Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

Back again kiddies. I know you missed me. It's okay to admit it. So I think this week felt needed some more video games. Lego has been a staple in households for the last 30 years, and since 1997 64 video games Lego construction system have been released by Mindscape to later Giant Interactive Entertainment to show of Lego-themed video games. In 2006, bringing the original trilogy bringing an action-adventure platform and bringing a Lucasart/ Traveller's Tales Games hybrid that brought joy to many. This is Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

Oh dear, I am still overtly effeminate!

Based on the original story-line of the Star Wars series, this particular creation sold over 8.2 million copies since May 2009. Many of the critics love the game for its adorable or jocose appearance of beloved heroes and villains of this universe. 46 different characters from the films are available to play, some require play-throughs leading up to a total of 114 playables. The lack of difficulty is the biggest complaint for most critics with the platforms that Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Microsoft, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360.

That's no moon...um..it's a spaceship you see.

The game plays various cut scenes retelling the movies without any dialogue, the player takes on the role of the films' characters each having specific weapons and abilities with single-player and multiplayer option. Third-person view giving puzzle genres and action-adventure allowing 20 bounty hunter missions allowing all the available characters. Power-ups are spread throughout all the levels of the game invulnerability, turbo speed and power attack damage, the power is limited so use it sparingly.

Most of the control allowing training in Wii with the Jedi Lunge, Jedi Slam, Force Throw and Force Push giving the Jedi moves to commit to memory. 2 bonus levels considering 5 levels in Episode IV, 5 levels in Episode V and 6 levels in Episodes VI. I am told there are additional mini-games in the portable game systems but I don't have any firsthand knowledge. With the standard slapstick routine giving a lot of tongue-in-cheek gags, this game gives any fan some fun takes on spaceship battles, lightsaber combat, blaster fights and typical sci-fi joy. It is not as hard to beat but I feel a sense of nostalgia for the series.

Hey, we got medals.  Suck it Chewie!

PS2 Week: Guitar Hero II

Hi there gang and welcome back for Day 3 of PS2 Week. Well we have explored two action adventures games and now is clearly the time to change over to another genre. How about one of the highest grossing emulator franchises? Simulating rocking out with a controller shaped in the form of an electric guitar and playing along with notes scrolling towards the player, this sequel managed to sell just a little over 3.1 million copies since 2007. Sold individually or bundled with a cherry red Gibson SG guitar controller, this game as been proven fun for all ages. This is Guitar Hero II.

How sick is this drawing, right?

Released by Harmonix, published by our friends at Activision and finally distributed by RedOctane this second installment of Guitar Hero was released for PS2 and Xbox 360, each having different box cover art as well as the Xbox 360 was bundled with a white Gibson guitar controller. Both controllers were wired but RedOctane also sold a wireless controller solely for the PS2. With more than 40 popular songs, a few of them cover versions recorded specifically for the game and crossing more than 50 years, this game is an all-age game having characters on stage at concerts playing notes as fast as possible and as accurate to give perfect score. Ranging from Easy to Hard, the band takes on each gig as the song of choice starts belting out and you keep up with in following notes and color context to match the buttons on the guitar. With not only the licensed music came showing of the licensed instruments from speakers to drum sets, each guitar, speaker, bass and drum kit got its spotlight making the manufacturers a bit happier to get new and existing generations involved in music.

In case some of you players were not born in the 80s.

On Career Mode, players create a band name and select a guitarist from the run of characters available, Each of the eight character provide a unique take on rock music at the start of the game : Eddie Knox, Axel Steel, Casey Lynch, Lars Umlaut, Izzy Sparks, Judy Nails, Johnny Napalm and Pandora. Better performances means better cash and the ability to purchase better equipment.

Even better though is the Multiplayer options. Co-op allows a bass or rhythm guitar to share score, the rock meter and show off star power via star power meter. This is the only multiplayer mode in which a song can fail. Face-Off the same feature from the original game but with a few tweaks. Players chose their own difficulty for each song and the scores are weighted accordingly, so the player on Easy with less notes might not out and out lose the expert tagging most of his or her notes. Pro Face-Off puts the players playing the same guitar track on the same difficulty level.

