Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars — Extended Play

It's been a long time since my First Impressions (I actually wrote this about two weeks ago, but haven't had the time to type it up) and while I've spent countless hours playing the game, I've only recently reached 50% completion. There are two reasons for this: 1) several hours into the game I accidentally shut my DS off while it was saving and I lost my progress and had to start again from the beginning. And 2) while I have spent a lot of time playing, less than half of that time was spent on critical missions. Most of it has been spent looking for security cameras, drug dealers, and hidden side missions. This is a benefit of GTA's open ended design: that if you don't want to, you don't have to follow the campaign to enjoy the game.

Which is just as well, because even at the halfway mark, the story is as pointless and unengaging as it began. It's a shame, because previous games in the main series have raised the bar for GTA storylines, but Rockstar Leeds has not had as glowing a track record, so this is not unexpected. Fortunately, the text-based cutscenes are filled with witty dialog, so story segments are never boring.

Most missions are standard GTA fare: get a car, go to the point on your map, kill/destroy/pick up someone or something, then maybe go someplace else to either end the mission, or repeat your original task. Occasionally, however, CW throws you a curveball by giving you some touch-screen based action to perform in between, or even during, the overhead tasks. So far I've sabotaged a race car, planted bugs, and smashed padlocks in the line of duty. One mission even had me performing CPR on a dying crime lord while trying to escape the cops and deliver him safely to my boss (only to discover his true intentions). Another had me emptying a trunk of evidence and burning it. These are the things that make GTA:CW stand out from the other games in the series, and even genre. They give the game a more tactile interactivity that is lacking in console games.

What has not ceased to amaze me is how much fun there is in simply exploring the city. Aside from cameras and dealers, you'll find lots of hidden weapons, dumpsters (that you can search for weapons, drugs, and other useful and useless items), rampages (absent from GTA4), and facsimiles of familiar New York City landmarks. Anyone who's played through GTA4 will recognize buildings and locations, as both games feature the same iteration of Liberty City, and a very similar layout.

As I predicted in my First Impressions, drug trading has become an obsession. I am constantly checking email and chasing tip-offs. Some of the most fun I've had has been racing around the city, grabbing as much of a certain product as possible, and trying to sell it all to the highest bidder before time runs out. It's also a source on unending income. For better or for worse, drug trading has eliminated the concern of how much money you have. It was especially helpful that I bought a first edition copy of the game, meaning I was eligible for the bonus $10,000 for registering with Rockstar Games Social Club, which I sync my game with daily. I spent all this money on goods which I sold later to get a head start on my fortunes.

I plan on focusing more on completing the game's story in the coming weeks, so I can get this full review done. Keep checking in. I'm trying to get back into the habit of weekly posts, and I have a few already lined up.

UPDATE: Final Thoughts is... err, are up! Click here to read it... umm, them!

Is it time for a new Virtual Boy?

We all know some version of this story: Nintendo's only failed console. (I think the expression "epic fail" would be appropriate here.) The brainchild of Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi, the Virtual Boy spent so much time and money in research and development that Nintendo grew impatient and released the unit prematurely, before it could be perfected. As a result we ended up with a bulky, delicate machine with a single color monitor and a short battery life. What's worse, the cost of developing the system resulted in a $180 price tag, $50 more than any other Nintendo portable prior or since (excluding the recently released DSi, which started at $170).

The Virtual Boy's problem mostly stemmed from technology of the time. The system was powered by a 32-bit processor, which were still relatively new. Stereoscopic vision required two screens, and in order for those screens to be visible inside the dark visor, each needed to be lit; and since color displays were expensive, Nintendo, probably pointing to the Game Boy's monochromatic success, opted for a single color display. Red was chosen because it was cheaper and less harmful to the eyes over extended periods of time than other colors. With all this cutting edge technology inside, it needed a much larger shell, which made the Virtual Boy less portable than Nintendo had hoped, and the 9 volts of power needed to run the system required 6 AAs, which lasted only a few hours.

