Riskbreaker's HardestLevel

What was your first FPS?

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:02:44 GMT

It's heartbreaking we'll never see GoldenEye on the Virtual Console or Xbox Live Arcade. With updated HD graphics, dual analog control and matchmaking I imagine that game would've seen a monumental rebirth and a whole new audience weaned on Halo and Call of Duty.

Although I imagine GoldenEye 007 was the first first-person-shooter for many of us here. It was definitely the first I remember having a good time with. Sure, multiplayer was a bust most of the time, Oddjob made sure of that, but the staggering amount of content in the single player mode was a revelation at the time. Various difficulty modes with differing objectives, cheat codes, branching paths, easter eggs... Man. Fun times.

What was your first FPS? Was it GoldenEye? Wolfenstein? Dark Forces? Let's hear it.

Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story or Scribblenauts?

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:10:30 GMT

Scribblenauts, as described by Wikipedia: Scribblenauts is an exclusively side-scrolling game controlled almost entirely with the Nintendo DS stylus, with the D-pad controlling the camera and the left and right shoulder buttons rotating objects. The player controls a character named Maxwell, who must collect objects called "Starites". Maxwell is guided by tapping the touchscreen, or if the player taps an object, Maxwell will pick it up or be given other options for interacting with that object, such as riding a horse or bicycle or shooting at an object if he holds a weapon.

A fundamental element of Scribblenauts is the ability of the player to summon myriad objects into the game. This is achieved by writing the name of an object on the touchscreen (or via keypad). For example, the player can write "ladder", summoning a ladder, which the player may use to climb to an out-of-reach Starite. The player may turn the ladder on its side and set it on fire. Summoned objects also range among animals, weapons, forces of nature, famous people (both fictional and real), vehicles, household objects, Easter eggs of the development team, and even internet memes.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, as described by Wikiwhatever: It is the third game in the Mario & Luigi series, following Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. ... As a part of the Mario & Luigi series, the game includes new features such as mini-games and the ability to play as Bowser and use his own unique battle system, which allows players to hold the DS sideways and use the touchscreen and microphone to perform special moves.

Mario and Luigi are found together inside Bowser for the first part of the game, exploring a 2-D platform-style environment. However, battles are still turn based, and are initiated by touching enemies. Bowser explores the Mushroom Kingdom in a 3/4 overhead-view world, much like previous Mario & Luigi games. After a certain point in the game, Mario & Luigi can go outside of Bowser's body to explore the overworld as well. They can then use pipes to return to the inside of Bowser's body.

Both sound like weird, fun games. I mean, pipes leading into Bowser's insides?! But let's say you only got the budget for one: Which will it be?

Heart Gold/Soul Silver - Ultimate Pokemon Game?

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:28:13 GMT

It's out in Japan and word is coming out: It's frakkin' awesome.

Take the word of my pal who imported Soul Silver. He gave me a rundown of all the game's new features and, if I may be so bold, it sounds like the best Pokemon game there could be. Here's what he let me know:

The game is about speed, speed, speed. EVERYTHING is faster. Menu navigation is faster. Saving is faster. Moving is faster. Everything is much more convenient now. You don't even have to use the buttons. There's a designated A button on the touch screen for talking to NPCs and investigating the environment. The running shoes can be turned on and off via the touch screen, too. And the menu is always there on the touch screen! One second you're walking, and the next you're healing Totodile with a potion.

The item menu has been improved dramatically. There are shortcuts to the item sections so you don't have to cycle through them, and you can cycle through all your items in a flash simply by tapping arrow keys. You flip from page to page to get what you need.

The Pokedex is also more convenient. You just slide it open and you've got everyone in view. You don't move from one page to another, everything's there. You just tap a Pokemon and it instantly appears with its data on the top screen, no transitions or anything. It doesn't even make its cry unless you want it to

And when you want to check Pokemon locations? Instead of dragging the sun from one place to another, which was neat, you just tap the morning, day or night buttons and it shows you not only where they can be found on the map, but the names of those locations as well.

