The Return of the N64: Super Smash Bros.

Welcome back for Day 3 of Return of the N64. With migraine interruptions I apologize but we are back in action and are ready to get this going. How about a crossover? How about multiple crossovers to the like comic books never dreamed of? Imagine characters from multiple dimensions in a battle royale to prove who is tougher, smarter or stronger? No, we are not talking about Marvel Vs Capcom. In 1999, a collection of traditional fighters must knock their opponents off a platform. This is Super Smash Bros.

TEST YOUR MIGHT!!!

Originally translated from Japanese Dairanto Sumasshu Burazazu (Great Melee Smash Brothers) our game features the most popular characters from the most popular titles in Nintendo. Super Smash Bros offered various games within the game. Mini-games like Break the Targets and Board the Platforms. With nine different stages like: Hyrule Castle, Sector Z and Princess Peach's Castle the objective of the game is for fighters to knock one another off the platform for a KO.

Unlike Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat or even Tekken there are not an exorbitant need for complex moves to learn but the button combinations are actually pretty simple to learn. Every character has the same button combo so it already gives you a bit of a breather. Each character has signature moves and unique power attacks based on the characters.

RUMBLE!!!

Our characters to choose from are the following: Captain Falcon of F-Zero, Donkey Kong of Donkey Kong, Fox McCloud of Star Fox, Kirby of Kirby, Link of Legend of Zelda, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi of Super Mario, Samus of Metroid , Ness of Earthbound and lastly Jigglypuff and Pikachu of Pokemon.

From Pikachu's lightning attacks to Mario's super spin leap the characters range from slow but power hitting to quick but light attacks, each hero brings something different to the table so picking your character can be a matter of which game they represent and how much you liked playing them prior. Maybe you really want to beat the living crap out of Jigglypuff, or maybe you want to see Link plummet 16 stories to his death. The options are there. Aside from their own attack sequences, Super Smash Bros also offer blocking and dodging options as well as grabbing your opponent and throwing them. Sporadically throughout the game, you have a series of weapons ranging from melee, blasters, Koopa shells both red and green and the hammer from the original Donkey Kong providing more entertainment and greater savage beatings. Beat him with sticks!!

With the single-player mode, the player 1 can do batter with a bunch of computer A.I. Opponents in order like a Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter to progress to the next level. Players 1 and 2 can choose to smack the crap out of each other on the various level or just put it on random to change things up.

With 4 players we have the 2 on 2 battles in team, 3 on 1 punching away or of course with the Free-For-All which is all out melee and fisticuffs. The manly art of pugilism!! By the way, really difficult to feel the masculinity in the fight when you are Kirby Vs Jigglypuff.

LUIGI SNAPA KICK!!!

PC Games of 1997: Diablo

Welcome back boys and girls for Day 5 of PC Games of 1997 and I had to save the greatest time waster of them all.  The penultimate of dates broken, ladies unloved and meals missed.  From a company’s humble beginnings as Silicon & Synapse (sounds like a firm specializing in breast and brain augmentation)the years of Battle Chess and Castles  to the company we better known as Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.  Creators of such games as: Warcraft, Warcraft II, Starcraft, The Death and Return of Superman and Justice League Task Force came a hack and slash adventure game to the likes we had not seen with graphics and excellent voice work.  So grab your mana and health bottles, sharpen your broadsword and prepare to do battle with those denizens of Hell.   This is Diablo.

 

Um... there is a plot device scrolling over our heads.

Uldyssian: Damn you!

Lucion: Thank you, I already am. Shall we go spoil?

In the world of Sanctuary, beneath the town of Tristam lurks Diablo, the Lord of Terror. Eons ago the war between Heaven and Hell raged on. Angels and demons slew one another by the hundreds until the demons were exiled to the mortal realm.  Three terrible Lords of Hell sought victory over mankind through temptation and influencing their decisions, sowing the seeds of distrust and hatred amongst the humans of Sanctuary until a gathering of mages trapped the lords in soulstones.  Diablo’s soulstone was buried deep under the ground in the land that would be known as Tristam a large monastery built over the wretched soulstone to guard and keep the stone from ever seeing light.

