idontwantthis

idontwantthis 24 Sep 2024 23:41

"Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back": Far more improved in control and level flow, CB2 is far more approachable than its predecessor even with its intent to make the game more difficult. The graphics feel notably more downplayed than in 1, though I could be incorrect in my recollections of the levels.

The "no death" limit is done away with, making gems far more easier to collect comparably, even with some levels having far more fiendishly hidden crates and colored gems. A very fun time though, though this sets' challenge achievements feel a mite unfun at points. Still a worthwhile game to play and 100%.

idontwantthis 12 Dec 2024 22:45

Luigi's Mansion: Launch title of the Gamecube and Luigi's first solo game. A game that, while short, doesn't overstay its welcome with the mechanics and boss fights. Its focus on gathering ghosts with a secondary objective of getting as much money as possible makes for a fun romp through to the end. It's also the start of fleshing out Luigi more as his own character, now making more of a mark rather than being a green Mario. Really, his cowardice in this game alone helps make him something that could be seen as more of a genuine character than Mario, who has fallen hard into the mascot syndrome of being seen as having no personality beyond being the funny bing-bing wahoo man.

Of the Mario cast, Luigi has definitely had more going on for him both in the Luigi's Mansion titles and Mario & Luigi series, a role sparsely shared by the intermittent characterization of Bowser and Wario, the former only rarely getting a character that isn't big dumb monster while the latter is stuck in party games yelling his name and farting.

I also checked out the Beta Restoration, which as of writing has been demoted due to instability of the Dolphin emulator, and the Sweet Home hack. Beta Restoration was neat with the ideas it had starting out, but the vacuum having a limiter on how long you could use it probably would've brought more annoyance in a full-playthrough than the brief snippet I played. Sweet Home was a fun mini-challenge, also hosting its own Hard Mode akin to the Reverse Mansion in the base game. Was fun, and its simplicity warrants the short playtime of all three sets, which made it breezy to play and complete.

idontwantthis 12 Dec 2024 22:54

Pikmin & Pikmin 2: Brainchild of Miyamoto and another entry in the "I guess it's an RTS because you're controlling multiple units but it's so out of usual convention that it's really more of its own thing" genre. Both games have a very endearing atmosphere, accomplished through its design and music, that makes it very easy to get lost in the expansive world. Pikmin 1 focuses more on time management while 2 is resource-based, the latter utilizing caves as one-shot runs to the end with both choosing the necessary Pikmin and keeping them alive to the end barring any breaks given to you. That said, the latter is both surprisingly very fair while also leaning towards unfair in how it handles its caves and combat encounters. It isn't something worthwhile to make an entire rant video about and making it seem like God himself is trying to kill you at every given turn, especially when the game saves on every floor entry and makes it very easy to reset given any mishaps; but it does happen often enough to raise an eyebrow. I wouldn't at all say 2 is difficult or warrants any grinding, "peculiar" is the best way to describe it all.

Regardless, 2 I think builds on the series in the best way possible through its Piklopedia and Treasure Catalog, giving voices to the characters to detail their thoughts and flesh both them and the setting they live in. It also scratches a specific itch that I feel collectathons are usually lacking in, that being unique collectibles, while also giving off the vibe of being a genuine scavenger or treasure hunter. It always makes me interested in seeing what else will be found, both enemy and treasure, and how Olimar and crew might detail them.

idontwantthis 12 Dec 2024 23:01

Wario World: While a weak game overall, it alongside the Wario Land series are the last games to actually make Wario a character. To give better context, the WarioWare games are literally made with him in it just as a fill-in character, and it almost feels that way just by how he's presented in the game. It's closer to a Rhythm Heaven game with its "characters" and with just about as much characterization. The Land and World games however utilize his character and tie it directly into the gameplay, though more so in Land with the way he interacts and behaves in those games. In World, he's a thuggish brute that punches and dive-bombs enemies, all the while spouting out catch phrases. It's barely a step up from WarioWare, but it is a notable position regarding his current position as Mario Party cast filler. The game itself is fine. A lot of people note how weird it is compared to traditional Mario games, namely in its off-putting enemy design, but that's about as far as it goes. Besides, the weirdness is very standard in just the Land games, though it experiments a lot more with its gameplay than World does. Not great, not terrible. As Wario says when eating garlic, OK.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 00:50

Chibi-Robo: Much like Pikmin in its "IGIARTSBYCMUBISOOUCTIRMOIOT" genre, I feel like it's hard to pin down exactly where Chibi-Robo stands. It has platforming elements, but they're not the focus. It's *sorta* a collectathon, but it's also not under usual convention that most collectathons operate to the point that I feel like it's like saying Tarkov is a collectathon. Adventure really is the best way to describe it, as horrifically generic as the genre is. It's hard to pen down what exactly is the main gameplay loop, especially when it LOOKS like it's cleaning but you can very quickly get yourself to a point where you no longer get anything out of cleaning.