The Pokemon selection screen is also very convenient. They combine the Pokemon selection screen and summary screens into one thing. The top screen shows a Pokemon's stats and ability, while the bottom shows its moves. There are two other buttons, too, one for its general data like where it was caught and its nature, and another for its ribbons. You can instantly switch between one Pokemon and another by tapping it. They're all accessible all the time on the right half of the touch screen. Switching Pokemon around is a matter of dragging and dropping.

The PC is also much easier to use, dragging and dropping and instantly jumping from one box to another via touch screen.

And the music! A big change from the originals, they rearranged everything.

The original tune

The new version

Can you taste the difference?

They added lots of environmental sounds too. You can tell whether you're walking on grass, sand or gravel and you can hear the water when you stand near it. The background music even quiets down to make way for it making for a great deal of immersion.

Also, as initial screens and footage show, your partner's out of its Pokeball all the time -- whichever one's at the head of your team. You can talk to it, and its responses are quite amusing, and different each time. Sometimes it appears cheerful, sometimes confused, sometimes distressed, sometimes annoyed, sometimes curious ... Depends on what you've been up to.

Taking a cue from EarthBound, there are some places where you can take group pictures with your whole team out of their Pokeballs. As you go through the game, you find these places occasionally where the opportunity will arise. You can even take pictures with gym leaders later in the game, and they'll want to trade with you and challenge you again with Pokemon from every generation on their teams!

Of course, the game features all of Platinum's Wi-Fi improvements including the Global Terminal for battle videos and such, and the battle frontier, unchanged from Platinum. So Heart Gold/Soul Silver players can do everything with Platinum players!

Phew, think we're finished? All nine starters from the first three generations can be obtained, too, and all the places they removed from Gold and Silver that were present in Red and Blue are back. So you will see all of Kanto (first generation -- Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander, Misty, Brock and the gang) in all its glory, intact in Heart Gold/Soul Silver. HELL YEAHH!!

There! Sounds stellar, doesn't it? Spring 2010 can't come soon enough. We've had a few Poke-articles here at Hardest Level, so, still excited? Or does Pokemon still need more features and improvements?

Sonic the Hedgehog Returns to 2D?

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:05:22 GMT

Video Games | Project Needlemouse (Working Title) | Debut Teaser HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

My prayers have been answered.

So far. It's foolish to hope when it comes to Sonic these days, but maybe, MAYBE this vague trailer means we're getting a 2D, hi-def Sonic game on the way.

Oh, wait! Sega’s Ken Ballough, associate brand manager at Sega, confirms via GameSpot that we ARE getting a new 2D, hi-def Sonic game, dubbed Project Needlemouse!

GameSpot: Why did Sega decide to bring Sonic back to 2D? Did the success of Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure play a part?

Ken Ballough: Old-school Sonic fans have long asked to see Sonic return to a more 2D style of gameplay. Many liked the daytime stages in Unleashed but wanted to see a game that plays purely similar to the early games of the Genesis. Project Needlemouse is that critical first step that brings Sonic back to his 2D roots.

GS: What can you tell us about the game?

KB: I can tell you it’s a brand new 2D adventure coming out in 2010, it’s in HD, and to definitely stay tuned.

GS: With HD makeovers of classic games being popular right now, can we expect the game to use chunky old-school sprites or hi-res HD sprites?

KB: You can definitely expect HD graphics.

OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, SEGA. Now let's see some actual footage!

What do you think? Could this be a grand glorious return to form? Or is Sonic gone for good?

Ten Years of Sega Dreamcast

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:28:24 GMT

The Dreamcast came out on 9/9/99. It was such fertile ground for core gaming, it ushered in a whole new generation a year before Sony's PlayStation 2 debut. Amazing games came out every week for a while, including tons of innovative stuff from Capcom, Sega's in-house developers and several others. Though it lived a scant two years its influence is still felt today.

