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Shenmue (DC)
by microserfs
Shenmue has to be one of the main reasons I own a Dreamcast. I first heard about this game through word of mouth a good many years ago from friends who said it was one of the best games they had ever played, and I took the plunge to investing in it when I got my Dreamcast console.
The story of Shenmue is about a young guy ... called Ryo Hazuki who's father gets killed off by a Chinese assassin known as Lan Di. This sends poor Ryo off on an adventure to avenge his fathers death and hunt down the villains who had part in the murder. Along the way Ryo meets an array of interesting and fascinating characters, friends and foes. Most of the game is progressed through interacting with these characters and finding out any information that could well lead him right to the villains.
Without giving too much away though, Shenmue is a classic adventure with a wonderful atmosphere. Although it could be considered slightly linear, this seems not to matter as you play through it, as dialogue and gameplay are enjoyable and fantastic. For me, Shenmue defined RPGs - most of the game is featured around exploration techniques. The controls aren't too much trouble, but they can be a disadvantage at times if you're not used to them.
Don't miss out on this retro classic from the 90s packed in on 3 whole discs with an epic plot that takes well over 30+ hours to complete.
Wonderfully presented, great voice acting and fantastic visuals, this is one of the best RPGs you could ever wish to get your hands on. If you're an RPG fan you won't want to have missed out!
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Bass Fishing (DC)
by Dangey2009
I've always enjoyed fishing and have been on a few fishing trips myself. I have to confess I'm not particularly great at it but give it a go and find it quite relaxing. So when I saw this game called Bass Fishing I thought I'd give it a try and see what it was all about. It's actually not that bad, although feel that the novelty could ... wear off quite quickly.
The game itself is actually quite entertaining at first and challenging as it's based on strategy a bit like in real life. It's not just a case of throwing your line in and hoping for the best contrary to what it looks like. The object of the game will come as no surprise to you judging by the title. You have catch fish and that's about it.
In this game there are three different modes. In arcade mode you are set a time limit in which you have catch the biggest fish you can find, namely a Bass. In original mode you are entered into a fishing tournament where you can compete against other fishermen who are controlled by the computer. As you catch bigger and bigger fish you rise up the ranking. Finally you have practice mode where you can train yourself and develop your skills as an expert fisherman. You get to practice in varying weather conditions and at different times of the day like day and night.
For me I found the game quite easy initially but then it does get harder as you have to weight up various things in order to make the best catch. It is strategy in the sense that you have to work out the best time of day to fish and once you get the fish on the hook it's up to you to get that fish into the boat which is easier said than done. As any fisherman will tell you that getting it on the hook is the first part of the battle and then you have to actually keep it there.
The controls for this game are easy to learn and master which is good so there is no big learning curve to play. You use the analog stick to move the fishing pole from side to side to get the right position and reel in your catch with left and right triggers.
As for the graphics they are okay and the fish look quite good and realistic which adds to the experience and fun of it all. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable game, however I don't think there is alot of replay value to it as once you've acheived the feat of catching a huge fish then there's not much more to do really. So if you can pick this up cheaply and like fishing then it's worth a shot.
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Sonic Adventure (DC)
by grimworld
Right I thought I would re do this review as many people thought I didn't really spend enough time describing how bad this game is.
We shall start from the beginning, when the game first starts you are only able to choose from sonic but you can see the other characters you can unlock.
When you first begin the game you ... are confronted with a cut scene that's looks like they used in game graphics to do, but it looks really terrible.
Then you confront your first bad guy Chaos 1 this is the monster that you will fight for the entire game (there will be other monsters like monkeys with bombs and robots, and for some strange reason monkeys in bumper cars). Chaos is doctor robotniks also known as egg man evil monster in the game.
The plot of the game is there are 7 or 6 cant quite remember chaos stones that egg man wants to feed to chaos to make it stronger. Been sonic and a good person (well blue hedgehog) you decide with the help of tails to collect them before him.
Though this doesn't work and he steals them all in the end, along the way you bump into other sonic characters such as tails, knuckles and Amy plus some others, who you unlock.
Through out the game you will every so often have to have a showdown with chaos or egg man and defeat them, this is rather simple as its a sonic game so its just jump hit run over and over again.
All the other characters you unlock have stories to there quests that seem rather dull and boring. Unlocking the characters is to easy and really doesn't take much time.
The world sonic lives in looks alright until you start seeing it, the cars and people are very low polygon modules and look and move terribly.
The animation on the game such as lip sync is so out of time that it looks like there talking very very slow indeed.
Game control is another thing that lets this game down, you character moves to quick some times and the game doesn't really respond well to your movement commands.
How ever there is one really good part of this game and that is the Chao, these little creatures you find on the game and raise in there Chao garden. You feed them with fruits and they can take the form of animals you rescue. There are Chao mini events that you can enter your Chao into, these do make the game fun id rather play this part of the game instead of the rest.
If you want a good sonic game buy a mega drive and then go buy sonic 1 or 2 these are how sonic should be.
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