Joe Danger SE (XBLA)

Hit it or Quit it?

Year: 2011 -- Developer: Hello Games -- Publisher:  Hello Games

First impression:
Since this is an XBLA game, there may have been a video to watch, but I didn't watch it. I also feel like I'm supposed to already know who Joe Danger is, considering this is SE (Special Edition?).  He looks like a daredevil, so I'm thinking I may be doing minigames that mimic activities that daredevils might do?  Shooting out of cannons, jumping over buses, etc.  The art style is fun and looks like it will work well.  The title screen music is catchy as well.  I'm definitely interested in seeing what this is all about.

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Fooled around for:  ~25-30 minutes (First chapter, about 5-6 levels)
I was about half right.  You are a daredevil-type guy and you certainly jump over things.  It actually plays a lot like Trials, which is pretty awesome!  It's like Trials, except on uppers for tricks and downers for realistic physics.. if that makes sense.   Basically, you get super boosts and points for tricks like flipping and wheelies and air tricks, but you can land crazy tricks easier because it's more forgiving.  Also, there are a bunch of goals like "Collect all of the stars" "Collect all of the letters" "Do all of these tricks" etc.

The graphics, the sound, the whole presentation is pretty awesome.  There are a few more references to this being a remake, or a sequel or something.  "Joe is back" etc.

The biggest problem with the game being so crazy is that the controls are pretty tricky to grasp.  Sure, moving forward and backward are just the triggers, but when you have to stop moving forward to hit the shoulder buttons, and then get back on the trigger. Then you have to rotate forward, but hit the back trigger to land on a certain spot, and it just gets confusing.  There are so many levels, and so many goals to accomplish in each level though, that you could definitely get some practice without getting too bored with being "stuck".  I imagine the game is only going to get crazier and more complicated.



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Hit it or Quit it?  (1200 MSP)
Aside from feeling a little flustered with the controls, this is really a game I could see myself getting into.  It's a nice outlet to play a game "like" Trials, but to get away from Trials for a bit and have more fun.  Trials can be really serious sometimes, when you really just can't hit that jump right.  This game may have that issue as well, but it really looks like it's more focused on skills with your tricks and getting to know the level rather than just pushing past that one last hill.

My only problem is that I'm poor, and even $15 for a game that I probably won't have a lot of time to play is a little steep for me.  This would be a game that I would pick up if I got a large enough Points Card as a gift, or just had a bonus at work and remembered I wanted this.  Past that, the amount of time it's going to take to really get good at this game and get through all of it, I just don't know if I have.

That said, it's not like I can say quit it to every game I can't buy, because that would probably be all of them.  I need to be doing this based on the game, not the price.  Yeah, value is one thing, but this game is definitely worth it's value.  On that note, hit it.  And then hit it more.

Trials Evolution (XBLA)

...with benefits

Like I mentioned yesterday, you should be expecting a post about the sequel to Trials HD.  That is this. This is Evolution.

The premise has remained the same.  You are running from one end to the other, conquering obstacles, trying to get your time and your faults down to nothing.

This game is everything from the first, and more.  And that's awesome.  The graphics are even better.  The water and fire look great, and better yet, most of the courses are outside!  The scope of the game looks so large now.  The whole first game, you are indoors, which is fine.  It's crazy how much just changing the backdrop really affects how the game feels though.  You can also curve "towards" and "away" from the camera, adding to the depth.

One of the other big things they added was multiplayer over XBOX Live!  There are either 4-lane maps, or you can just race the ghost of 3 other players on the normal single player levels.  As you rank, you earn Online Points, and can level up, increasing your stature online.

Also, the level editor has gotten way crazier... AND.. You can download tracks through the in-game marketplace (all free, of course), and man, people are getting insane with the builder.  Apparently it's so robust that, with patience and skill, you can do almost anything.  I have seen everything from insane "normal" maps, to Tetris, to FP"S" games.  All within the Trials Engine! WTF?!  It makes me want to get into it, but I'm not sure I have that time or patience.

Outside!

4-players?  At one time!?

There isn't much else to say about the sequel though.  It's almost literally just "the same thing except better", and that's not bad!  I'm definitely going to be reaping the benefits of this relationship for a while!

Plus, there is already DLC for it!  I totally forgot to mention the Trials HD DLC in that post, but DLC is awesome!  Even more of more of the same awesomeness!  I just can't get enough!

Trials HD (XBLA)

...with benefits

Year: 2009 -- Developer: RedLynx -- Publisher:  XBLA

Me and Trials HD go back a ways.  Probably at least a couple years at this point.  I think it was one of the first demos I downloaded when I got my XBOX360 but couldn't afford any games yet.  Even the 3 levels in the demo kept me playing longer than some "real" games have.  I just wanted to get better times, or find better ways to show off fancy maneuvers or whatever.  After I really just couldn't take the demo anymore and had some extra money, I bought my points, downloaded the full version, and couldn't stop playing it for days.

The premise is fairly simple.  You are riding a dirtbike, and you are trying to get from the beginning to the end in the fastest time, with the fewest number of faults.  The reality is that this really isn't as easy as it sounds.  The levels go up, down, including ramps, jumps, obstacles, etc.  As the game gets to the Hard and Extreme courses, you really need to get into bunny hopping, riding up what are basically walls, and all sorts of crazy things.  The better you do, the better medal you get.

