Video Game Review #213: Toy Story

Toy Story

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

I have been dreading playing Toy Story. I remember renting this game from Blockbuster Video when I was a kid. I had the game for three days. Three long, brutal days. I played this game nonstop the entire weekend. I remember the game being incredibly challenging. You have a limited amount of lives, and once you run out of lives you have to start the whole game over from the very beginning. This game is tough, and I ended up dying and having to restart the whole thing quite often. Quite often.

I did end up beating the game, but it took a LOT of hard work and dedication from yours truly. After that three day weekend, I never played Toy Story again. This game came out in late 1995. Let's say I didn't play it until 1996. That means that 23 years have passed since I last played Toy Story.

I don't remember much about the game, other than it being extremely challenging. Aside from that, I couldn't even remember if the game was any fun or not. So, was it? Let's find out.

Story:

This game closely follows the plot of the Toy Story movie. If you have seen that movie, absolutely nothing here will surprise you. If you have never seen Toy Story, what the heck are you doing here? Go watch Toy Story!

All jokes aside, I am actually very impressed by how well they captured the spirit of the movie in this game. Toy Story rarely veers from the plot of the film. As far as movie-to-game video game adaptations go, this is easily one of the most faithful I have ever seen.

Gameplay:

For the most part, this is a 2D side-scrolling platform game. I say for the most part because there are a few exceptions to this rule. We’ll get to those later. But first, the basics.

Taking control of Woody, you must navigate your character through 18 different stages. Woody moves left and right. He jumps, he ducks, he uses a whip to tie up his enemies. You begin the game with three lives, however in the options menu you can adjust the amount of lives to anywhere between one and five. Just move it up to five and do yourself a favor. The difficulty of the game stays the same, you just get more attempts this way. And you are going to need every one of them.

Most of the platforming stages, the goal is very simple. Just make it to the end of the stage and you’ll move on to the next one. Some stages, you will have “goals” to accomplish before you can move on. For example, in the second stage Andy is returning to his room, and you have to guide all of your fellow toys back to their original positions (where Andy left them) before he arrives. There are a few boss stages where you have to square off against Buzz Lightyear. There is a “stealth” stage where you have to sneak through the arcade while avoiding getting trampled by paper airplane throwing kids. In my most hated stage of the game, you are trapped in the claw machine while Sid is attempting to fish Buzz Lightyear out from a sea of squeaky alien toys. You have to use your whip to launch these alien toys into the claw, knocking Buzz from its grip. Sounds simple enough, but the thing moves so fast and there is almost no margin for error here. This stage wrecked many a playthrough for me. I’d come into it with full lives and the extra continue that I’d earned, and I’d end up burning through all these lives and having to start the game over again. Definitely a frustrating stage.

The rest of the game isn’t that difficult, but it is still pretty tough. Just keep at it and you’ll be a pro in no time. A little trial and error goes a long way.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a few stages that are not 2D platform stages. One of them takes place from the first person perspective. You have to rescue eight alien toys that have gotten caught in the inner workings of the claw machine. I had no idea the Genesis could handle a 3D environment like this, but it does a fantastic job. I am sure I was awed by this stage when I played it as a kid. There are a few “chase” stages where you zip through the level while riding on the back of fellow toys. You just have to move around and avoid getting hit, which is easier said than done. The other variant stages take place from an overhead perspective where you control an RC car. Basically all you have to do is make it to the end of each “track” while on a timer. You can replenish this timer by picking up fuel containers that are intermittently strewn throughout the stage. I found these stages to be a bit frustrating, but they aren’t that bad when you get the hang of how the RC car handles.

Graphics:
This game’s color palette is a lot darker than I remember, but it still looks pretty good, especially when you consider the game’s age. I can’t believe it is 24 years old! All the characters are accurate representations of their film counterparts. The animations are a bit rigid, but oh well. It is not like this ruins the game or anything. The level design is solid. Andy’s room looks like Andy’s room. The arcade looks like the arcade. So does Sid’s house. The 3D first-person stage looks awesome, as I already mentioned above. I don’t think this is the best looking Disney game out there (Lion King, Aladdin, and The Jungle Book all look better in my opinion) but it still looks pretty darn good.

Sound:

Everything sounds exactly as I expected it to coming from a mid-90s Sega Genesis movie-to-game adaptation. Canned, tinny character voices when you make a menu selection. Remixed tunes from the movie. I particularly like the “You Got a Friend In Me” rendition that the game uses. Thank god I do, because they use it a LOT in this game. Other than that, nothing about the game’s audio really stood out to me. I guess that is a good thing because if it sucked I would definitely remember!

Overall:

Turns out I didn’t have much of a reason to dread playing this game. It is difficult, there is no denying that. But despite its difficulty the game is actually quite fun. Right from the get-go I became invested in Toy Story, and I ended up having a pretty darn good time with it. In fact, even after beating the game I still get urges to go back and play it again. To me that is the mark of a truly great game. Well, I don’t know about “truly great” but this is certainly one of the better 2D platformers I have played in recent years.

Not only is the game fun, but it also stays true to the spirit of the Toy Story film. I played this game the same day I finished watching the movie, and I have to say that I was impressed by how closely the game stayed to its source material. Of course, playing this game will never substitute for the experience of actually watching the movie, but all of the major points of the film are covered by the game. If you have never seen the movie, but have played this game – and then someone asks you to recap the movie for them you would be able to do so just from playing the game.

All in all, this was a surprisingly fun title. Not to say you don’t hit a few ugly spots along the way (I’m looking at you, claw machine!) but it is still pretty entertaining. I’d recommend this to not only Toy Story fans but fans of 2D platforming games in general. It is one of the best movie adaptations the Genesis has to offer.

