A couple mini reviews for some mini games

Don't Look Back is a cool little poem of a game, by Terry Cavanagh.  I am an unabashed Terry Cavanagh fanboy, and have been so since I first played VVVVVV.  This latest game (latest for me-- Cavanagh produced it in 2009) is a great entry into his body of work.  With just 4 colors, a great soundtrack and basic gameplay, Don't Look Back is a compact little sonnet.  It could have been more, but it didn't have to be.  About twenty minutes in total, I recommend it. 

note:  I originally played the game on my phone, but eventually switched to playing on my computer over at Kongregate.  I just couldn't handle the touch-screen controls.  I need to play my platformers on a proper d-pad.  

Pretentious Game is right up my alley.  You can tell by the title.  The game is reminiscent of Thomas was alone and Starseed Pilgrim.  A game which uses gameplay as a metaphor, and obscure phrases as instructions.  And it features squares as characters. 

I only played the first batch of levels, as I downloaded the free version for Android.  I will probably buy the full version as they don't ask much for it.  Also available to play online at armor games.

-D

P.S.  further miniature games worth noting are:  Today I die, Grow Cube, The Crimson Room and many more.  

Playing PC Games on the 3DS.

In Dr. Potts' recent Pak Watch post, he mentioned two games that are some damn fine looking 16-bit era games reminiscent of two of my favorite series: Castlevania and The Legend of Zelda.  This got me to thinking about my recent experience with VVVVVV on the 3DS and how I know that the 3DS hardware could handle these games and how much fun they would be to play on the go.

So naturally I go to see what the possibilities are with playing existing PC games through an emulator on my 3DS.  

Apparently, there are no options.  Or at least none that I was able to find.

There is the Ri 4Gold card to play NES games on the 3DS, but that's not exactly what I was looking for.  And I am not looking to play Skyrim or Amnesia, but games that would translate well to a small screen.  Games like Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Guacamelee and Full Bore. Games like Slain and Courier of the Crypts.  Additionally, I don't think that these games have to have an official Nintendo eShop release with full 3D capabilities either (although all mentioned games modified for 3D would be admittedly pretty awesome if done correctly).

The closest thing I was able to find for was how to transfer videos from the PC to the 3DS and while that's not really what I was looking for, it might be something to look into if I get the time and brainpower to figure it all out.

So this is where I am at, at the moment.  It's not that there aren't enough good games out or coming out on the 3DS that I am starting to look to other sources, but there are games that I feel that I would enjoy a lot more if I did not have to play them on or through a PC; even if that PC is HDMI'd through the TV and I am using a controller (still looking at you Super Meat Boy).

This is apparently all that my brain can muster at the moment and rather than pad this thing out to what would visually look like enough meat for this post-sandwich, I'm going to call it and send it to the printer before anything weird starts to happen, if it hasn't happened already.

We'll see you on the flip side of a sunny-side-up egg.  Oh, and a side of house browns with a cup of coffee, black.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
[SPOILER]

Second Impressions: VVVVVV (3DS)

I say "Second" because Dr. Potts had already created a First Impressions about a year and-a-half ago, but I found it on sale through Nintendo's eShop a few weeks back for a price I couldn't refuse.  I have also been wanting to play it on my 3DS for a good long while after only being able to play it on my PC for a measly 25 minutes.  I enjoyed the game enough during the first stage in the ship, but once I left the ship I felt overwhelmed by the minimalist aspect of the game combined with the apparent size of the map as well as playing an Atari/NES era styled game on the PC.  I also felt demoralized upon finding out that the game kept track of how often I died.  

My death count was upwards of 80+ after not even 30 minutes.

I don't remember when I last played VVVVVV on the PC since Steam for some reason doesn't have that information available (maybe there's it loses track after a year of inactivity?), but when I saw it on sale in the eShop last month, I quickly picked it up.  There's just something about the 3DS handheld platform that made the game seem like it would be more approachable and somehow less intimidating.  Additionally, the 3D effect in the stills through the eShop looked good and I feel that VVVVVV lends itself very well to being converted to 3D.

While there are some differences between the 3DS port and the PC version,  such as altering the graininess of the screen, the biggest difference is that you cannot create custom levels; you can, however play other player (from where?) created levels.  It is not clear if these levels are pre installed or if you can acquire them throughout the game or if the game is updated with new user levels to play.  So far, I haven't found these differences to be detrimental to my feelings about the game or how it plays.

