There has been some commotion over Sonic Black Knight, and Matt Casamassina's review of the game. (the IGN review) All the hoopla stirred my mind apparently because this week I dreamt that there was a Sonic game on CDi, one that very few people knew much about (if anyone even knew it existed)... at least not until Matt Cassamassina wrote an article about it.
In the dream I had already played the game (possibly after reading the article) and it was very reminiscent of the Zelda CDi games. Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, were all fully voiced in it, voiced cutscenes, it was side scrolling, there was virtually no speed, and the villain was some human sorcerer. It was a pretty jank game, probably as bad as the Zelda CDi games. But what was the most startling about Sonic CDi was that -Sonic turned into a werehog in it-. (perhaps by the work of the villain) This revealing the fact that the idea, and yes, even the character design of the werehog in Sonic Unleashed -was ripped directly out of the Sonic CDi game-.
In the IGN article by Matt, he points out that cIassic Sonic went out the window at that point. He points out that the Sonic CDi game was, as a matter of fact, intended to be the basis for all of the future of the Sonic series. He writes that the first of this we've seen in Sonic Adventure - previously thought to be the first Sonic to introduce fully voiced characters, more humans, adventure fields, etc. A game where gameplay and originality took a back seat to franchising the characters and appealing to little kids.
Matt went on to say that the Sonic series's firm ties to Sonic CDi to this day is what's to blame for the state of the series. Matt also says that the only game to break this mold came right on the heels of Sonic CDi: Sonic 3D Blast. According to him, Travellers Tales had the right idea, he writes, due to its lack of voice and the cIassic styIe of the environments the game was ''a step in the right direction.''
Wow.
you may read
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.