Final Score:

A

If you liked my Toy Story review, please check out some of my other game reviews:

Aladdin

Dynamite Headdy

The Jungle Book

The Lion King

Tom and Jerry: Frantic Antics

Re-Review #8: Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series

PlayStation 3

For my initial review of Game of Thrones, click

>>>here<<<

Recently I wrapped up playing Doom and I found myself in need of a new video game to play. With the holiday season coming up, I didn’t want to start a new game that I would get distracted from, and as a result would take me forever to beat. I figured this would be a perfect time to replay a game I had already reviewed. Something quick and easy. The game I settled on was Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series for the PS3.

I played this game a few years ago and I had a pretty good time with it. I love Game of Thrones. I have always enjoyed Telltale’s games. A Telltale game set in the universe of Game of Thrones? Sign me up! My previous game ended with Rodrik dying and Mira getting executed in King’s Landing. Grim stuff. I figured I’d make new decisions this time around in order to get a different ending, so that is what I did.

What I like about this game is how authentic it is the Game of Thrones universe. Everything from the graphics, the presentation, the music, the opening credits, and the voice acting feels true to the spirit of the show. I think the more hardcore of a fan you are (not only of the show but the books as well), the more you will appreciate just how authentic this game is. House sigils, character references, tie-ins to the main GoT plot… it is very clear that the makers of this game did their research. Another thing to admire is that this game does not take any liberties with the main GoT plot. You’re not going see events of the series changed in anyway. Like, you aren’t going to see Tyrion Lannister getting naked and smearing peanut butter all over Margaery Tyrell. The events of the game run concurrent to the events of the show, mainly focusing on new or minor characters. You will indeed bump into established GoT characters like Jon Snow, Tyrion, Margaery, and Cersei, but none of your interactions with these characters will bump them off their pre-established canon path.

This game feels very high-stakes, which I think added to my enjoyment of it. House Forrester is literally fighting for its life. You always feel like every decision you make in this game carries a certain amount of weight with it. I would say that I was on the edge of my seat as I played, but that would be a bit of an overstatement. One thing this game has going against it is its very slow and deliberate pace. I guess you could argue that the makers of the game are only following in the showrunners footsteps, but god dang do things move slowly sometimes. I understand that House Forrester is never referenced in the show or the books (albeit one tiny sentence in A Dance with Dragons). The house and the major characters that make up the house have to be introduced. I get it. But there are times when this game moves painfully slowly, and this is an issue I haven’t noticed in other Telltale Games.

While I am bitching, let me also mention that the game is still just as glitchy as it was the first time I played it several years ago. You’d think some kind of patch or update would have been offered by now, but no. Several times throughout the game I would hear the characters talking while nothing happened on the screen. There were a few instances where I thought I was going to have to turn the game off and turn it back on again because the action was freezing on-screen and nothing was happening for long chunks of time. Luckily the game never actually froze completely. If I just let it sit, it would eventually work the bugs out and start working again.

Complaints aside, I had a pretty good time with this game. It tells an original, high stakes story set in the world of Game of Thrones. There is a small amount of fan service with some of the recurring character cameos, but it is nothing too over the top or eye roll inducing. Any fans of the TV series or the books should check this out. If you consider yourself a hardcore fan, then I would say you NEED to check  this out. Just don’t expect a solid resolution to the events of the game. Apparently a sequel was in the works, but was cancelled when Telltale went under. Maybe someday we’ll get the solid, canon ending we were hoping for. Just be prepared when you start playing this that you may not get the ending you feel you want or deserve.

Final Score:

B

It got an A- the first time and a B the second time. I guess that means this game averages out to a B+. I feel I overrated the game the first time and I don't think it is worthy of the plus, but I guess it will just have to do.

Video Game Review #212: Super C

Super C

Nintendo Entertainment System

Nostalgia Factor:

As big of a Contra fan as I was growing up, for some reason or another I never got around to playing its sequel, Super C. Several years ago, shortly before I started doing reviews, I purchased a physical copy of Super C for the NES. I played it, beat it, and put the game back on the shelf. I liked it, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the original Contra in my opinion. Now I have purchased the Contra Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation 4, and Super C has once again found its way onto my radar of games to play.

Would my opinion on the game change the second time around, or would I still consider this game as playing second fiddle to its predecessor? Let's find out.

Story:

I don't know much about this game's story, and honestly I don't think it matters. You work your way through eight stages, fighting aliens all the way. At the end of the game you destroy the final boss, and your character flies into the sunset on a helicopter. The end.

Deep stuff.

Gameplay:

Not a whole lot has changed from the previous Contra game. Just look at the above screenshot. I wouldn't blame you if you thought that this WAS the original Contra.

There are eight stages. Most of them are of the side-scrolling variety. You start on the left side of the screen, making your way either up or to the right. There are a shit ton of enemies constantly appearing on the screen and attacking you at all times. You really have to be on your toes here, because one hit will kill your character. You get three lives and three continues. That's it. I never cheat in video games, but I hear that you can't even use the classic Konami code in this game. If you beat this game, it has to be on your own merits.

Just like in the original Contra, there are a variety of different guns to collect. If you die, you lose your weapon upgrade. You want to get the spread gun and hope to hang onto it as long as possible. It will make your life a lot easier... which you are going to need because this is a decently challenging game. I won't sit here and say it is the hardest game of all time, but it took me several attempts and a few hours of my time to beat this game. I thought it was a lot more difficult than the original Contra, and most people consider that to be a pretty hard game (although I don't). So take that however you may.

The only real change that Super C makes is its addition of overhead stages to the game. Gone are the hallway 3D-ish shooter segments from the original Contra. This game adds two over-the-top style levels for you to play. If I had to compare them to something else, I would say they are reminiscent of Guerilla War or Ikari Warriors. It also reminded me a bit of Thundercade (although you are not in a vehicle in this game).

I personally liked these new stages, as the 3D hallway stages are probably the thing I like the least about the original Contra.

