Game Boy Memories Part #3
May 7th, 2009
Game Boy Advance
It’s getting harder to discuss the Game Boy the further I move along the line of iterations. The quality of games per each platform is increasing, and generally speaking so has my enjoyment with each, yet the nostalgia factor is shrinking too.
My brother had earned enough money through cash-in-hand jobs that he was able to buy a himself a Game Boy Advance within a year of its release. Fortunately for me, I was able to crib off his hard work for a couple of years until the Game Boy Advance SP was released. I originally wanted so desperately to own one of the limited edition, ultra-slick Rip Curl GBA SP units (pictured in the header). Typically I lucked out and most copies were snapped up quickly while I tried to scrounge together another $20 to make up the price tag.
Golden Sun was the first title my twin bought, recommended positive press on the magazine scene. I remember the first time I played it, sitting in my room, in the same spot I am now, with headphones on, juggling the unit to gleam enough of the sun’s rays. The music was incredible, it had a real airy atmosphere to it. I remember pausing for 20 minutes at the end of the first dungeon to sample the musical score. The graphics too had a pseudo-3D look to it thanks to shaded sprites (giving each body part a circular appearance), shadows and other tricks the game employed to create a sense of depth. The battles were dynamic, fast and engaging, a technical powerhouse of ideas and a clear leap above the SNES. Golden Sun was an early look at the future potential of the GBA. It’s a pity there weren’t more titles to peak Golden Sun‘s aptitude to sharp presentation and design – very contemporary for its time.
I sometimes feel trapped in a sad world where Advance Wars fans outnumber Fire Emblem fans. We’re all marching to spanky tunes, sharp transitions and a youthful air. The charisma is undeniable upbeat, perhaps too much so for a game that tackles the topic matter of war. I love Advance Wars for all it offered; mainly busting S ranks off the easy maps in the War Room while failing to worm my way through the main story. Advance Wars had this unshakable layer of intellect to it, the same variation of intellect that makes one a good player of chess – I usually stuck to draughts. There’s just a mentation that I always buggered up when strategizing my units, a way of thinking that is still out of my mind’s reach that make me at odds with this series.
Fire Emblem picked up those pieces, and welcomed me to the opposite end of the SRPG genre from much beloved Final Fantasy Tactics (PSone). This is strategy that speaks to me, well contextualized (steeped in hierarchic Medieval tongue) and better animated. The battle animations still leave me awe inspired, the fluidity of the sprite work encouraged me to to make my own animated gifs from sprite dumps of the game. I’m sure if I were to one day conduct a proper analysis of Fire Emblem it would reveal some embarrassing similarities with the Advance Wars framework. Enough so that I’d realize my fear of Advance Wars is all just in my head. Either way, this title strengthened my love for all things SRPG and instantly turned me into an conscious consumer of Intelligent Systems’ games. Seriously, this developer has breathed much variation into the Nintendo fold.
Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission are another pair of unforgettable GBA classics – seem to be operating it twos today. Purists may balk at the linearity of Metroid Fusion, but the title brought some interesting elements to the franchise, most notable of which being SA-X, the evil Samus. Her presence was unnerving, marked with cold foot steps through the abandoned halls. Haters of Fusion say that Zero Mission is a better game, and they’re probably right. Fusion had a stylish, light-blue elegance to it, the environments felt lived in, a naturally conjoining network of catacombs overrun by vegetation and abandonment – it was a modern Metroid. Zero Mission feels bulky and recycled (as it is) in comparison; cliched and dated. Although some areas of the used map are fleshed out, the core framework is centred around 3-4 core divisions as in the original (this is a remake by the way). The game places you in limbo, balancing sending you back an forth to several divisions of the map. The game only truly comes into its own when Samus attempts to leave Zebes and crash lands back on the planet near the Space Pirate Mothership. Her abilities and power suit are striped and we get to play in an extended episode, where she stealthily infiltrates the alien compound. Playing as the tight skinned “Zero Suit Samus”, the game becomes conscious of the fandom in ways Nintendo normally don’t permit. Nice call.
And then we arrive at Final Fantasy Tactics Advance; the most atrocious abomination ever to be accepted by the video gaming community. No, no, no, that’s enough! I refuse to attach myself to this sin. Post over.
Tags: Advance Wars, fire emblem, Golden Sun, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission
DP’s Gaming Wallpapers
April 30th, 2008
Oh boy, this is somewhat embarrasing. As mentioned in the previous post I am interested in graphic design and also photography, you can find some of my work on my deviantART page and on my flickr account. Many years ago I created a few video game based wallpapers when my design skills weren’t too crash hot. Even though it is painful looking at these pieces now, some of them, the more recent ones (2 years ago) aren’t too bad. Since I don’t have anywhere to upload these wallpapers to, I thought that I could make this site their last resting place. So below are the wallpapers that I am talking about. Also I apologise for scrolling on the main page, WordPress’ awful formatting has my hands tied. 
