3/16/00

Brad’s Quickies: Mid March

All right, dammit, there is just way too much good stuff coming out all at once here. We have to eat, too, you know! I hope you all are plenty rich, ‘cause otherwise you’ll likely go insane trying to keep up. I mean, just look at all this stuff:

Dead or Alive 2 – Dreamcast – Tecmo. Oh, baby! I think that we all knew that this was gonna be good, but I didn’t think that it was gonna be this good! Sweet merciful crap! The graphics actually one-up Soul Calibur, with the best animation and character designs around. The arenas are huge, multi-tiered affairs, with little details like fireflies and bubbling brooks that will blow you away. Like Soul Calibur, DOA2 features the original Japanese voices with English subtitles. The control is kinda like Virtua Fighter, only much more forgiving. The tag-team rocks, the reversals rock, the arenas rock – everything freakin’ rocks! The only, and I mean ONLY, negative point in the game is that there is only one arena for tag-team. Other than that, DOA2 is tops. I think that I still prefer Soul Calibur’s control, but just barely. Buy this now, and buy it often.

My score: This one goes to 11! Me bouncy!!!

ChuChu Rocket – Dreamcast – Sega. Well, it took six months longer than expected, but online gaming is finally a reality for Dreamcast owners. ChuChu is a weird choice to be the flagship online title, but it’s still awesome. Another stroke of genius from Sonic Team, this eccentric puzzle game centers on trying to get mice into your rocket before the cat can eat them. This is accomplished by laying down arrows on the playing field, which the mice, and cats, will follow. You can only set three arrows at a time, and must wait for one to disappear before you can set another. I know, it sounds crappy, but you have to play it to truly understand. The first time that you see ChuChu, it will likely give you mild to moderate seizures, as there is an insane amount of stuff running around the screen at once. Eventually, though, you will enter a Zen-like state and have every mouse and cat doing your bidding. This is also the best multiplayer game since Bomberman. There’s nothing quite like the look on a friend’s face when you send a ravenous cat into his rocket, devouring all of the defenseless mice inside. Heh-heh. Unfortunately, with online play, the server that ChuChu runs through looks like it was set up by a three-year-old. Also, the latency is set to the player with the slowest connection, so you’d best kick out anybody that’s under 28.8bps. Otherwise, the lag really hurts the experience. This is an all-around great game, though, and at $29.99, you really can’t go wrong.

My score: 10. I ChuChu choose you!

Syphon Filter 2 – Playstation – 989. At first, this looks like a perfect sequel to one of the biggest surprises of 1999. The graphics have been enhanced somewhat, there are twice as many missions, and there’s oodles of great FMV. However, playing into it a bit will reveal some nasty problems. First, while most of the missions are freakin’ awesome, many are kinda dull. Of course, the first Syphon Filter was the same way, so that’s no big deal. The worst problem, though, arises from the addition of mid-mission checkpoints. While being able to save mid-mission would usually be considered a good thing, unfortunately the developers saw this addition as an open door to make the game really hard. I mean, really, really hard. The enemies will now head-shot you at the drop of a hat, and many can only be killed by said head-shot. Also, in the "stealth" levels, being discovered by anyone will literally end the mission. Now, I don’t mind a challenge, and I got through the first game okay, but this really is ridiculous. Those with the patience of a saint (or a Gameshark) will find a lot to like here, as the sound, control, and most of the missions are all top-notch. However, the rest of us will likely chuck this game through a window after getting shot in the head for the umpteenth time by some random jobber enemy. Be forewarned.

My score: 7 ½. Unexpected, this is…and unfortunate.

Pokemon Stadium – Nintendo64 – Nintendo. This here is the definition of "cash-run". Much like Pokemon Snap before it, this game is almost completely devoid of gameplay. Unlike the Gameboy Pokemon titles, this game has no story or depth of any kind. The "meat" of the game, such as it is, involves pitting various Pokemon against each other in a battle arena. The graphics here are pretty nice, and all of the trademark soundbites are here. Unfortunately, without a story of any kind, Stadium is merely a turn-based fighter. Let me say that again: A turn-based fighter! Can you imagine anything less interesting? Basically you pick an attack, the attack happens, the screen fades out and shows your opponent, he attacks, ad infinitum. And, since each Pokemon has only 3-5 attacks, this gets old REAL fast. And, the added minigames are even more inane than those found in Mario Party. You can probably add a couple of points to my score if you really, really, really love Pokemon, but it’s still pretty crappy.

