Retro Game Friday: Killer7

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a rather oddball game. It’s Killer7!

Plot: The plot is pretty complex and not at all kid friendly. That said this is a Suda51 game, so that is to be expected.

Gameplay: The gameplay is pretty poor, with it being an On The Rails shooter for the most part. Honestly I enjoyed the story more than the gameplay by a very large margin.

Art: Killer7 used Cel Shading extensively and while it’s aged pretty well since then, it still has aged.

Music: The music is pretty good, and fits the game well.

Overall: An okay game, but much better story. Honestly you might just want to watch a Let’s Play instead of actually playing this.

For those who like: Action, Drama, The Noir Genre.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Gex Enter the Gecko

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with the sequel to Gex. It’s Gex Enter the Gecko!

Plot: The plot is just as nonsensical as the first one, with Gex being tasked once more to save the world. It’s not an amazing story, but it was fun as a kid and it’s not the worst plot in a platformer I’ve ever played.

Gameplay: This was the first entry in the Gex series that was in 3D and it did pretty well in making the transition. It kept the feel of the original game fairly well, but was different enough to draw in newcomers. That being said both the GameBoy Color and Nintendo 64 versions were much worse versions, so play the PC or PlayStation versions if you’ve never played this before. The constant pop culture references were great and pretty funny.

Art: Sadly this portion of the game has aged incredibly poorly, but back in the day it was pretty awesome.

Music: The music was okay from what I can remember, but I don’t remember much of it.

Overall: Give this a spin if you love Platformers, as it was a fun game for the younger crowd.

Retro Game Friday: De Blob

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a cult classic. It’s De Blob!

Plot Synopsis: Initially a lively and colorful city populated by its equally colorful and diverse citizens, the Raydians, Chroma City is suddenly invaded by the INKT Corporation. A corporate military dictatorship, INKT is led by the villainous Comrade Black and dedicated to the eradication of color through its “War on Color”. Chroma City quickly falls to the invading army of Inkies and color-draining Leechbots, leaving its landscape barren, its flora withered and its fauna in hiding. The citizens are rounded up and turned into “Graydians”, encased in homogeneous gray prison suits distinguished only by a bar code on the back of each shell. The Graydians are forced to serve as both menial labor and as a living resource of ink, the latter of which is mined literally from their sadness…

Plot: The plot is nothing amazing, and it fits the family game setting that De Blob has. So nothing amazing, but nothing super bad either.

Gameplay: The gameplay is pretty simple, you get paint of the three primary colors and paint the world to restore it. It’s nothing amazing, but it’s pretty fun for a while. That being said it’s a bit a one trick pony as the gameplay doesn’t really ever change all that much.

Art: The art is okay, but is dated. Thankfully there are ports with updated graphics to the current generation of consoles including the Switch.

Music: The coolest part of the game, at least to me as a person who knows game design from coding to artwork, is the fact that the music changes as you play. As you continue painting objects the music becomes more and more active, and Blob’s current color determines the instrumental being soloed. It’s pretty interesting, and a brilliant piece of game design.

Overall: If you get the chance, you might want to check this out if it’s on sale.

For those who like: Platforming, Fun Gameplay, Great Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

 

 

 

 

Retro Game Friday: Soul Reaver

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a real classic game. It’s Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver!

Plot Synopsis: Raziel approaches Kain’s throne and extends newly grown wings. In an act of seeming jealousy, Kain tears the bones from Raziel’s wings and has him thrown into the Lake of the Dead, a large natural whirlpool; however, Raziel is resurrected as a wraith by The Elder God to become his “soul reaver” and kill Kain, thus restoring Nosgoth.

Plot: The plot is pretty good, although due to legal issues between developer and publisher there were some parts missing from the game that were added to later games.

Gameplay: A hack and slash this game is pretty damn fun. In addition gliding with Raziel’s wings was tons of fun. Honestly the game mostly revolves around switching back and forth between material and spectral planes to either attack enemies or complete puzzles.

Characters: The characters were okay, with Raziel being on a quest for vengeance the cast is fairly jaded which was odd for me at the time. Granted I was a kid, but it was a marked difference from games like Zelda or Donkey Kong.

Art: The art has aged poorly, however there are rumors that this will be getting a remake or remaster.

Music: I don’t remember much of it, mostly I remember my cousin laughing as I took down enemies.

Overall: This is a great game, often thought to be the best in the series. Hopefully a remaster will be coming soon.

For those who like: Action, Hack and Slashs, Intriguing Gameplay, Good Plot.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Bastion

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a real classic. It’s Bastion!

Plot Synopsis: In the immediate aftermath of the Calamity, a catastrophic event that suddenly fractured the city of Caelondia as well as the surrounding areas into many floating pieces, disrupting its ecology and reducing most of its people to ash. The Kid awakens on one of the few remaining pieces of the old world and sets off for the eponymous Bastion, where everyone was supposed to go in troubled times…

Plot: The plot is pretty great, not super intense or deep, but good nonetheless. Along with the fact that the constant narration is pretty freaking hilarious at times.

Characters: The cast is rather small, but it’s not bad. Though I have to admit I like Rucks the most, if only because of his voice.

Gameplay: The gameplay plays a lot like a Diablo game, with the player defeating enemies from an isometric view. That being said it also is a bit like classic 2D Zelda games in that you can only choose to use two weapons at a time, although unlike Zelda you can’t choose to switch your two weapons except at specific areas. All the while you hear the narrator speak about what you do in the game, which is pretty funny sometimes.

Music: The music was awesome, and that’s really all I’ll say about it. I enjoyed the hell out of it and the voicework, especially the narrator.

Art: Being somewhat 2D and cel-shaded the artwork has aged rather well, which is always a plus for me.

Overall: If you’ve never played Bastion, you ought to go do so as soon as possible.

For those who like: Action, Adventure, Drama, Awesome Narration, Good Plot, Fantastic Gameplay, Great Cast of Characters, Excellent Artwork, Spectacular Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: All of the above, but how can you hate all that?