Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)




     Here is the review for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS as promised. Now I currently at work so I will post pictures of the game today or tomorrow.

Gameplay:
     Well as you might have all guessed this is a remake of the original Ocarina of Time for the N64. Now some people think that this is "just a port". Well actually it's not, what I love about the remake is it's an actual remake. What I mean by that is they updated the graphics for the 3DS so it looks much better. The animations for link and several other characters have been redone so it looks somewhat real and very smooth. The environments have been redone as well making it look simply stunning. OoT runs the same as the console version. You collect 3 medallions become and adult, awaken all of the 7 sages, save Zelda, own Ganondorf. Obviously it's the same story but they made the experience so much better. For example they added it so you simply press on button from the item menu and assign it to the button immediately. This makes the water temple a lot of toleralable as in you can instantly equip the iron boots on the fly. They added a gyro feature for the 3DS where you can move the 3DS (not the stick) to aim with the bow or slingshot. Now this feature works well with the 3D but it can be very annoying when using the equipment. Luckliy you are able to disable this feature. I know I did. When you beat the very enjoyable campaign you unlock a new mode for the more advanced players called Master Quest. Now this was introduced with the gamecube anniversary addition. What Master Quest is, is you simply start a new game but EVERYTHING is in reverse from the original gameplay. What I mean is when you start the game the great deku tree is to the right.....well now it is on the left side of Kokiri. It makes advanced players a bit more confused in some of the dungeons adding it that extra challenge. Luckily that is not all Master Quest offers. The enemies do double damage and the dungeons all have new and more difficult challenges to them. The bosses are still fairly easy. Remember this mode can only be unlocked when you beat the game once. The remake relives some of your childhood memories as a gamer. I loved it and I am so glad it was remade. You can now experience the legend in glorious 3D, which I will talk about in the next section.

The Interface.

Rating: 9.5/10

Graphics:
     Well as I stated above everything was redone. The animations, the graphics and the environmental graphics as well. It looks so much better and runs so much smoother than the original. We'll get to the 3D in a moment. I find by them redoing all of the graphics it really makes the experience that much more enjoyable. There is a couple of flaws that I noticed with the graphical update while playing through. Some of the backgrounds in the environments have not been redone and still look like the flat old 2D background as in the original. One other thing is the stairs still don't really look like stairs but the flat lined surface it was in the original. But these 2 things do not bother me at all as I believe it's the gameplay that makes the games not the graphics. Now the 3D in this game is spectacular. I know the launch games for the 3DS didn't have the greatest 3D effects as in as soon as you move the DS or move your head it takes a moment to find the 3D again. No not this game. I love as you run through the forest with the 3D on you see the little specs floating around you and it actually looks like they are flying right at you and gives you a relaxed feeling. Another thing I loved about the 3D was some of the cutscenes and the new enviroment looks. One example is at the beginning of the game where you are talking to the Great Deku Tree. When you have the 3D on for that scene it is amazing. Link is standing in the foreground as your talking to the Deku tree while he is in the back. It is a great dynamic view. Another one of my favorites regarding the 3D is when you run across the bridge in the forest to get the rupees and speak with the girl. If you have the camera angled just right with the 3D enabled you can see the entire forest and it looks amazing in 3D. Overall the graphics and especially the 3D in this game are truly breath taking.


Before and After Images.
Rating: 9.5/10

Audio:
     The audio in this game has always been great. This game has simply one of the best soundtracks in gaming history. It is truly amazing how Nintendo spent the time with the soundtrack. All of the great songs from the original are in the remake but it sounds so much better. From playing your ocarina to roaming in Gerudo Valley (my personal favorite) you can relisten to all of the orignal music. This is one of my favorite things in OoT is listening to the music. If you took the advantage of buying OoT on release then you were qualified for a the entire soundtrack of the game. I know I got my 60 free songs! The audio for the monsters and the bosses are all redone as well. The sounds are all really impressive as always.


The Soundtrack!
Rating: 10/10

Conclusion:
    This is better than the remake. They updated the graphics, the menus, the animations, the audio....basically everything. They even added a Master Quest to the game which offers a great challenge to the game for the advanced players. I highly recommend everyone gets this game....you will NOT be dissapointed I promise. Relive your childhood and experience the beauty of OoT. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Overal Rating: 9.5/10

Zelda Review coming in a few hours!

