Me again ^_^ Just felt like popping in and saying I haven't actually died. No, I've been busy with Christmas (like everyone else) That and university which is the biggest mistake of my life, no exaggeration, oh and I've been feeling ill. Wow, what an awesome December lol. No, christmas for me was awesome ^_^
However I sort of got me thinking about stuff, stuff being video games. And I guess I got all nostalgic. See it was Christmas when i got my first ever gaming console in the form of the PS1. I have a lot of love for that console. I was 12 at the time and had never been that interested in video games or computers (partially because when I was growing up we had neither) But suddenly, rather out of the blue as I hadn't actually asked for it or anything even similar to it. However I unwrapped the Playstation and was suddenly really happy at this odd gift. I honestly think several parents had got together over this as a friend at school got one and a girl on my street did all for the same christmas.
The first game I played on my shiny new PS1 was Croc: Legend of the Gobbo's (a review coming shortly) But initially that lasted about half an hour as I couldn't get him to run striaght so I turned my attention to Theme Park.
And there I was, Christmas day, in my room playing video games with my family downstairs, and not much has changed lol. Although then I did abide by the 1 hour rule whereby I only played on it for an hour before having a break. The 12 hours I clocked on Final Fantasy XIII with just a break for tea show that eventually that rule went out of the window lol.
But you see, I was completely hooked on games back then. I think there was a far higher calibre of games out for the PS1 and the N64 than we have now on the Xbox360 and PS3. I loved gettign the Playstaion magazine, playign the demo discs and reading the reviews, now it's all FPS's and sports games that I really don't give a shit about. Yes the graphics are good, but I really have no desire to feel like I'm actually blowing a guy up. I'd much rather be leaping from platform to platform trying to find the next little furball I needed to rescue.
Anywho, my little trip down memory lane is over. Thanks for joining me on that lol. Another review should be coming shortly but right now I have a princess to rescue on my NDS.
Till next time
Archer
Monday 27 December 2010
Sunday 5 December 2010
Bouncing Beach Balls?
A game where the only character is a bouncing ball and it bounces around of square platforms, dodging spikes and lasers while collecting pieces of fruit to enter the worlds trippiest levels ever seen in a game, it does make me wonder what publisher heard that pitch and went, 'Y’know what...that sounds like a winner'. The game I am of course referring to is the epicness that is Kula World.
The reason for the review is that I have just found it on the Playstation network and quickly gave that a download. Honestly though, while the concept sounds like the creators were smoking something trippy while at a beach, its a design that works and it works well. Any game that can have you hooked for hours on end has to be a winner, especially when, once you've bested all ten levels, you go back to one just to start the whole painful process again.
So what happens in it? Well read the first sentence of this blog again and you've pretty much got it. You take the form of a bouncing ball who has no greater objective in life than to reach a large 'X' floating over an exit. To do it you bounce over platforms, collecting keys to enable you to use the exit. Which is actually a lot harder than it sounds. Every level is a puzzle that you must solve to successfully move on. This involves collecting the keys you need, sometimes one, sometimes up to four, collecting coins and fruit while avoiding the things that can cause you to pop. These include spikes, lasers, crumbling platforms and weird little star things that apparently 'capture' you. Oh and lets not forget the drugs. That's right, drugs. Scattered around levels, looking quite odd are small yellow and red pills that, should you pick one up, the world starts to distort for a short period of time, you movements become sluggish and time, if you're unlucky enough to have a timer, starts to move faster.
Well if we're being honest, the graphics are nothing overly special, but then again, how special do they need to be? This is a game relying solely on the game play it has on offer, not on any special effects. Same with the sound, just some generic background music that you sort of zone out listening to, until you hear this dreaded clicking noise and realise, to your dismay, that you've taken too long and suddenly have a timer that is rather close to zero. However it is the game play of this game that causes me to be rather fond of it.
The levels are downright tricky and you can waste more than a few lives trying to navigate some of the harder ones. Level eight is one that will always stick in my mind as I believe that is the one where lasers are introduced and you must navigate moving platforms to turn buttons on and off in order to reach your goal. But the difficulty is the joy of it. There’s a real sense of achievement when you finally finish. Especially if you managed to access most of the bonus levels. Of course the difficulty means that, despite it's bright colours and using a ball as the main (and only) character, this game is probably not for children. Heck I got more than a little frustrated at times, I can already see small children pulling their hair out as they try, and fail, to get across the ice platforms without sliding off the end.
