Sonic Adventure critters

I really wanted to like Sonic Adventure. I never actually owned the game for Dreamcast but Nickle Nickle an old arcade near me had some Dreamcasts set up in the back row rigged as arcade machines and I played it a few times there. Now the classic Dreamcast game is back and ported to Xbox Live Arcade. I was thinking about buying it just to support the rerelease of more dreamcast games but I decided to pass. I was hoping the port would be given more care like Rez was, actually redone in 16:9 full smooth HD, instead it feels a bit sloppy with blue bars on the side forcing you to play in 4:3. Although Sonic Adventure isn't really a "hardcore" game it was interesting to see how much easier games have gotten in the decade since its been released. I died on the part where you do a few loops in the first level, I figured there would be more leeway but it seemed like you really had to spin the sticks around in a few circles to make it past that part, todays games would let you make it by just holding the stick one direction for sure. I thought I was automatically collecting those little critters you save from beating the enemies too, but no you really need to make an effort to collect them otherwise they are goners.
It was interesting to play Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light right after checking out Sonic. I noticed both games string loot along a path through the level to guide the player. Some loot is there just to show you where to go, and others reward exploration. Lots of games use this mechanic, and Sonic obviously wasn't the first. The critter mechanic was unique to Sonic though, and I think more games could use this. Rather than just killing nameless enemy number X, they could have a reason for being there.

More LBP impressions & others.

Amazon had a deal I couldn't refuse on Banjo Nuts & Bolts so I picked it up. They make it so easy, remembering who you are, your payment and shipping info... I tried for about an hour, the game is surprisingly meta. They talk very directly about previous Rare games, the game industries trends, and make reference to other games. I have barely started the game so I can't say if its worth a purchase or not but if you have the means or are interested, it got good reviews so I'd say its worth checking out.
I also got to play a bit of Gears 2 last weekend, co-op in Horde Mode, we got to round 10 or so before I had to go, but it was pretty fun. We were in a map where you have laser shields protecting a small area, so we'd camp in there and mow the enemies down with the machine gun that spawns in there, it is so big you have to take cover before aiming that thing, and firing it is satisfying. I was pleased by the variety in monsters that they throw at you in this game too.
I keep poking away at the Little Big Planet single player and trying random levels online, nothing has really caught me as great yet. I threw in Super Mario Galaxy just to get in the platforming mood, and remembered the amazing variety they give you in every level, LBP feels the opposite, it is more like one of those games where they give you ONE gimmick move and you have to figure out how to use it in a variety of situations. I feel like I'm playing that game that came with old computers where you move blocks around in a top down view. Although I appreciate the different backgrounds, music, and themed stuff like that, the actual mechanics just don't seem that appealing. Getting into a typical gunfight in GOW2? A blast, just a joy to control and view. Typical platforming puzzle in LBP? Dieing over and over at a checkpoint, ohh man its the last guy, replay it....

Little Big Planet impressions

I had been holding off on picking up LBP, I felt like I saw all there was to see in the Beta. So the first half hour is just patching, three patches! It made me consider if consoles having hard drives is worth it, I mean, you could play Gears Of War 2 and Fallout 3 without a hard drive right? It is clear that hard drives have let developers release unfinished products with the promise of day 1 patches, look at Fable 2 for example they decided to just ship the game without co-op and patch it in day one. I'd rather just have a finished game on the disc, thank you.
After the half hour of patches, I got another half hour of unskippable progression stopping scenes where I had to sit and listen to an old man talk, all stuff I've already heard from playing the beta making it even more boring. Strangely enough the friends leaderboard only showed one of my friends scores, but I know for sure there are at least half a dozen of my PSN friends that have the game, it was either a bug or a poorly explained feature. Next I decided to see what cool levels were out there. I recognized about half the featured levels already. First I checked out the Batman level I had heard good things about. Basically you are just platforming on blank square platforms with some flying bats and batman imagery in the background. Next was the legendary Gradius level. The flying part was accomplished by laying a ton of jetpacks on the ground, so you get a nice Drop Jetpack button prompt while you are in the spaceship. I don't see any levels ever being able to be immersive with these type of technical limitations. Although recreating the first level of Gradius in LBP is surely a technical feat, it wasnt really that fun to play.
Maybe playing multiplayer would be more fun, so I decided to jump in an online game of the Mirrors Edge level, which I was happy to see was there after hearing they are pulling levels that have any copyrighted material (BTW there goes about 50% of the type of levels I was hoping to create). Just another platforming level, but with backgrounds that slightly look like Mirrors Edge. A fourth player jumps in and stops moving, holding the other three of us up in the top right corner of the screen. After about a minute of standing there I see the chat text "Hello!" pop up, great. Not to mention this text appears right over my character. Finally he climbs up to meet us, and accidentally pushes me into a pit of fire, oh that was my last life. Power off. I don't see me playing this game again anytime soon.

Spore impressions

I started out as a fat green slug named Ryliot just cruising around minding my own business being a herbivore, enjoying the lush green plants along with some little yellow leeches in whatever ooze I was swimming around. Before I knew it I got so fat that the leaves I was eating at the start were just small specks now, and only the larger plants could satisfy my hunger. As I swallowed entire plants, I could still see the little yellow leeches eating the small leaves off of them. Eventually my slug had grown too big for his own good, and couldn't compete for the good big chunks of plants so I had to grow some horns and learn how to release a poison gas around me to fend off the bigger animals and still remain a vegetarian. Adding parts here and there, before I knew it after about an hour I had legs and was cruising around on land looking for even bigger plants. When I first encountered another land faring creature I had to decide if I was going to kill anything that got in my way or befriend them. Staying true to my herbivore roots I decided to befriend them, and before I knew it I had a tribe of little green monkey like creatures cruising around the whole continent impressing the local brutes with my races advanced dance and musical abilities. This game is insane...