The game is gorgeous!  I can't even imagine needing the graphics to look any better!  And when you fall of your bike, you are thrown around with ragdoll physics, and you can almost feel the pain he must be in.  Then you can still wiggle him around on the ground, and that's always fun!

The controls are easy.  Right trigger "go", Left trigger "stop", and tilt the stick to lean back or forward.  It's the combination of this and the crazy physics that really make the game.  While there is no "jump" button, with practice you learn that if you hit the gas just right and lean just right, you can make little hops.  Or you find that if you hit this ramp just right, you will go up to another path in the level.  Also, there are explosions, and boxes you might hit that just knock you out!

The game comes with a level editor (the same one the developers actually use), so you have every possibility of creating the same quality of levels that they did, it's just a matter of skill, design and patience.  I have never messed with the editor much, but it's cool that it's in there.  You can share tracks to your XBOX friends, but not to anyone, so you can't just go download them either (See: Trials Evolution coming up).

In case you get tired of the Point A to Point B runs, there are also Skill Games.  These might have you jumping off of pinball flippers to reach the highest altitude you can, or they may have you riding on top of a metal ball for as long as you can.  The cleverness of some of the Skill Games is actually pretty interesting, and definitely a nice break from the rest of the main game.

Also!  When you look at the leaderboards, you can watch the replay of the Top 100 (I think it's 100) so you can try to pick up ideas on how to decrease your time, or get past certain obstacles.  The catch is, these people are crazy, and often, you need to run the course exactly like they did, otherwise you whole timing is off and their techniques don't work.  It's always fun to watch though, and just try to imagine how long they spent getting to that skill level.



I find myself hooking up with this game every now and then just because I want to keep my skills up.  I have gone too long sometimes, and I can tell I've gotten rusty.  I used to think "Man, I could never get through those Extreme courses" but over the years, I have just stuck with it every now and then, and I have slowly pieced together most of them.  I'm nowhere near getting golds on them, but at least I'm getting through them! Also, with no story to pay attention to, it's super easy to just pick up for a few minutes here and there.  If I pass, I pass, if not, at least I was able to get a little more used to some of the Extreme level skills required to pass them someday.

The worst part is trying and trying to pass a course, and running out the 30 minute time limit, or the 500 fault limit.  All the time feels wasted, but at least you know the next time, the level up until that point will run a little easier, and you can focus more on that area that snuffed you.

Even with the sequel out, I still pick this up, and still will.  There's always room for improvement, and I just love the way the physics to the bike feel.  As long as I stick with it and feel that I'm improving, this game will stay in my benefits rotation.

Double Teamed - Power Rangers Zeo: Battle Racers (SNES)

Year: 1996 -- Developer: Natsume -- Publisher: Bandai

4th and final game for this series of Double Teaming!

From across the room:
Considering all of the other games we've been playing didn't have demo screens, we didn't even wait for this one to find out.  Let's just get it started.  We are expecting something between Mario Kart and Battle Cars.. but with Power Rangers.. but since it's Zeo, no putties :(

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Played for: 20 minutes

Hit it or Quit it?
Putties wouldn't have really made this game any better.  It turned out to be a scary close rip-off of Mario Kart.  Most of the same modes, tracks looked similar, even some of the sounds were very close.  For being so late in the SNES life, I kind of had hoped for this to somehow be awesome.   Unfortunately, it was just generic and same-y.  It might have even been better if it wasn't Power Rangers.  There was no reason for it to have been Power Rangers.. but I guess that's what happens when you try to put a franchise on top of something totally unrelated like a battle racing game.

Considering how awesome Mario Kart got later, making the original suck, I'd still rather just go play that.  Quit it.

Double Teamed - Battle Cars (SNES)

Year: 1993  Developer: Namco

Another game double teamed with my brother!

From across the room:
Again, there seems to be no demo screen, so we are left guessing what is going to happen.  The cars on the title screen look pretty hardcore, so maybe this will actually be pretty cool.  We figure it's going to be something along the lines of Rock 'n' Roll Racing, but probably not with the crazy isometric view.

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Played for: 20 minutes

Hit it or Quit it?
There were cars.. there was battling.. but there was a lot left to be desired.  It actually looked a lot like Mario Kart, except with after Mario Kart had been on Crystal Meth for a few years and was living on the streets.  It started suddenly, with no lead-in, and I guess we were battling each other.  Just after we finally figured out what was going on, it was over, and we were awarded credits.  Oh, cool, so we earn money to buy upgrades?  Sweet.  And it actually was sweet for me, because I was awarded so much money for winning the head to head.  For my brother though, he could barely buy anything.  After this, it wasn't so much two player, as it was one player.. twice.  I Battled Raced the "boss", then my brother got the chance.  Then we got more credits.  Well, I got more credits.  Because my brother didn't get so much money the first round, he wasn't as powerful, and couldn't keep up with the boss as well.  After two more sets of this, we realized it was quickly getting unbalanced.  I won more because I started strong, and he couldn't catch up because he didn't have the power to do so.

Unlike Mario Kart, the tracks all looked the same.  They could have all been the same, for all we could tell.  There was almost no HUD.  Just a few numbers for "speed" and for how far in front or behind you were from the boss.

Eh, this is already getting too long for what I'm shooting for here.  I need to learn to focus on the game, and not the experience.

Graphics, meh.  Upgrading, nice thought, but just didn't work that well.  Music, annoying.  Fun, almost was, but then wasn't.  Quit it.