The rundown of the greatest games on Sega's final hardware effort, many of which are available on other platforms now:

Space Channel 5, the rhythm game that featured a fantastic 60s-inspired aesthetic and a bizarre cameo from Michael Jackson. The challenge comes from the lack of an onscreen marker for the music, so you really need to have rhythm to play. The game's music-loving director, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, would go onto make Rez, Meteos and the Lumines series of games. Rumor has it he also convinced Yoko Ono to get The Beatles Rock Band off the ground ...

Sonic Adventure, the last game Sonic fans could be proud of. It stars Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, a fishing cat named Big and a robot with a cool theme song. It marks the beginning of Robotnik's unfortunate name change to Eggman, as well as the series' charming penchant for cheesy butt rock. If Sonic could be this good again it would be a tiny miracle.

Seaman, a sim-life game that has you form a relationship with a disturbing man-fish via microphone. The man-fish would often reply with biting insults. Leonard "Spock Prime" Nimoy guides you through the bizzaro experience with soothing voiceovers. The guys behind the classic You Don't Know Jack games wrote all the dialogue. Understandably, there's no sequels.

Samba de Amigo, a rhythm game that came with motion-sensing maracas, years before anyone thought of Guitar Hero or Wii. Despite consisting mostly of Latin pop songs like "Macarena" and "Livin' La Vida Loca" the maraca-shaking proved pretty popular at parties. Naturally, there's a Wii version out now.

Jet Grind Radio, an urban graffiti action game surrounds rebellious Japanese youth, long before The World Ends With You or Persona 3 & 4 made (some) gamers fall in love with the Shibuya style. Colorful, clever, smooth, it's practically the poster child for the Dreamcast's Apple-like reputation for slick visuals and cool music. And the "cel shading" technique, which makes Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and all those Naruto games look so animated, started here.

Soulcalibur, the game that (re)started the fabled fighting franchise long before it jumped the shark (with, uh, No. 2). Hailed as the greatest fighter of all time by various publications at the time, it pushed the boundaries for what video games could look like on consoles. It could be said the Dreamcast version of Soulcalibur helped spell the end for arcades since it was far superior to its popular quarter-munching counterpart. Sure enough, many other arcade mainstays made their way to Sega's system: Crazy Taxi, House of the Dead 2, Cannon Spike, Virtual On, Dead or Alive 2 and dozens others ...

... Including Project Justice, Street Fighter III, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, which cemented the Dreamcast as the system to own for better-than-arcade-perfect fighting games. While most of them have been ported to other systems in recent years, some of them -- in particular, Capcom's marvelous Project Justice -- can't be found anywhere else.

Chu Chu Rocket, a quirky multiplayer puzzle game that relies on quick reflexes and creative thinking. A classic case for strong, simple design. Not all games have to be super hi-def shootin' extravaganzas. Insane commercials from Japan help too. Though a Game Boy Advance port was eventually released, a new Nintendo WiiWare version with online multiplayer and user-created maps would be fantastic, no?

Phantasy Star Online, the console world's first viable online multiplayer RPG. Many players spent hundreds of hours logged on with their friends, and this was back when all anyone had were 56K modems. The game helped pave the way for online multiplayer games on consoles, something that wouldn't take off until the first Xbox. The original PSO still lives on private servers, and there are several sequels, a PC version and a DS installment coming out later this year.

Shenmue, an often too-realistic RPG with gorgeous graphics and immersive gameplay that set the bar for the decade to come. Decked out with excessive detail, it was possible to explore inside every drawer in every house in the game. Otherwise, players controlled Ryo Hazuki to avenge his father's murder. Yu Suzuki, the guy behind Virtua Fighter and Space Harrier, envisioned Shenmue as a sprawling, epic series though, sadly, the venture proved too expensive to continue, leaving Ryo's story at a cliffhanger at the end of Shenmue II for the original Xbox. Though fans have every right to cry bitter tears, they can find solace that Shenmue helped spawn games like Grand Theft Auto III and Yakuza. Even now, rumors of a possible Shenmue III still pop up.