The level design as a character smaller than a mobile phone is very fun, and the characters and their story make it worthwhile to go through from beginning to end. The accompanying music and sound effects make every action have impact in some small way, giving every action their own tune and stinger. Very charming and very worthwhile to play.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 00:55

"The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess": Strange game that I feel like was held back by its environment design and emphasis on "realism". It's very fun and lighthearted at points, betraying the "grim, gritty realism" that I feel was mainly associated with the game from an outside view; but there isn't anywhere in the game I can look at and think "Ooh yeah, that's Twilight Princess" beyond a few select locations.

Surprisingly, Midna was a standout character that I feel really pushed the boundaries of "partner character" stories and had a pretty nice progression from her being bratty and vain to genuinely caring and heroic in heart and mind. Feels like a shame that it fell by the wayside in future Zelda games. Was a bit long and some collectibles were a little annoying to do, but it's not that bad of a thing to go through. I liked the story and characters, though I think I heard somewhere how this is a rehash of Ocarina of Time, which I'll have to play to see for myself whether or not that rings true.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 01:06

Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure: It's weird that I feel like I have more to say about this than Twilight Princess or most other games before. It's the star topic of an AVGN episode ripping into the lackluster minigames and presentation, but I feel like this represents a bygone era of video games where they were still truly seen as disposable media. By all means they ARE considering how poorly archival of games are, both old and new with many locked away on online servers to die and be forever inaccessible, but not to the point where you would make advertisements out of games.

These types of "disposable" games I feel can be seen in direct advertisement of products like Pepsi, McDonalds, or Burger King; locations like Universal Studios, or tie-ins to soon-to-release movies. The latter can be made with more care to it, but the former advertisement games are just as much of a one-and-done deal like commercials on the TV are. They shell out some cash for a quick and cheap game, throw it out into the market like bait for fish, and hope it makes them want to go to the thing they're trying to sell to you. It's almost a fascinating time piece when something so dated and intended to disappear from the market maybe a year or so after release is preserved and able to be played many years after the fact. It might be likely that some of the rides they're advertising no longer exist, leaving just a weird glimpse into the past on what you could ride if you buy a ticket now and beg your parents to go to Orlando, Florida. I wonder if this game succeeded in whatever goals they had in mind. Surely it was cheaper than buying advertisement slots for a limited time on a set amount of channels. You make the game, it's out and ready to be played by anyone and everyone who has a Gamecube, saving millions in costs. Truly a revolutionary idea that can't fail.

Or it did fail because the game sucks.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 01:19

LEGO Star Wars I and II: The game that kept Traveller's Tales from going under, creating a massive empire that doesn't seem to ever end. The first game laid the groundworks for it all, but it is surprising what was and wasn't a series mainstay from the very beginning and what was added into the second title. It's a very charming set of games that tell the story of Star Wars well while embodying the childlike whimsy of LEGO, even managing to set up scenes and jokes nicely with characters that cannot speak.

The collection aspect is nice and brisk, though it usually requires playing the levels a minimum of three times to collect everything. The second playthrough isn't too annoying, but the Super Story where you shotgun an entire episode in one go to get one Golden Brick does raise an eyebrow. It is very fun seeing the characters and vehicles made of LEGO in a non-LEGO environment, giving off a lighthearted take on the first six movies while still utilizing familiar environments that can arguably be used for non-LEGO settings. On a slightly related note, I did think it was funny seeing what levels were available for the Prequel movies considering how many of them barely change locations or were slowed down by long, dry talks in an area that doesn't warrant adventure like the original trilogy. It's a completely different vibe compared to the variety in the second game. If I had to draw a comparison, it would be like if more than a good half of an Indiana Jones movie was set in closed doors with civil discussions, with all of the action happening at the very end; so then a LEGO game would have maybe one level set before all of the big action, and the rest spread out in that one sliver all set in the same location.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 01:31

MediEvil: Another iffy to pin-down game in the similarly ever-dubious "Action-Adventure" genre, it's a grim and goofy story about a false hero rising beyond death to the call of action to stop the villain that history falsely acclaimed his defeat by said hero. Truly a Halloween game to the core with its atmosphere, character designs, and levels; and I love it for it.

