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IGN's top 25 Nintendo DS games under $20
That's all good, noting some established titles you can buy for cheap and even some intriguing games might not have been familiar with. The list includes True Swing Golf for $10, Disney Meteos for $15, Quest Trio for $19, Worms Open Warfare 2 for $20, Puzzle Quest for $19, Space Invaders Extreme for $19, and topping the list is Elite Beat Agents for only $7.
All good and fine. Not so much to me the comments in the rest of the article..
"We just wanted to take the opportunity to point that out to everyone, because the premise behind this entire countdown is an actual, legitimate concern -- the economy really has hit hard times recently, and we really do need to step up and act more responsibly with our spending in the world of game fandom. There are so many great games coming out all the time any more that it's become very easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of it all, and end up spending far too much far too quickly on new releases. So maybe it's wise to cool those jets a bit, and occasionally take a look back, like we have with this list.
Publishers and developers certainly want you to be able to purchase their newest products, but you're not going to be able to do that if you've run your wallet completely dry with frivolous, too-fast spending. So they're definitely not going to object to you seeking out some of their best past hits, the ones still available for sale new from respectable retailers, and supporting them instead. It's become more and more of a standard practice over the past few generations, even -- publishers re-releasing well-known hits at budget prices, encouraging continued sales for established winners by lowering the MSRP. It's a practice that's worth supporting."
- IGN Nintendo Team
'spend money on games more responsibly?'
'a practice that's worth supporting?'
..surreal.
How can they write such drivel and not mention rental services like GameFly. What a disservice.
Who says you can't play the new releases just because you can't afford to buy everything? Gamefly is the only thing you need to support. That and yourself. Renting is smarter than buying a few budget games and cheaper too, and, since the retail price of a game no longer becomes an issue, you can still play new releases on all platforms. You can even indulge your curiosity and throw heed to risk, playing games you would never play otherwise. Take that, economy.
To make my point I am going to make a list here of 10 for-real noteworthy games you can play for $16 a month. Although GameFly also carries games for PSP, Wii, Gamecube, Xbox, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3, I made my list only for DS games for some reason.
GENTLEMEN
LOOK, and BEHOLD
Everyone's wondering if The Dark Brotherhood is any good or not. Why wonder? If you're willing to play it that is. I mean that's really the only remaining obstacle when you have the entire DS library at your disposal.
So would you be willing to actuall play Sonic Chronicles? *gulp* That's a good question.
Some of these are iconic of games you keep hearing about but may never end up playing if it you did not rent them.
You don't have to worry too hard about what you can or can't do with software like Korg DS-10 Synthesizer, Jam Sessions, and the like, or how user-friendly it is. You can just go ahead and try it firsthand.
Thanks for reading.
As for me? To me at this point it seems that Mega Man X9 has no chance of being good. The only Mega Man X games in the Playstation 2 generation were Mega Man X7, Mega Man X8, and Mega Man X Command Mission. After that trauma, especially considering Mega Man X8 (the latest of the batch) it seems quite obvious to me that Capcom has absolutely no interest in making a good Mega Man X game. For one thing, the creators don't seem to care about good graphics or 3D gameplay.
If Capcom is serious about making a great Mega Man X game, they might as well put it under a new name, either make it a reboot of the series (''Mega Man X'') or a new series altogether. (''Mega Man X Adventure'' for example?) You can call it a spinoff if you'd like, only not to imply inferiority.
But knowing Capcom, a game under the name ''Mega Man X9'' is almost surely going to be a stinker. Unless of course it uses 16-bit sprites. But that's kind of sad. And I am not interested in that sort of thing.
Maverick Hunter X reviewed
You may check out my review for Mega Man Maverick Hunter X at the bottom of this page, or in the link.
If you were to look over the critical reception for Ridge Racer 2 (called Ridge Racers 2 in Japan).. a metacritic of 70.. it kind of skews what Ridge Racer 2 really is. You might actually get the impression that Ridge Racer 2 is a repackaging of the first Ridge Racer for PSP released less than two years before. And well, that's kind of why I'm here perhaps.
PSM3 Magazine UK said: "Take the original, add some barely noticeable new additions and re-release it. Great game - awful cash-in."
''Barely noticeable new additions''.. well in any case let's break down Ridge Racer 2.
