Josh's Video Game reviews

PS3 REVIEW: LittleBigPlanet

2009-04-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

LittleBigPlanet was released recently, late October of 2008 here in the states. I got this game around January, so I've had a while to really play this game and get a good review going, so hopefully I'll be able to write a good review.

So let's start!

STORYLINE - 3/20

This game didn't really HAVE a storyline. I mean, there was a mode in the game that said "Story", but I felt that the game failed to pull off a quality story mode. You play as a....potato sack. A potato sack that can be customized to make it look like a Mr. Potato Sack. Basically, you run through pretty stupid looking stages trying to find costume items with no real purpose.

STORYLINE GAMEPLAY - 8/20

I think I know what they're trying to pull off when making this game. I think they were trying to make a stage as customizable as possible. But please, keep stuff like that in party or free mode. Story mode should not have a stage that can fall apart if you grab the scenery. I personally feel that it's not exactly the best. The gameplay is kind of weird, as there's three different ways to walk. You can walk up close to the screen, in the middle of the stage, or far away from the screen. It's similar to a slot car race track, but the cars can switch slots. The game also tries to predict where you are trying to go. When you jump, the game places you in a different position. Say you start to jump while you're the closest to the screen. The game thinks you want to get on a platform in the middle slot, so your character moves in air toward that position. This is somewhat good, though I wish I had some control over it. You can also jump and hook on to certain objects. One thing that I don't like about it is that when I press the buttom sometimes, I don't hook and I fall to my death. Otherwise, the gameplay is ok.

MULTIPLAYER/ONLINE - 12/20

Now, I couldn't really use the multiplayer/online function because my internet sucks, but you can connect online and play stages made by other players. Now, depending on the stages, this can be fun. There are many types of stages that people make, such as music stages, or just stages that earn a ton of points. This can be good, however people make "Impossible Stages" too, which can get rather annoying.

As for the multiplayer aspect, you can either hook up another controller or go online and play with people online. You can play the stages included in the game, or stages made by those online. This can also be fun, but I prefer the single player modes myself.

MUSIC - 12/20

No offense to people that like listening to relaxing music, but as a guy who likes rock, metal, indie, or anything with guitars except for rap, this music just isn't for me. But the music can be good to do yoga or meditate with if you're into that. I tried it once, didn't like it. I feel as if the music can be good, I just wish someone on Youtube would make a guitar remix of the songs, and then this extremely biased category would get a perfect score.

Difficulty (Three parts, in order from 0 being hardest and 10 being easiest)
For Novices to Platform Games - 4/10
For Experts to Platform Games - 7/10
Total - 11/20

I've been playing Platformers since I was 3, and I'm 14 now, so I found this game relatively easy. The controls can make the experience relatively difficult, but otherwise, the game is pretty easy.

But for those not used to the genre, the game can be challenging at first, but as you get a little used to the genre and the game itself, you should ok.

Overall

46/100 - F

I would recommend this game for Kids, but for teenagers and adults, this game probably isn't a good pickup. If you were going to buy it, I'd wait for prices to drop, but otherwise, it's a rental game.

http://www.amazon.com/LittleBigPlanet-Playstation-3/dp/B001IVXI7C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1240162400&sr=8-1

Thanks for reading!
FEEL FREE TO REVIEW THE REVIEW! COMMENT BELOW!!!!
AND REMEMBER TO REQUEST FOR GAMES TO REVIEW AND DONATE IF I DON'T HAVE THE GAME YOU WANT ME TO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Josh

GCN REVIEW: Pokemon Colosseum

2009-04-12T17:15:00.001-07:00

Pokemon Colosseum was released in 2005. Now, you're probably wondering why I am writing a review for a game released almost four years ago. Because I can. This is actually a game I've been playing for a couple of days and I have previously cleared it back in 2006, when I got the game.

My scale is five categories. Each category is on a scale of 0-20

Storyline - 14/20
Now, I'm a huge storyline guy. If the game doesn't have a storyline I can easily relate to, the game automatically isn't really that great. Biased, yes, but I just prefer the storylines over the gameplay itself.