That was then…

Today we can fit a 64-bit processor into a device the size of a calculator. LCD screens can display millions of colors in high-definition, while backlight panels are cheap and reliable. Several gigabytes of data can be stored on a card smaller than a penny. Lithium Ion batteries are steadily dropping in price and can handle a lot of power for dozens of hours before recharging. 3D replication is now popular and commonplace in the media, and Nintendo has already produced a portable with two independent screens capable of 3D polygonal graphics. What I am trying to say is it is high time for the Big N to bring us a fully realized successor to the ill-fated Virtual Boy, and this time they can do it right.

Imagine Star Fox or Mario Kart in full 3D. We may never see another GoldenEye, but I'm sure Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios could bring us an amazing first person shooter. And you know Miyamoto would have some mind-blowing concept to sell the system right off the bat. A video out port could make the games a little more social by allowing spectators to follow the action on a TV, and Wi-Fi would make multiplay a snap.

Just thinking about it gets me excited for the potential future of gaming. I love my Virtual Boy, but it is a novelty item at best. Nintendo has proven they can build innovative, market dominating systems. Let's see this pioneering spirit applied to a new frontier of gaming, and finally bring honor to the late Yokoi-san, and his final major project for Nintendo, the Virtual Boy!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars — First Impressions

Believe it or not, I do play games other than Grand Theft Auto. That is, I used to, until I bought this game. When I first heard they were making a GTA for the DS, I was understandably skeptical. I have played other portable GTAs, which have been produced to varying degrees of success. The PSP games (Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories) have been good, and the GBA entry was passable. The less said about the GameBoy Color ports, the better. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was designed by Rockstar Leeds, the studio responsible for the PSP entries, which gave this game some hope.

My biggest fear was with the touch screen features. Most games that make the journey onto the DS inherit worthless touch screen controls (Phantom Hourglass, anyone?), and pointless minigames (like the ones found in Super Mario 64 DS). Thankfully, GTA: Chinatown Wars has neither. While most of the controls are mapped to the face buttons, and the action occurs almost entirely on the top screen, other things such as your HUD, GPS, menus, and weapon selections are are found on the touch screen (though the game settings do allow you activate top screen HUD and GPS, which I highly recommend). This makes using GTA:CW's items a lot easier than its console counterpart's, especially since the game pauses while you select your weapon, eliminating the frustrating situation of getting shot to death while you're searching for the proper tool for the job. It also improves choosing your destination on your GPS. After playing Chinatown Wars, I found myself wishing for the same feature in GTA4.

The story is as disposable as any other Rockstar Leeds GTA game. Fortunately, due to the limitations of the DS, exposition is typically short and kept to a minimum. The story thus far revolves around a young Chinese immigrant and Triad member, Huang Lee, who arrives in Liberty City to deliver Yu-Jian, his late father's sword and a family heirloom, to his Uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee. As soon as he arrives, however, he is ambushed, shot, kidnapped, and left for dead in the back seat of a car that has been dumped into the river.

This is where the game's touch screen functionality takes you by surprise (unless, of course, you're reading this… then it'll be less of a surprise). In order to escape from the sinking deathtrap, you must break through the car's rear window by tapping the touch screen until it shatters (the window, not the touch screen). From there you're released into a mostly accurate recreation of Liberty City's Liberty State side.

As always, there are plenty of cars to steal, but taking a parked car may prove more trouble than it's worth, especially when evading the cops. Stealing a parked car is no longer a matter of breaking in and driving off. You now have to figure out how to start them without a key. Depending on the vehicle, you are faced with a touch based minigame (the game does not pause, giving police an advantage) that has you either hotwiring, jimmying the ignition with a screwdriver, or hacking the security code with your PDA. Oh yeah, and you only have so much time in which to perform this task before the alarm goes off. It's a feature that becomes second nature after a few turns in each, but still shifts the balance of high-speed chasing enough to make you have to think about what car is better to make your getaway, the parked Infernus sports car, or the Blista minivan driving by.

While the gameplay closely resembles old school, top down GTA, it fixes one major problem with previous incarnations: the camera. Instead of being static, with tank controls for driving, the camera rotates like a typical 3rd person game to give you better control over your walking and driving. The game also uses a variation of GTA3's auto-aim feature, which unfortunately is a little too auto in that you cannot fire freely. You are almost always aimed at something, and that something may or may not be something you want to attack.

