This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
| Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision | ||
|
sb:recommended:gamecube [2017/04/08 09:58] 127.0.0.1 external edit |
sb:recommended:gamecube [2021/10/23 02:30] (current) tony |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
| * gatotsu2501: I admit I have not actually played this (yet), but by all accounts it is superior to the first game in every conceivable way. | * gatotsu2501: I admit I have not actually played this (yet), but by all accounts it is superior to the first game in every conceivable way. | ||
| - | ***//Beyond Good and Evil//** (also on: PS2, PSN, XBLA, Xbox) | + | ***//Beyond Good and Evil//** (also on: PS2, PSN, Windows, XBLA, Xbox) |
| - | *The Blueberry Hill: Vapid. You should have better things to do with your time than playing this. Unremarkable. | + | * Wourme: A very memorable game. I find it hard to criticize even the aspects that may deserve criticism. |
| - | * I should elaborate: It's just a really average platform adventure thing, which was a format well worn out by the time the game was released (if you'd been a Nintendo guy), let alone by now, with no remarkable flourishes. | + | |
| - | *Wourme: A very memorable game. I find it hard to criticize even the aspects that may deserve criticism. | + | |
| * Rudie: I find it a nice little game. The Gamecube version isn't recommended because it eats an entire memory card [59]. | * Rudie: I find it a nice little game. The Gamecube version isn't recommended because it eats an entire memory card [59]. | ||
| * Felix: this is what the plebs call an underappreciated classic. A good game that can be easily mistaken for great; feels like //[[game:the_legend_of_zelda_series|Zelda]]// + (the first) //[[game:jak_and_daxter|Jak & Daxter]]//. | * Felix: this is what the plebs call an underappreciated classic. A good game that can be easily mistaken for great; feels like //[[game:the_legend_of_zelda_series|Zelda]]// + (the first) //[[game:jak_and_daxter|Jak & Daxter]]//. | ||
| Line 53: | Line 51: | ||
| * Wourme: Fortunately, the GameCube's only tactical RPG (as far as I know) is an excellent one. | * Wourme: Fortunately, the GameCube's only tactical RPG (as far as I know) is an excellent one. | ||
| * Felix: Eh. At best, it's riffing on some of the early levels of Tactics Ogre, where your guys were very human and very mortal, and you had to rely almost entirely on positioning to not be overwhelmed while trading counterattacks. Not really enough to do outside of that -- though that's my complaint with all Fire Emblem games. | * Felix: Eh. At best, it's riffing on some of the early levels of Tactics Ogre, where your guys were very human and very mortal, and you had to rely almost entirely on positioning to not be overwhelmed while trading counterattacks. Not really enough to do outside of that -- though that's my complaint with all Fire Emblem games. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ***//Freedom Fighters / Freedom: The Battle for Liberty Island//** (also on: PC, PS2, XBox) | ||
| - | * somes: //Freedom Fighters// was incredibly awesome. a third person shooter where you could direct a tiny squad of soldiers as you decimated a seemingly insurmountable Russian army.\\ The feeling I got from fighting against all odds, launching a guerrilla war from the sewers, always drastically outnumbered and pressured to get to the target with limited resources, frantically considering strategy while keeping an eye out for that next APC full of enemy reinforcements---has yet to be matched. I'm still waiting for a third person shooter with half the atmosphere. | ||
| - | * Toptube: hey freedom fighters is a fun game. its like dungeon siege but with guns all the time. and you directly control one of them. and I like the controls because you can take cover well, without having to rely on fumbly context controls. | ||
| - | |||
| ***//F-Zero GX//** ([[http://tcrf.net/F-Zero_GX#Leftover_F-Zero_AX_Code|Action Replay codes to access F-Zero AX arcade game]]) | ***//F-Zero GX//** ([[http://tcrf.net/F-Zero_GX#Leftover_F-Zero_AX_Code|Action Replay codes to access F-Zero AX arcade game]]) | ||
| Line 89: | Line 82: | ||
| * gatotsu2501: Sometimes I wonder whether one day, evolved humans or super-intelligent aliens will unearth and play //Killer7//, and the whole thing will make perfect sense to them. Until that day, it will continue to be a breathtakingly ambitious clusterfuck of a game that falls JUST short of making any sense at all, but god damn if it isn't one hell of a ride, worth even putting up with the middling gameplay at least once. Can anyone who knows Japanese tell me if the JP subtitle script is as obtuse and impenetrable as the English dialogue? | * gatotsu2501: Sometimes I wonder whether one day, evolved humans or super-intelligent aliens will unearth and play //Killer7//, and the whole thing will make perfect sense to them. Until that day, it will continue to be a breathtakingly ambitious clusterfuck of a game that falls JUST short of making any sense at all, but god damn if it isn't one hell of a ride, worth even putting up with the middling gameplay at least once. Can anyone who knows Japanese tell me if the JP subtitle script is as obtuse and impenetrable as the English dialogue? | ||
