Retro Game Friday: Jet Force Gemini

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game I’m shocked I never covered before. It’s Jet Force Gemini!

Plot Synopsis: Jet Force Gemini begins with the three heroes, Juno, Vela and Lupus in orbit around the planet Goldwood after barely escaping the destruction of the entire Jet Force fleet at the hands of Mizar, who has been capturing and enslaving a race of survivors known as the Tribals. When they are attacked by several drones, the three decide to abandon their ship and go off on their own separate paths to stop the invasion.

Plot: The plot is okay, not amazing, but it’s better than Destiny’s non existent story.

Gameplay:  The three heroes all play slightly differently, but there are some things that are the same like the targeting and general movement. However Juno can walk through lava, Vela can swim indefinitely and Lupus can hover for a short period of time. The gameplay itself is actually pretty good, however the fact that you have to rescue every Tribal to beat the story is more than a bit annoying, especially since you can accidentally kill them with friendly fire. Or on purpose if you’re just in a mood for destruction and mayhem. The game also has local co-op where the second player can play as Floyd, a robotic drone that hovers above the characters and can open fire on enemies.  The multiplayer was okay, but really not that amazing compared to now a days.

Art: The art has definitely aged poorly, but it was pretty freaking awesome back when it released.

Music: I don’t remember a whit of it, sorry.

Overall: If you get the chance to play this, give it a whirl it’s pretty fun. That being said it does require a lot of effort to actually finish the story which is more than a bit frustrating.

For those who like: Sci-Fi, Third Person Shooters, Action, Adventure, Drama, Decent Plot, Great Gameplay.

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

Retro Game Friday: Killer Instinct

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a real classic! It’s Killer Instinct, the 1994 version!

Plot Synopsis: Ultratech is a very powerful megacorporation which organises a tournament called Killer Instinct. Along with regular participants, experimental creatures created by Ultratech also fight in the tournament so their strength can be tested.

Plot: The plot is pretty sparse, but given that this is a fighting game I wasn’t expecting one.

Gameplay: The gameplay was quite fun and was like a mix of both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct also had it’s own unique features like an automatic combo that occurred after a series of inputs. That being said it’s not the most amazing fighter I’ve ever played and lacked Smash Brother’s simplicity and mayhem.

Art: Decent, this was made during the beginnings of the 3D era of gaming, so it definitely has aged, but it also has some of the timeless qualities of 2D.

Music: Don’t remember a whit of it, sorry.

Overall: They made a reboot of the game, so it might be worth trying out the original if you get the opportunity of doing so.

For those who like: Fighting Games, Fun Gameplay, Decent Graphics.

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

Retro Game Friday: Metroid Prime 3

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the final entry in the Metroid Prime Trilogy! It’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption!

Plot Synopsis: Admiral Castor Dane, leader of a Galactic Federation fleet, calls for a meeting with Samus Aran and three other bounty hunters—Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda. The bounty hunters receive orders to clear a computer virus from several organic supercomputers called “Aurora Units” in the Galactic Federation’s network. Suddenly, the meeting ends abruptly when Space Pirates attack the Federation fleet. Samus and the other bounty hunters are deployed to the planet Norion, where the Space Pirates are concentrating an attack on a Federation naval base. While suppressing the attack, Samus learns that a Phazon asteroid, called a Leviathan Seed, will soon collide into Norion. Samus and the other bounty hunters attempt to activate the base’s defense systems, when they are suddenly attacked by Dark Samus…

Plot: The plot is actually really good, and I enjoyed the heck out of the story for this game. It’s a pity that it played less desirably than the prior entries.

Gameplay: This was the only entry to be made for the Wii, which led to some unfortunate design choices like the choice to make use of motion controls. However other than that, it was easily the best entry in the series and was quite a blast to play if you could get over the awkward controls. It also was the first game in the series to take place on multiple planets instead of just one like the prior two games.

Art: It hasn’t aged well, but for the time it was pretty good looking. But if you were to play it now, it’d be an eyesore.

Music: Very well done, creepy in the parts where it was supposed to be and heart pounding in the action sequences.

Overall: A great entry marred by aged graphics and motion controls.

Retro Game Friday: Banjo-Tooie [Spoilers for Banjo-Kazooie]

 

This week I’m covering the best non-Sonic platformer I think I’ve ever played, take that Mario, it’s Banjo-Tooie! Spoilers after the jump.

Retro Game Friday: Donkey Kong Land 2

This week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Gameboy’s release I’m reviewing the first Gameboy Game I ever owned, as well as the first video game I ever owned period, Donkey Kong Land 2!

Plot Synopsis: Donkey Kong Land 2 stars Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong in their conquest to rescue Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool and the Kremling Krew.

Plot: There really wasn’t a plot, and me being only 6 years old didn’t really give a rats ass about plot. I just wanted to have fun while I was on a plane going back and forth between my parents.

Gameplay: It was the era of Nintendo hard games, so this game was really freaking hard, at least that’s what it seemed like as a 6 year old kid. Looking back it’s a decent game, but nothing special.

Art: It was on the original Gameboy, so it had 16 bit graphics, but it sure looked nice to me when I was a kid.

Overall: I’d play it for a few minutes just for nostalgia’s sake.

For those who like: Platformers, Donkey Kong games.

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