These minor gripes aside, the game is an amazing achievement on Nintendo's oft under-powered portable. While the primary dialog is all text based, sound-bytes are plentiful as you explore Liberty City; and don't think being on a Nintendo system means they've toned down the language. You'll read and hear profanities galore from Liberty's citizens, though the swears are more tongue-in-cheek than in other GTAs.

Aside from the aforementioned touch screen features, two gameplay mechanics unique to this entry look to separate it from its console cousins in a big way. The first is the police chase mechanic. Instead of the original run-until-you-get-caught method, or GTA4's escape-the-circle, Chinatown Wars employs a new system which charges you with the task of actually taking out the cops. If one is chasing you in a car, you can try to nudge them off course into a building, or slam into them at full speed from behind (only works with fast cars), causing them to crash. (You can also try to shoot their car until it explodes, but this runs the risk of attracting more cops, and thereby, more stars.) For every star you have, that's another cop car you have to take out to reduce your wanted level. For example, if you have four stars, you'll have to take out four cop cars (or SWAT vans, and on higher wanted levels, FBI cars) in order to reduce your wanted level to three stars; then you'll have to take out three cops to reduce your wanted level to two; and so on. If you only have one star, you can choose to either try to take the one out, or duck into an alley or a park for a while until the heat is off. Of course, there are still the classic respray shops.

The other new feature is the drug trading side-game. Early in the game you are given a satchel to carry, and a safebox in your safehouse. The satchel holds 50 of any kind of drug (there are six), the safebox has unlimited capacity. All around Liberty City you'll find dealers offering various amounts of different kinds of drugs. Every gang has specialties, and trading becomes a combination of rock, paper, scissors, and the stock market. Every day or two (in-game), you'll receive an email from a dealer who's looking to either unload a certain drug for cheap, or buy a certain drug for way more than market value. If you follow these tips, and master the art of buy-low-sell-high, you'll find yourself a source of unlimited income. Just don't get busted while carrying! Along with all of your weapons and armor, and cash for a bribe, the police also take all of the drugs you have on your person, which can end up costing you a lot of money in goods and potential profit.

What Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars lacks in epic scope, it seems to make up for in innovation and creativity. Exploring the city is just as much fun as it always has been, maybe more so with the DS's enhancements, but time will tell. Considering how much time I've spent playing this game, and how convenient it is to simply pick it up anywhere and continue where I left off, I predict my Extended Play review not being far behind. Keep checking for more!

UPDATE: Extended Play is up! Click here to read it!

A return to form, and a response to criticism

I apologize to my followers for my unexpected hiatus. Things have come up, making it difficult to find time to devote to blogging, but I am far from abandoning this project.

The backlash from my previous article, How Metal Gear Solid ruined gaming, was a bit of an upset for me. It seems many people on the internet are more interested in making snap judgements based solely on a headline (or, say, a review score) than in reading what a person actually has to say about a topic. I shouldn't be surprised, but somehow I was still taken aback. It's quite ironic that, in an age of digital albums, podcasted editorials, and literature in mp3 audio format, people still tend to judge a book by its cover.

For those of you who read, understood, and commented on my article, thank you. Even if you disagreed with me, that's perfectly fine with me. I still appreciate the fact that you took the time to read my opinions on cinematic gaming, and I welcome healthy debate on the topic. For the record, all of the games I mentioned in the article are personal favorites of mine. All would receive at least a 4 out of 5 score if I were to give a full review to them. My point was merely that cutscenes, voice acting, and intricate plots do not necessarily improve a game, and could bog down a game in which they do not fit. Several of you got that. Unfortunately, a much larger percentage of the population did not, and did not care to.

Honestly, I chalk it up to the illogic that is fanboyism. Me? I play what I like. If I don't have the console that offers what I want, I buy it as soon as it becomes practical (and affordable). If a console I have does not offer what I want, I set it aside for another that does until it becomes relevant again. I own nearly every major console and portable of the past three generations. I have no favorite consoles, just favorite games. (Full disclosure: I do not have a PlayStation 3… yet. I do not currently consider it practical, or most of all, affordable. When it is, I will buy one.)

