New Super Mario Bros U

When I got my Wii U it came bundled with a free copy of New Super Mario Bros U, and to be honest I didn't care for it at first. The sheer amount of "New Super Mario Bros" games that come out in recent years and the fact that they all looked the same made me assume it was just a series of mediocre games that sell well because they appeal to a wide demographic. I'm happy to say that I was quite wrong as NSMBU is a very competent platformer and in fact it’s the first 2d Mario game I've played to completion.

That does not mean that it is a perfect game though, for one it is very easy... like extremely easy. Most of the levels can be easily sprinted through on your first try without even raising your heart rate 1 bpm. By the time I completed the game I had built up a mass of 53 lives, making the whole life system pointless because never in a million years would I have hit zero especially at the rate that NSMBU gives lives away. NSMU is basically the Oprah of 1ups, everyone gets a 1up. And I will openly admit that I am horrible at Mario games as I was never able to complete Super Mario Bros 3, and I just quit on World 4 because there was no save feature and I kept dying.

The new and improved tonnoki suit is the best feature introduced to NSMBU. Whenever I get one, I try to hold on to it as if my life was dependent on it. Because it really is the most useful power up and it will save you from falling in to pits or missing jumps constantly. The designers were smart though and added a very slow fall rate causing Mario to be open to projectiles when in the air, so you have to be very careful when using the tonnoki suit. Of course there’s the standard fire, ice, and star power ups, but who cares, the tonnoki suit is where it’s at.
  
Other things NSMBU got right:
1. Coins in all levels will keep completionists busy and reward them with new levels. They aren't required to beat the game for those that don't care *cough cough*...Super Mario 3D Land…

2. The game is varied, introducing new mechanics at a consistent pace. From pockets of water floating in the air you can swim in, to skyscraper window washer platforms that you use to escape rooms filling with lava, and platforms that move like a snake that you must follow while dodging objects around you.

What else they got wrong:
1. Enemies are standard Mario fare, mostly things we've seen before.
2. Too many free star powers!! In this game they are practically useless, I hate them. So the game gives them away like hot cakes.
3. If you want to play multiplayer with friends you must have 2 controllers other than the Wii U tablet. I wanted to play with a friend, one with the tablet and one with the pro controller and it couldn't be done. That makes no sense!

All in all I was very happy New Super Mario Bros U, and getting it for free with my Wii U makes it even better. Given the choice though I’d say this game is worth about $25 so if you can find it for that price or less I highly recommend it.

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Why I bought a WiiU

After the E3 2014 Nintendo direct, I decided to do what I would have never even considered several months ago. I bought a Wii U. (dramatic crack of lightning) Seriously though, I believe the Wii U has a load of potential.

Things that convinced me:

1. Deals: Right now if you buy the new mario kart you get to pick one out of four possible games as an extra. Thats pretty good, two games for the price of one. Each Wii U also comes with a free game too. Compare this to the competitors, if you buy the baseline console and one game, you end up with a console and one game. If you buy a Wii U and a copy of Mario Kart U, you end up with a console and three games!

2. Original Content: My primary method of gaming is PC it is without a doubt the superior platform to game on as it has no limitations of hardware. Many games that are released on PS4/Xbox are also released on PC and often times at a higher framerate and better graphical quality. Even many Xbox One console exclusives make there way to the PC. The Wii U on the other hand has plenty of games that will never, ever be released on any other platform. Since these games are usually very good, I have no other choice but to get the Wii U to experience these high quality games.

3. Its backwards compatible: I never bought a Wii, now its built in. Thats awesome, finally I can play Mario Galaxy and many of the other Wii only games.

4. Nintendo supports 60 fps: My main complaint with playing on consoles is the sub par feel of playing a game at 30 or less frames per second. However, Nintendo has had a very good track record of releasing their Wii U games built to run at 60 fps. Mario Kart U, Super Mario 3d World, Super Smash Bros, Bayonetta 1/2, and many more. Do or are expected to run at 60 fps and some games even go as far as to run at 1080p resolution, although I am less picky when it comes to resolution as it doesn't effect the game play.

So there you have it, now follow my example and get a Wii U because its great!

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Resident Evil 4 journal entry 1

To this day I can't believe I have never beaten this game, and frankly I don't know why. In fact I've actually made it past the first couple hours. I enjoy the combat, the gun play being very tense and satisfying, the level design is memorable, sure the story is laughable but that does not make a bad game. And so I have made it my goal to finally experience this game from start to finish in all its gory glory. Writing my experiences in bits and analyzing the individual chapters of the game. As of right now I am on Chapter 3-1.