MediEvil is an odd franchise that consists of MediEvil 1, its sequel, and two remakes. It's somehow still a notable name for some, especially in the "classic lineup" of Playstation games, but it never feels as though it ever met its full potential. The PSP remake was a shift in tone and joke delivery, ultimately condemning it to hibernation until ANOTHER remake for the PS4 that unfortunately went the way of most other modern remakes have: all in the service of a quick buck. You take the fun toy out, dust it off a bit to capitalize on nostalgia, then put it back in the toy box. Crash Bandicoot in all likelihood could be blamed for this ongoing process, namely due to its rampant success with the trilogy release and its under-performance with the fourth game.

To studios, that might as well be as big of an establishment of precedent as court decisions in American law. Make a lot of money with a remake, make very little with anything new. You can point fingers anywhere regarding if it's the consumer, the developer, or the studio's fault, but that seems to be the way of things. Risk is no longer an acceptable measure when you have a hundred yes-men whispering that they can guarantee profit if you stay within your lane. As much as I would like a MediEvil 3, especially one made by the original creator and those in the team that made it so special; I fear that it will never get a chance to even be made. Even then, it's unlikely it would ever be made by him regardless, but instead thrown to a different team. In that regard, much like many other long-living franchises of today, sometimes dead is better.

idontwantthis 13 Dec 2024 01:39

Monster Hunter: The game that started it all. I went into it initially with a negative view of the way it performed with its unfriendly approach to creating gear and obtuse controls with the right-analog stick controlling your attacks, though spending more time with the game did make me come to appreciate it as the more beginner-friendly games that came after with Gen 3 onward. There's still an exhilarating rush figuring out the pattern of a monster and butchering it, where before you struggled to get a hit in or got tossed around.

Sure the lack of money and farm made it extra painful, but that made the victories taste all the sweeter. They're only buffers to increase your mistake tolerance, which is ultimately something you can fix through smart tactics and pattern recognition. Small monsters are VERY FUCKING ANNOYING in Gen 1 and apparently 2, though the game does give you breaks by having some rooms stop their respawn (either permanently or until you exit and re-enter the area), again emphasizing smart tactics. Don't fight the big monster in the room of respawning little bastards, find what rooms can be cleared and fight the huge monstie then. Grind what you can while on the job to avoid running through for groceries again (and make copious use of the wiki to understand what's what) and always play the game with the thought that there is usually a MISTAKE you are making whenever something happens. Instant charges are annoying, but they aren't something you can't plan around; understand weakpoints, limitations of your weapon, tools at your disposal, etc. The series from the very beginning rewards preparation and planning, something that's still as gratifying back then as it is now.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 09:14

"Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions": A solid set of challenges that leans more towards the gun mechanics that are often underutilized in MGS1 proper. Can be fun going through them one bit at a time and seeing the completion meter slowly go up. I do wish there was more variety to, funnily enough, the variety missions; but it's a fine enough time as it is. It's cute seeing the reward teasing Metal Gear Solid 2, though I'm surprised at how brief it is and (I'm assuming) inaccessible after seeing it. Still, would recommend, even for playing before MGS1 to know some nice tricks to potentially use.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 09:25

"Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga [Perfect Dodge]": Honestly? An interesting in-depth look at how enemies and attacks work in SS. The POW cap is annoying, but I can see why it's required to properly engage with the enemies and bosses without nuking them in one to two turns like in a normal playthrough.

That said, the game is not at all expecting you to play the game pefectly with no damage taken. By that I mean, some attacks have such a tight window to react to, that you're better off relying on luck never seeing that attack than actually practicing against it. Now, a good portion are very fair, though you can really feel that previous sentiment with some bosses. The soda boss actually has an un-dodgeable attack due to an oversight with its distance from Mario. Actually, Mario specifically gets the short stick of things, because it seems most of the problem attacks are focused on him because he has less frames to react than Luigi does. For example, the Koopaling Ludwig has a fireball attack with 4 frames of reaction time for Luigi. Not too bad, especially for a 60 FPS game. Mario however is 2 frames. The build up to the end game is a painful slog up until you finally get access to Bro Moves due to how long bosses can be otherwise, or how they may heal themselves.