I'll try to make this as spoiler free as I possibly can.
The game starts out at the Team Snagem hideout. Team Snagem is a criminal syndicate that takes Pokemon from their trainers, transforms them into fighting machines, and uses them against the people and other Pokemon. Well, you, Wes (You can change the name) are a member of this team. You, with your Umbreon and Espeon, blow up a good portion of the hideout, and take the Snag Machine. After stopping at the Outskirt Stand, you run into a couple of people of the other crime syndicate, with a body in a sack. You easily beat the crap out of them with your Pokemon and release the girl in the bag, Rui. They captured her because she can detect these fighting machines, called Shadow Pokemon.

I'll stop there. I believe the Shadow Pokemon storyline works well, however I would've expanded it a little more, not make it so cliched. Actually give somewhat of a backstory of the characters. I didn't feel like I could actually be placed in Wes's position in the event something like this would happen. "But Josh, it's a video game! It can't happen in real life!" I don't give a rat's ass.

Gameplay (Story) - 12/20

I actually feel that the gameplay was similar to the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games, however, with only a maximum of 51 pokemon to catch out of the (then) 386, I feel as if we've been duped. You cannot catch wild pokemon in the game. Only the 48 Shadow Pokemon, the two you start out with, and one you get as a reward. I felt as if the developers were just working on this game to see if it would work with the gamers. It did, however this again leads me to a rant about Nintendo NEVER gives us what the gamers, the most important aspect of a game development company, want. But that's a rant for my other blog.

Multiplayer - 14/20

Even though I couldn't really use Multiplayer, I've heard from many people that the multiplayer aspect was great. Unfortunately, I cannot really comment besides deducting three points for lack of online play. I would deduct more, but seeing as it's a console problem, not a game problem, I only deducted three. The GameCube does not get online play, only LAN play. In comparison to it's competition at the time of release, the PS2 and the Xbox, I felt as if the game's multiplayer would've thrived on other consoles.

Music - 20/20
I absolutely LOVE the music in this game. I feel as if the game combines the great elements of Techno beats, Guitar riffs, and a little bit of (no racism intended) Hispanic dance party music. I find it incredibly easy to just get up and dance to the music. I would pay someone a million bucks (with the help of the DONATE button at the bottom of the page O_~) if they were to make a guitar remix of the songs in the game. I would also make the songs as customs for Guitar Hero, but that's beside the point. The point is, if you love to listen to music from a video game, this game is for you. Truthfully enough, I liked the music more than the game itself.

Difficulty (Three parts, in order from 0 being hardest and 10 being easiest)
For Novices - 4/10
For Experts - 8/10
Total - 12/20

If you are not used to the Pokemon games, it's basically a turn based RPG. It can be easy to challenging, but overall, it's a relatively easy game if you've been playing the games for a while. Even the experts can have a difficult time, but novices can do pretty well when they know what they're doing.

The game overall
.....
.........
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72/100 C-

Most everything in this game is actually really great, and I would recommend this mostly for Casual Gamers.

MY SCALE
Casual Gamers - Wouldn't play this game for 8 hours straight. Would barely play for 2 hours straight.
Hardcore Gamers - Would easily play this game overnight.

But seriously, pick up this game.

You could easily find this game used for about 15 Bucks on Amazon.com. It's a great pickup for kids that love the Pokemon series.

http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Colosseum-Gamecube/dp/B00009WAUF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1239585188&sr=8-1

Thanks for reading!
FEEL FREE TO REVIEW THE REVIEW! COMMENT BELOW!!!!
AND REMEMBER TO REQUEST FOR GAMES TO REVIEW AND DONATE IF I DON'T HAVE THE GAME YOU WANT ME TO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Josh

Starting out

2009-04-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey. I'm Josh. This is my new blog. I've been using my Deviantart journal as a personal blog but now I have this to use for Video Game reviews.

I'll be taking requests for video games. Every two or three weeks, I'll write a review on the game I've been playing. If I have the game, and you suggest it, I'll review it.

If I don't have the game, then DONATE to my PayPal account and I'll see about buying it off of EBay or Amazon.

So start suggesting games, and every 2 or 3 weeks, after playing it, I'll review it. Suggest in the comments!

See ya!
-Josh