So for those of you who are interested, I am working on a new review, a new editorial, an observational article, and of course, Part III of my list of Classic Nintendo games that haven't been remade, but should be, any of which should be appearing soon, ("soon" being as soon as they're completed) so if you're not already a follower, and you're interested, keep checking back in the coming weeks. I'm not going anywhere!

How Metal Gear Solid ruined gaming

Yes, yes. Direct your hate to the comments section (preferably not before you actually read the rest of the article). And yes, I am talking about the Metal Gear Solid, the classic 1999 PlayStation epic that started the hugely popular and critically acclaimed series. (It is also, I might add, one of my top favorite games of all time, before anyone starts accusing me of being "unfair" or "hating" the game.) Well, actually, Metal Gear Solid is the third game in the series, which makes the recent Metal Gear Solid 4 the sixth game in the series. Confused? Tough, because since the series history is not the topic of this article, that's all the explanation you're going to get.

So what is the topic of this article? Cutscenes. When MGS premiered it pioneered a new style of story-telling in video games. While cinematic cutscenes had been used in games prior, they were usually brief and found mostly at the beginning and/or end of a level. Ninja Gaiden is often recognized as the first game to feature cutscenes, and RPGs have featured in-depth storylines and long-winded conversations since their heyday in the early 90s, but MGS was the first game to combine stylized cutscenes with live-action quality direction and lengthy dialog, which were used (in combination with considerably less visually interesting CODEC conversations) to move the story forward in a much more cinematic way than ever before. The result was not only an amazingly immersive game experience, but also a groundbreaking advancement in video game storytelling.

After MGS's success, many game makers followed suit, filling their games with full voice-acting, deep character development, and twisting storylines, trying to duplicate the Metal Gear Solid formula. Nintendo jumped on the bandwagon, as second party developer Rare filled its next two N64 titles, Perfect Dark and Conker's Bad Fur Day, with cutscenes and tons of dialog using the then-revolutionary MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format (more commonly known as MP3).

It didn't stop there. By the time MGS2 came out, the market was filled with dozens of cinematic imitators. The general belief seemed to be that the closer a game got to motion pictures, the more accessible, and therefore profitable it would be. Even series like Grand Theft Auto and Super Mario, neither of which had ever been focused on story or character development before, featured cutscenes in their following games, causing several long-time fans of both series to raise their eyebrows.

These cutscenes often try to insert plot where it is not needed. At the start of Super Mario Sunshine, Mario is en route to a tropical vacation, when a shadowy impostor appears and starts spraying inky goop all over the island, causing the locals to suspect Mario himself. Mario is arrested (???) and sentenced to clean up the mess. Along the way he discovers the impostor is Bowser Jr. (NOTE: not one of the original Koopalings), who kidnaps Princess Peach, believing she is his real mother (???). All this is made even more ridiculous by the fact that, even though Mario has an official voice with Charles Martinet, in typical Nintendo fashion, he never speaks any actual dialog. A great game thrown off track thanks to a nonsensical plot.

Cinematic cutscenes also remove an element of individuality from the game. Take the second GTA game for PS2, Vice City, for example. You were no longer a voiceless avatar, free to be however you wanted to be in the game. You were now Tommy Vercetti, a loud, short-tempered, Italian mobster with a plan to take over the city. That works well for a GTA game, but what about its portable prequel, Vice City Stories for the PSP? In that game you play as Vic Vance, a corporal in the U.S. Army who is somehow manipulated by his drug addict superior to do illegal jobs until he is dishonorably discharged, then goes to work obediently for a wife-beating gun-runner. The illogic of the whole situation pulls the player out of the game and causes him to wonder "why?"

The biggest violator, in my recent experience, is Grand Theft Auto IV. In the latest entry to the series, you play the game as Niko Bellić, an Eastern European immigrant who leaves his war-torn home to find solace, success, and revenge in Liberty City (The GTA equivalent to New York City). The underlying theme of the campaign is redemption. Niko is looking to leave behind the terrible things he's seen and done for a chance at a new life in America. This is reflected in decisions the player must make at certain points in the game, for example, whether to spare the life of your mission target, or murder him/her, or even choosing which character you'll off, knowing you'll eventually have to kill one of them. This creates an ironic juxtaposition when the player decides to have Niko spare the life of someone who may have done him wrong, then turn around and kill a random stranger just for his car. While the story on its own has its merits, it seems force-fed into a gameplay style which does not support the concept of altruism.