You will find that some of them are tagged, I should explain this. Firstly Raven is an old screen name *giggles*, some of the wallpapers were volunteraly made for the Advanced Media Network, a site in which I use to post at quite a bit (the forum that is) and Nexus and Ravens Domain is something of a portfolio site with work from myself and my twin brother. Anyways, I think that the majority of these wallpapers are quite crude but if you like them then…yeah, let me know. Click the titles for a full view.
Advanced Media Network Wallpaper - 1024×768
Bowser Sprite - 1024×768
Day of Disaster – 1280×1024
Fierce Deity 2006 - 1600×1200
Gamecube Advanced – 1024×768
Kirby – 1280X1024
Lost in Blue – 1600×1200
Super Mario 64 DS – 1024×768
Playstation Portable – 1600×1200
Paper Mario #2 1024×768
Paper Mario Dragon – 1600×1200
Raven (Fire Emblem) – 1600×1200
Tags: day of disaster, fire emblem, gamecube, lost in blue, mario kart paper mario, Pokemon, super mario, wallpaper, Wario Ware, wii, zelda
Play Impressions (8/4/08)
April 8th, 2008
Its been some time since I’ve shared my thoughts on what I have been playing lately. Frankly it hasn’t been very much at all. As usual I’ve been working on the old stuff that I am happily clearing out, not much retroness in the past month and there aren’t any new releases that particularly interest me. Except for House of the Dead Return which is still overpriced down here in Australia. Fortunately I had the opportunity to finish House of the Dead 4 at an arcade lock-in a few days ago, that should tie me over in the meantime.
I might also play through Kirby’s Adventure on the NES again sometime soon. I’m thinking of doing a video feature highlighting it’s sublime visual and aural prowess. How does that sound?
Capcom Vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
Continuing on with my quest to substitute my previously abandoned love for 2D fighters, Capcom Vs SNK 2 has been the latest gaming snack between study breaks for my brother and I. After settling into this Street Fighter/KOF hybrid it becomes clear that there is a lot to appreciate about this title. Capcom have successfully merged fighting styles from both franchises together with complete respect to the original titles. Characters can evade attack, dash, long jump much like in the KOF games yet there is still a feeling of tactical precision and real time chess like elements which the Street Fighter series birthed. On top of this the game plays in 3 Vs 3 matches with unfortunately no on the fly character switching.
Along with this unique blend of play comes the aptly named groves which are similar to ‘isms’ from Street Fighter Alpha 3. Each groove includes (and excludes) various play mechanics as well as a different way to perform special moves. Some specials require button holds to charge up the special meter, others increase with the damage dealt.
The hybrid of game styles, grooves, varied characters, 3 Vs 3 play all add on the layers of depth. There are so many options at hand here that you really can tailor the game to match your individual play style.
Fight wise I just love the feel of this game, keeping with the hybrid nature this game feels faster, flexible and more acrobatic than Street Fighter and more up to speed with the KOF series. Its just so much fun to play, the game feels versatile yet true to it’s roots.
The mix of 2D sprites and 3D backdrops is also interesting and adds to the flavour of the game. A few of the backdrops don’t feel close or far away enough to the sprites which can feel a little distracting at times. Some character sprites (Morgan’s) are of a painfully lower resolution which is extremely off putting and frankly ugly.
These blemishes as well as a few tacky presentation issues do little to hinder the overall enjoyment that I have had and undoubtedly will continue to have with this title for a long time.
Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
Some gamers prefer Intelligent Systems other portable strategy title; Advance Wars. I myself? I’m a Fire Emblem fan. Both series’ have stood toe to toe in Japan for the past 20 years, originating on the Famicon (NES).
Much like any new iteration from either series, Sacred Stones doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Theres no real reason for it to though as this is only the second FE iteration to hit Western shores. What it does do though is add a set of new over world mechanics which vary the gameplay considerably. Instead of continually playing a set of battles tied together with the same face sprite orientated cut scenes, Sacred Stones allows you to navigate around a world map in between battles. Enemy groups appear on the map and you can choose to gain experience by back tracking to do battle with them. It works similarly to Final Fantasy Tactics except enemy groups stay fixed in the one spot.
Even though the over world map is a fairly simple mechanic it adds a lot of breathing space. You can now buy new gear, organize your party and items before you begin a chapter. It also removes the static, dated feel of the linear, battle by battle game structure. In this version you can battle creatures as well as humans and there are a handful of new classes to upgrade up to.
So while the core gameplay remains largely unchanged the new features go a long way to fix the previous problems between levels. The strategy is still, of course incredibly addictive. For example, in one instance I was playing this one chapter on and off for about a week, probably totally 10+ attempts. Sure I was replaying the same level, each time slightly varying my attack plan but still this was highly addictive as the series has proven to be.
Theres not much new here but that isn’t what we should be asking for. As a huge fan of this series I am glad to be re-treading old ground over new soil.
Images From Hardcore Gaming101
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