Screw doing good.  I'm gonna loot!!

Many generations later the monastery sat in ruin and Tristam was raised up over the ruins and the monastery was leveled for a cathedral.   It would have been nice of the ancestors to leave any notes, scrolls or etchings on the importance of the monastery.   Slowly Diablo gains power over the town and proceeds to warp the good king Leoric and creates terrible wars all the while filling the caverns and catacombs underneath the former monastery with horrible, formidable creates to guard Diablo while he regains his power.

With no king, law or even an army to defend this once happy and prosperous town many of the villagers up and left this township of terror. 

The standard classes of adventurers are pretty limited to Rogue, Warrior and Sorcerer.  Each powerful in their own right but require improvement throughout the leveling.   All items give off a certain color scheme glow to establish how they can be used and by whom.  The colors are white for the normal items, blue for the magic items and gold for the unique items.   They also show how durable each item is and how they can all wear down from too much use and the weapons show all the pros and cons of each melee, blunt and range weapon.  

While this RPG hack and slash is primarily a single-player game it was set up for a LAN (local area network) Multi-player of up to a whopping 4 players and had its drawbacks.  For example: Kill parties laying in wait for that poor noob that greets fellow players so they may kill him/her and strip the body of its belongings.   Also the Cheat Engine (a game editing program) was commonly used to overamp one’s character to make him/her an impossible level and have a wide array of weapons for the sole purpose of killing off fellow gamers, I.E. game killer or jerk off.

While slaying the undead, various monsters and demons is a boon and the story was sound I am certain many friends and families were worried to the gamer that was camped at his/her computer for hours at a time but then again it was not EverQuest (The Silent Killer).

Ahh glad I went without breeches in Hell.

N64 Week: GoldenEye

Hello first person shooters and welcome to Day 5 of N64 Week.  I apologize for the delay but unforeseen weather dictated I did not have my computer on so we are playing catch up and hey isn’t that the same thing a double O deals with too?  With the clock ticking, trained soldiers or even organized crime a double O has to be ready to improvise, get the intel, confirm and execute.   So grab your tux or cocktail dress, prep your silencer for your Walther PP7 and get ready to do a myriad of things for Queen and country.   This is GoldenEye N64.

Self-explanatory..

Alec Trevelyan: Why can’t you be a good spoiler and die?

Based on the 1995 James Bond movie of same title; GoldenEye is a single-player game in with players assume the identity of 007 James Bond himself as he takes down a Russian crime syndicate before they can use a satellite weapon against London and time is running out fast.  With each passing moment, Bond is required to get through 20 levels of men attacking him, obstacles and main level bosses.

It is you who is outgunned!!

The game also has a 4 person multiplayer option with a split screen and radar allowing two, three or even four players to a few death match rounds or even a capture the flag game.  Personally I prefer the License to Kill option meaning your target is hit once he or she dies instantly.   Makes things more challenging. 

Among the collection of weapons to this game are assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols, shotguns, silenced weapons, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, grenade launchers and Moonraker laser pistols.    

I got a rocket for your sprocket..Hey hey...Ho ho.

Okay now that we got over the boring humdrum part, let’s get to a few tips and tricks.

Bank shot:  Okay you have followed your quarry and he or she is just around the corner but you know the moment you pop your head out you are taking more lead than a paint factory.  With the grenade launcher you can bounce a round off the wall in a diagonal shot the fire and blast can provide cover or even with the blast radius can take out your opponent.  Don’t get too cocky and get close to the blast or it will take you out just as easily.

Targeting crosshairs: Whether it is a pistol, SMG or rocket launcher the crosshairs provided by your R button is your friend.  Trying to hit a target from a distance can be tricky but this cuts your problem down by half.  Don’t wait too long to line up a shot because your friends can do the same just as well or even better.  Bottom line if you have a great hiding spot and vantage point this is ideal.  Off the cuff and running from a hail of bullets this will just get you killed quicker than stepping on a land mine.