The immense success of this game brought us an expansion pack entitled Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s prior to the release of Guitar Hero II: Legends of Rock.

Voted in 2006 as Best Soundtrack, Best Music Game and Best Play Station 2 Offline Multiplayer Game it is no wonder that households, college dorms and shabby furnished apartments were rocking out to this easy to understand and fun to play game. I'd wager $50 that this was the reason for more than a few minimum wagers calling in sick for a few more hours of game time but that is just my theory.

Expert level is murder on the fingers!

PS2 Week: Spider-Man 2

A big greetings and welcome back to Day 2 of PS2 Week. We are slamming into high gear with a fast paced story arc enthused Marvel Comics character that many of us know. After the success of its predecessor Spider-man, a few complaints went out on the game's handling and lack of Spidey like capabilities and the folks of Sony heard their cries. A loosely based adaptation of the film Spider-Man 2 was called into production and the cast of the film voice cast the lot. Activision went to work creating a single-player action adventure to the likes the wall-crawler fans had not seen. This is Spider-Man 2.

Concrete can chafe a butt folks,  just an FYI from Spidey.

Made for PC and platform consoles such as: Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, N-Gage, Mac, Nintendo DS and PSP (Playstation Portable) this game got standing reviews and love as it had the option to continue on the storyline after the tutorial (voiced by that Bruce Campbell fellow of Evil Dead and Burn Notice) or allowing you to do side quests fending off thugs and baddies in true red and blue Spidey fashion. With street scum armed with SMGs, pistols, crowbars and bare knuckles you can easily dispatch them with a few punches and puns. Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire of Deconstructing Harry, Pleasantville, Wonderboys, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Labor Day and Pawn Sacrifice) of has been in the spandex for two years cutting down on NYC's crime rate all the while trying to balance school, work and being with his family and friends when he has to thwart a museum art heist, the muscle bound Rhino starts tearing up downtown Manhattan and you guessed it, a certain superhero has to put the kibosh on that. No, not Superman. Spider-Man. Sheesh, get with it.

Hehe just mooned Trump.

Following the unfortunate creation of Doctor Octopus (Voiced by Alfred Molina of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Species, Chocolat, and An Education) in the film, the blame for all his failures, foibles and the loss of his wife is clearly Spider-Man's fault so why not start some crime? According to the Spider-Man universe, science just equals bad. Unlike its predecessor, this game lets Spidey go all over Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, Ellis Island and even Liberty Island to help and aid folks calling out his name, giving him hero points to put to skill sets and upgrading his performance over all. A bit like steroids without all that abuse. The 3D aspect of web slinging is like nothing else of its time. Given the typical jumping and static swinging, we finally explore Spidey's full range capabilities of swinging and their cause and effect as you are on the move. We are also reintroduced to villains such as: The Shocker and Mysterio distracting our hero with their tomfoolery and general bs but our boy can still put the hurt on them and give them to the cops. Black Cat makes a lengthy appearance voiced by Holly Fields (Brimstone, Wishmaster 2, Fishes, Hip, Edgy, Sexy, Cool, JAG, Shrek 2 Video Game, The Still Life and Superman Returns Video Game)

Interesting little side note here is the console game and the PC game differ quite a bit. In the PC game, Doc Ock is already who he is, the tutorial on managing powers and skills is once again narrated by Bruce Campbell and Rhino busts out of prison after a riot. It's the little things that make the difference from time to time. With the PS2's freestyle web slinging, baddie bopping and in general freedom that is allowed you swear you just stepped into the comic book.

Rhino may not be MENSA material.

PS2 Week: Grand Theft Auto III

Hello and on to Day 1 of PS2 Week and I thought I should start us off with a popular game first to get the gamer juices flowing. Boy, did that sound wrong. Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design Ltd) started off a wee bit rocky in the early 80's and by mid-90s it was looking worrisome that they would go under when the creation of the Grand Theft Auto Interactive PC games made the news giving them some breathing room but then demands for the Playstation version was in heaping rows, No sooner did this franchise make waves positively and controversially the creation for the a open world action-adventure made its release in PS2 in 2001 then 2002 for the PC and 2003 for Xbox. This is Grand Theft Auto III.