Graphics:

This game's look is on par with its predecessor. If it looks any better, the difference is only marginal. That said, I do love the look of the game. It's sharp, colorful, and has its own uniquely Contra feel to it. I don't know how to put it into words, but let's just say I am a fan of this game's presentation.

Sound:

I'm just going to regurgitate what I said about the game's graphics here, too. Super C doesn't necessarily sound any better than its predecessor, but that isn't a bad thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That said, I don't think this game has as many catchy tunes as the first game did.

Overall:

I hate to keep comparing this game to the original Contra, but when you consider how much I love that game, you have to understand that I would hold its sequel to a high standard. This game looks like it easily could have been a continuation of the original Contra. Similar gameplay, similar graphics, similar music and sound effects. Even the difficulty level is similarly challenging.

That said, why don't I like this game as much as I did its predecessor? I don't have an easy answer for you. I grew up with the original game. I played it when I was five or six years old, and I have its stages and its bosses ingrained in my memory. Super C is good, sure, but without the nostalgia factor in its corner, it falls a little flat for me.

This is a very solid platforming game that has a lot going for it. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in the genre. Just because I didn't like it as much as the original Contra doesn't mean I think the game sucks. This is a very good game. I just can't force myself to get too excited over it. Very good game? Absolutely. Excellent? An all-time classic? I can't in good conscience say yes.

Final Score:

B

If you liked my Super C review, please check out some of my other game reviews:

Contra (Arcade)

Contra (NES) 

Guerilla War

Ninja Gaiden

Thundercade

Re-Review #7: Castlevania

Castlevania

Nintendo Entertainment System

For my initial review of Castlevania, click

>>>here<<<

I recently purchased the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for the PS4. There are a ton of Castlevania games on this collection that I never had the chance to play growing up. While I am very excited to play some of these titles, I figured I’d give the first game in the series a quick replay before I moved on to them.

I’ve already played and reviewed this game before. It got an A+. It was always one of my childhood staples as a kid, and to this day I still think it is a pretty awesome game. Would anything change on my replay of the game? Nope.

I don’t even really know what to say that I didn’t say in my initial review. This is a wonderful game. Good graphics, tight controls, an awesome soundtrack, classic level design, and a difficulty level that perfectly walks that thin line between challenging and frustrating.

If you’ve never played this game before, I would recommend getting the Castelvania Collection just to check it out. Even if all the other games in the collection suck, this game itself makes it still worth it. The only other game on the disc I’ve played is Simon’s Quest (which I didn’t like as a kid and I am NOT looking forward to playing), but from what I hear the rest of the games on this collection are pretty good. Why not buy it? I can think of no good reasons whatsoever.

So yeah. Castlevania for the NES: it is a true classic. You need to play it and love it. And if you don’t love it, there is something seriously wrong with you.

Final Score:

A+

Other games I have re-reviewed:

Contra (NES)

Super Star Wars (SNES)

The Walking Dead Season One (PS3)

The Walking Dead Season Two (PS3)

The Walking Dead: Michonne (PS3)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)

Video Game Review #211: Doom

Doom

PlayStation 4

Nostalgia Factor:

Although I’ve never been a huge fan of the first person shooter genre, I absolutely loved the old Doom games when I was a kid. When I heard that Doom was getting rebooted with a fresh and shiny new coat of paint, I became very excited. I had this game sitting at the top of my GameFly queue for MONTHS on end, but for whatever reason they never sent it out to me, despite its status always being listed as “High Availability.” Whatever.

I don’t know what was going on with GameFly, but it became a moot point when I saw the game on sale for dirt cheap on the PlayStation Network. I bought the game as soon as I saw it. Before I knew it, it was downloaded and I was ready to jump in and start playing. Would this game be able to recapture the magic of the older games in the series?

In a word: nah. But let’s explore further, shall we?

 

Story:

Doom’s storyline has never really mattered much to me, and that pattern continues here. There’s something about a space colony on Mars, something about a gate to Hell opening up, something about demons coming through and killing everyone in sight, something about you going through the hole and taking the battle directly to Hell. All cliched Doom stuff that should come as no surprise to anyone.

I feel as if the game really does try to get you involved in its story, but it didn’t work with me. There’s just simply too much chaotic stuff happening while people are trying to talk to you, and that makes it really hard for me to focus on what is going on. I have always been a poor multi-tasker. I have similar complaints with games like BioShock and Dead Space that try to shove the story down your throat WHILE you are walking around and playing. I just can’t do it. For all I know this game could have the most awesome storyline in the universe (doubt it), but I would never know because I can only focus on one thing at a time.

Gameplay:

This version of Doom is less about horror and more about killing demons. Heavy metal music plays while you run around dodging enemies and frantically gunning down everything in sight. That’s this game in a nutshell. Run, shoot, collect items, and try not to get killed.

I like that they moved away from Doom 3’s slower pace and returned the series to its mindless run-and-gun roots. There’s something that’s just very, very fulfilling about the battles in this game. Whenever one big battle would end, I’d already be itching to join another one.

Fighting in this game is fun, but I do have a bone to pick with the game’s pacing. In the old Doom games, you’d wander around the levels, fighting enemies as they popped up. Every once in a while a big scripted battle would take place, but for the most part you were kept on your toes all stage long. In this game, everything seems so predictable. You can tell that almost all the battles are extremely scripted.

Here is an example of what I mean. Let’s say you start a new level. After five minutes of walking through corridors and listening to chatter on your comm radio, you’ll enter a big, expansive room. You’ll see items scattered around the perimeter of the room. There’s a bunch of ledges and things to climb on all around you. It is extremely obvious: there is going to be a big battle here.

Sure enough, you walk into the room and all the doors in this room slam shut. A bunch of enemies materialize in front of you. You kill them. A bunch of flying demons spawn in the air. In the corner of the room a bunch of those armored charging demons appear. Every time you kill one group of enemies, another appears somewhere else, until everything is dead. Then all the doors magically reopen and you can move on.