My advice? Use and abuse the Thunder Bros. glitch to reduce their DEF to 0, then nuke them. If you can use Bro Moves, you can usually nuke them anyway, but this is a good reassurance. Also using the E. Gadd gear to double all damage. Cackletta's Soul is hard because it's Cackletta's Soul, but it is the most fair of the bosses. For those who read this and engage in the set yourselves, good luck and be persistent.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 09:41

Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights: A very solid collect-a-thon game in the field of otherwise very mediocre 3rd party IP games. It's a specific qualification, though I feel it's required because, and to be a bit mean, it isn't in the same caliber as most collect-a-thon games. This isn't even comparing it to the greats like Mario, Crash, Spyro, etc; it's a bit unpolished in areas and the most it has in regards to testing your skill is your memory in which what areas you were gatekept out of initially.

I've read the sentiment that it's a Metroidvania, which... no? It doesn't really utilize its abilities in the same way and doesn't incentivize exploration like most games in the genre does. You could argue that's because it's a bad Metroidvania, but given its genre is as we dictate it to be, it's just as fair to say it isn't one. Anyway, the collectibles are fine until they're not. By that I mean there are times where the Scooby Snacks (numbering in the hundreds per area split into singles or boxes of 5) are hidden in such a way that I doubt anyone would find them organically. It's a bit of a pain in that regard where it's smooth sailing, but then it hits you with "There are Scooby Snacks hidden in the graves, but make sure to pick the right one", where in ghosts or Snack boxes come out, which ACTUALLY means "Keep opening the graves and leaving the area to re-open them if you hadn't gotten the lucky dice roll to collect everything."

But beyond the weird jumps in 100% difficulty, the game is an absolute treat. Lovely environment designs, the voice acting is on point, the use of monsters from the show is fun, and the music that plays during the boss fights that sound like they were directly inspired by the Austin Roberts songs in the cartoon my God what a blast. The developers blatantly love the original show and it truly feels like it in heart. If you ever liked Scooby Doo, play it just to see the effort put into respecting the IP.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 10:03

Pokemon Snap: It is funny looking at this game from the lens of someone born just a little too late to be a part of the Pokemon craze, where there were entire printing machines in Blockbusters dedicated to printing out your Pokemon photos, and where the novelty was not only seeing Pokemon in their natural environment but also in 3D. Makes it easier to fully take in their size, the ways they move and what they do, etc. Knowing how the series fully leaned into 3D with the 3DS titles onward, it's easy to forget just how impactful this was at the time.

Having said that, it is a interesting experience, but the achievements encouraging the most high scoring of pictures does take away some of the novelty by revealing just how much of a facade the scoring system is. Photos that naturally capture a Pokemon, its environment, what it's doing, etc. is given terrible scoring due to the limited systems, meanwhile wholly unflattering images way too close and taking in nothing of its surroundings gives you oodles of points. It is unfair to expect a game to be able to better judge photos in that regard, but I can see even kids back then being miffed at their photos being marked as poorly done. It also makes guess-work for which photo to submit a gamble considering the obtuse system.

I also tried a custom levels hack, but it felt more like a tech demo than anything concrete. Interesting use of environments, I suppose? But it's all the same 'mons as before, just placed in different locations. Do wish it had as big of a hack scene as SM64 does, where creators add in damn well whatever Pokemon they want, but oh well. It could also be a limitation of the game not allowing the flexibility of most SM64 hacks, which could be the reason for the Custom Level's jank. Regardless, the base game is fun to quickly go through, but the Custom Levels are just too awkward to warrant anything beyond an even quicker burn through for points.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 10:08

Elf Bowling 1 & 2: It uhh

It has a movie. Early 2000s internet stuff really could get you anywhere and anything, huh? Annoying Orange got a TV show and they're still chasing that dragon now with Youtube uploads. If I slammed together a flash game about farting butt-aliens invading Earth that you had to fight off by smacking their cheeks, I'd be living under a bridge wishing I hadn't blown all $30 gorillion on craps as Universal tries to salvage anything from the IP I sold them. What a world.

idontwantthis 12 Feb 2025 10:16

"Ape Escape: On the Loose":

:(

It's as fun as you'd expect a game needing dual analog to play with one analog, which felt more like a re-mapped D-pad with how stilted everything felt. Everything feels wrong immediately. The stun baton feels twice as long as it looks and the monkey net half as long. The game feels like it was rushed to market in so many weird, little ways, all stuff you never would've noticed because of how fluid it all was in the original game.