Oh, let's not forget the VMU, a hybrid memory card Tamagotchi-like device with a tiny screen, D-pad and buttons that could play mini-games on the go and display important information when locked into the controller. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver's PokeWalker looks like the closest cousin to it.

The Dreamcast was a terrific machine. There are video game consoles and there are video game consoles, y'know? Twas a short time, but I knew happiness with you, Dreamcast! You gave me a lifetime's worth of lovely gaming.

Did you own one or play any of the games above? Any favorites? What's your Dreamcast experience?

9/9/09 - The Beatles Rock Band

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:32:03 GMT

It ships today. Everyone except actual games sites are hyping it. Who knows, it could be spectacular.

Will you get it?

Or are you an Elvis person?

(5) Games of Summer

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:24:15 GMT

Summer ... Fanciful, fleeting, fragile. Finished.

Labor Day weekend marks the official end of summer. We may get a nice heat wave until Halloween here in New York City -- if the past six or so of unseasonal weather are any indication -- otherwise it's Autumn, baby. A bittersweet time for most, a time to snap out of fantasy and plunge back into backbreaking reality.

Sigh.

It was a wet and balmy summer here. Lots of rain, loads of hair-curling humidity. Kind of lousy actually, not exactly beach weather. But that's okay! There was plenty of time for the vidya.

In case you're interested, here's what I played Summer of '09.

Mother 3

Summer is always a good time for a good book or a good RPG. Mother 3, the sequel to SNES cult classic EarthBound (a.k.a. Mother 2), excels for the quality of its abundant, carefully-crafted dialogue. The word is a powerful tool, and although story and dialogue isn't the most important thing for a video game it's amazing how a writer that can actually write can enhance an already good game.

It's strange, funny and heartrending. It's about family, society, science, utopia ... it's got phantasms, drag queens, sex, drugs and rock and roll -- the battle system is half-RPG, half-rhythm game, and it works wonderfully. Underneath the cartoony, child-like candy coating lies a rich, dark, bittersweet center. It's packed with so much detail it's daunting to take it all in one playthrough -- the game is swift too, as far as RPGs go, 20-30 hours depending on how leisurely you play. And you should play leisurely to soak in every word and graphic. If you can find the English translation online I can't recommend this masterpiece highly enough.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

Never expected to get sucked into this beast of a game. It's everything Capcom does well -- cutesy humor, gorgeous graphics, catchy music, rage-inducing reflex-based gameplay ... Oh, the rage. Monsters will kill you. And kill you, and kill you, and kill you. It's an old-school sensibility (memorizing enemy patterns, timing attacks carefully) married with new-school technology. With 11 weapons to master, dozens of things to do (fish! cook! mine! combine items!) and hundreds of quests to embark upon, it's guaranteed to keep me busy for the next several summers. It's an incredible package. Besides Pokemon, Monster Hunter is one of the most robust portable experiences out there. I think I finally understand why Japan's so obsessed with it.

Vanguard Princess

Another gorgeous game to look at, Vanguard Princess may be a little pervy since every character's a busty female, buuuuut I wouldn't let that bother you. C'mon, it's a free, downloadable fighting game for the PC! And it's good! And rumor has it (this game is woefully devoid of any translated background info) it's all made by one guy, Tomoaki Sugeno, who's apparently an ex-Capcom employee. Well, no wonder! It's a solid fighter with a nice Assist Partner system and plenty of terrific animation, music and style. When I tire of fighting Sagat and Ken online Street Fighter 4 this is a welcome break.

inFamous

The best non-license superhero open-world game there is, and it's lasted me all summer. A well-polished game from every angle, this is a game I can play for hours and not realize the amount of time gone by. It's got everything a good sandbox game ought to have: Fluid controls, atmospheric music, magnificent comic book-style cutscenes (that are short and to the point) and actual mission variety -- can you believe that, actual variety in a sandbox game for once? And the enemies are friggin' evil shots, man. They don't miss! They pose a challenge! Gaining new lightning abilities is a blast (hurr hurr), too. All in all, it's everything a video games should be: Fun, fun, fun.