Fortunately, not every game feels the need to include cutscenes. Both BioShock and Portal managed to tell their story entirely in first person, without using a single cutscene, save for an intro and a conclusion (Portal didn't even have a cinematic intro). Conversely, not all games with cutscenes are made worse by them. The Halo series juggled movies and gameplay with a near-perfect balance. Most of the story was delivered through the game's action, while cutscenes filled in the gaps that would be difficult to produce as an interactive media. These methods are difficult to implement effectively however, leaving developers to use cinematics as a shortcut.

It's an epidemic that shows little sign of slowing, and with Metal Gear Solid 4 still fresh in gamers', and game developers', minds, it probably won't again for a while. And with games getting more like movies, it's encouraging movie producers to make more movies based on games, which, as history has proven, is rarely a good thing. What worked great for MGS does not necessarily work well for every game. I believe it is time games return to focusing on what games do best: providing innovative, engaging gameplay, and leave the movies in the movie theaters.

(More) Classic Nintendo games that haven't been remade, but should be; Part II

If you haven't read Part I, click here.

When I started this list, I had no idea it would grow to such a length that it would need to be split up into multiple parts, but every game I already had on the list reminds me of another game that I think should be on the list. Then comes the process of narrowing them down, choosing their order, and deciding what will stay, and what will be held until the next part.

Just to clarify some confusion on what defines a "Classic Nintendo Game" for the purpose of this list, here are the necessary criteria I've used: 1) It must be published by Nintendo (though not necessarily developed by). 2) It must have originally been released on a system that is now extinct. 3) It must have been released, in some form, in the U.S. (otherwise the list could be a lot longer than it already is!). Please note that, while I do know lot about Nintendo's history, I do not have encyclopedic knowledge of all the games they've published for all their systems. Therefore, while this list will only be made up of predetermined games I am personally familiar with, I welcome your own additions in the comments sections!

6. Donkey Kong Country — Sure, Donkey Kong Country has been released several times... as in many, many times, but it's never really been remade. At the time of its release, DKC was acclaimed for its revolutionary graphics, pleasing audio, and tight gameplay. (Many years later, some would negate these rave reviews with harsh criticism, though most "non-professional" gamers would refuse to detract.) It was marketed, and often accepted, as proof that a new generation of hardware was not yet necessary for great games, and along with its two sequels, "Diddy's Kong Quest" and "Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!," helped keep the SNES alive for three more years. Time has not been kind, however, to this once breathtaking platformer. Higher resolution graphics, true CD quality sound, and more innovative gameplay have come and stayed, leaving DKC shrouded in nostalgia. I think it is time for Nintendo to resurrect this classic, sprucing it up with full 480p graphics (the Wii can only output in ED, after all) taken from the original CG elements, 16:9 support, and a newly remixed soundtrack (I recommend OverClocked ReMix, a long-time favorite of mine, and the ones responsible for the SSF2THDR soundtrack).


7. Donkey Kong Land — After the initial success of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, there was a bit of a backlash which continues even to this day. Criticism arose, insinuating that DKC was a sub-par platformer hidden under a beautiful coat of paint, and that it was only successful because of its fancy graphics and sound… Okay, most of that criticism came from Cranky Kong, but sounds like something you've read in EGM in recent years, right? (Incidently, EGM gave the game a near perfect score in their original review… but I digress.) When Rare decided to squeeze its SNES cash cow onto the GameBoy, some were skeptical, but Donkey Kong Land turned out every bit as fun and challenging as the game that inspired it. Unlike future entries, DKL 2 & III, which were basically GameBoy ports of the SNES originals, number 1 was a completely unique game, with new enemies, environments, and music. All the more reason it should be remade alongside its console big brother, as it is a true sequel and not a port.


