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Resident Evil (GC)
by wonkybox
This is a Gamecube remake of the original Resident Evil Playstation game that defined the survival horror genre. Even if you've completed the original there's enough new content to keep you interested.
The story is the same in the original - in the late 1990s a special police squad is investigating the disappearance of another ... special police squad. During the search they are ambushed by malevolent forces and forced to take refuge in what seems to be an abandoned mansion. As the sinister plot unfurls it transpires that the mansion was the source of a terrifying viral outbreak that turns people into zombies - and worse.
Graphically the game is still beautiful even after 9 or so years. This is partially due to the pre-rendered backdrops that lend an artistic feel to the game. These backdrops are always animated with moving shadows, flickering lights, fluttering moths, disturbed curtains and other little touches that help maintain the sense of paranoia in the moldering mansion and other environs.
The character models, being 3D models, do look a little dated but still fit in well with the feel of the visuals. The animation is good, with zombies and other beasties moving in a suitably repellent manner.
The sound also adds to the tension, with an excellent piano score building up to the scares, where a sudden orchestra hit adds to the surprise when something jumps out at you. The sound effects are also good, the low moans of the zombies being especially unpleasant, and the gunfire being convincingly acoustic.
The voice acting is terrible however, but this adds to the B-movie charm. Indeed, some of the original lines from Resident Evil have been (it seems) kept in for their cheese/kitsch value.
Gameplay switches between puzzle solving and action, and usually involves a lot of backtracking. There are some real head-scratchers, and the blend of brain-teasing and frantic action works well. Guns and ammo are scarce, and often you'll find yourself running away rather than fighting.
The controls are clunky and awkward, with the character handling like a tank. Navigating the inventory can be a bit tiresome as well, especially considering the frequency you need it open to check stuff.
The plot also complements the gameplay, you don't really know who to trust, or indeed what's going on for a lot of the game. The claustraphobic paranoia is also heightened by the many diaries, notes and reports you find scattered about that give you some insight into the terrible occurences around the mansion.
If you're a newcomer to the genre or played the original RE, there is enough here for you. The original RE game had a huge impact on gaming and popular culture as a whole, and it really shows with this remake.
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Luigi's Mansion (GC)
by MonsoonBaby
Many exciting Nintendo announcements were made at this years E3, but what I anticipated the most is the release of Luigi's Mansion 2 on the Nintendo 3DS. Luigi's Mansion was an excellent ghost busting adventure that still seems a little under-appreciated.
One of the launch games for the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2001, Luigi's ... Mansion allowed Luigi to step out of his famous fellow moustachioed brother's limelight, and become the main hero. The premise was very simple, somewhat predictable, and no twists present, but it was an enjoyable story nonetheless. It all begins when Luigi recieves a strange letter from his brother Mario which leaves Luigi convinced that, rather mysteriously, he has won himself a mansion. However, upon arriving at the mansion's destination, Luigi is greeted by Professor E. Gadd, who explains to him that the mansion suddenly appeared in this spot just a few days earlier. The mansion is over-run with ghosts, and it turns out that Mario has gone missing somewhere inside too. Now, armed with just a torch, a "Gameboy Horror" (a device where maps of the mansion can be viewed) and the Poltergust 3000, a modified vacuum cleaner which is designed to trap ghosts, Luigi must travel deeper and deeper into the mansion in order to save Mario.
The premise screams "Ghostbusters", and in all honesty, I think there is some level of homage here for these hugely successful films. Replace the Proton Pack with a Poltergust 3000, and voilà, Luigi is the somewhat reluctant latest recruit. The controls take a little getting used to, but once mastered, they are easy to continue with. Some may find the idea of Luigi shuffling around the mansion rather than running or jumping a tad frustrating, but Luigi's slow pace helps the player to take in more of the creepy atmosphere that the game is trying to convey. Catching ghosts is perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of Luigi's Mansion. With the basic enemies, simply aim the torch directly at them to stun them, and hastily suck them up with the Poltergust 3000 until their health (bottom left of the screen) is reduced to zero. As the game progresses, the enemy types become more varied, and somewhat trickier. At this point, the Poltergust 3000 can be upgraded, so that it has several uses, such as firing ice, water and objects. The Poltergust 3000 can also be used to suck up treasure, which will increase your end of level rating.