It was awesome when it was on the Playstation 1 and I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone as the download on the Playstation network. For the £2.99 or however much it is worth, it'll keep you occupied for hours lol. Trust me on that.
Monday 15 November 2010
Spyro the Dragon
And here we go with Pixel Princesses first review, woohoo ^_^ . Oh, and just for future reference, here be spoilers. If you haven’t played a game I review, don’t read the review if you don’t want to know what happens as I will be talking about all aspects of the game.
And what better game to start of my reviewing blog than with Spyro the Dragon for the PS1. Why this game you ask, when there’s probably a dozen websites out there with reviews of this game? It’s simple. Spyro the dragon was one of my first ever video games and the first one I bought myself. It’s a game that I feel sums up the PS1 and the wealth of games that used to be available rather than the onslaught of FPS’s that are flooding the market now.
Yes, Spyro was released when games were for everyone. Not when you could be categorised into what kind of player you were by what console you owned as, judging by available games, the Wii is for kids and the PS3 and Xbox360 are for serious hardcore gamers who live in their rooms staring at a screen for 48 hours at a time while blowing some soldiers head off. Can you guess that I’m not an FPS player lol.
Anywho, back to Spyro. The game itself was everything I like in a game. It was an easy premise with simple controls. After all, it doesn’t require too much brain power to travel the land, collecting gems and torching the bad guys. Yet in places it could be downright difficult. Kudos to anyone that managed to get that dragon on Haunted Tower (you know the one) without using a cheat guide, or find the first ever flight level in the Artisan home world.
There was a back story to the game so you knew why the character was doing what he was: All the dragons had been turned to crystal and it was up to Spyro to save them. True it was simple, but it didn’t need anymore. It provided you with enough motivation that as you were gliding between platforms and barrelling into bad guys you knew what your end goal was.
Lets also look at the game itself, the graphics were wonderfully colourful and suited the nature of the game. While looking slightly dated now perhaps, they were right on the mark at the time the game was released. The worlds were imaginative, my favourite being the Magic Casters worlds, and had themes running throughout all the sub levels of each home world. Not to mention that the bad guys, while the majority being Gnorcs, were all different enough depending on what world you were in.
The game also did very well what hardly any games even attempt to do nowadays and that is to appeal to both a male and female audience. If the pink layout and title hasn’t given it away yet, I am in fact female and find that now, if I don’t want a game about cooking then I’m pretty much screwed. But Spyro appealed to everyone. Here you had a dragon flaming enemies with help from fairies, fireflies and a little man with his own balloon (who demanded you complete something before he’d take you anywhere, but we’ll let that slide because eventually they would take you where you wanted to go). There was nothing overly girly or cutesy about the game, yet at the same time, it wasn’t some dark apocalyptic world or made out in hues of blue and black. And it did appeal to everyone. Speak to any gamer who owned a PS1 and they will probably have played, and more importantly enjoyed, Spyro the Dragon when it was first released. Indeed it was a game that I have played over and over again to the point that where it once took me a couple of weeks to finish, I can now do the whole game in one sitting, taking no more than a few hours. I suppose that the replay ability of the game is another thing in it’s favour as it is a rare game that you find you can play again and again.
Spyro is one of the gaming greats that don’t come along too often. 12 years after it was released and I find myself constantly referencing it on my University course due to it’s relevance. It’s one of those games that hit every nail right on the head and did it in such a charming way that Spyro had become one of the great gaming icons, up there with Mario and Pikachu.
Well that was a good way to not work on my university project lol. At least it’s given me something to work towards. Keep your eyes peeled for another one of a kind review by me coming shortly. While I don’t yet know what I’ll base it on, I’m currently thinking one of the Final Fantasy series will probably be my next one….but which one ^_~
See you soon
Archer
And what better game to start of my reviewing blog than with Spyro the Dragon for the PS1. Why this game you ask, when there’s probably a dozen websites out there with reviews of this game? It’s simple. Spyro the dragon was one of my first ever video games and the first one I bought myself. It’s a game that I feel sums up the PS1 and the wealth of games that used to be available rather than the onslaught of FPS’s that are flooding the market now.
Yes, Spyro was released when games were for everyone. Not when you could be categorised into what kind of player you were by what console you owned as, judging by available games, the Wii is for kids and the PS3 and Xbox360 are for serious hardcore gamers who live in their rooms staring at a screen for 48 hours at a time while blowing some soldiers head off. Can you guess that I’m not an FPS player lol.