| * shnozlak: this game feels so fair and so well executed even someone who thinks they are terrible at shooters can grow to love it. | * shnozlak: this game feels so fair and so well executed even someone who thinks they are terrible at shooters can grow to love it. | ||
| + | * Tony: the confusing way the plot is presented (and, perhaps, its nature and what Suda51 wants to tell) makes it not nearly as engaging as those of Silver Case and its follow-up, 25th Ward. There are humor and attempts to make meta-jokes and satire, although the latters feel confusing, half-accomplished. The action is boring and repetitive. Diying is a chore because redoing sections of the game is not fun. The loop of finding objects to proceed is repetitive too. In my opinion, a mediocre game (oversold as great) with some explosive attempts to break the forth wall, which for some have been enough to make it a cult. More interesting as a prototypal study, rather than something to play. The aesthetics are interesting for a while and the soundtrack is nice (albeit there is not much variety, and Silver Case and its sequel have much better ones). | ||
| ***//Kirby Air Ride//** | ***//Kirby Air Ride//** | ||
| Line 105: | Line 99: | ||
| * Felix: Gorgeous (really gorgeous), inventive; doesn't quite work. Marked any number of awful turning points for Nintendo. | * Felix: Gorgeous (really gorgeous), inventive; doesn't quite work. Marked any number of awful turning points for Nintendo. | ||
| * Ni Go Zero Ichi: Some really incredibly great ideas in narrative, aesthetics and design offset by some crippling fumbles and hints of //Zelda//'s oncoming dark ages. In 2017 //Zelda// is finally, officially Cool again, and with the benefit of hindsight we can see that //Wind Waker// was in some crucial ways kind of a trial run for //Breath of the Wild//. Still worth playing. | * Ni Go Zero Ichi: Some really incredibly great ideas in narrative, aesthetics and design offset by some crippling fumbles and hints of //Zelda//'s oncoming dark ages. In 2017 //Zelda// is finally, officially Cool again, and with the benefit of hindsight we can see that //Wind Waker// was in some crucial ways kind of a trial run for //Breath of the Wild//. Still worth playing. | ||
| + | * Tony: this comes from a time when Miyamoto and his crew knew how to make you feel like watching a sky full of stars, even by looking at the ceiling of an underground shrine. It's great to wander in this game, it's great to be there. We can even forgive the embarassing final boss fight. | ||
| ***//The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) | ***//The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) | ||
| Line 124: | Line 119: | ||
| * Felix: The jury is out on how much fun it is to play nowadays, due to the fact that both dual analog controls (which Prime doesn't have) and decent FPS level design (which it has) became a lot more widespread not long after this game's release, but (like everything else on the Gamecube) it's really technically sound and has certainly aged well enough. One of the better Metroid titles for sure; as everyone has said, the Prime sequels are nowhere near as good. | * Felix: The jury is out on how much fun it is to play nowadays, due to the fact that both dual analog controls (which Prime doesn't have) and decent FPS level design (which it has) became a lot more widespread not long after this game's release, but (like everything else on the Gamecube) it's really technically sound and has certainly aged well enough. One of the better Metroid titles for sure; as everyone has said, the Prime sequels are nowhere near as good. | ||
| * gatotsu2501: Actually I'd argue that the controls are perfect. Comparing it to an FPS is a bit of a misnomer; sure, there is some definite pre-Half-Life FPS influence, but the combat and level design seem more appropriately compared to, well, a first-person Super Metroid. If you really don't like the controls though, the Wii version uses a pretty dandy IR pointer setup adapted from Prime 3, though since the game wasn't designed for it it makes the whole thing feel kinda loose and easy. | * gatotsu2501: Actually I'd argue that the controls are perfect. Comparing it to an FPS is a bit of a misnomer; sure, there is some definite pre-Half-Life FPS influence, but the combat and level design seem more appropriately compared to, well, a first-person Super Metroid. If you really don't like the controls though, the Wii version uses a pretty dandy IR pointer setup adapted from Prime 3, though since the game wasn't designed for it it makes the whole thing feel kinda loose and easy. | ||