8. Super Mario Advance 4-e — Say what? Okay, let me explain. In 2003, Nintendo intruduced the e-Reader, a peripheral for the GameBoy Advance which read dot codes off of standard deck size cards as data for games, or game add-ons. One of the games with e-Reader add-ons was the fourth entry in the Super Mario Advance series, a GBA remake of Super Mario Bros. 3. Packs could be purchased that included power-up cards (including the rare Tanooki and Hammer Bros. suit, and Super Mario World's feather), demo movie cards, and new level cards. These levels were exclusive to their respective cards, and were not on the cartridge data. 10 new levels were released (20 in Japan) out of a proposed 30, plus a recreation of the original SMB's World 1-1. These new levels were not only completely original, some of them incorporated elements from other Mario games, such as the throwable vegetables from SMB2, and Chargin' Chuck from SMW. These elements were combined into a new überMario game which was cut short due to the e-Reader's commercial failure in the US. Wouldn't it be a nice treat to get all these levels, and maybe even some never before released, in a Wii- or DSi- Ware exclusive release? Now that would be a real Lost Levels!


9. The Legend of Zelda — This is a game that requires no introduction. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto as the antithesis of Super Mario Bros., (SMB is side-scrolling, LoZ is top-down; SMB is linear, LoZ is free-roaming; SMB's power-ups are temporary, LoZ's are permanent; and so on) The Legend of Zelda, along with its hero, Link, have become as synonymous with Nintendo as the iconic plumber and his own adventures. This first game set the stage for nearly all future adventures in Hyrule: Princess Zelda is captured by Ganon, who is searching for the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link has to explore the kingdom and its dungeons to find the artifacts required to defeat the evil wizard/monster. The first game was very light on storytelling, and NPCs outside of enemies, are scarce, and not always helpful. While the game is still very much playable today, some enhancements to the gameplay would be most welcome to less than hardcore gamers. Let Link move diagonally. The sword stabs Link uses in this game could be replaced with the 90° slashes of later games. His hearts could deplete at half the rate they do in the original, reducing the need for restarts. Allow players to save their game without dying. Give players some kind of clue of where to go next. Then, of course, there's the obvious graphical enhancements and orchestration (even if it is synthesized) of the music, and you've made Zelda more than just playable, you've made it near perfect!


10. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link — Much like Super Mario Bros. 2 (The Japanese version, not the version we got over here), Miyamoto was not involved with Zelda II. Unlike SMB2, his absence would result in a radically different game. Zelda II is by leaps and bounds the black sheep of the Zelda series. It is primarily a side-scrolling adventure, and it uses experience points, not items, for leveling up. It did, however, add a few elements that became series standards, such as magic powers, and towns Link could visit for information and side-quests. A well-thought-out remake could fix a lot of this flawed classic's problems. First and foremost, give Link a much bigger sword, and a much faster strike animation. Less damage would make for less frustrating battles, and more exp. points would make leveling up less of a grind. Finally, like its predecessor, a little nudge in the right direction would make for less blind exploration.

Well, I was hoping to finish this list in two parts, but I keep thinking of more games! I guess you'll have to wait until Part III to find out the rest!

UPDATE: Part III is up! Click here to read it!

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned — First Impressions

"The Lost and Damned" (not "The Lost and the Damned," as several outlets have been calling it) is the first expansion for Grand Theft Auto IV. It was released as DLC on February 17th exclusively for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live for 1600 points ($20). While I did stay up for its release (which was an hour-and-a-half late, by the way), I (as usual) have had limited time to play it until recently. I have now played through a couple of hours and maybe 10 missions or so and feel as though I have enough material to give my first impressions.

Let me get this out of the way first: If you loved GTA4, you'll find little to complain about here. If you hated GTA4, this will not convert you. Also, if you are not one of the gamers who played all the way through Niko Bellic's storyline, chances are you are not going to immediately jump onto an entirely new campaign. That said, it does make a few minor, yet perceptible alterations to the overall gameplay. Most prominently, the motorcycle controls and physics have been tweaked, making them easier to control, and harder to fall off of. Helmets, however, no longer exist, so in the event of a crash, your noggin will take the brunt of the force.