It seems like 90% of your fights take place in this manner. While I don’t mind the big battles, and like I said I found a lot of them to be quite fun, I would have preferred more even pacing. Outside of these big battles, I rarely if ever felt challenged by Doom.

Weapons in this game are one of its high points. They are all easy to use. It’s easy to flip back and forth between them. You’ll quickly learn which guns work best on which enemies. One of the biggest thrills in battle, to me anyway, was going through my weapons and picking out the right ones under pressure. It added a certain (and unexpected) layer of strategy to the game’s combat. Another thing I liked about the combat is the fact that if you weaken enemies enough, you can perform a finishing move on them that gives you added health items. This twist made me more bold than I would normally be. Normally I’d play hide and seek with my enemies, picking them off and quickly running behind cover before they could retaliate. Now I found myself running right up to enemies in the heat of battle so I could perform a finisher on them and get some much needed health items. Plus the finishing animations themsevles are just really cool to look at. I definitely approved of this twist.

Moving on to the game’s length, Doom is quite short. I remember the older Doom games being much longer. Maybe it is just the fact that I have a crummy memory, but didn’t those titles have like 30 stages in each game? This one has 13. At least the levels are longer, though. When I was still early on in the game and didn’t really understand its mechanics, some of the earlier levels took me hours to beat. Once I got the gyst of how this game worked, I started to breeze through the remaining stages. Before I knew it, the game was over. Wait, was that it? How could it be over already??

I’m not a DLC guy (unless it is bundled with a game for free) and I also don’t really do multiplayer. I’m sure that these features add a lot more longevity to this game. But we are talking about MY experience with Doom. While I had a decent time with this game, I have to say that it left me feeling a bit empty when all was said and done. I expected more!

Graphics:

There is no denying that this game looks quite good. Enemies are well-detailed, lighting effects are realistic, the environments look fantastic. Animations are top notch too, especially with the aforementioned finishing moves you can perform.

In addition to its beautiful graphics, the game is also very atmospheric. I wouldn’t say that I was ever scared playing this game, but I did walk around while very much on-edge. The makers of this game definitely had a vision, and I would say that they were successful in executing this vision.

Sound:

The game’s sound is very good too. Play this in the dark with headphones on. The world of Doom will suck you right in. During its quiet moments, you will walk around noticing all kinds of little sound effects that help to build atmosphere. In the heat of battle, this really loud heavy metal music blares at full volume. Normally this would irritate me, but it fit into what I think this game was trying to accomplish. Loud, in your face action that doesn’t let up. I approve.

Voice acting is fine, I guess. Like I said I didn’t really pay much attention to this game’s storyline. I play Doom to slaughter demons, explore its stages, and collect numerous items and weapons. I couldn’t bring myself to care about its story. As a result, I just kind of pushed all the voice acting and story stuff to the back of my mind as I played. I’m sure the game’s voice acting is fine, I just can’t say I really noticed it at all.

Overall:

As hard as this game tries, I don’t think it quite recaptures the spirit of the original Doom games. Too much focus is put on action and fighting and death. Sure, some of the levels are atmospheric, but what is missing to me is that sense of terror and dread that I would experience when playing the older titles. I wanted this game to scare me, darn it, and it flat out did not. How disappointing. I also feel as if this game didn’t challenge my brain enough. The older Doom games often would trip me up with its puzzles and hidden rooms and switches. This game is very straightforward with where you are supposed to go and what you’re supposed to do. The in-game map and navigation systems hold your hand the whole way through.

If you don’t care about that kind of thing, you will find Doom to be a perfectly serviceable first-person shooter. You’ll come, you’ll shoot stuff, you’ll finish the game, then you’ll move on to something else. That’s my experience with Doom anyway. This game didn’t really give me much of a reason to come back and play it again. I thought it was… fine. And that’s about it.

I’ve come to the realization lately while playing games like this one, Gears of War, and The Order: 1886. That realization is that maybe shooters just aren’t my thing. Shooters can be my thing, but they have to be exceptional for me to enjoy them. Good story, good gameplay, lots of secrets, lots of reasons to come back and play the game again. Most shooters only give me some of those things, but not all of them. Doom is one of those games.

Not to say that this is a bad game. When things were clicking and I was getting caught up in the heat of battle, I really got into Doom and I enjoyed my time with it. I like how so many of the battles can be very challenging. I enjoyed trying new tactics and adapting my approach when I’d run into trouble. Games don’t challenge me enough, and I feel like Doom did an excellent job walking the fine line between being challenging and frustrating.

I also have to give this game props for its production values, as the graphics are amazing, the sound is great, and I had no issues with the game’s camera or controls the entire time I played. Technically, this game is top of the line. This doesn’t completely excuse the rest of Doom’s shortcomings, but it helps.

This is a good, decent first person shooter. I just can't bring myself to get too excited over it. In the future if I ever get the urge to play Doom, I'll play the Doom I or II, or maybe even Doom 64. Although this game tries really hard to recreate the magic from some of those old games, I think it missed its mark. Only a slight miss, but a miss nonetheless.

Final Score:

C+

For a complete list of all my game reviews, click 

>>>here<<<

Video Game Review #210: Contra

Contra

Arcade

Nostalgia Factor:

Believe it or not, I had never played the arcade version of Contra until just now. I am very familiar with the NES version of the game, as it was one of my childhood staples growing up. But the arcade version? Nope, never played it.

I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance to give it a try, but to my surprise it was on the Contra Anniversary Collection for the PS4, which I recently purchased. After playing and re-reviewing the NES version of the game, I figured it would be a good time to give the arcade version a whirl. Which I did.

Story:

Shoot a bunch of bad guys until you’ve killed them all. The end.

Gameplay:

Shoot a bunch of bad guys until you’ve killed them all. The end.

I kid, I kid. There’s a little bit more to it than that. But not much.