| + | * Tony: It gives a sense of exploration, wonder and progression through an unknown planet that feels like "Tomb Raider" in space. After retrieving a new artifact, there is more freedom in "what to do" and less predictability, compared to the game loop of regular 2D Metroids. The controls and the implementation of autolock are still fresh in 2021 and have two main effects: they make the game feel even more different from the usual FPS, and they remind the feeling of some arcade shooters (especially during the most tense battles / boss fights). There is a progression in boss difficulty that reaches epic levels with the Omega Pirate and Ridley especially. The biggest defect of the game, intrinsic to its design, is the need to wander through the same empty spaces countless of times, in order to reach the necessary areas to progress. Still, on the other end, the same redundant exploration helps in marking those environments in the player’s memory, visually. It’s a lesson similar to Dark Souls lack of fast transport (for a large part of DS, anyway). The other limitation is that the graphics are a bit hazy for today's standards, but the game has that Gamecube-y color palette and style that makes it still pleasing. Playing it "pseudo-portably" on the gamepad of a hacked Wii U gives a particularly special feeling, augmenting the sensation of being looking through Samus' visor. | ||
| ***//Mr. Driller: Drill Land//** | ***//Mr. Driller: Drill Land//** | ||
| Line 140: | Line 136: | ||
| * gatotsu2501: Takes everything that was good about //[[game:Paper Mario]]// and makes it even better. That's actually just about all there is to say about it, other than commending it on a superb localization and chuckle-worthy script, one which, like a good cartoon, expertly manages to be goofy, sweet and self-aware without becoming infantile, cloying or obnoxious. The best of the Mario RPGs, and on my shortlist of favorite JRPGs of all time. | * gatotsu2501: Takes everything that was good about //[[game:Paper Mario]]// and makes it even better. That's actually just about all there is to say about it, other than commending it on a superb localization and chuckle-worthy script, one which, like a good cartoon, expertly manages to be goofy, sweet and self-aware without becoming infantile, cloying or obnoxious. The best of the Mario RPGs, and on my shortlist of favorite JRPGs of all time. | ||
| * Felix: Couldn't say it better. Particularly considering that every [[paper_mario_series|Mario RPG]] that came after it was utter dreck, this game is genuinely charming and I wish it could take some more credit despite the fact that all of the groundwork was laid by the first game. I get the sense that it's not that well known to people who thought the original //[[game:Paper Mario]]// was neat enough, which is a damn shame. That said, it is overly facile in the way that Nintendo sometimes tends to be; neither the puzzles nor the combat exactly require a lot of forethought. | * Felix: Couldn't say it better. Particularly considering that every [[paper_mario_series|Mario RPG]] that came after it was utter dreck, this game is genuinely charming and I wish it could take some more credit despite the fact that all of the groundwork was laid by the first game. I get the sense that it's not that well known to people who thought the original //[[game:Paper Mario]]// was neat enough, which is a damn shame. That said, it is overly facile in the way that Nintendo sometimes tends to be; neither the puzzles nor the combat exactly require a lot of forethought. | ||
| + | * Tony: to give a different point of view: I think it's too simplistic in tone and story telling. It does not have the “nintendo charm” that some older Zeldas, for example, have. I don’t really have a motivation in proceeding after the first world. Dynamics are not interesting, atmosphere and graphics are neither. This is after 4 hours in. This might be an example of kid's game, where the sense of wonder, as well as the appreciation of cuteness, are enough to make you continue with joy, while many expectations have not been constituted. | ||
| ***//Pikmin//** | ***//Pikmin//** | ||
| Line 154: | Line 151: | ||