Anywho, back to Spyro. The game itself was everything I like in a game. It was an easy premise with simple controls. After all, it doesn’t require too much brain power to travel the land, collecting gems and torching the bad guys. Yet in places it could be downright difficult. Kudos to anyone that managed to get that dragon on Haunted Tower (you know the one) without using a cheat guide, or find the first ever flight level in the Artisan home world.
There was a back story to the game so you knew why the character was doing what he was: All the dragons had been turned to crystal and it was up to Spyro to save them. True it was simple, but it didn’t need anymore. It provided you with enough motivation that as you were gliding between platforms and barrelling into bad guys you knew what your end goal was.
Lets also look at the game itself, the graphics were wonderfully colourful and suited the nature of the game. While looking slightly dated now perhaps, they were right on the mark at the time the game was released. The worlds were imaginative, my favourite being the Magic Casters worlds, and had themes running throughout all the sub levels of each home world. Not to mention that the bad guys, while the majority being Gnorcs, were all different enough depending on what world you were in.
The game also did very well what hardly any games even attempt to do nowadays and that is to appeal to both a male and female audience. If the pink layout and title hasn’t given it away yet, I am in fact female and find that now, if I don’t want a game about cooking then I’m pretty much screwed. But Spyro appealed to everyone. Here you had a dragon flaming enemies with help from fairies, fireflies and a little man with his own balloon (who demanded you complete something before he’d take you anywhere, but we’ll let that slide because eventually they would take you where you wanted to go). There was nothing overly girly or cutesy about the game, yet at the same time, it wasn’t some dark apocalyptic world or made out in hues of blue and black. And it did appeal to everyone. Speak to any gamer who owned a PS1 and they will probably have played, and more importantly enjoyed, Spyro the Dragon when it was first released. Indeed it was a game that I have played over and over again to the point that where it once took me a couple of weeks to finish, I can now do the whole game in one sitting, taking no more than a few hours. I suppose that the replay ability of the game is another thing in it’s favour as it is a rare game that you find you can play again and again.
Spyro is one of the gaming greats that don’t come along too often. 12 years after it was released and I find myself constantly referencing it on my University course due to it’s relevance. It’s one of those games that hit every nail right on the head and did it in such a charming way that Spyro had become one of the great gaming icons, up there with Mario and Pikachu.
Well that was a good way to not work on my university project lol. At least it’s given me something to work towards. Keep your eyes peeled for another one of a kind review by me coming shortly. While I don’t yet know what I’ll base it on, I’m currently thinking one of the Final Fantasy series will probably be my next one….but which one ^_~
See you soon
Archer
Saturday 13 November 2010
And so it begins......
Welcome to my small corner of the interwebs ^_^ Hopefully this will evolve into something remotely resembling a video game review site, although that is subject to change, and video games may also encompass anime and pretty much anything else that takes my fancy. But hey, it's my blog, I can review what i want ^_~
But as I'm sure you can guess from the title, it will mainly be video games. Partly due to the fact that I'm rather fond of playing them and partly because I'm also on a Games Design course. However don't come here and expect up to the minute reviews of the new Call of Duty or minute by minute info on what new information is being released on Bioshock 3. I don't always like the next big thing in gaming and find that most of my favourite games happen to either be hidden gems or older games. And as games never really die, they just become incompatible with the latest console (but thats where eBay comes in handy) I feel that even PS1 games can still be reviewed, heck people still review SNES games, so going back to PS1 isn't too far in the past.
Of course this first post isn't a review of anything. Reviews require time and energy to both write and find pretty pictures to display with them (And I am all about the pretty pictures lol) and at this exact moment in time I am both lacking in time and energy. But keep an eye out ^_~ A review will be coming your way soon ^_^
Over and out
Archer
But as I'm sure you can guess from the title, it will mainly be video games. Partly due to the fact that I'm rather fond of playing them and partly because I'm also on a Games Design course. However don't come here and expect up to the minute reviews of the new Call of Duty or minute by minute info on what new information is being released on Bioshock 3. I don't always like the next big thing in gaming and find that most of my favourite games happen to either be hidden gems or older games. And as games never really die, they just become incompatible with the latest console (but thats where eBay comes in handy) I feel that even PS1 games can still be reviewed, heck people still review SNES games, so going back to PS1 isn't too far in the past.
Of course this first post isn't a review of anything. Reviews require time and energy to both write and find pretty pictures to display with them (And I am all about the pretty pictures lol) and at this exact moment in time I am both lacking in time and energy. But keep an eye out ^_~ A review will be coming your way soon ^_^
Over and out
Archer
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