Rather than sit here and recap how the game works, which I already did in my review for the NES version of the game, I will break down the differences between the arcade and home versions. Normally when you compare an arcade game to its console counterpart, the arcade version wins. Look at TMNT. Look at Double Dragon. Look at Gauntlet. The arcade versions for all these games are better than the NES versions. In fact, for most games this is the case. Contra is the exception to the rule.

At its core, this is the same basic game as the NES version. Similar level design, similar characters, similar gameplay. But the NES version takes things farther than the arcade version, and it is better for it. The arcade version’s levels are a lot shorter. The bosses aren’t as “cool” (look at the waterfall boss for an example of what I’m talking about). Towards the end of the game, things start to feel rushed. Several levels that were individual levels on the NES are truncated and combined into one longer level.

I also don’t think the arcade version of the game is very challenging. Perhaps I am only saying this because I JUST played through the NES version of the game twice. But I didn’t even have to burn through a single continue on the arcade game. In fact, I don’t think I died more than three or four times overall. You’d think the arcade version would be the tougher one, because you know how they like to get you pumping in quarter after quarter after quarter, but I found this to be the opposite of the truth. I breezed through the game easily. A lot of this has to do with the overall shorter length of the game as well. Obviously if the game isn’t as long, there will be fewer opportunities for you to die.

The whole thing took me about 20 minutes to beat. It might have even been less than that, but I didn’t think to time my playthrough. All I know is that it was short as hell.

As far as actual gameplay goes, the game looks, feels, and controls just like Contra as I know it. No complaints there. The major differences here mainly have to do with the graphics and the level design. Speaking of the game’s graphics…

Graphics:

The NES version of the game looks better too. While this version has a little bit more detail in its characters and landscapes, its color scheme makes everything look really dull and lifeless. The home version of Contra has a lot more of a simplistic feel to it, but its colors are very vibrant and eye-catching. It helps give the game a timeless feel which the arcade version doesn’t have.

That’s not to say that this is a bad looking game. Look at the screenshots. It looks fine, especially by 1987’s standards. But it is definitely one-upped by the NES version.

Sound:

Gaaahhh, I don’t really remember anything about the game’s music or sound effects. I guess I wasn’t really paying much attention as I played. Or it could just be that the game’s audio quality is very similar to the NES version’s and I didn’t think to make a mental note of it. Some reviewer I am. Let’s give this game the benefit of a doubt and say that it’s good.

*shrugs*

Overall:

If you take away the NES version and look at this game on its own merits, it is a good game. I enjoyed myself. The negatives are that it’s just so dang short and easy, and there isn’t a whole lot of reason to come back and play it again.

I am sure that back in 1987, when this game was out in the arcades, it was an absolute blast to play. Contra was not present in any arcades I frequented, but if it was I can just imagine myself being a fan of the game and waiting in line to play it. But we ain’t dealing in hypotheticals here. How is Contra by today’s standards? It’s fine. That’s about all the excitement I can muster for it. It’s fine.

I am glad I played this game. It checks a box. It satisfies my curiosity. But in the future if I ever get the urge to play Contra again I am just going to play the NES version. It is superior in every way.

Final Score:

C

Check out my review and my re-review of the NES version of Contra here:

Contra

Contra (Re-Review)

Master list of all my game reviews:

The Index

Video Game Review #209: Tomb Raider II

Tomb Raider II

PlayStation

Nostalgia Factor:

Back in 1996 the gaming world, myself included, fell in love with Tomb Raider. The game was such a massive hit that there was no doubt a sequel would be hot on its heels… which it was. Almost exactly one calendar year after the first game came out, Tomb Raider II hit store shelves. You bet your sweet patootie I went out and got this game immediately.

I was really hyped for this game. Almost every day after school I would take the bus to the Blockbuster near my house and play the demo that they had on display. Crowds of people gathered around me, completely in awe at how good I was at the game. I had the entire first level basically memorized before the game had even hit store shelves. Once I did get my hands on an actual copy of the game, real life went out the window. I spent days, weeks, maybe even months completely wrapped up in the world of Tomb Raider II. It took me a while to beat the game, but once I did I went back and started playing it back from the beginning again. I loved it. As much as I liked the first game in the Tomb Raider series, I thought its sequel was infinitely better. If I was to compile a list, Tomb Raider II would easily make my top ten favorite games of all time.

This is one of those games that I like to revisit every five years or so. I don’t have anything else going on in my life right now. I figured, since I haven’t played Tomb Raider II since I started writing these reviews, that now would be a perfect time to revisit it. Is it still top ten material, even 22 years after its initial release? Let’s find out.

Story:

This game has a good story, but not necessarily a very deep one. It starts with Lara exploring the Great Wall of China, looking for an ancient dagger that is hidden inside of it. She discovers a seemingly impenetrable door, where she is attacked by a goon who is watching over said door. Lara interrogates the goon, who spills the beans that a guy named Bartoli has hired him to keep watch over the door. Bartoli himself is off somewhere else looking for a way to open the door. Lara decides to go to Italy to pay Bartoli a visit.

In Italy, Lara fights through a bunch of Bartoli’s thugs. She discovers that he is searching a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean for a way to open the door. Lara stows away on a plane headed to the offshore diving rig, but is attacked and knocked unconscious by one of Bartoli’s lackeys. Lara awakens without her guns or any of her equipment, and she has to bust out of her cell and recover her lost items. Items in tow, Lara hitches a ride on a submersible headed to the sunken ship. After several underwater stages, Lara recovers the artifact and heads to Tibet, where she uses the artifact to unlock the key to the mysterious door. Key in hand, Lara returns to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, Bartoli beats her to the ancient dagger, and uses it to stab himself in the heart, turning himself into a dragon. Lara defeats the dragon, retrieves the dagger, and escapes the crumbling ruins with her life intact. Returning home, Bartoli’s remaining goons swarm Lara’s mansion. In the game’s final dramatic act, Lara (in her bathrobe) defeats the attacking goons, killing them all.