| * Silverboy: I consider it Japan's answer to //[[game:mdk_series|MDK]]//. There's a lot more spatial awareness going on in that game than almost any other [[people:shinji_mikami|Mikami]] game made before or after. Not as conscious as //MDK// spatially but far more so than most 3D action games coming out at that time. Hell, I would say most action games miss this nuanced element overall even to this day.\\ Might be one of Mikami's best, imo. | * Silverboy: I consider it Japan's answer to //[[game:mdk_series|MDK]]//. There's a lot more spatial awareness going on in that game than almost any other [[people:shinji_mikami|Mikami]] game made before or after. Not as conscious as //MDK// spatially but far more so than most 3D action games coming out at that time. Hell, I would say most action games miss this nuanced element overall even to this day.\\ Might be one of Mikami's best, imo. | ||
| - | ***//Resident Evil//** (also on: PSN, Wii, XBLA) [[http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=252| Action Button review]] | + | ***//Resident Evil//** (also on: 360, PS3, PS4, Wii, XB1, PC) [[http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=252| Action Button review]] |
| * gatotsu2501: The Wii port allows use of the [[hardware:wii#Classic Controller]], complete with its actually usable D-pad, and is therefore preferable for navigating RE's notorious [[pattern:tank_controls|tank controls]]. | * gatotsu2501: The Wii port allows use of the [[hardware:wii#Classic Controller]], complete with its actually usable D-pad, and is therefore preferable for navigating RE's notorious [[pattern:tank_controls|tank controls]]. | ||
| - | ***//Resident Evil 4//** (also on: PS2, PC, Wii, PSN, XBLA) | + | ***//Resident Evil 4//** (also on: 360, PS2, PS3, PS4, Wii, XB1, PC) |
| * Rudie: Woah, you haven't played this one yet? You should get on that. | * Rudie: Woah, you haven't played this one yet? You should get on that. | ||
| * Sniper Honeyviper: Murder simulator that starts strong but degenerates into a repetitive mess. Was kind of a big deal before Gears perfected the formula. | * Sniper Honeyviper: Murder simulator that starts strong but degenerates into a repetitive mess. Was kind of a big deal before Gears perfected the formula. | ||
| Line 171: | Line 168: | ||
| * Wourme: When I thought that I no longer had the patience for JRPGs, I tried this one and realized that I just hadn't been exposed to any good ones lately. | * Wourme: When I thought that I no longer had the patience for JRPGs, I tried this one and realized that I just hadn't been exposed to any good ones lately. | ||
| - | ***//SoulCalibur II//** (also on: PS2, PSN, XBLA, Xbox) | + | ***//SoulCalibur II//** (also on: 360, PS2, PS3, Xbox) |
| * gatotsu2501: Like most people, I got this for the Gamecube and can hardly imagine playing it on anything else. | * gatotsu2501: Like most people, I got this for the Gamecube and can hardly imagine playing it on anything else. | ||
| * Felix: The only Soul Calibur sequel that wasn't totally unnecessary, and yes, the Gamecube's video output was the only option that did justice to the Dreamcast original in those days. Takes too long to unlock Hwang/Assassin. | * Felix: The only Soul Calibur sequel that wasn't totally unnecessary, and yes, the Gamecube's video output was the only option that did justice to the Dreamcast original in those days. Takes too long to unlock Hwang/Assassin. | ||
| ***//Spartan: Total Warrior//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) - [[http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=387 | Action Button review]] | ***//Spartan: Total Warrior//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) - [[http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=387 | Action Button review]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | ***//(Tom Clancy's) Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory//** (also on: PS2, PS3, Xbox, PC) | ||
| ***//SSX 3//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) | ***//SSX 3//** (also on: PS2, Xbox) | ||
| Line 202: | Line 201: | ||
| * gatotsu2501: Short of a drunken orgy, it is physically impossible to have more fun with one to three people on your sofa. The 2D fighting hardcore may loathe it for "pandering" to neophytes, but in actuality I don't think I've ever seen another multiplayer game manage to so perfectly balance accessibility and depth. The playability of this game is quite literally endless. | * gatotsu2501: Short of a drunken orgy, it is physically impossible to have more fun with one to three people on your sofa. The 2D fighting hardcore may loathe it for "pandering" to neophytes, but in actuality I don't think I've ever seen another multiplayer game manage to so perfectly balance accessibility and depth. The playability of this game is quite literally endless. | ||
| - | ***//Tales of Symphonia//** (also on: PS2(JP), PS3) | + | ***//Tales of Symphonia//** (also on: PS2(JP), PS3, PC) |
| * gatotsu2501: Comfort food gaming par excellence. If you play only one Tales game (and you only really need to play one Tales game), make it this one. | * gatotsu2501: Comfort food gaming par excellence. If you play only one Tales game (and you only really need to play one Tales game), make it this one. | ||