So far I have been having as much fun as I wanted to have in the PC version.  The controls are about as basic as it gets and the response is perfect without any lag.  The 3D effect also looks great with the backgrounds being pulled back from the Captain and the platforms in the foreground.  The music too is identical to that of the PC game and absolutely not loss in sound quality so Souleye's work can be enjoyed unhindered with the rest of the game.  I have nothing negative about this game in this format.

Enjoying VVVVVV as much as I have on the 3DS has made me wonder if I would like Super Meat Boy more than I have if I were to also have access to it on the 3DS platform.  Somehow I do not see the goriness of that game getting by Nintendo's eShop custodians, but I guess stranger things have happened, so we will just have to wait and see.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Instrumental

MIDI Week Singles: Pushing Onwards - VVVVVV (PC)

From what I remember, "Pushing onwards" is one of the first songs you hear in VVVVVV and it is what drove me to continue playing the game, albeit for only a total of 25 minutes; I know Dr. Potts, I know, I should be playing more, but that will have to come later.  But the point is, this song is golden.

"Pushing Onwards" from VVVVVV on PC, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Vita, iOS & Android (2010)

PPPPPP

Game Developer: Terry Cavanagh

Music Composed by: Souleye (aka: Magnus Pålsson)

"Pushing Onwards" is the perfect name for this song.  Whenever I'm running (which isn't too often if we're being honest) and this song comes up, I get into this unabashedly feelgood vibe where I don't care about anything else.  When the song reaches the main theme climax at 1:46 and 3:08, every time I have to jump in the air, mid run punching my fist up to the sky.  Give it a try after listening to the song a first time, try running with this song playing and try not to have smile on your face.

While the rest of the songs on PPPPPP are all very good in their own rights, "Pushing Onwards" is really the highlight of the entire album.  That is really all I have to say about the rest of the album, but we're here to focus on a single song anyways.

"Pushing Onwards" also reminds me a lot of the magnificent score from Mega Man II which then creates whatever chemical reaction happens in the brain whenever we experience positive nostalgia from our past.  That is a feeling that I hope that I will never grow out of and I am thankful that this song is able to do that for me.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Fighting With The Legends of Yore

A Nother round of flash games

So, after playing 'I wish I were the moon'  on Kongregate, I got linked to a couple of other interesting games.  One of which I had played a couple years ago, and thought was pretty cool.  That was back before this blog, and really, just when I was getting back into games.  I hadn't really heard of indie games yet, most of my gaming was done over at my friend Zor The Red's house, where we would pair up to play games like Pixel Junk Monsters or God of War II.

Somewhere, during that time, I got into flash games.  I noticed that some of these games had a definite 'artistic' bent, which worked well for the short-form of flash games.  I played some very interesting games on Kongregate, including Looming, The Majesty of Colors, I can Hold my Breath Forever.  When I started using Steam a lot more, and purchasing the Humble Bundles,  I left Kongregate behind.

Well, I'm glad I went back to Kongregate, because now I found a game called 'hero story' by Terry Cavanagh, of VVVVVV and Hexagon fame.   This game is short - very short, but does not disappoint.  In fact, this game addresses a gaming convention that I've been wanting to see challenged for a long time. There's really something to be said for these short-run games and the ability to do one small thing effectively.  I still nurture ambitions of making games of my own, and I find these Flash games inspiring to that goal.

I should also mention that all the games on Kongregate are Free.  I've linked below to some of my favorites; I haven't posted any descriptions, but recommend you have a look at them.  Each of these games presents a strong atmosphere, despite being short-run and simple.

-D  

by Terry Cavenaugh

Heroes Adventure
http://www.kongregate.com/games/TerryCavanagh_B/heros-adventure

Hexagon
http://www.kongregate.com/games/TerryCavanagh_B/hexagon

by Gregory Weir

The Majesty of Colors
http://www.kongregate.com/games/GregoryWeir/the-majesty-of-colors

Looming
http://www.kongregate.com/games/GregoryWeir/looming

by Racter

I can hold my breath forever
http://www.kongregate.com/games/racter/i-can-hold-my-breath-forever

by Daniel Ben

Today I die

http://www.ludomancy.com/games/today.php?lang=en

I wish I were the Moon
http://www.kongregate.com/games/danielben/i-wish-i-were-the-moon

Storyteller
http://www.kongregate.com/games/danielben/storyteller

Well, that was one hell of a month

Hello friends and family, anonymous readers and adver-bots.  How are you?  Welcome to August.  

I haven't done much in the video game world lately.  After reading this article, on designing difficult games, I played a few stages of Adventures of Lolo.  I also booted up VVVVVV just for shits and giggles.  That game is still fantastic.   Today a game called Papo y Yo went on super sale, so I'll have to buy it.  And a good friend - who will remain nameless, hint, hint - went and generously bought me a copy of Worms Armageddon, which I have yet to open.  I'll be getting to this stuff soon though, with all the free time I have now that I'm unemployed.