Dissidia Final Fantasy

I had my doubts about this one ... And, actually ... It's not too bad. It presents a nice challenge. Not quite a fighting game, not quite an RPG, it plays something like Power Stone or Smash Bros. There are Smash Ball-like EX Cores you need to get to execute special attacks, and there are Brave Points you have to bash out of your opponent in a tug-of-war-like fashion first before you can deal real Hit Point damage. Knowing when to dodge and dash is important too. Could it be, Dissidia requires timing and precision?! Some actual skill?! This is most troublesome ... Nevermind whatever a "Dissidia" is, this game makes me like Final Fantasy again. Plus, Kefka and Terra from Final Fantasy 6? Booyaka!

Also dabbled with: Pokemon Platinum, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Chrono Trigger DS, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Ikaruga and plenty of StarCraft and Left4Dead.

So how did you spend your summer, dear readers? What did you play? Anything new? Anything old? Anything blue?

Let's hear it.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Too Gorgeous?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:15:54 GMT

Video Games | Muramasa: The Demon Blade | Preview HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Out next week, Muramasa: The Demon Blade for the Wii promises beautiful, colorful graphics and 2D demon-slashing gameplay you wouldn't expect to see in this era of first-person gritty, high-definition space marines shooting alien Nazi zombies. Sporting a fantasty-fueled fuedal Japan aesthetic unseen since Okami or Pocky and Rocky, Muramasa looks like it could be a sleeper hit if it delivers fun as good as it looks.

By all means, check out the GameTrailers.com preview above if your eyes like delightful, beautiful imagery. If they don't, well, I suppose something like Kane & Lynch is more your speed.

What do you think? Is Muramusa, a hardcore-targeted action game for the Wii, destined for sleeper status or will it just get lost in the wind like so many other games that tried the same?

PlayStation Network Owners Are 28, Male, Affluent, Educated, Watch Chick Flicks

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:42:54 GMT

Eric Lempel, director of the U.S. PlayStation Network, revealed to Variety’s Video Business that the PSN has 12.5 million registered users in North America, and that most users are educated males in their late twenties who apparently have girlfriends if the type of movies rented are any indication.

“Right now [the userbase] it’s primarily male. The average age is 28 years old, in usually the middle- to higher-income range. They over-index against those with graduate degrees. But it’s expanding,” he said. “What we’re finding ever since we’ve introduced services like the video download service, we’re getting more of the household on the PlayStation Network.

“Some of the top rentals and sales on the video side have been content that probably doesn’t appeal exactly to that 28-year-old male. It’s more those movies that are geared toward women.”

So, PS3 and PSP owners. Do you fit the lovely description? Or are you a slovenly, single Xbox user?

Would You Pay for Blizzard's New Battle.net?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:05:10 GMT

That's the question weighing on the minds of everyone waiting for StarCraft 2. It's popped back up recently thanks to this GamesIndustry article about Blizzard CEO Paul Sams looking into "all sorts of possibilities" for consumers to interact with Battle.net.

As it is now, Battle.net is a simple lobby/matchmaking service used for all of Blizzard's games, including the original StarCraft, Diablo 2 and World of Warcraft. Blizzard's reconstruction of Battle.net from the ground-up has been cited as the major reason for StarCraft 2's delays.

CEO Sams doesn't outright say they will charge a subscription fee for the new service but considering the millions of players still paying for a five-year-old grindfest like World of Warcraft it's not a stretch to believe Blizzard will start charging for what used to be free.

I would like to play Starcraft 2, but now that I have to get two other "expansions" -- sure to be fully-priced -- to fully experience the game, and now that there's no LAN support, I'm not so sure I care anymore. If they're gonna start nickel-and-diming Battle.net as well, well then, forget about it. There are other games to play.

Besides, who's to believe Blizzard hasn't made enough money to host free good Battle.net servers?

What say you? If Blizzard charges a subscription fee for Battle.net will you still flock to their side?

Bonus Round: For that matter, don't you think it's time for Microsoft to quit charging for Xbox Live?