Short Impressions..

I got 4 games in the past week.. here are my initial impressions..

Mario Kart Double Dash!!: Everybody\'s played Mario Kart at least once, so I don\'t have to explain this game. Compared to its prequel Mario Kart 64, this game is better and worse. Better in all of the technical categories.. graphics/sound/production values/etc.. and better in most gameplay areas. For example, the 2-person carts are a welcome addition to the game, adding a little strategy and a lot of fun to multiplayer (which already kicks every form of ass)... Most of the downsides have to do with the tracks not being quite as brilliant as MK64\'s. Mostly the battle tracks. So far, I like the game a lot but there are other things missing that I liked from in MK64 so it isn\'t perfect.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Outside of the somewhat awkward movement, this game\'s play control is so smooth and intuitive that I wouldn\'t doubt that Ubisoft had Shigeru Miyamoto on-board. The gameplay is great, something of a cross between SM64, any 3D Zelda, and the original Prince of Persia. The Prince is arguably the most athletic game character I\'ve seen.. you can run up and along walls, wall-jump, leapfrog over enemies, and much more. He\'s a certified gymnast. The combat is pretty interesting, nothing too complex but flashy and entertaining enough to keep me interested. Aesthetically sound, good audio. I love the mood in this game, very quiet and peaceful when you\'re not in a fight. The exploration and obstacle course sections are fantastic. Very good game.

Mario Party 5: Like MK:DD, if you\'ve played a game in this series.. you know the gameplay. The question is if the mini-games are good, and if the boards and additional gameplay are any fun.. well, they are. This is a bigger and more polished game than MP4, probably the best since MP2. The standard item system has been scrapped for "capsules", which are items (such as "Chomp" who offers to steal coins/stars) you get for free from a dispenser; apply them to a board space for free, use them on yourself for a fee. The mini-games themselves are solid, although I find it funny how many of them revolve around rapid button mashing.. moreso than MP4\'s. Overall, this is a good entry in the series.

Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga: Yet another sequel, but this is one that many didn\'t expect so soon. An indirect sequel to Paper Mario, this is an RPG.. and a platformer. Think Super Mario RPG, but with cuter graphics. The battle system is just like SMRPG except now you can team up and do super attacks with both brothers. (the only two playable characters, BTW) Overall, the gameplay is tight. Now, on to the aesthetics.. the graphics are great for GBA. The highlight is obviously the animation, which is very smooth and occasionally funny. Speaking of funny, this game is rather humorous. Not super funny, but it\'s quirky; lots of personality. The audio also kicks ass. Lots of classic music mixed in with some new stuff, and a good deal of voice.. but unlike the Mario Advance games where it was annoying.. M&L\'s voices are entertaining. So far, I\'m glad I bought this game.

What are you guys playing?

Phew, lots as a matter of fact.  In the past couple of weeks, I\'ve picked up Crimson Skies, Prince of Persia the Sands of Time, Rebel Strike, Sly Cooper [owned it and beat it before, just adding it back into my collection], Ace Combat 4 [Same as Sly Cooper], Ratchet and Clank [Same as Sly Cooper], Ratchet and Clank 2, Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, Final Fantasy XI, Call of Duty, Homeworld 2, Max Payne 2, Mario Advance 4, Fire Emblem, and Heart of Darkness.

Prince of Persia - fun in a way Ico is, but a little too convoluted for me in the combat sense.  In fact, I would say it was much too linear in its puzzle solving with the solutions basically highlighted for you at every turn as well.  It was good no doubt, but Ico was better and executed with a sort of pinache not common in just about every game.

Crimson Skies - Excellent in every sense of the word, but I couldn\'t play too much of it since school basically sidetracked me and now it sits patiently waiting on my shelf.  There\'s lots of great things about it, but I have no time to really go into explicit details.