Yes, I lost my job on Thursday.  Don't worry, I wasn't alone.  Maybe 75 other people lost their jobs.  The month of July was spent wondering when this was going to happen, as the month of June was spent watching my workplace crumble while we ran around, working our asses off, but were helpless to do anything to prevent it.  It was not fun by any stretch of the imagination. 

So yeah, no job, which means no money, which means Papo y Yo will be the last game I buy for a while.  But it also means a lot more time, which, as they say is money so-- that's exciting.  I will have more time to play games and more time to write, and I plan on doing both of them, so expect to hear a lot more of me in the weeks to come.

Of course, this will only be for a little while.  I've pledged to give myself at least one week of unemployment ecstasy before I start earnestly looking for a new job.  But I may stretch it for a little longer, depending on how I feel.  I am still in the planning stages.  I hope to do some soul searching in the time between, and I really hope to not be on unemployment when my meager savings runs out.  

I did manage to catch World War Z, and it suuuuuuucked.  It was just terrible.  Pointless.  Bad dialogue, bad action, bad plot.  I really need to read the book now, because, the good news is- it's completely different! I suppose the one decent thing about the movie was that it was kind of fun to watch fast moving zombies pile up on one another.  There was a sort of concept that the zombies were just one big disease, like influenza or HIV something, and it was just these mad gobbling bacteria, moving like a single large creature.  That idea is cool, and if there had been more exposition and less wasting my time I might have enjoyed the movie.  Why are so many movies roller coaster rides now?  I do not recommend.  I do, however, recommend this fun little rewrite of the movie. 

I also saw another movie, a kid's movie from the 80s.  It was called "Cloak and Dagger" - and this one I recommend.  For one thing, there was more exposition in the first fifteen - twenty minutes than the entire World War Z movie.  Another is that Dabney Coleman is in it.  And a third thing is that the little kid actors aren't bad.  Also, it was fun, and interesting.  I really liked this movie, I recommend it.

One last bit:  I just read Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake."  I also recommend this book.  I was hooked within a couple pages.  Without giving too much away, it's a post-apocolyptic novel.  However, it also does the flashback thing.  When the flashbacks started, I was annoyed because I wanted more of the present.  Then I ended up really liking the flashback portions, and then I just wanted to do nothing else, but read this book. I would think about it while I was at work, or riding the train.   I love it when a book or game is so good that I find myself daydreaming about when I get to read it again.  Oryx and Crake - I highly recommend it.  

-D


***next day update:
I watched the movie Prometheus last night.  I'm going to spoil a little bit of it by describing the plot flow.  But that's all I'll spoil.  Anyhow, at the beginning, the movie takes its time, and I really appreciate it.  The scenery is beautiful, and the character introduced is likeable and interesting.  The movie progresses slowly until about halfway through, when the action picks up.  At this point things seem to change so fast, and characters start throwing out conclusions, and performing actions that don't seem to have justifications.  It's very strange that a movie that showed so much patience would ultimately show too little.  Anyhow, I recommend the first 30 minutes or so, but I can't really recommend the rest.  

A Picture and a Link

Check out this Mortal Kombat ad! Here's where I lifted it from:  

It8bit is a cool video game blog with a nice design aesthetic.  There's neat retro ads like the one above, and a section dedicated to indie games, including some of my favorites:  VVVVVV, Abobo's Big Adventure, and one I plan on playing soon - To the Moon. Also a preview of a new game called Riot that looks exciting and interesting.  

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Let's take a moment to reflect on the above advertisement. Apart from being kind of awesome, I want to establish some context. Mortal Kombat was a turning point in video game violence.  Prior to this, blood was something games tiptoed around, even games where the point of the game was to shoot people, or beat them into submission.  Still - not much in the way of blood.  Mortal Kombat had more blood in one punch than almost every previous game combined.  Its popularity led to the founding of the Entertainment Software Rating Board.  

But this is how they chose to advertise it?  Look at those kids, they're tiny, and still wearing gaudy 80's styles! Great scared expressions though. The tagline, while mentioning that it will hurt, also focuses on the game being 'so real.'  I guess this is a tip to the rendered photo graphics style.  But come on, the game was about blood and guts!  And generally pretty hokey looking gore, to tell you the truth, but gore nonetheless.  

I sometimes wonder how they even got the game into the arcades, and based on this advertising, I imagine they just, sort of, didn't mention the unprecedented levels of bloody violence.  Meh? 