With Bartoli no longer a threat to her or her household, Lara strips completely naked for a nice relaxing shower…. psych! Har har har, very funny game makers. Very funny.

So yeah, a very basic “get the ancient item before the bad guys do” storyline. There is not depth much to it. You can completely forget about character development or anything along those lines. But I still like it. Heck, I like it even more than Shadow of the Tomb Raider's storyline, and that game has a lot more going on than this one. Just goes to show you that more isn't necessarily better.

Gameplay:

You can’t talk about a PS1 Tomb Raider game without first addressing its control scheme. If you are a younger gamer or someone who has just recently entered the world of gaming, you may find this control scheme to be a bit archaic. The left and right buttons on the D-pad turn Lara left or right. Up makes her run forward. Down makes her take a hop step back. You can’t just pick a direction and go. These are what has been described as “tank controls.” Some people just can’t get past the controls, and they don’t give Tomb Raider a chance. Maybe it is just because I grew up playing this series, but I never had an issue with the controls. If you are one of those people who skipped over the early Tomb Raider games because of the controls, I have to tell you that you don’t know what you are missing out on. These games are E P I C.

As far as changes go, only a few minor tweaks have been made to the classic Tomb Raider formula. Lara can now pull out flares to light her way in dark spaces. You can also drive vehicles in this game, most notably a speed boat and a snowmobile. As far as gameplay innovations go, that’s about it. Not much has changed from the first game in the series. I do have to give a shout out to the new save system, however. Tomb Raider II definitely handles saving better than both its predecessor and its successor. In the original Tomb Raider, you can only save at set save points located throughout each stage. In the third Tomb Raider game, you have to ration a finite number of save crystals that you use to save your game. In this game, you can just save whenever the hell you want. Seeing as how you are going to be dying quite often, this is great as it will save you lots and lots of backtracking if you are a constant saver like me. Quite frankly, if Tomb Raider III had had this game's save system, I would have liked it a lot more than I did. All the early Tomb Raider games should have had Tomb Raider II's save system. It baffles me that they didn't.

There are a few new weapons thrown into the mix. The two machine gun-like weapons were my favorite to use. The grenade launcher is awesome in theory, but has a very limited range. Same thing with the automatic rifle: cool in theory, but not practical to use very often in the game. You have to stand completely still in order to use it, and in a game where you are constantly jumping and flipping around while firing at your enemy, this doesn’t translate well. In the rare situations where you can practically use this gun, it is great because its so powerful. Unfortunately these situations are too far and few between.

The scope of Tomb Raider II is much more impressive than the first game. The stages aren’t necessarily all caves or tombs. There are many large, open areas to be seen here. To me, what makes this game really click is its level design. The stages are SO well designed. Before I started playing, I was looking forward to a small handful of stages that I remembered as “classic” stages. Not just classic Tomb Raider stages, but all-time great video game stages. The Opera House, the Barkhang Monastery, the Floating Islands. Turns out, there are a lot more iconic stages in this game than just those three. Nearly every stage in this game is classic or iconic in some way. Aside from maybe one or two clunkers (I could have done with one fewer underwater stage), this game delivers the goods. There was never a moment where I thought “ugh this stage sucks. I wish I could skip it.” Each stage is just so dang fun to play.

 

Graphics:

Again, if you are a younger gamer or someone who has never played a classic Tomb Raider game before, you may find its graphics to be a bit primitive. Lara looks better than she did in the first game, but the overall look and feel of the stages is the same. Expect to see lots of messy, pixelated surfaces. There are also many small glitches everywhere to be seen, but nothing game breaking. Mainly you can just see through walls or the camera will screw up and disorient you for a second or two. But like I said, nothing game breaking.

While the graphics may look a bit messy or sloppy at times, I am willing to forgive this. I grew up playing this game and I remember when this was cutting age stuff. You have to admit, some of the lighting effects are pretty darn cool, particularly when you are using flares to light up dark areas.

Where the game really shines, however, is in how it creates atmosphere. A lot of this has to do with the game’s music and sound effects, which I will touch on in my next segment of this review. But you can’t deny how well-designed this game is. Whether you are cruising through Venice on a speedboat, swimming around the bottom of the ocean with sharks in hot pursuit, exploring a moldy old sunken ship, or trespassing in a dark cave filled with giant, nasty spiders, Tomb Raider II really makes you feel like you are a part of the action.

Sound:

Voice acting is… fine. Like I said, this game is a little light on storyline and character development. Not a whole lot of emphasis is put on good voice acting, and it shows. In-game, Lara’s voice is a lot more natural than it is during story sequences. I like her little grunts and groans and how she goes “ah-ha” when she picks up an item.

Music in this game is sparsely used. You really only notice it when something intense is happening or you enter a new area. Most of the time you explore in silence. Not complete silence, however. As I said above, this is an extremely atmospheric game. Walk through the streets of Venice and you hear running water, birds chirping, and the sound of Lara’s footsteps. During the sunken ship portion of the game, you can hear echoes, dripping water, and all kinds of other small little atmospheric effects that really sell you on the idea that you are walking around on a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean. This is a game that really does a wonderful job at pulling you in and making you feel like a part of the action. Those sunken ship levels really fueled my paranoia and kept me on the edge of my seat, even when nothing major was going on.

Overall:

Tomb Raider II is a challenging game, and I can’t lie about that. There were a few frustrating moments for me where I kept dying repeatedly, even though I knew where I was supposed to go and what I was supposed to be doing. Some of this is just the natural challenge of the game. It doesn’t matter how good you are, you aren’t making it through this game without dying. Another part of this ties into the game’s control scheme: it is very, very touchy. You have to line up your jumps perfectly. You have to make sure you are holding the walk button so you don’t fall of the edge. You have to watch where you are rolling. Sometimes you have to slide down a steep incline and jump from ledge to ledge without a whole lot of time to think about what you’re doing.

