns introduces collectible puzzle pieces in each level that can help lead to unlocking various things including levels which adds a nice incentive to explore.

    So my final feelings on this game is that it is a new take on the series and that there is still a big hesitation to really acknowledge much of what Rareware was able to do. For example, the omission of the Kremlings in this game is basically like taking the koopas out of a 2-D Mario game. It would have just been so natural to see them in the game and if Retro was set on using these wood guys, I think they could have made some sort of cooperation thing between the two factions work. I also think the decision to only include Rambi as far as animal buddies go was one made out of not wanting to be like Rare. While it was nice to see Rambi in the game again, it would have been equally as awesome to see Squawks appear in a level as opposed to just basically being a help feature. It would also have been nice to see a full fledged water level featuring Enguarde the swordfish. Honestly they could have stopped there with the most iconic three and that would have been amazing. Lastly, and I think this points more to the direction of these types of games nowadays, the game just was not as challenging to me as the previous. As I mentioned earlier I finished with 99 lives. I finished New Super Mario Bros. with the same number. I would have loved to have seen Rare's style of difficulty scaling in play here, but it just never really happened for me anyways. 

    I do like Donkey Kong Country Returns a lot. I think it did a great job at laying the groundwork to reboot there series and take it in a new direction. With the wood guys defeated it was time to wait another three years before any more Donkey Kong Country games were released. Had the dark ages returned? Not so much. For those three years only a couple games came out featuring the great ape, but they were additions to the Mario vs Donkey Kong series. The series again slipped into the night until a port of the Wii game was announced and released for the 3DS.

    Three years after the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns I would task myself with playing it again on the 3DS. Knowing the issues I have with the Wii version I put them aside to test this version out against the Wii and I have to admit I am still impressed.

  

    Graphically you can see the 3DS is a bit darker and not as sharp, but still looks really good on the handheld system. As I mentioned before though with this game on the Wii, while something was lost, something was gained. In this case what was gained is the removal of the motion controls. This gives the game a more traditional feel and enhances the overall gameplay experience by a massive degree. It finally felt like I was playing a classic Donkey Kong Country game. Yes it was still missing things that made the originals so special, but it just felt and feels so much better being free of the motion controls. In a similar fashion to Donkey Kong Country 3 on Game Boy Advance, the handheld version of Returns offers brand new levels which are all a fun addition to the mix. Perhaps it was learning from what Rare had done with Donkey Kong Country 3 on the Game Boy AdvanceMuch like the remake of Donkey Kong Country 3 on the Game Boy Advance that inspired this decision? Other than that, there really isn't much else to say here. It's a brilliantly done port that adds some new features and removes terrible motion controls. Honestly I think this is the better version between the two. The slight graphical loss is more than made up for in additional content and lack of motion controls. 

    While the 3DS continued to become a handheld monster, questions had popped up again about the future of Donkey Kong Country. I mean a remake of Returns on the 3DS was nice and all, but I waited in suspense for that next big home console release on the Wii U that just seemed to be getting pushed further and further back. Finally in 2014, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze would hit stores and bring about the most recent entry into the series.

    Donkey Kong Country Returns laid the groundwork for what Retro Studios next installment in the Donkey Kong franchise. When I first laid eyes on this game I was not happy. Why? The answer is simply that I did not have a Wii U and had no means of getting one at the time so I couldn't play the game! To me the cover art screamed that this would be a better game than returns. After all, my favorite Kong was being brought back for the first time in forever, Dixie Kong. Diddy is there too and I Cranky is also on the cover, but he's probably there for more advice giving or something right? I never really looked into any spoilers or info on the game past seeing the cover because the last thing I needed was a reason to blow money I didn't have. I finally did get a Wii U and this was one of the first things I go for it and man was I pleasantly surprised. First impressions can go a long way and this game made quite the first impression.

    The opening cinematic is bananas of fun, literally, and the introduction of the Snowmads who freeze Donkey Kong Island over are actually a pretty interesting group of enemies. No, they still are not the Kremlings and King K. Rool is still nowhere to be seen, but after Returns baddies being planks of wood.... Anything is better really. I mean seriously, we've seen pirate crocodiles in a past game, so why not viking penguins? It was nice to see some enemies that are genuinely likable again, but I still think that the Kremlings would have been a more welcome site, or again some kind of alliance. Personally I think it would have hilarious to see the return of the pirate Kremlings working with viking penguins. Ah, dreams for another day I suppose... 

    Another first impression in this game was the music. Returns music was good, but this seemed all too familiar in quality to Rareware's games. It all just flowed better, it sounded better, like something that was lost long ago, but somehow found. It seems that even in the video game world, life can be funny sometimes. Sometime between Returns coming out and this game, David Wise, the composer for Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2, as well as the Game Boy Advance Games, had left Rare and opened his own studio. Nintendo brought him back for this game and what a brilliant choice that turned out to be! It's really funny how things work out. I love the music in this game, that is all!