Basic Overview and Chapter 1:
Your mission is simple, you play as Leon Kennedy and you must find the presidents daughter who has last been seen in a remote village in Spain. Like any good game that allows for character development, the game arms you with a simply handgun, some ammo and first aid. It is up to the player find/buy any additional weapons and upgrades from then on. Money is not abundant, giving each purchase significant weight, discouraging the play from buying every upgrade and 10 first aid kits. Although money is dropped from enemies, finding high value treasures is vital, these are often hidden behind puzzles or alternative path, encouraging the player to explore every nook and cranny if they want to purchase the maximum amount of items. RE4 has the rare ability to make you feel stronger and more bad-ass as you upgrade Leon, yet the game's difficulty curve and pacing never lets the game get any easier relying on the player to get better. This might change later in the game but as of chapter 3-1 the pacing is perfect.
Let me just get this out of the way, and this is not hyperbole. Resident Evil 4 has without a doubt the best first 30 minutes of any game every made. It does not hold your hand, the game says, here's how you aim and fire now I'm going to throw a mob of enemies at you, good luck. The encounter at the village throws you in the middle of an attack from all sides, introduces a chain saw mini boss, lets you figure out, through trial and error and all of panicking, how to get yourself out of this mess. Some gamers may not like this spike in difficulty but that's what makes the beginning so great, if your adrenaline isn't pumping then the game is failing at being an action game.
The game as some AI issues where you can pick off enemies at a distance without attracting much attention. To keep the tension the game will respawn enemies on some areas to counter the player simply taking his time, pistol snipping everything. These respawns can be hit or miss. A successful example would be when the player is going through a swamp, after a few enemies die more villagers come from the front entrance, getting the player from the flank. This is smart because it forces the player to move forward and he is surrounded from both sides, it makes for a very thrilling experience. A example where the respawn system failed would be chapter 1-2 where the player is in a mining hole and has to get two pieces of a medallion to form a key. A few enemies can't see you unless you get close but when you do, a mob will respawn in the back of the mine, the player is not surrounded so he can easily run to a corner and pick off the enemies in from of him, it becomes very tedious and I had to repeat getting detected, running to a good spot and picking everyone off, about 4 times. I did not have this problem ever again though.
Chapter one ends with a boss of massive proportions, know as El Lago. The fight itself is not all that challenging, but its just so much bigger than anything you have encountered in the game thus far. On top of all this, you are literally attached to the boss by a rope on a boat, there is no escape, you can not run, you have to kill it. And when you do, there is definitely a high level of satisfaction from killing a monster of such scale.
to be continued.....

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Fallout

A while ago gog.com had a special where they were giving out free copies of Fallout, and although I was a fan of Bethesda’s Fallout 3, it would be quite a long time before I would eventually launch Fallout from my desktop. And despite its age this, Fallout has managed to hold up quite well.

                The story is fairly simple, you are a resident of vault 13 and the overseer of this vault has placed you in charge of going out in to the world and recovering a water chip to replace the broken one. You are given about 5 months to complete this task before the vault runs out of water and everyone in it dies or has to evacuate. I do question the wisdom of putting the fate of your entire people in the hands of one person armed with a handgun and a knife, but hey what do I know?

                Where Fallout really shines is its setting, every town is different with their own government, from the police state L.A. Boneyard, the small socialist town of Shady Sands, or Junk Town where two rival business men fight each other for control of the town. Mixed in to the world are many humorous references to TV and movies. Encountering the Tardus, of Doctor Who fame, and a peasant running around screaming “Let's go play Global-Thermal Nuclear War” gave the game character and appealed to the inner nerd in me.

                As much as I liked Fallout a few things bothered me. The reputation system does not prove to have as much effect as I would have liked on the game. I saw no benefit to going evil, going good prevents bounty hunters from coming after you and allows for the easiest way to obtain power armor. Other than that, in my game the reputation system did little else. The music can best be described as minimalistic, a very low humming for most of the game, I felt like the game could have improved the most in that category. The interface can also use some work, with no “pick up al loot” button and the game limiting you to moving 999 caps at one time in transactions.

There’s much to the game that I’m just going to list my 5 favorite things about Fallout:

1.       Going from a worthless bitch to a wasteland bad ass. When you start the game, expect to miss shots, and I mean A LOT. By the end of the game however, being able to hit guys from across the room after being so useless is such a great feeling.

2.       Death Scenes: They are gruesome to say the least, get ready for some yummy sprite gibs

3.       The game is difficult, for those who have played Fallout 3 a big complaint was that after the first few levels you’d get so powerful that not even a death claw was a challenge for you and your assault rifle. This is not the case in Fallout, even after you get all your upgrades and gear, stronger enemies keep the game a challenge all the way through.

4.       Different play styles, if you want to go through the game killing everyone go ahead. But there are ways in this game using stealth, speech, hacking or a combination to cleverly solve all your problems. Even the final boss can be convinced to stop just by talking to him. And for those who get lonely, there are a multitude of companions to choose from.

5.       It respects the intelligence of the player. Fallout 3 held the players hand throughout most of the start of the game, it’s very slow and it’s a pain to do multiply playthroughs if you forget to save at the end of the tutorial. Fallout on the hand tells you to get the chip, gives you a weapon and says “Go forth and adventure!!” I like that.

If you want to modernize Fallout a bit, the FIXT mod compilation is excellent and easy to install

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=840100

This mod features widescreen support and fixes some of the bugs that the devs never fixed

The best place to buy Fallout is Gog.com where you can get it DRM free

It is also available on steam

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