There were times where I was really starting to get pissed off. Like, I KNOW I have to slide down this slope, jump at the bottom of it, grab onto the ledge in front of me, drop down, slide down another slope, and jump and do a backflip at the bottom of the slop to grab the ladder in front of me. Tried it once and died. Okay cool, now I know what to do. Tried it again and died. Tried it again and died. Again. Again. Again. After multiple deaths I would randomly get it, even though it felt like I hadn’t done anything differently than I did before. It was really annoying. Like I said, everything has to align perfectly and your jumps have to be timed perfectly. You know how they say football is a game of inches? Tomb Raider II is a game of centimeters.

Occasional frustrations aside, I can't bring myself to seriously criticize this game. It is as close to a perfect video game as you can get. An iconic main character, iconic stages, fun combat, creative puzzles to solve, one of the most immersive atmospheres of all time - this game has it all. Still top ten material in my mind? You betcha.

Final Score:

A+

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider 3

Tomb Raider Legend

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Re-Review #6: Contra

Contra

Nintendo Entertainment System

>> For my original review of Contra, click here! <<

I didn’t really have any plans to replay Contra, but then along came the Contra Anniversary Collection for the PS4. As soon as I saw this collection and saw all the games on it that I had never played, I knew I had to buy it. Being the “play everything in order” kind of guy that I am, I decided to start going through these games from the very beginning, even though I have already played and reviewed the first game in the series. Would my opinion on it change almost 5 years after my initial review?

Nope. I still love this game. This is probably going to be the quickest and easiest re-review ever.

I fired up Contra and all the warm and fuzzy feelings I have about the game immediately came rushing in. The graphics, the music: classic.

I started playing the game and yep, just as fun as I remembered. I immediately found myself in that leaning forward position you get when you are concentrating really hard on something. I was bound and determined to beat this game, which I did after a few tries. Contra is fun, addictive, and a good challenge. I dare you to say anything bad about Contra. It's about as perfect an NES game as you can get. I don't know how I gave this game a score of A in my initial review. That’s criminal! Spoiler alert: I am giving it an A+ this time.

If you have never played Contra before, I advise you to get out there and do so. The Anniversary Collection gives you the perfect opportunity to give the game a whirl. Don’t let the game’s “legendary” difficulty affect your decision. I think its difficulty is overrated. It really isn’t that hard to me.

Yeah I guess you can say it is tough, but with a little trial and error it should only take you a couple of serious attempts before you make it to end and beat it. If you want extreme difficulty, I suggest you give Kid Icarus or Batman a try.

I don’t really have anything new to say that I haven’t already. Contra is an all-time classic and one of the best NES titles ever made. Play it. Love it.

Final Score:

A+

Other games I have re-reviewed:

Super Star Wars (SNES)

The Walking Dead Season One (PS3)

The Walking Dead Season Two (PS3)

The Walking Dead: Michonne (PS3)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)

Video Game Review #208: Silent Hill 4: The Room

Silent Hill 4: The Room

PlayStation 2

Nostalgia Factor:

I used to be a pretty big fan of the Silent Hill series. I gobbled up the first two games in the series when they first came out, but for some reason I never got around to buying the third. I did, however, end up purchasing Silent Hill 4: The Room. The year was 2004. I spent a lot of time playing this game with my ex-girlfriend Jessica. Both her and I were obsessed with this title for a pretty long time. Looking back on my time playing the game, the main thing that jumps out at is me how different this game was than other titles in the Silent Hill series. Mainly: the first person segments. The other thing I can remember is being pretty scared by this game as well. There are some cool haunting effects that take place inside the room that had both me and Jessica on the edge of our seats.

Other than that, I couldn’t remember much else about the game except that I really liked it. Assuming I played this game into 2005, that means that about 14 years have passed since I last gave it a whirl. Would it still hold up in 2019? Some of it, yes…. but for the most part no.

Story:

In Silent Hill 4: The Room, you take control of a man named Henry Townshend. Henry wakes up one day to find himself locked inside his own apartment. There are chains barring his front door, his phone doesn’t work, the windows won’t open. No one can hear any noises Henry makes. He can, however, still observe the outside world. Everything seems to be moving along as normal outside his windows. When he looks out his front door peephole, he can see people in the hallway and hear the conversations they are having. After a few days of this weirdness going on, a large mysterious hole appears in the wall in Henry’s bathroom. Since Henry really has nothing better to do with his time, he crawls inside of it to check things out.

Throughout the game, this hole takes Henry to several different sites, where at each one he witnesses a different murder. These sites include a subway station, an orphanage, a prison, a hospital, and an apartment complex. In between each of these trips, Henry returns home to his room, where it is starting to fall into disarray as it becomes more and more haunted. Someone also begins slipping notes under the front door. I am not gonna lie, I found the notes to be pretty cryptic and confusing. To me, they looked like gibberish and explained nothing at all as to what was going on in the game. Looking online, however, the notes apparently explain that there is some kind of ritual going on where 21 people need to be sacrificed, and Henry has been witnessing these murders.

During a foray into the “hole world”, Henry comes across a woman named Eileen, who coincidentally (or not?) is his next-door neighbor. Apparently she was intended to be one of the victims for the ritual, but he saves her from death. The whole rest of the game, Eileen acts as a companion character who joins you on your journey. Long story short, Henry stops the killer and puts an end to the craziness. Game over. There is a lot more going on here that I didn’t bother recapping, but to be honest I didn’t really understand most of what was happening in the game. The game doesn’t do a great job at explaining what is going on. You either have to be really astute to pick up on these clues, or you have to look online (like I did) for easy answers.