The mansion serves as a maze of rooms. As the player explores, they will find that many doors are locked. Enter an open room and clear the room of ghosts, and you will earn a key to open up another place in the mansion. I feared that this mechanic would become too repetitive quickly, but thankfully each room is completely different from one another, and the variety of bosses help to keep the game-play refreshing. Puzzles are introduced into the game at times, such as using special items in order to coax the bosses out for a showdown. These puzzles are not too perplexing, but are fun nonetheless. It is advisable to keep checking the maps on the "Gameboy Horror", as fumbling around in the darkness with merely a torch can get a little disorientating at times.
The look of the game is rather beautiful. Whilst the lighting for the most part is dark, allowing the torch to be the main guide, the ghosts are of a multitude of glowing, vibrant colours. The animation and the look of the mansion have been excellently rendered, and due to these factors, I believe that Luigi's Mansion would translate well in High Definition (something which Luigi's Mansion 2 will be treated to). At times the graphics can get a little pixelated if the camera is taken in for close inspections, but this is a very minor criticism, and was to be expected for a game of this time.
The use of sound is another excellent touch to this game. The soundtrack is very subtle, thus allowing the player to embrace the silence of the mansion, and listen out for the ghostly wails that sound out amongst the collection of rooms. The more ghosts Luigi encounters, the more scared he becomes. This fear is reflected in his voice when he hums along to the games music, or calls out for Mario, which makes a nice little touch.
Once the game is completed, there is the option to play the "Hidden Mansion" mode, which completely flips the mansion's layout. Bosses move faster, and enemies become trickier. Luigi's Mansion is not an overly hard game to come to grips with, so the real challenge definitely lies in this mode. The main game only takes about a day to complete, which is a shame, as it had the potential of adding a lot more if it was longer.
While it may not win over all Super Mario fans, Luigi's Mansion should be applauded on how different it is from the previous games in the Mario series. The graphics look great for a starter Gamecube game, the soundtrack and setting are irresistibly spooky, and the game play is incredibly fun. People of all ages should be able to complete this, although some children may find the atmosphere at little disconcerting at times. Luigi's Mansion is definitely an under-rated gem that deserves a bit more recognition, and still stands as one of the greatest Gamecube releases. The Gamecube disc will work fine on your Wii console and a Gamecube controller, so I recommend checking this game out before we are graced with Luigi's Mansion 2!
*Also on my blog, 8-BIT Girl http://8-bitgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/under-appreciated-gem-luigis-mansion.html *
*Also on Ciao under "MonsoonBaby88"*
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Donkey Konga (GC)
by SWSt
Rhythm and singing games might be commonplace now, but rewind 10-15 years and I can think of only two ( Parappa the Rapper for the original Playstation and Donkey Konga for the Nintendo Gamecube) which gained any sort of following amongst Western gamers.
The concept of Donkey Konga is very simple, although it feels the need to ... have a rather cheesy story attached to it! Whilst walking on their island one day, Donkey and Diddy Kong comes across some mysterious implements which turn out to be bongos. Donkey and Diddy decide to practice on these bongos so that they can become world famous musicians, able to buy as many bananas as they can eat. And no, I'm not making that up.
In truth, the presence of Donkey and Diddy Kong doesn't add a huge amount to the game, and they really have just been shoved in their for the recognition value. Nintendo could have put any character in this game and it would still have been the same. Still, it's always good to see the big ape fella get a gaming outing - he's arguably my favourite video game character of all time, so I'm not going to complain!
The rather suspect back-story is told via a nicely presented intro screens which present the action as a series of statics "photographs" with some rather cheesy explanatory text dialogue. It's quite a fun sequence to watch the first time you play, although you are likely to skip it on all subsequent occasions. The rest of the game is visually rather bland (the songs presumably take up so much memory and disk space that there's no room for flashy graphics) so the intro is a nice way of brightening up an otherwise rather dull looking game.
