Retro Game Friday: Pokemon Stadium

Hey all I’m back with a game that has no story for this week’s Retro Game Friday. It’s Pokemon Stadium!

Gameplay: It’s standard Pokemon gameplay, you battle with six ‘Mon from the first Generation and can either battle against another player or you can take on the “Stadium Mode” where you battle AIs. Beating them got you a Pokemon you could transfer to the Gameboy games. Really it’s not that amazing a game, though it was useful for those friendless or isolated people who didn’t get the chance to trade ‘Mon with said people to complete their Pokedex in the Gameboy games.

Art: The art has aged really poorly, but back in the day it was pretty cool.

Music: Standard Pokemon music, that’s all that really needs to be said.

Overall: Not a game to play just for itself, it only was worth playing when you had an accompanying Gameboy game to go with it.

For those who like: Pokemon.

Not for those who don’t like: Pokemon.

Retro Game Friday: The Legend of Dragoon

Hey all I’m back for this week’s Retro Game Friday with a game I played a couple times at a friends house way back when I was a kid. It’s The Legend of Dragoon!

Plot: The plot is okay, but not that amazing either. It’s got a fairly stereotypical plot, and honestly if I hadn’t come across the name dragoon and had a flash of memory about this game I would probably not remember it at all, let alone set myself a reminder to write about this for a Retro Game Friday post.

Gameplay: What little I remember about this game was that it was mostly Turn Based and had what we now call Quick Time Events in it’s combat. Frankly I’ve always hated QTEs, a sentiment shared by many gamers I know, so the precision required for these particular ones stuck out to me as being particularly frustrating. It’s probably why I didn’t bother playing it more than a couple times at that friend’s house. The fact that the dragon transformation was rather pointless was just further incentive to disregard the game.

Characters: Dart is our lead, and honestly is as stereotypical as you can get, destroyed village, kidnapped friend and overall lack of parental figures all make him one of the more bland characters from what very little I can remember. Honestly if I hadn’t read up on the plot while finding the producer and developer information for this post I probably wouldn’t even remember his name. The rest of the cast is little better.

Art: The art is very polygonal, which means it’s aged incredibly poorly since it was released, and the CGI movies are even worse in that regard.

Overall: A very skippable game and definitely not a must play game.

For those who like: JRPGs, Mediocrity, Stereotypical Stories and Cast of Characters.

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

Retro Game Friday: Advance Wars 2

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with the sequel to one of my favorite GBA games. It’s Advance Wars 2!

Plot Synopsis: While the Allied Nations were still recovering from the war in Cosmo Land, the Black Hole Army had already recovered and has decided to launch a large-scale invasion on Macro Land. Along with the original Black Hole army’s commanding officers (COs), four new COs were recruited, under the command of Sturm…

Plot: The plot is fairly simplistic, but not terrible either. It’s nothing spectacular, but that was never the point of the game, at least to me.

Gameplay: The gameplay is excellent, and while it only adds one new unit, the Neotank, it honestly didn’t need more units. My favorite tactic of using a tank to block a pass and artillery behind it to deal damage is still an excellent strategy and so I enjoyed the gameplay quite a bit. It’s simple to use, but difficult to master, which is always a good sign when talking about strategy games.

Art: It looks not that much differently from the first game, and honestly that’s a good thing. The art has aged really well, but that’s how it is with pixel art.

Music: I don’t remember it at all, sorry.

Overall: A solid sequel, and a ton of fun to play.

For those who like: Turn-Based Strategy, Strategy, War Games, Excellent Gameplay, Great Artwork.

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

Retro Game Friday: Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the sequel to Paper Mario. It’s Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door!

Plot Synopsis: The game opens with an introduction about a seaside town which was damaged by a cataclysm and consequently sunk into the depths of the earth. A town named Rogueport was later built at this site, with the fortunes of the lost kingdom fabled to exist behind the eponymous Thousand-Year Door, located in the ruins of the old town. Mario becomes involved when Princess Peach contacts him about a treasure map that she bought in Rogueport…

Plot: The plot is okay, but this isn’t anything like a Final Fantasy game in terms of story telling. The story is definitely aimed at a younger audience, which is fine because this is a Mario game. If you’re expecting gritty and hardcore violence, I’m sure any Mario game will not be what you’re looking for.

Gameplay: It plays a lot like the original Paper Mario, with most of the differences coming outside of battle in the forms of powers Mario gets to explore and solve puzzles with his partners. In fact that fact is probably the only downside to this game, it’s really not that much different from the original Paper Mario.

Art: It’s aged pretty well, but the art style of the Paper Mario series has always lent itself a timeless quality.

Music: The music is very much a Mario score, but that again isn’t surprising, this is a Mario game. It’s going to have familiar sounds.

Overall: This is a good sequel, but not a great one. If you really loved the first game, then Thousand-Year Door will probably be something you’ll want to play. Otherwise this can be a skippable game.

For those who like: Mario, RPGs, Turn-Based Combat, Puzzles, Good Artwork.

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

 

Retro Game Friday: Mega Man Battle Network 2

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering the sequel to a favorite game of mine. It’s Mega Man Battle Network 2!

Plot Synopsis: Three months following the events of Mega Man Battle Network the story opens with the world in a time of peace following the defeat of the organization known as the WWW. However, NetCrime, as perpetrated by a NetMafia organization known as Gospel, is on the rise.

Plot: The plot isn’t super amazing, but that was never the draw of the games.

Gameplay: This game took what was great about the first game and improved it with the Style system, a system that allowed Mega Man to take on different forms in combat based on your actions in game. Otherwise this was a lot like the first game, which was excellent.

Art: Thankfully this is a 2D game so the art is pretty awesome, even now.

Music: A lot like the first game’s music.

Overall: If you’ve never played it, you really ought to if you get the chance.

For those who like: Mega Man, Battle Network, Action, Adventure, Strategy, Excellent Gameplay, Fun Cast of Characters, Great Artwork.

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