Proximity mine placement: My two best friends are the ones to lay this ground work in my experience.  Don’t bother dropping a mine at the floor; chuck it at the ceiling, a narrow passageway or in a deep shadow.  The bomb is set and primed.  The downside to proximity mines this is a need to REMEMBER where you put them.  The other problem is if you die in one location there is a better than average chance you wind up in the area you just mined.

Hand grenades:  Pull the pin and toss?  Yeah that doesn’t always guarantee you a kill.  Cook off at least two seconds then chuck or lightly toss depending how close your enemies are.    An easy use of the grenade is dropping it from a height and running like your butt is on fire. 

Aha! Now to hide under the cover of...air.

While the graphics are not as stellar now this game sold more than 8 million units making it the third highest selling N64 game behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 and has spawn a series of spin-off PC and well as other console successors giving it 1998 Console Game of the Year; fans of the Bond films and game franchise still hold it in high regards and in their hearts.  Truly the first FPS that got it right!

N64 Week: Mario Kart N64

Hey there gamers and back to N64 Week and thought we would tackle another beloved multi-player game.  One that has been in almost every collection and I myself had to search for another copy for more than 2 years.  A head to head competition via race or and out and out combat for blood.  Rather balloons actually.    So grab your controller, squabble for first player and get ready for the match.  This is Mario Kart N64.

Yer goin down Mario!

Welcome to Mario Kart!!

Created in 1996 via Japan and it was released in North America and Europe in 1997 this go kart game boasts four different forms of game play: Grand Prix, Time Trial, Versus and Battle.  Grand Prix mode allows one or two people to compete against the computer players in a cup that takes place from four different courses with three laps each.  At the end of each race points are doled out after race is completed.  The difficulty level is measured by engine size 50, 100, or 150 cc (cubic centimenter).   Time Trial allows players to improve on their existing records per courses.  The players’ start their run with three mushrooms with give speed bursts to rip around the track. Lastly Versus mode gives two to four players to race around a single level with obstacles, hiding areas and weapons on standby.   This multi-player portion of the game is a last man standing.  Each player attacks the other with Koopa shells red, blue and green, bananas, upside down icons as traps and lastly a flower for temporary invincibility. 

Itsa me!

Every level or track is a variant of levels from all the Mario based games Nintendo and Super Nintendo and due to the breaking ground in 3D tracks got changes in elevation, bridges, walls and pits.  IGN and GamePro gave Mario Kart N64 at a solid 87% in Game Rankings.

Pfftt! Kong dust!

Mario Kart N64 has eight different characters for the players to use.  Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, Bowser which appeared the first Super Mario Kart and lastly the two new to series Wario and Donkey Kong.   Characters are divided into three weight classes: Lightweights (karts with high acceleration and lower top speed), Heavyweights (top heavy, low acceleration but a high top speed) and Middleweights (a perfect balance of both acceleration and top speed) 

And now a few tips and hints for the game to assist your play a bit better.   For example: the Grand Prix and Time Trial can get a burst of acceleration prior the third light. Hold down the after just before the third light and you will fly past the competition.    To use either red or green shells use the Z button to save that shell at the ready and toggle the analog stick down and launch the it with Z to fire it behind you as a trip up. 

The popularity of this game gave kids lunchboxes, bed sheets, posters and even action figures.  

Toy Biz created a Series one including Mario, Bowser and Yoshi.  Series two offered Ghost Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Wario.    While many feel this game has aged poorly and admittedly the graphics are lesser by today’s standards I still hold a place in my heart for it and I know many of my friends would agree.

N64 Week: Star Fox N64

 Today we start off N64 Week right with a fun filled game full of dangerous forces, high stakes and the difficulties of aerial dog fights.  So just in your way back machines, call up 3 friends to join you and make sure your hands doesn’t get too sweaty.  This is Star Fox N64

 

I think my tights are binding.

Spoiler:  Do a barrel roll!