Also, much criticism was dealt to Niko's first few hours in Liberty City, specifically the lack of gunplay and overabundance of mundane chauffeur quests. This has been addressed in TLAD. Right from the start you are not only equipped with a sawed-off shotgun, usable while driving, but you'll very quickly be thrown into an old-fashioned GTA4 shootout where you'll pick up your familiar Glock 17 pistol.

There's very little tutorial, as it's safe to assume most, if not all, of this game's audience is already familiar with the nuances of GTA4's controls and gameplay elements. New elements, such as driving your gang-exclusive bike in formation, will be explained when applicable. The driving in formation is a nice way to make getting yourself from point A to point B a little more interesting, but can be annoying if you get separated from the group, or fall too far behind, as you cannot hear your fellow gang members' dialog if you're too far away. Occasionally you'll be given the option to race your partners to the destination, which helps to mix things up a bit more.

Finally we come to the characters. The playable character, Johnny Klebitz, is the vice president of the Lost MC, a motorcycle club based in Alderney, who are at war with rival gang, the Angels of Death. At the opening of the game, the club's president, Billy Grey, has just gotten out of rehab and reassumes his position as leader of the pack. Immediately things start going down hill for Johnny, who seems to be reaching something of a mid-life crisis. He has worked hard to put the Lost on a constructive track, and Billy's wild ways are threatening to unravel Johnny's efforts. Billy's dead set on rekindling the conflict with the Angels of Death, and Johnny tries futilely to dissuade him. Thus far, I find Johnny a less interesting character than Niko, though he does have more interesting things to do from the outset.

Well, that should do it for first impressions. I'll be back with my Extended Play after I've logged in a few more hours.

How my reviews work

As I begin writing my first "review," I figure I should give some explanation as to how I will go about reviewing games. First of all, I have precious little of both spare time, and spare money, so don't expect reviews to be prompt or plentiful. I will review what I have, when I have it, and when I have time for it. Sorry, but unless someone plans on hiring me to write about video games exclusively (PLEASE?!), that's how it's got to be.

Secondly, my reviews will be delivered in three parts:

1) First impression — First impressions are the most important, especially with video games. If you're not pulled into a game immediately, chances are you'll put it away in favor of more interesting games. In my case, first impressions help me determine if a game was worth the purchase or not. Here I'll let you know how excited I am (or am not) about continuing a game after the first hour or so.

2) Extended Play — Once the initial novelty (if there is any) has worn off, you hope the game continues to provide an engaging and original experience. In this section I'll give you an idea of how much the game has held my interest, and how eager I am (for better or for worse) to reach the conclusion.

3) Final Thoughts — You've poured x monetary units and y hours into a game. If you're really lucky, it was a memorable and enjoyable experience to which you'll want to return soon. If you're really unlucky, you'll wish you hadn't rescheduled that root canal your dentist recommended so you'd have more time and money for gaming. While I can't tell you what you'd like, per se, I can tell you whether I thought it was worth my precious resources, and if I feel it's worth a repeat play-through.

I've got a couple of partial reviews in the works right now, so stay tuned!

Classic Nintendo games that haven't been remade, but should be; Part I

I know what you're thinking. Doesn't Nintendo already remake everything? Well, yes, Nintendo is notorious for releasing, re-releasing, and re-re-releasing many of their more popular titles. Take Metroid for example. Excluding its original release on the Famicom Disk System and Nintendo Entertainment System, Metroid has been rereleased four times in the past few years (the Classic NES Series for the GameBoy Advance, as a bonus feature on Metroid Prime, as a bonus feature on the Zero Mission remake, and its Virtual Console release) most of which were within a two year span.