    As I played I became more impressed. I stumbled across a DK barrel that contained Diddy. Then another that was pink? I tossed that thing and the next thing I knew Dixie Kong was now on Donkey's back. Her helicopter spin was such a welcome sight to see as she lifted Donkey into the air. Sadly it's in a nerfed state and not as useful as in previous games, but still very useful. Then I stumbled upon a CK barrel. I tossed it and freaking Cranky Kong hopped onto Donkey's back. Then I figured out that Cranky basically is Scrooge Mc.Duck from Duck Tales and uses his cane as a pogo stick. That was freaking awesome to see and marked the first time Cranky is actually playable. Awesome! Then I played multiplayer and holy crap is it fun! In Returns, the second player manned Diddy independently of Donkey which was nice. In this game though, the second player can be any of the other three Kongs. Again, awesome! The only thing I would have really loved to see would have again, been more animal buddies. Rambi returns again thankfully, but Squawks is still unplayable, and Enguarde is nowhere to be found which surprised me considering the return of full blown water levels occurs in this game. Cranky kind of fills the roll that both Rattly and Winky once held so that makes sense, but Squitter and I'd even say Ellie could have been a lot of fun on some of these levels.

    The levels themselves are beautiful and well designed. They are a step up from Returns which was to be expected with the game being on a newer system. So visually things improve. Gameplay wise, the game takes steps forwards as well. It still takes a whopping four hits if you have a second Kong with you do lose a life, but the difficulty in this game makes it feel a bit more reasonable to have four hits. Some of the water levels in particular offer some serious challenge which I feel was lacking in Returns. Speaking of water levels, you actually have a set time to be under water before needing to surface. In a similar fashion to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, you can collect an air bubble underwater to restore your timer. The increase in difficulty was a welcome thing for me, but what was kind of a downer about it was again the life situation. Not only were you once again able to buy lives (forgot to mention that before.... that's a thing), but they just seemed to rain down from the sky. I remember a couple levels where I died a bunch of times, but came out of the level with either the same amount as I went in with or more. That simply shouldn't happen, but when you're rewarded so much for bonus stages and finishing a level, it's hard to really lose lives for any amount of time. 

    So where does Tropical Freeze stand? It's close. I mean it is close to what Rareware has done in the past. It improves so much on everything that was wrong with Returns and brings in new features and themes that are a lot of fun. There are still some things missing and I totally understand that those things will probably remain missing such as the increased momentum from crashing through enemies and animal buddies. Honestly if the plan in the future is to keep a variety of Kongs around, the loss of the animal buddies is not as big a deal with the exception of Enguarde. I really feel that him not being in the game was a missed opportunity. I also would like to see lives mean something again as I once again finished with 99 lives (without buying any), which I think is just ridiculous for a first play-through. If I had to choose between this game and returns I'd pick this game every time and would recommend this game to both veterans and newbies to the series alike. No, the game is not on the exact same level as Rareware's original trilogy, but something needs to be realized by a large number of the fan base that crap on both this game and returns.

    The days of Rareware heading the Donkey Kong Universe are over. Nintendo and Retro Studios have for whatever reason decided to not utilize everything Rare did with their games and that is okay. For veterans of the series will it feel like something is missing? Yes of course it will, but with everything that was lost, something new came into play. The days of Rareware are done and while I personally do not think that Returns or Tropical Freeze are fully on the level of the original SNES trilogy, I still think that they are good or very good games (Tropical Freeze) that deserve some recognition. All change is not bad and while the series is certainly different now and there are things I would love nothing more than to see come back, I realize that those things probably will not be returning and that is okay because the games managed to be good without them. 

    So that is my story of my experiences in a nutshell on the Donkey Kong Country series. As I said from the get go, these games (the SNES trilogy in particular), are some of my all time favorite games. The work that Rareware put into the original SNES Donkey Kong Country Trilogy, Game Boy's Donkey Kong Land, and Game Boy Advance's remakes of the SNES games are all in their own way incredible creations. Despite their shortcomings, the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games still get a bunch of playtime, but nothing compares to the Super Nintendo games for me. Retro Studios I feel has done a respectable job picking up the reigns, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if Rare was never purchased by Microsoft. I can theorycraft on that all day honestly, but now is not the time. These are the games that really got me into gaming over twenty years ago. They got me through some rough times and continue to bring me all kinds of entertainment. I wonder what the future will bring for the series. Since Tropical Freeze came out there has not been another Donkey Kong Country game announced. Once again the series lies in question with only another Mario vs Donkey Kong game giving the great ape any kind of prominent role. Will the Nintendo Switch be the home of a new Donkey Kong Country and if so what will Retro Studios or whoever makes it have up their sleeve? Who knows? For now fans of the series sit once again and hold their breath and hope that the dark ages are not to return...

    Thank you all so much for reading all of these reflection blogs on Donkey Kong Country! Stay tuned for an update blog! Also.... ENGUARDE FOR WHATEVER THE NEXT ENTRY INTO THE SERIES WILL BE!!!!!