Gameplay:

This is definitely the most unique of the Silent Hill games that I have played. Henry’s room acts as the game’s hub world. While in the room, you control things from a first person perspective. There is a save point and a chest where you can store items. Obviously, the portals that take you out of your room are located inside your apartment. There isn’t much else to do here, other than things that advance the story, such as reading notes, looking out your peephole, and spying on your neighbor Eileen. The deeper into the game you progress, the more haunted your room becomes. For example, you may notice a big ugly stain on the wall that looks like it is made out of faces. Get too close to the wall, and you start to lose health. You want to combat these hauntings by placing candles near them. You want to keep your apartment as pristine as possible so that you can get one of the game’s good endings.

When not in your apartment, The Room plays out like a regular Silent Hill game. Same control scheme, same map scheme, same combat. One thing that is different about this game is that it tends to be more focused on fighting. In previous Silent Hill games, I always found it better to run from enemies and save my ammo and health items. In this game, I found it much more beneficial to just kill everything in sight so they would leave me alone. Part of this could be because of the close quarters situations you find yourself in in this game. Other Silent Hill games had more open spaces that you could use to your advantage to shake your opposition. This one does not.

I do have a few bones to pick regarding this game’s design. I don’t like the fact that so many of the stages are repeats. I didn’t mind visiting the subway, the orphanage, and the other murder sites the first time through. I was having a good time. But halfway through the game when Eileen joins you, you have to work your way through these stages a SECOND time. Not only is this very annoying and repetitive, but Eileen drives me nuts too. I am not alone in my hate for escort missions in video games, and the whole second half of Silent Hill 4 acts like one big escort mission. Eileen can’t die, which is cool, but the more damage she takes, the more erratic her behavior becomes. You also get the bad ending if she takes too much damage. I don’t know how many times I have played through this game in my lifetime, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten one of the good endings. I place the blame fully on Eileen. She has to be the DUMBEST companion I’ve ever had in a video game. Her decision making drives me up the wall!

Another thing I can’t stand: the freaking ghost enemies. These things follow you around from room to room, doing constant damage to your character. This would be okay if you could kill them, which you cannot. It is a waste of ammo and health to even bother attacking them. All you can do is knock them down for, like, two seconds before they get up and start coming after you again. And that is not an exaggeration. Two seconds. The only way to rid yourself of these ghosts is to pin them to the ground using these special swords you find throughout the game as you play. But during my whole playthrough I encountered two of these swords and about 15 ghosts, so that was a wash. These ghosts were CONSTANTLY following me around and it was driving me freaking nuts! It really began to ruin my enjoyment of the game, especially in the second half of the game when you are trying to fend off these ghosts while protecting Eileen. Ugh.

Graphics: 

For 2004, this game looked amazing. Now it just looks simply okay. It doesn’t look ugly by today’s standards, like a lot of PS2 games tend to do nowadays, but it doesn’t look great either. If you have played any of the other earlier games in the Silent Hill series, you know pretty much know what to expect here.

I do have to say that the interior of Henry’s apartment is pretty well-designed. It looks nice and realistic, like someone could actually live there. It is pretty boring and sterile looking, but Henry is a pretty boring guy himself so I guess it is appropriate. Also, many of the game's haunting effects while in said apartment look pretty cool. And creepy. Can't get any better than cool and creepy, am I right?

Sound:

The Room’s audio quality is pretty darn good! The whole game is very atmospheric and tense. Even when nothing is going on, you can feel the tension in the air. Small audio cues add to the tension, especially when you are inside Henry’s apartment. Early in the game you hear a thunk from the other room, and when you go to investigate you see that the ceiling fan has collapsed onto the living room coffee table. Sometimes static will blare from the radio or the TV and scare the crap out of you. When you stand next to the portal in the bathroom, you can hear all kinds of screams and tortured sounds coming from inside the portal. This is all really cool stuff. I played the whole thing with headphones on so I could soak it all in.

Outside of the game’s cutscenes, there isn’t much music here to speak of. What music there is is fine but nothing spectacular. Voice acting is pretty stiff and bland, but that’s to be expected from the Silent Hill series. I don’t know if this is done on purpose to help contribute to the confusing, otherworldly quality of these games, but it is noticeably bad here.

Overall:

Based on all the fond memories I have of this game, I would have thought I’d like it a lot more than I actually did. Going purely on memory and nostalgia, I would have said (before replaying this) that this was the best game in the Silent Hill series. Now, however, I would have to rank it dead last among the games in the series I’ve played. Not to say that this is a bad game, it’s just a bit tedious. I don’t like replaying all the old levels. I don’t like having to escort Eileen around. I don’t like the ghosts. I don’t like that this is more action-oriented than previous Silent Hill games. It is very dark in this game, which is fine, but I often found myself missing key items that I needed to solve puzzles. You don’t know how annoying it is walking around the same area of the game for 45 minutes only to discover that the item you need is lying on the ground in plain sight. Dark is fine, but when you can’t see things that you need in order to progress the game, that points to a serious flaw in game design.

It seems like I am only being negative in this review, but there is a lot to like about the game. The whole concept of the Room with your character being locked in his own apartment. The hauntings. The sound effects. The overall atmosphere. This is one of the more unsettling games in the Silent Hill series, and I truly do love and appreciate that.

If only it had been more fun to play.

I have to admit. I am torn between the warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings I have for this game and the fact that I didn't really have a fun time on my most recent playthrough. Part of me really wants to give it a C-, however a different part of me says "remember the fun times!!" that I used to have playing this game with my ex. The late nights, the jump scares, the getting stuck and helping each other out, that feeling of satisfaction when we'd solve a particularly difficult puzzle. I'd be lying if I said this game didn't mean something to me.

But like I said: if only it had been more fun to play in present times. I can't honestly say I look forward to ever playing this game again, and that is one of the criteria I use when I give a game its final score. How likely I am to ever play it again. Playing this game again seems relatively unlikely. So I am sticking with that final score. C- it is!

Final Score:

C-

If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:

Silent Hill

Silent Hill 2

Resident Evil

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 2