But I'm not talking about Virtual Console style, bare-bones rereleases. I mean full-on overhauls, akin to Super Mario All-Stars, Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland, or Metroid: Zero Mission itself; new versions of the originals that look better, sound better, and maybe even play better, with new features and new incentives to play again. WiiWare and the upcoming DSiWare seem like perfect outlets for some much needed attention to these oft-ignored gems. What follows is a list, in no particular order, of some of the games I think are most worthy of remaking:

1. Metroid II: The Return of Samus — I figured since I used Metroid as an example already, I may as well start off with this one. Metroid II for the GameBoy is one of the earliest examples of Nintendo trying to turn its fat, green-screened portable into a genuine platform for new content and series extensions. Probably the least popular of the Metroid series due its confusing monochrome graphics and minimal, mostly forgettable music, it is also an integral chapter of the Metroid storyline. It introduced several elements to the series that its successors would turn into standards, and a unique gameplay style which still allowed the aimless exploration of the first game, while providing a more direct, linear pathway to the ultimate showdown with the Queen Metroid, and the surprising, foreshadowing conclusion which would be exploited in Metroid 3: Super Metroid. While Project AM2R is working on an impressive unofficial remake of this one, it would be nice to see Nintendo's own R&D1 team take on this forgotten chunk of Metroid history themselves in a future release.


2. Star Fox — This game was truly groundbreaking for its time. It was one of the first 3D polygonal games, and the first 3D polygonal game on a console, ever, thanks to the revolutionary Super FX microchip. While the graphics don't really hold up to today's standards, the classic on-rails shooting and unforgettable music still do. While Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Assault have taken the formula to more modern consoles with more impressive graphics, and Star Fox Command put a new spin on a concept from an abandoned SNES sequel (we're going to pretend Star Fox Adventures never happened), none of them have really captured the feel of the original. Just imagine the same levels, enemies, and music, remade with hi-res, hi-poly, textured graphics (of course, Andross would remain the same boxy face he always was), full voice acting, and analog controls. The thought of it almost makes me wanna "do a barrel roll!" (Sorry.)


3. Kid Icarus — This entry will be brief, as I've never actually played the game for more than about 40 seconds (thank you, Smash Bros.). I am, however, familiar with the fan base this game has, and before Nintendo pours the resources into the oft-rumored, full-fledged, 3D sequel to this classic, they should first consider giving it the Zero Mission treatment. As a bonus, they could throw in the lesser-known GameBoy sequel. (There really do seem to be a lot of those.)


4. Super Mario Land — You knew that a Mario game would eventually appear on this list. It was inevitable. There are so many of them, Nintendo was bound to forget a few. Super Mario Land was another attempt to put an established NES game on the GameBoy, while still keeping its library original. Super Mario Land took everything that made the first Super Mario Bros. popular, and shrunk it down to fit on the little green screen. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto stepped down for this entry and allowed his mentor, Gunpei Yokoi, father of the GameBoy as well as many other Nintendo products, to take the reigns of Mario's first portable adventure. While the basic gameplay, several enemies, and even some of the graphics stayed true to the original, most of the rest of the game was completely new. New worlds to explore, new power-ups (for example, the Flower now gives Mario the ability to throw "superballs" which ricochet at 90° angles, rather than the traditional fireballs which bounce across the ground), and some strange new enemies to compliment the old ones make this a familiar, yet unique, Mario platforming experience, and one that would greatly benefit from, if nothing else, color graphics and improved sound quality. (Though a save feature would be nice too.)


5. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins — As long as we're on the topic of remaking portable Mario games, we may as well tackle this one now. While Super Mario Land proved a Mario game could work on the GameBoy, its sequel, this time helmed by Metroid II director Hiroji Kiyotake, greatly expanded on the formula, adding an overworld map screen (à la Super Mario Bros. 3), unique power-ups (collecting a carrot gives Mario bunny ears which he can use to slow his descent from a jump or fall... crazy Japaneses), a battery-backed auto-save feature, and a new villain. Wario would go on to infamy and fortune in his own spin-off series, as well as appearances in pretty much every Mario themed competitive game from 1996's Mario Kart 64, to the present, and probably well into the future. While the game itself still holds up quite well, as with the other GameBoy games on the list, it deserves to be brought out of its 15+ years of monochromatic obscurity, and into the modern era of color, hi-res gaming.

Well, that will wrap up Part I of this list. I'll return to it soon, but for a first post, I feel it would be better not to exhaust you, the reader. Aren't I nice? Stay tuned for more Video Game related editorials on "Fear The Claw's" Video Game Blog!

UPDATE: Part II is up! Click here to read it!