The new voice actors are better in technical quality, but it has the same direction as an English anime dub. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I vastly prefer the original voice actors. The music is largely the same, but tweaked in areas, sometimes sounding noticeably different in a not-interesting-way.

The minigames are actually kinda good. I'm glad I didn't have to play through it over and over and over with every single character as in the original set. Overall, just play something else. Anything else.

The level of unease and discomfort I felt playing this made me yearn for feeling anything after. Even bad games that make me angry feel more worthwhile than this. Just a pitiful reminder of Sony's ineptitude and designation of Ape Escape as a cheap bin franchise to misuse and abandon.

idontwantthis 16 Feb 2025 08:07

Me & My Katamari: Despite my previous disliking of Ape Escape: On the Loose for its poor adaption of a dual-analog game onto a system with just one, I feel that M&MK controls decently enough to not immediately draw ire despite it suffering a similar fate. Mind you, this is also coupled with the game having horrible pop-in for items past a certain size, constantly recycled levels, mediocre levels and variation, and overall lacking compared to the PS2 titles. Still a decent experience to play, though one I'm not interested in revisiting.

idontwantthis 28 Feb 2025 08:29

Pokemon Red/Blue: Having played through the game 4 times (Red, Red POC, Blue POC, and Bonus), nearing 5 and above with Yellow, I feel more familiar with it than any other Pokemon game I've played so far. Admittedly my interest in the game is low because I hold no nostalgia for the series from Gen 1, though the Bonus subset was fun in its obtuse way of getting all 151 Pokemon.

My enjoyment was meager outside of that though, only eased by Blue POC's set not being limited by an anti-glitch measure like Red's. I can grasp how it became a big thing due to its accessibility and novelty regarding its world of weird creatures and people fighting with them, especially helped by its portability, which I feel helped a lot of nicher franchises really gain the foothold they have today from the early 2000s onward.

Anyway, it's accessibility I think was what helped it spread to a larger audience, especially with how RPG games hold heavy commitment to things you don't know about. You pick a class in Final Fantasy, you're stuck with it unless you start over, and it isn't easy to parse whether or not your choices were bad or if the game is hard. Despite its clunkiness as a first in the series, Pokemon immediately lets you know the level of an enemy Pokemon, whether your attacks hurt it more or less, easy swapping for your team to meet the scenario needed, and keeps most fights based around one particular type to help you strategize around.

It's novel for it, which cemented its place in the gaming scene, especially for children who otherwise would brute force their way past systems needing a specific way to do things. It's of course not the first to do the above things, probably not even the best, but it is what played a part in how the franchise became what it is today. Ignoring all of this and just looking at the game itself though:

Ehh?

idontwantthis 28 Feb 2025 09:08

Street Fighter: Funnily enough the red-headed stepchild of the franchise, though it did lay the groundwork for what would become an insane monument in the gaming scene and proper establishment of an entire genre with its sequel. Controls are awkward and a mite slow, but ultimately "manageable" when the tricks to the game are understood.

Course, an easy way to cheese it all is put a turbo on the punch button and keep repeating the hadouken input. Specials were meant to be secret attacks that dealt tons of damage and you can clean house with just 3 hitting. A Shoryuken makes you outright invincible and can one-shot Sagat if all hits in its three-parter attack connect.

Anyway, my only exposure to other Street Fighter games is from cultural osmosis or Grayfruit, and it is interesting how outside of Ryu, Ken, and Sagat, only Gen, Eagle, Adon, and Birdie returned as fighters (though Birdie is so wildly different from his first appearance it's easy to argue he's a different character altogether). All and all, not a bad time.

idontwantthis 28 Feb 2025 09:10

Fighting Street: A bad time.

Controls are more limited due to the Turbographx only having two face buttons, now making Punch and Kick timed to either throw out Light, Medium, or Heavy attacks depending on how long they were pressed. That, paired with the slow and sloppy detection of the movement, makes doing special moves a nightmare to do. The only good thing done by this version is the updated music.