Latest Haul (and Impressions): Icebreaker II
August 9, 2007 by Tim · Leave a Comment
Well, what’s this? A new 3DO release? That’s right… As I mentioned on one of the first posts to this blog, OlderGames.com was planning to bring us several new 3DO games. Well, the time is now. The Classic Gaming Expo has come and gone, the games are officially released, and everyone that placed a pre-order has the game in their hands.
All of the games that OlderGames has released were incomplete works-in-progress and are at various levels of playability. Powerslide seems barely playable. Decathlon is playable, but with a fair number of bugs. Onside looks quite stable, but doesn’t interest me much. Icebreaker II, on the other hand, feels like it was very much ready for an official release, and that’s why it’s the only one I decided to buy. The only thing that indicates the game isn’t finished is that there is space on the level select screen for 150 levels, but only 118 are present. (Oddly enough, levels 149 and 150 have been created even though 117-148 don’t exist.) On top of that, there’s a whole collection of small tech demos to play around with, outside the scope of the game itself.
So how is it? Was it worth waiting 13 years after the origial release for the sequel? Well, I guess it depends on how much you were actually anticipating it in that time. For someone like me, that hasn’t played the first and only found out there was an unreleased sequel a couple years ago, it wasn’t a bad wait at all! But I pity those who were waiting with baited breath (if any of you exist). Not that it’s a bad game, but rather… Why would you be waiting with baited breath for any game for 13 years? (Says the guy waiting for the NiGHTS sequel. D’oh.)
For the unfamiliar, I think the best way to describe Icebreaker is as a puzzle-slash-shooter game. The object is, as a floating white pyramid, to float around each level destroying all of the other pyramids. Most of the pyramids are static and can be broken either by running into them or shooting them. Some take more shots than others, some take more rapid shots than others, some turn into pools of acid, some turn into pools of lava. On top of that, there is a constant onslaught of mobile enemy pyramids closing in on you, so you have to negotiate destroying them while destroying the static pyramids.
Though I haven’t played much yet, I think I can confidently say I’ve never played another game quite like this one (of course, like I said, I never played the first game). From what I’ve seen, Icebreaker II is fresh and fun. The concept is unique and I really like the colorful, cartoon-like graphical style. Naturally, I’ll have a full review sometime in the future…
Impressions: Populous, Killing Time, Landstalker
July 28, 2007 by Tim · 3 Comments
I mentioned on the About page that I’m something of a lazy gamer. Or, at the very least, I’m not a very dedicated gamer. When I was younger, I could dedicate myself to a single game for hours on end, day after day. I just don’t have the attention span for that anymore. I think it happened when I started spending more time on the internet. So either the internet destroyed my attention span, or I just grew up a little, I’m not sure what it is. But either way, I play a lot of games, and I play a lot of games for a couple hours at a time.
Eventually, I’ll get around to playing each game long enough to properly review it. (After all, that’s the point of this site.) But in the meantime, I’m going to post quick impressions of the games that I’ve been playing lately but haven’t spent enough time with to properly review. So here goes:
- Populous (SNES): I’m not sure what it says about a game when its tutorial mode provides absolutely no instructions in any way. I bought the game used, cart-only, and was utterly lost. Shouldn’t a tutorial at least describe what all the buttons on the screen do? Once I found a transcription of the manual online, things fell into place. This is an unusual sim/strategy/god game where your main power is to raise and lower the land so your followers can farm, gain strength, and eradicate the followers of your rival deity. I’m going to have to spend a lot more time with this one before I really form much of an opinion of it, but I’ve found it intriguing so far.
- Killing Time (3DO): Another awkward early 3D game for the 3DO. It’s an FPS that does a few things right and a few other things horribly wrong. I love the seamless transitions between areas/levels, as if it’s one big environment I’m exploring, rather than segmented levels. I hate the ugly enemy sprites that repeat ad nauseum (there are only one or two different enemies per area). I’ve only played through the first few areas, but so far, it seems like a technically sound game with smooth controls being brought down by poor enemy variety and a total lack of ammo. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have to ditch my current save because I only have one bullet left and about four enemies to kill to advance any further. Argh.
- Landstalker (Genesis): Now this game is promising. It’s a fun action-adventure/RPG with platforming elements, puzzle-solving, and fantastic graphics that manage to look appealing despite the miniscule color palette of the Genesis. I was a fan of Dark Savior on the Saturn, so it’s no wonder I’m liking this one. I’m just having some doubts about the controls, though. It’s an isometric game, so you spend a lot of time moving in diagonals. I’m not sure yet if the controls are unresponsive or if the six-button pad that comes with the Genesis 3 just doesn’t do diagonals well. I think I’ll track down a different controller before making my final judgment, but so far so good.
What have you guys been playing lately? Have any quick impressions of your own to share? Hit the comments…
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