Meet friendly faces!

After a smooth bank robbery and get away with a team of robbers in Liberty City (fictional New York) our single-player game follows the doings and goings on of Claude, a bank robber who was left for dead by his own girlfriend who blasted him. Left to bleed out on the ground, Claude is arrested and sent up the river for no less than a dime. Sorry, I really get into the lingo. Ten year stretch if you will.

The prison van is destroyed killing the prison guards and devastating the main bridge. Claude and his transport buddy 8-Ball hightail it out of there and make it to a safehouse for a change of clothes, a few weapons and line up some employment to a nightclub/escort service ran by a member of the Leone syndicate. After a few quick car missions, the sky is the limit but always remember if the police see an illegal act they enable a star count. Each star is how much attention you have drawn to yourself. First stint into Liberty City the highest you can get is 3 stars which means S.W.A.T. Has a light armored vehicle and they are packing uzis. Yeah, watch yer butt on your shenanigans and keep a low profile.

Enjoy the sights!

This combines the first person shooter with a driving game giving car jacking rides, races, shoot outs and plenty of primary missions as well as side missions for extra money, armor and newer weapons. Behind the wheel gives you freedom to cruise through neighborhoods and avoid most trouble but every now and then street punks to the Triads will take notice and try to take you out. On foot, you got a bit of street fighting, melee weapons, firearms and even explosives such as Molotov cocktails and hand grenades.

One of the most amusing of carjacking is stealing a police car and then hiding in your safehouse or chop shop to get the man off your back and boom, no one is the wiser. You can toodle around in your newly acquired bacon mobile and have more than a few side quests alone with that like the vigilante option of blowing away dirtbags.

The gaming mechanics via PS2 is simple enough. Your standard pattern of circle is shoot, whack or punch. Triangle is exit/enter cars. X is hitting the gas in the car or sprinting on foot and square is braking for car and jump on foot. Directional buttons are your friend with both vehicle and car. I mean when is the last time it was that easy? Keep in mind, the faster the ride, the more you have to finesse the handling. The light sports cars can zoom but have crap for control. Takes a little practice for each ride so don't go bananas first time out.

Okay now for a teensy bit of controversy. Due to the adult nature of this game it is rated mature from anything eluding to sex, alcohol, drugs, smoking and prostitutes. Yeah this was a big stink about the legitimacy of the game with its lack of morals and scruples. So apparently grudge match games like Quake are fine, Mario Cart can trip up its opponents and we can blast the hell out of zombies via Resident Evil but a crime based video game is the devil. These mooks probably hated the Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface and Casino as well. Bottom line parents, use your own judgement call on whether or not you are introducing your kids to this series.

Yikes, dinged the fender on that last hooker.

PS2 Week

Welcome back readers! Today I was going to go into a volley of a specific film genre when it dawned on me I would rather cover some video games again. I know, I know. I did cover the Free-to-Play not long ago but it got me thinking there are several of a particular console I have not gotten to go into detail on and this week as good as any. I speak of the PS2. Manufactured in 2000, Sony's second installment of the Playstation boasted better graphics, more complex games ranging from racing, RPG, Co-Op, Action, Horror and the introduction to the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games.

I have a need.  A need for... oh, you get it already.

With more than 3,000 titles this sixth-gen console was competing with Nintendo Gamecube and Xbox for popularity churning out more than 150 million units during its release and worldwide sales of the console up to 1 billion. Even with its successor PS3, the PS2 is still one of the most preferred game consoles and units were still being created up until 2013. With that in mind, I wanted to discuss what I thought were some of the most definitive games throughout its inception, cover the pros and cons of gameplay for each and try to give the back story on each title.

So please enjoy the gamer geek's ideal entertainment of the PS2 and its most impressive array of games of various genre and I hope this will be fun for us all. Those of you that are sick of game blogs, hey I am sorry but gotta break away from the movies and TV now and then.

BMGs sure do clear a path!