The first Ridge Racer for PSP has 12 courses. Ridge Racer 2 has those same 12 courses and adds 9 new ones. That's 75% more content and 21 courses in all. (if Ridge Racer 2 is a cash in, would you then say Street Fighter 3 Third Strike is over Second Impact?) And together these 21 courses make up every course that appeared in a Ridge Racer game for the first Playstation. And with 21 courses, Ridge Racer 2, like Ridge Racer PSP, broke the record for the amount of courses in a Ridge Racer game, imagine that. (since Ridge Racer 6, released just before this, had only 15 if I have it right)
I would say that the 75% percent is almost enough to make a new game, but admittedly it's not because the 9 new courses include a few lemons.. such as two oval courses, and Phantom Mile which is literally the shortest course in the game. (though you might not realize it at first) As well as a couple of drab city courses from Ridge Racer Type 4.
However among the new courses are the expert course from Ridge Racer Revolution, properly updated with wider roads and more awesome views, and the awesome Mythical Coast the iconic course from Rage Racer.
Anyway in addition to new courses the game's soundtrack meets the ratio adding I think three new folders, at least 12-18 added tracks including more tunes from older games as well as great original remixes, these include many of the best tracks in the game and in the series. (for what that's worth in any case, hmm) And I wouldn't be mentioning this if it wasn't important.
Besides that the differences between Ridge Racer 1 and 2 are more subtle or negligible. The menu, interface, presentation, announcer, etc is unchanged, I'm sorry to say. (so this is no Street Fighter Third Strike after all) However, the cars have new paint jobs. When you pick a car, Ridge Racer 2 unlike the first does not feel the need to tell you what country was your car made in (an improvement) and the game has a better intro movie, less cheesy and much less needlessly long. Obviously, Ridge Racer 2 has new or altered circuit combinations in order to use of the new courses available in the game as well as the returning ones. And finally, although I can't be sure on this, I think the cars in Ridge Racer 2 pop their exhaust more often and is more audible, and I point this out because it's a significant improvement. (the little things... the little things)
Anyway I don't want to make it sound like I'm all defending the game, because maybe it's not perfect and maybe, just like with the Speed Racer movie, the critics know well and mean well... to an extent anyway. For one certain thing there's the obvious paradox that if you already have Ridge Racer for PSP (as you should) then Ridge Racer 2 is significantly less relevant to you since you already have more than half of the game. And if you don't have Ridge Racer for PSP, why would you import Ridge Racer for over $20 when you can throw down less than $10 for the first and see for yourself how awesome it is. So while Ridge Racer 2 is better than the first for obvious reasons, it's only the one you actually play first that will take your breath away, after that, it's like.. ok.
I suppose one could also figure that maybe Namco has purposefully left out content in the first Ridge Racer in order to make Ridge Racer 2 later on.. even though the first was received very well. What's interesting to note though is that the two Rage Racer courses in Ridge Racer for PSP do not have a road merge where the Mythical Coast would be.. it is replaced with a cliff. (twilight zone music) Thus for Ridge Racer 2 to include Mythical Coast it had to defy its own continuity.
Like the first, the game is (for me anyway) really easy, only this time with the introduction of oval courses, the learning curve is shattered by starting the game with them - races that can only be won by drifting deliberately on straightaways to fill the boost meter just to let out a string of nitros on the last stretch, the only way to overtake the First Place Guy. Still easy, the only time I am challenged is during the boss races at the end of the game, and the final you're-not-intended-to-beat-these circuits, which thankfully, is quite a filling dose of racing action. Though I wouldn't mind if the entire game was closer to them, or if more of the vehicles handled like the Hijack. (the wayward pickup supercar, and I mean wayward)
Anyway, as Ridge Racer 2 was released in Europe, Japan, Australia, but not USA, I had to buy the game from a UK seller. Anyway it was great, the game is so much fun, but I have to mention that as soon as I finished the last circuit, I put the game down for good. The game is repetitive in the sense that out of its 21 courses it repeats them a lot as it has you race many circuits, repeating the same 21 courses over in various combinations and gradually increased difficulty. I had no problem playing them.. I played and I played, but as soon as the game ran out of stuff for me to complete it was over so fast your head would spin, and I even decided to sell the game and have already done so. (Yea, lately it's been taking longer for me to get around to writing a review for a game)
To think.. if the game had even more circuits, I would continue to play exactly that much longer. But if the game had no circuits and just an arcade mode, how much longer than an hour would I play? This really brings up some very deep thoughts... about games, game design, and why we play. Could it be that I am shallow, or rather more likely that the game is shallow? If there was something more compelling in the game to keep playing it, would it really be any different from adding more arbitrary circuits to complete.
