4/2/00

Brad’s Quickies: April

Well, March is finally over, but there was another deluge of quality titles this past week. Thankfully, April looks to be a little easier on the wallet, with only a half dozen or so really good titles slated for release. So, use the time to catch up on all of the gems that you missed in March.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica – Dreamcast – Sega for Capcom (!). All right, I think that we all know that a review is only a formality at this point. I mean, you all have already picked this one up, right? Anyway, just for kicks, let’s go through the motions: RE: CV continues the Resident Evil franchise in grand fashion. With the best character models around, and highly detailed real-time backgrounds replacing the prerendered stuff of old, this game is visually amazing, and is the only game on earth that comes close to Shenmue. The typical spooky background music and excellent sound effects of earlier titles make a return, as does the killer storytelling of Shinji Mikami and Flagship. Only this time, the game is five times longer than any previous installment, and the storyline is the best one yet. The voice acting continues to improve with every entry, but some of the characters sound straight out of RE1 (especially Steve Burnside and the Ashford kids). What’s really killer about this game is how the Zapping System works. In RE2, when you finished the game with one character, you then went through the game with the other, and you went to mostly the same areas. In Code Veronica, after you play as Claire for a while, the game will switch to Chris, and you will continue some more. In other words, each character goes through almost entirely different areas. Throw in amazing prerendered and real-time cinemas, and more guns than you can shake a howitzer at, and you’ve got some good stuff. This is, hands-down, the best game available for the Dreamcast, and one of the best games ever made, for any system. If you don’t have a Dreamcast after this, there is no hope for you.

My score: This one goes to 11! Barry? Where’s Barry?

Armored Core: Master of Arena – Playstation – From for Agetec. Well, it’s time for another installment of your favorite mech game and mine, Armored Core. If you played and loved the first two, than wait no further, ‘cause this is more of the same and you’ll love it. If you never liked the AC games, though, this one won’t change your mind about them. Like Project Phantasma, Master of Arena is more like an expansion pack, rather than a true sequel. The same old graphics engine is here, and although it has aged pretty well, it looks dated compared to some of the high-res stuff that’s out these days. There are a bunch of new missions and parts to enjoy, but MoA really is just "more of the same". As an AC fan myself, though, I can say that this title does not disappoint. I could really go for some analog control, but besides that, Master of Arena delivers.

My score: 9 ½. Killer mechs, but where’s my damn Voltron game?

Rayman 2 – Dreamcast – Ubi Soft. I hate France. I hate platformers. Therefore, it would stand to reason that I would really hate a French platformer. However, that’s just what Rayman 2 is, and I can’t bring myself to hate it. This is easily the most graphically impressive platformer ever made, with lush levels that stretch off far into the distance. The sound effects and music are standard cutesy platformer stuff, but the game looks and plays so well that you’ll likely ignore it. Of course, Rayman himself is the lamest character this side of Neelix, but the game itself is pretty friggin’ impressive. This is another Grade A title in the Dreamcast library.

My score: 9 ½. France surrenders to quality game making!

Galerians – Playstation – Ascii for Crave. This one surprised the hell outta me. I mean, it looked cool in all of the previews, but Ascii is not known for high-profile stuff. Imagine my surprise and glee when I found that Galerians is one of the best survival-horror titles ever produced. The backgrounds are all prerendered, which means there are some bad camera angles, but it mostly works okay. The storyline is fairly fresh, centering on an amnesiac kid who wakes up in some kind of government installation and must figure out what the frag is going on. Oh, and did I mention that you can make enemies burst into flames and make their heads explode? And, you gotta inject yourself with drugs to keep your mysterious mental mojo under control. Yeah, buddy! This is good eatin’! This bad boy comes highly recommended for anyone looking for something a little different in their survival-horror.

My score: 10. Did you ever see that movie "Scanners"…?

