Pokemon Black/White Review!

Yes it is finally here! The review I said I was working on and never posted it!

Gameplay: 
So the gameplay pretty much plays the same as in all of the other pokemon games. What I love about these versions is they updated the graphics and added nice little 3D effects within the game. I will explain that more in the Graphics part. Anyway you get to choose from 3 starters like in all of the other pokemon games. The 3 starters are all new pokemon you have your fire, water and grass types. You may choose from Snivy (Grass), Oshawat (Water), and Tepig (Fire). Each pokemon are as good as you want them to be, also depends which type you like the best, for me it was Tepig then secondly Oshawat who I am not a big fan of personally. You go on a quest to get all 8 badges in this region then go on to face off the elite 4. These versions have new villians than the previous games. These villians are known as Team Plasma and are much more evil than the other teams. I am not going to explain what their roll is because it has a nice twist at the end, especially after you fight the elite four the first time. The game provides a nice challenge for newbies and there are tons more and new pokemon to catch. The gameplay is pretty long which is great. If you play and don't try and rush through it (even if you do) you are looking at at least 30 hours or more of gameplay. Plus there is a lot more to do when you complete the game. What I also enjoy about this version is your not just rushing to get the 8 badges and thats it. The story is so much more in this version. After almost every badge you have to do little side quests along your journey. Which allows you to explore the new areas a lot more. In Black and White they also introduced a new environmental feature. They added seasons to the game which means at the beginning of every month the season changes to winter, fall, summer, or spring. Each of these season offer new pokemon in certain areas. Winter can grant you access to secret areas to explore and grab awesome items. In Twist mountain when it is Winter the mountain is covered and snow and you can walk up snow hills and get to areas you cannot get to in other seasons. In this version they added two brand new battle styles. Rotation battles allow you to have 3 pokemon in battle at once. The only difference is that you only fight with one and you choose wether to rotate them or not to your other pokemon. This is a great battle mode if you are a strategic person. The other mode is Triple battle. Which is well, you guessed it, 3 vs 3. Overall they are nicely added except the triple battles can kind of get crowded and last a long time. Overall Black and White are one of the best in the series.

Rating: 9/10

Graphics:
Gamefreak has finally given the pokemon series and well needed graphical update. The environments are more colorful and a lot more detailed. They even made use of the DS and added 3D enviornments. Not a lot but it is still a nice touch. What I mean by 3D is when you are walking up the loooooooooooooong bridge (they love bridges apparently) you can see the camera rotate with you as your walking up the bridge and when your on the overpass you can see vehicles drive underneath you. There are other 3D areas but you can see them for yourselves. Don't want to ruin the exploration aspect of the game. The pokemon now are constantly moving during battle which is pretty neat. The moves used by pokemon also received an update as in they are more colorful and look nice. The only graphical issue I can really think of is when you use certain moves the camera zooms into your pokemon and it gets very pixelated. But other than that it is a nice update.

Rating: 8.5/10

Audio:

Audio is the same as always. The only difference is the new pokemon cries and the new music in the background. All of the audio does sound crisp and clear and the music in the game is nice and suits the game very much. The elite four music is awesome as always and when you fight the champion or Ghetsis the music is good to. My favorite music during the game would be when you find a rare and legendary pokemon, it gets you pumped up to catch them. The epic music also suits with how huge and fierceful the legendaries look.

Rating: 8.5/10

Conclusion:
If you are a pokemon fan or even a generic RPG fan, you will love this game. For all of you collecters out there (including myself), there is a ton of new pokemon and legendaries to catch and collect. The story is basically the same but is one of the better stories. Team Plasma are much more evil than the other teams and the gameplay is nice and long, over 30 hours! There is even tons to do after you beat the game like White Forest and Black City. Obviously White Forest is for the White version and Black City is for the Black version. Each offering new opportunites to discover and catch the older generation of pokemon. They also added a lot more wireless options such as visiting a friends world and helping them out, catching new pokemon in dream world (off of the website) and tons more. I promise you will all not be dissapointed.

Overall Rating: 9/10

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!!

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!!

Duke Nukem Forever Review!

Gameplay:
Alright I know you have all heard the terrible reviews. Well don't listen to them, if you are a Duke fan you will love this game! I am typing this to you as the end credits are rolling lol. Yes I just beat the game this is why I am doing a review on it right now. Anyway lets start shall we?

So the gameplay in Duke Nukem Forever plays like Duke Nukem 3D. You obviously play as Duke Nukem and your goal is to kill the cycloid emperor because the aliens are stealing the hot women from planet earth. I am not getting into details about the story but basically that is the short version. So in Duke Nukem Forever you only can carry two guns, like any newer FPS. You always start with the Gold Pistol which I recommend you keep during the whole game because if you do you get a whopping 50G achievement or Trophy called Gunslinger for doing so. The game is actually medium in length and somewhat difficult like Duke 3D was. The game is hilarious and there is tons of interactivity in the game. You can drink beer to toughen yourself up, take steroids to enter roid rage and destroy your enemies in one hit with your fists, holo duke is back and funny as hell, and you also have a pair of nightvision sun glasses. The game has just over 12 chapters with most of them having 2 parts to it. I think the game should have been a bit more polished as in due to the low FPS rate and at some areas the FPS drops next to nothing. Within the game some of the interactivity includes a pinball machine, drinking, peeing, throwing feces....yes feces, lifting weights, punch punching bags, grab a pair of smokes, condoms, sodas out of the soda machine. The list just goes on. There are also a lot of easter eggs within the game that I had to laugh at. For example in the second or third chapter a soldier tells you that there is some armor and a power suit in in the crate that you can grab to get ready. When you go up to the crate you grab your ammo and then you will see a spartan suit (master chiefs outfit) from halo and when Duke see's it he says "Power Suits are for pussies". To wrap it all up Duke Nukem is back and he is as funny as ever. The gameplay is fun as hell, and there is a nice challenge. When you beat the game I recommend you look at the extras there are some amazing things in there.

"Power Armor if for pussies" (taken from my cell phone)

Multiplayer is pretty neat. Not really a big point in the level up system but you can unlock items for your mansion and redecorate it. I personally enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the game. There is one things that really drives me nuts and it is the load times from each chapter. The most annoying part is when you die and you have let the whole chapter reload again and it takes forever!!

9/10


Graphics:
This one isn't going to be that long because yes the graphics are from 2008, and they are outdated but if you know from my other reviews. I don't care about graphics. Gameplay is where it is at. Anyway they are outdated as stated before, the are a lot of low FPS drops during gameplay some of the characters look bad. The animations for duke nukem aren't good at all. If you watch him jump and walk in a mirror the animations look terrible.

7/10

Try taking out one of these with a pistol.

Audio:
Yep the audio is back! To begin all of duke nukems famous quotes made a return as well as some new ones. Some of the quotes even include video game spoofs. Such as Dead space, Halo, and Mortal Kombat. The music is really well done and the sound effects from the enemies are roughly the same as Duke 3D just updated for 2008. The sound of the guns shooting is neat, especially the ripper gun. Sounds like...well your ripping it up.

9/10


Conclusion:
Duke Nukem is back and kicking ass as always! If you are a Duke Nukem fan I recommend you check this game out. It is fun as hell and has a lot of humor for everyone to enjoy. If you aren't, just give the game a chance, play through the whole game before making a solid judgement. It's been 14 years, give the guy a break.


Overall: 8.5/10

The final boss!