The actual gameplay is pretty simple. Donkey Kong is presented with a series of songs and must tap the appropriate button on the controller when prompted in order to beat out an accompaniment on the bongos. The range of songs is quite impressive, with over 30 available representing a wide number of styles. The selection is rather eclectic, ranging from songs which were popular around the time the original game was released ("Alright") to rock classics (Queen's "Don't Stop me Now"), a couple of classical tracks and even some themes from popular Nintendo franchises. Whilst there is a tendency towards more pop-based songs, the game still offers something for all the family.
Although (due to copyright restrictions) most of the songs are cover versions rather than the originals, they are generally re-created well and quite faithful versions. They feature full vocal reproduction and full orchestration and sound great with the volume turned right up on your TV! Inevitably, some are better (and more fun to play along to) than others, you'll probably find there are some songs you always go for and others you rarely select. The songs do vary considerably in difficulty (indicated by the number of bongos on the selection screen; the more bongos, the higher the difficulty) and this adds to the game's challenge and longevity.
Long term play is further helped by a number of different game modes which present you with different challenges. For example, Street Performance Mode allows you to choose any song and play along. The more accurate you are, the more money you earn (this can then be used to buy unlockable content, including some mini-games). Battle Mode is a simple head-to-head game where you try and be more accurate than your opponent, whilst there is even a memory mode where you are given no visual clues and have to remember which notes to play when! Assuming you enjoy the basic gameplay, these different modes mean that Donkey Konga offers a huge challenge, even in one player mode.
Something else which makes the game a lot more fun is that it offers multiplayer options. Although the one player mode is initially fun, it does quickly become repetitive. Get a few friends around and have a few drinks though, and the game is a lot more fun as you can laugh at the ineptness and complete lack of rhythm of your friends or be impressed by their level of hand-eye co-ordination. Battle Mode when played against other people is particularly fun and will bring out the competitive element in even the most mild-mannered person in the quest to prove that your bongo playing abilities are superior to those of your opponent.
This is a crucial point, if you tend to play games on your own, then I wouldn't recommend Donkey Konga, as the one player mode (even with the different modes and difficulty levels) soon becomes rather boring. If you're into social gaming however and regularly have friends around then it can be a lot of fun.
So, how does this translate into on-screen action then? At the top of the screen sits DK with his bongos. Beneath him are a couple of lines along which a series of different coloured icons move from left to right. When the icon reaches a certain point, you need to press a specific button on the controller: a red icon requires you to press the A button; a yellow one, the left control stick. A pink icon means you have to press both together, whilst a star means you have to get DK to clap by pressing one of the shoulder buttons. These basic controls are simple enough to remember, but actually implementing them at exactly the right time is where the skill of the game lies. This is particularly true on some of the trickier levels where multiple icons are flung at you in rapid succession) giving you little time to react and press the right button.
Overall, the controls work pretty well, something which is helped by the fact they can be customised to some degree. Since there are only 3 basic buttons needed, several of the buttons on the controller double up for the same action. So, if you don't find using the A button comfortable, pressing the B button will have the same effect. This means you can select the combination of buttons which works best for you.
Although the game's controls are quite simple, I was surprised there wasn't a tutorial level to get you started. I notoriously never read instruction manuals; so on my first game selected an easy song but didn't have a clue what I was meant to do! It was somewhat frustrating to have to go back to the manual to find out what each icon meant and what I needed to do in the game. This goes against the pick-up-and-plays style of game that I prefer. A simple tutorial level would be ideal for people like me who are too impatient to read instructions and just want to dive straight into the game.
The original game also shipped with a pair of plastic bongos which made these controls even more straightforward. Using the bongos a red icon told you to hit the right bongo; a yellow one the left. With the Star icon, you either had to clap your hands or say the word "Clap" (a small microphone in the bongos picked this up). This method (literally) offered a far more hands-on experience and actually made the game a lot more fun to play. If you can find a pair of bongos then it's definitely worth the investment and will add a huge amount of enjoyment to the game, as well as making it a bit easier to play.
At the end of the day, this is definitely a game that was designed with the party element in mind, and that is where it is at its strongest. Despite some nice variety in the songs and several different modes, the one player experience soon becomes rather repetitive. As a party game, it's a four star title (which is how I've judged it, since this is really what it is meant to be); as a one player experience, knock a star off
© Copyright SWSt 2011.
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