Back in 1997, 3 years after its Super NES predecessor Star Fox 64 was the first game to implement the rumble pack to simulate combat damage from impacts from energy weapons to careless flying bashing into buildings or the ground.  The improvements did not stop there.  Sample of voice over was used for each character bringing a bit more life into the game from its 8 megabyte humble beginnings. The returning characters from Star Fox assist you (Fox McCloud) as your wingmen.  Peppy (the rabbit) is a mentor and offers you tips and hints throughout each level. Slippy (the frog) analyzes shields of each main boss and keeps track of their life as you fly in, disable and destroy them.  Falco (the bird) offers you different and quicker routes to the more difficult levels.  As team leader of the Fox squadron you must look out for one another.  The longer it takes to get an enemy off one of your squad, the more it is for to repair their ship.  Simple, right?  You are sent to fight the forces of Andross, who has a stranglehold on the galaxy and is personally responsible for the death of your father.

Slippy, deodorant. Look it up.

Multi-player option

Okay now the main reason this game is still beloved is the 4 person multi-player option.  Going head to head or playing for points.  You and three of your friends take each other out in a series of aerial dogfights. For the life of me I have no idea why the game was not set up for you and your friends to go through missions together but hey who needs them? 

Now we will get to the mean and evil portion of the multi-player aspect. Dual lasers and a bomb will be available on all head to head levels.  Weapons lock is possible if you hold down the laser button and it charges a more concentrated burst of fire, however this is a one shot deal.  You will need to follow it up with a series of smaller bursts.  Using your radar is key for many reasons.  It allows you to know where you are, where your opposition is and how close are that to the target, i.e. you.

Hints for multi-player play

Now there are cheats and tips all over the net for this game still, I just thought a few little surprises would assist you in better pissing off your friends.  With weapons lock you also have the ability to fire a bomb at them instead of lasers.  This act of heinous evil is best performed from stalking them down, using the boost lightly to catch them in your sights and fire.  Immediately after the bomb has been released, U-turn the hell away or you will get caught in the blast zone.  There is nothing more sad then dying at the hands of your own ambush.

Alright, now you are being chased and hunted down.  Your friend sneaked off and picked up the bomb after it was used on him. So in a blatant attack he or she will repeat that which was done to him or her.  How to avoid this heinous attack you ask?  Hmm?  I can’t hear you maggot!!!  Okay since you asked so nicely the somersault option is very wise but it cannot be timed as well as a U-turn.  Gets you out in plenty of time and leaves you free to explore for the newly formed bomb.  As for a strictly laser based aerial attack, your opponents will waste countless rounds trying to eliminate you and commonly yet another cowardly attack from behind.   

A somersault is your best friend and allows you to get the drop on them but you need a twist on this idea.  As you somersault, hit the brake button to drop directly behind them, weapons lock and fire!  Congrats.  You just turned the tide in this fight and made them mad as hell.   If you cannot manage this maneuver, a series of barrel rolls will confuse their aim but this is no guarantee to keep from getting hit.  Head on attacks are fun for anyone that enjoys a good game of chicken. Weapons lock is a bit more difficult so keep your hand steady.  In my last GoldenEye review I mentioned ez grip bat tape for your controllers.  Use it and love it.  No matter how sweaty your hands get you can keep a firm grip….on your controller.  Staring down the barrels of your adversary is dangerous to your Arwing but hell it is fun.  Why not engage a series of bursts at him or her?  Spank them with a weapons lock (if you can get one) or break off with a u-turn when they least suspect it?  If you don’t have enough friends you can head to head against a friend and one or two computer players and frankly they are too easy to beat it is sad.  They always go for a back attack so get that somersault handy and strife the hell out of their ships.

Nintendo N64 Week

I have taken an inventory on my reviews and realized I have not done anything on video games in months.  I thought now was an opportune time to dust off the video game system and give a shot at an old profession.  Video Game reviews and I missed doing it.  Checking in my array of game systems I thought it might be fun to see these games and see what we can find as a level of amusement.  So this week we look at these antiquated titles of our childhood and breathe some life into the nostalgia that is Nintendo N64.

Meh I only get one game and Mario has over 20.