My score: 4. Pi-ca-crap.

Sword of the Berserk – Dreamcast – Yukes for Eidos. All right, this is getting downright scary. I mean, I usually hate Eidos, but they are officially on a roll now. First, the DC version of Soul Reaver rocks, then Fear Effect, and now Berserk – this is shaking my belief system to its very foundation. Anyway, what we have here is a basic hack ‘n’ slash, but it’s so cool that you won’t care. The graphics are super nice, with well-defined character models and creepy environments. Of course, what really matters here is the blood, and there’s buckets of it. Guts, who is now officially the coolest character around, swings a gnarly six-foot sword about, and enemies explode in a cavalcade of juice and body parts. Me likey! And, when you first see his eyes start glowing red before he nukes everyone in range, I guarantee that you’ll be high-fiving everyone in the room. There are a LOT of cut-scenes here, but the voice acting is surprisingly well done, so they’re fairly painless. There’s not much new here, but Berserk is so well done that I doubt you’ll care. Good stuff.

My score: 9 ½. The blood…so…much…blood…

Hydro Thunder – Nintendo64 – Midway. With the recent influx of quality ports to the ironically named "fun machine", I expected this one to be good, as well. Well, I’m afraid not. The funny thing is, this version of Hydro Thunder looks VERY good, damn near as good as the DC rev. All of the track elements are here, and the boats look great. However, when the game actually starts moving, the reality sets in. You see, the game moves like molasses, and for a racing game, especially Hydro Thunder, that’s not good. Without a decent sensation of speed, the game falls flat. With questionable control and a nasty framerate, this looks like one to avoid. It’s still better than the Playstation version, but not by much. I’d go with Waverace64, or, if you have the means, the exceptional Dreamcast version of HT.

My score: 6 ½. Hmmm, I know the accelerator is here somewhere…

Virtua Striker – Dreamcast – Sega. Um, I’m not sure about this one. You see, while the graphics, sound, and over-the-top announcer are all very well done, this is still an arcade soccer game. And, being an arcade soccer game, VS has extremely simplistic controls. We’re talking 2-button controls here. It’s really hard to do precision moves, and switching players seems to be a chore. In fact, half of the time, it seems like the game is playing itself. This is no FIFA, people. If you like arcade sports games, or if you just don’t want to deal with the complicated control schemes of more realistic soccer games, this might be right up your alley. However, if you’re looking for the real deal, you may want to wait for Striker Pro from Infogrames.

My score: 7 ½. Where are the soccer riots? It’s just not soccer without riots.

Strider Hiryu Collection – Playstation (import) – Capcom. Here it is, people. The game we have waited oh-so-long for is finally at hand. This mamma-jamma includes both the arcade-original Strider and the brand-spanking-new Strider 2. The original is, of course, perfection, but the sequel is just as good. Adding 3-D backgrounds, but keeping the perfect 2-D gameplay, Strider 2 is a worthy successor to one of my favorite games of all time. Beware, though, all of this goodness comes at a price: You must have BOTH a Playstation mod chip AND a Gameshark or Pro Action Replay in order to enjoy this feast for the senses. Thanks to the very nasty territorial lockouts added to the last few Capcom games, one or the other won’t cut it here. Rumor has it that Capcom plans to release this to us unwashed Americans this summer, but if you have the means, I say grab it now. You won’t be disappointed. This is pure gaming nirvana.

My score: Of course it goes to 11! It’s freakin’ Strider!!!

Well, that’s it for this week. It’s a good thing, too; my bank account can’t handle much more of this. Anyway, tune in next time for Front Mission 3, Tomb Raider DC, and Alundra 2. As always, same Brad time, same Brad channel!

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