========

Thanks again to J.P.Bruneau for originally pointing me to this image. Go check out his tumblr, there's a link to an upcoming game called 'riot' that looks really.. wow!    

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oh, and here's a goofy little image mod I did for the blog:
-D

Year in Review: Game Soundtracks

When thinking over the last year, since we started this blog, there's a few video game soundtracks this year that have gotten, and sometimes held, my attention.  Some are new, some are old, here are the video game soundtracks I've been listening to:

PPPPPP  (VVVVVV)
Souleye

VVVVVV soundtrack is fantastic.  The music really plays well into this game, helping to enhance the sensation of different atmospheric regions in a game that is very minimal, graphically. Case in point being the first time you leave the ship and go into the more open regions. The song for that region is sort of big and adventure-y. I got a feeling of invitation to explore, like in a zelda or metroid game.

I enjoyed PPPPPP so much that it spent a couple months of regular play on my  mp3 player.  Thank you to the Humble Bundles for including soundtracks as a regular feature of purchase.  What a great business model!

I've checked out some of SoulEye's other work, and unfortunately I haven't enjoyed it as much as PPPPPP.  This may be due to the sounds not having that 'lo-fi' edge, or it may be that the songs don't have an association with a game-environment, which has made the songs of PPPPPP more personal.

Bastion Original Sountrack

Darren Korb


the Bastion soundtrack is a really cool atmospheric blend of acoustic guitar and electronic music. I recommend this one, and I've listened to it a number of times.  The atmospheric blend of acoustic and electronic music works really well when I've got my mp3 player on random.  I feel like the moody grooves of the Bastion soundtrack will have a wide-reaching and long-lasting appeal.

I didn't play much of Bastion because it doesn't run that well on my computer - lots of slowdown.

Proteus Worms Present:  Nodeland Dreams and Memories (Proteus)
David Kanaga

Proteus soundtrack is very involved with the gameplay.  I don't think of it as something I'd want to put on my mp3 player to listen to at work - except, that might actually work.  Ideally, I would want recordings of someone actually playing the game, rather than some sort of generic soundtrack-thing or remix, a-la bit.trip.runner.  I believe Jaconion will be bringing more on that game's soundtrack to you.

This album is just one, ten-minute track, and was free to download with the game purchase at humblebundle.com - I've only just downloaded it, so I can't review it as a stand-alone item until I've given it a few listens.  I enjoy gushing about all things Proteus, so I'll be sure to give due attention to this soundtrack.

==========================

A couple classic soundtracks that have been bouncing around in my mp3 player:

Mega Man I
Manami Matsumae & Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Mega Man II
Takashi Tateishi, Manami Matsuma & Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Mega Man III
Yasuaki Fujita

These sountracks are, like the games themselves, classic action game soundtracks.  Mega Man II gets lots of love, and it is well deserved.  Megaman III is nearly as good, but seems to have learned everything it knows from II.  I also has some catchy tunes, particularly Iceman, imo, and is interesting because the mold had not been settled yet on what Mega Man was to be.  (It even had a score)

Many thanks to my esteemed colleague, Jaconian, for turning me on to these and many other 8-bit soundtracks.  Without his hard work and research and others like him, I would have no idea how available video game music can be.  

Secret of Mana
Hiroki Kikuta

I really love the secret of Mana sountrack.  This one returns to rotation again and again.  I can just look at the cover art and listen to the soundtrack and I am brought to a happy place.  What I wouldn't give for an online remake of this game.

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Honorable Mention:  I downloaded the Super Brothers - Sword and Sworcery EP - soundtrack, by Jim Guthrie,  but I haven't actually listened to it.  Just one of those things I haven't gotten around to doing.  This doesn't bode well for the soundtrack - which initially made a good impression on me.  If I do end up listening to, and enjoying these songs, I'll be sure to post about it here.

First Impressions: VVVVVV

So, on this lovely, windy, Saturday morning, I decided to give VVVVVV a shot. Played for 45 mins. I was very pleased with what I found.

1. Minimalism: this game has got it. Good Minimalism. For Example: 
2. There are four buttons. Left, Right, Action, Menu. That is all. 
3. It looks like something between an Atari 2600 game and an NES game, which I realize may be a wider field that I previously gave it credit for. 
4. Level design. This game has got it! And it is informed by the minimalism. I am consistently stimulated by each screen. This game keeps me on my toes. The designers don't seem to have any trouble keeping it interesting within the limits they've set. 
5. Fine touches. This game has a number of little, not terribly important things, that add depth to the game. I really appreciate it. 
6. And it's got a kickin' soundtrack too! 

-D