MDK2 – Dreamcast – Bioware for Interplay. Let’s face it: Just like most of Shiny’s stuff, the first MDK was a piece of overrated crap. Nasty graphics, nasty controls…just plain nasty. Anyway, Interplay wisely brought in Bioware, the creators of the seminal Baldur’s Gate, to produce the sequel. It’s a good thing, too, ‘cause now MDK2 is a whole different animal. There are now three characters available, which are the sniper dude Kurt, the nutty German professor Dr. Hawkins, and the six-legged, cigar-chompin’ talking dog, Max. The levels are friggin’ huge, and are graphically drool-inducing. The control is Turok-style, though, so that may take some getting used to. The enemies are pretty trippy, and the sniper zoom has to be seen to be believed. Also, just to be cool, the designers made the "pause" function rotate the screen around the character, Matrix-style. Really, the only downsides to this game are the extreme difficulty and the level and character designs, which require controlled substances in order to be understood. Recommended.

My score: 9 ½. H.R. Giger would be proud.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 – Dreamcast (Import) – Capcom. Oh, mama. The first MvC was one of my favorite fighters of all time, and the sequel is even better. You start with 36 playable characters, and an additional 18 can be unlocked. I’ll do the math for ya if you went to U of M: That’s 54 playable characters! Sweet merciful Hannah! As if that weren’t enough, the game is now set up as a three-on-three tag. Those little helper guys are gone, but instead you can now call in either of the two inactive characters to help out, or you can call both in for truly insane team-supers. With three characters, these fights can get long, but every moment is 2-D bliss. The backgrounds are now rendered in 3-D, but we still have the highly detailed sprites for the fighters. The end result is a graphic display that is as unique as it is breathtaking. And, since the control scheme has been reworked, with only high and low punches and kicks, the game even plays great with the stock DC controller. Oh, happy day! Add in practically nonexistent load times and groovy VWU games, and you’ve got a spicy meat-a-ball! The only downside is that you can only get some of the unlockable stuff by taking your VMU to an MvC2 arcade machine…in Japan. Oh, well, that’s what the Gameshark is for, right? Anyway, I now proclaim this to be the greatest 2-D fighter ever made, and I highly suggest picking one up RIGHT NOW!

My score: This one goes to 11! Final Justice!!!

Ridge Racer 5 – Playstation2 (Import) – Namco. Now, before we get started, you all should know that I am one of the biggest Ridge Racer fans around, and I bought the first PS on day one just so I could play that one game. So, it is with great sadness that I admit that R5 is not nearly as amazing as we have been led to believe. Maybe it really was rushed, but even so, on a console as powerful as the PS2 is supposed to be, I expect a LOT more. Since there really aren’t any other PS2 racing games (or other good games, period) to compare it to, I’ll have to use the next best thing – DC racers. Quite frankly, R5 doesn’t look very good at all. The resolution is horrendous, and everything has a very jagged, "pasted-on" look to it. Yes, PS2 fanboys, anti-aliasing DOES matter. In comparison, Crazy Taxi and Sega GT both look light-years better, with much prettier car models and tracks that just seem to have a lot more going on. To be completely honest, R5 just looks like a slightly improved R4. And, that’s just sad, considering that this is the best title available for the "most powerful console in the world". What really ticked me off, though, was the control. Ridge Racer used to require some manner of skill in order to pull off nice powerslides. Now, all you have to do is let off the gas and turn in the required direction – instant powerslide. Ugh. To add insult to injury, the control is also much touchier than other RR’s – I had to use one of the highest grip cars just to keep from spinning out. Like I said, I’m a Ridge Racer veteran, and I usually use drift cars, so this just isn’t right. All in all, this was a huge let down. I know that this was a launch title, but this was from Namco, on PS2, so I expected more. Is that so wrong?

My score: 7 ½. Um, PS2 games are supposed to look good, right?

Well, that’s it for this round. Tune in next time for Episode 1: Racer DC, Colony Wars: Red Sun, and maybe I’ll even get around to playing Time Stalkers. Until next time…Same Brad time. Same Brad Channel.

Cast and Crew   News, Articles and Reviews