I actually reviewed Ratchet and Clank and Sly Cooper so I don\'t really need to talk about those.  Ace Combat 4 I never reviewed, but there\'s hundreds of reviews of it out there I\'m sure and it\'s every bit as wonderful today as it was a couple of years ago.  Ratchet and Clank 2 and Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga has yet to arrive at my home courtesy of EBGames and their inadequate shipping.

Rebel Strike - Horrible.  I couldn\'t even begin to say why as my hate for that game goes far beyond that of most mortal men and believe it or not, I\'m actually a Star Wars fan.  In fact, I would go as far as to say I\'ve played better games from that license developed by Lucasarts.

Call of Duty - An absolutely amazing experience as a world war 2 game.  No game has ever had a better atmosphere as far as history goes and drawing you in.  Just play the first Russian mission and try and deny how great the game is.

Homeworld 2\\Max Payne 2\\Heart of Darkness - They sit, here on my desk unplayed.  I hear Max Payne 2 is wonderful though!  

Fire Emblem - Another absolutely stunning game.  A friend of mine and myself have been progressing through our own campaigns and there are missions that he encounter and subquests that he is asked to go on that I am not and vice versa which makes the game pretty awesome as there are multiple ways you can go through it and still succeed.  If you\'re an advance wars fan or a fan of FFTA, it\'s impressive and worth checking out.

Final Fantasy XI - Wonderful.  I\'m constantly updating the FFXI thread of my progress in the PC Hardware forum so everyone who wishes to join me in my quest may check up on me there.

Finally, Mario Advance 4 - It\'s Super Mario Bros 3.  There\'s not much to really say beyond that.  If you liked that game, then you\'ll definitely love this game.  It should have come out long ago in my opinion however.  It also has lots of GBA specific extras and they\'re all pretty good as well.

Max Payne 2 is a good "mindless" shooter with one unique gameplay mechanic (bullet-time) and a great presentation. It\'s short, too.. 6 hours if you take your time. Good game, put it next on your list of what-to-play.

Ah.  Excellent.  I\'ll give it a try soon.  Sorry for not showing much love for the Cube as you probably would have liked , but in the next couple of weeks, I\'ll have the chance to sink my teeth into MKDD, MP5, and the new multiplayer Pac-Man.  Should be great fun at our annual Christmas Party.

Well I got a chance to try out Virtual On Mars and Bloody Roar 4.

Virtual would only be fun as a 2 or 4 player game.  You can do 2 teams of 2.  There are about 8 different machines and the only differences seems to be firepower and slight speed.  I hate the boosters.  There are some interesting options though to configure your dual sticks to emulate the arcade twin sticks.

Bloody Roar 4 so far ok.  I don\'t like it that they took Long out of the initial characters.  He might be one of the 6 hidden characters to unlock but until then I\'ll have to use ShenLong.  They have added some new interesting people and hopefully that stupid elephant guy is gone forever.  I think he was Taliban.  Some new graphics and one intersting new guy is a Crow w/very good wing graphics.  Not much change in the game play and as always no move list!!!

Ryu: Hehe, well.. I\'m not just a Nintendo fan. POP4 is on my Xbox, and I play RTCW:ET daily.

\'Course, go here and you\'ll see that the Big N is still my favorite dev.

[Jumpman]

Wth is this Prince game it got 9.6 at Igncube.

What the hell is it? You\'ve never heard of Prince of Persia? POP (1989) and its developmental prequel Karateka, basically evolved in-game animations to a level of smoothness not seen before in electronic gaming.

Not only that, but POP also evolved the puzzle/platform genre.. if it didn\'t flat-out create it. Great gameplay for its time, and it stands up relatively well today. POP4:SoT basically continues that tradition of AAA puzzle-solving, platforming, and sword-fighting in the 3D realm in a way that the ill-designed POP3D could only dream of accomplishing. It\'s highly polished, and the top-notch animation and intuitiveness of the original is back.

Give it a rent to see what the ruckus is all about. You\'ll like it at least a bit, I\'d wager.