My OoT review for the 3DS will be posted in a few hours. I finished it at work but the servers are slow tonight so I could not post it. Stay tuned!!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition (Yes it's dead at work)

Hey everyone as promised here is the SSF4 review for 3DS. Now this one will not have any screenshots but I will add them later on.

Gameplay:
SSF4 on the 3DS is the exact same for the console and PC versions. But they did add a couple of new things such as the Dynamic View which is great for 3D Battles which is also a mode in the game. They also added a couple of new titles meant for some of the 3DS features like the streetpass feature. At first I was sort of worried about how this game will play out on the 3DS compared to the console and PC versions. It is actually pretty good. As in every Street Fighter you have your basic modes such as Arcade, and versus. Arcade plays the same, you fight other characters till you reach your rival and then Seth and if you accomplish certain goals during arcade you can fight Akuma or Gouken. What I love about arcade is when you beat it with any one of the 35 characters that this game has to offer you unlock titles for you player card. Unlocking all 35 character titles takes time and if a lot of fun that is if you don't cheat and play on easiest :P.

Another mode that you can play is versus. It is your standard versus mode where you can fight a friend or a CPU. There is also a 3D versus mode as well for the 3D lovers. They also added online battles which is a great addition for the 3DS. Sure it can be laggy online but if you get someone in your region it isn't so bad and can be loads of fun and competitive. When you win you earn Battle Points (BP) and Power Points (PP). When you lose you will slowly lose them. The more Battle Points you earn the higher your rank will increase. Power points are just for show. What I love about SS4 in general is you can unlock additional titles and battle icons when completing certain challenges. They even added a medals section which is like achievements.

Another mode is the Challenge mode whee you can destroy a car or bash barrels for those bonus stages. There is also a trial mode which has roughly 20 stages for each character which challenges you to try and complete their different moves and combos. They also added a mode for the 3DS which allows you to collect figurines. You can enter cheat codes to unlock additonal figurines and you can collect additional figurines by using the StreetPass feature. Overall the gameplay is the same as any other SF4 game but they always seem to keep it fun and add just enough features to keep it fun.

Rating: 9/10

Graphics:
The graphics for SSF4 on the 3DS is pretty impressive. It is almost if not the same as the console versions. Now obviously they added the 3D to the game which makes it even cooler. Now the 3D doesn't really work when your playing in normally due to moving the 3DS often from wailing on the buttons. This is why the added the Dynamic View to the game. This allows you to enable the 3D on the game and it works better for the game. It is always fun having Ryu's hadoken coming at your face. Overall the 3D is nicely done, not perfect but pretty close.

Moving away from the 3D, the game has kept the exact same style of art from the console versions which I think is a good thing because it works so well with the game. The art is great looking, the environments look great and the character models and moves also look great. A great looking game for a great handheld console.

Rating: 9/10

Audio:
The audio in the game is the same as always. The music sounds the same, the voices sound the same. The quality is great. I know the 3DS's speakers aren't the greatest but the sound in game is really well done. I always love hearing the characters yell their Ultimate Moves. The voice acting is very well done and hearing Ryu yell "Mentsu Hadoken!!" just gets you pumped because you know it's going to hurt.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion:
In conclusion the game is very well done and so much fun. It is a good time waster and is a blast when your playing online. Even if you aren't an online type of person you will still enjoy it because there is lots to do. A fantastic addition to the 3DS and fighting genre. Long live Street Fighter.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Pick it up!!

Sorry for the loooonnnnggggg break

Hey everyone. Just wanted to apologize for the inactiveness. I have been very busy with work and haven't had the funds to grab me some new games to review. So what I am going to do is I am going to start reviewing older games as well as the new ones. I will be doing new reviews, a lot but I would also love to do reviews on past games as well. I have thought about it (currently typing this out at work) and I will be posting a list underneath in what games I will be reviewing in order. Stay tuned!

Review List:
Super Street Fighter 4: 3D Edition (3DS)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
Age of Empires Online
Ninety Nine Nights 2
Splinter Cell Conviction (Currently Playing)

This is the list as of right now. I promise these will al be up shortly. I will be adding more games in the genre of F2P like Dragon Nest as an example. Thanks everyone!