BanjoKazooie

BanjoKazooie finished Assassin's Creed. WTF is up with that ending?

UPDATE FEED BLOG FEED
My Feed
About Me
This user hasn't filled out their real life biography yet. LAME!
My Blog
Displaying 5 of 1 blog posts See all
E3 2008 amd World of Warcraft
Added by BanjoKazooie on July 21, 2008 | |

World of Warcraft is AMAZING. I don't know where to start. I suppose I can continue to talk in short, general sentences with no meaningful thought or development. Initially, I rolled as a Blood Elf Warlock named "Ginnyweasley" on an Oceanic server. The first thing that struck me was the art in this game. The architecture present in the Blood Elf Starting Zone is so mystifying and unique of any game I've played, and it looks so goregoeous on my Laptop that is in no way conditioned for games. Silvermon City shares the same look on a grander scale. Beyond the graphics though, choosing your class and race is a very intimate experience. I ended up choosing a warlock based on the description provided by the game and the ability to always have a pet summoned to fight for you. I got to LV 36 before I decided to change it up a bit and decided to move on to a PVP server and roll as a Human Paladin. Being able to run into battle with some of the heaviest armor available is a stark contrast to the way you play a Warlock. I managed to get my Paladin up to LV 22 before my free month subscription ended and now I have to wait until I get payed on Thursday to pick up a Player Card from Radioshack or somewhere. But enough MMO talk for you console kiddies, let's move onto E3! Let's go in order of the confrences I was most happy with to the ones I was least happy with. With that said....

I think Microsoft had the strongest E3 by far. Whenever I watch a conference by them, I feel like I made the right coice each and every time. The constant stream of high quality titles coming out on a monthly basis is uttterly insane. Fallout 3? Do want. Resident Evil 5 with online co-op and hot new female lead? DO WANT. BANJO KAZOOIE: NUTS AND BOLTS AND THE ORIGINAL BANJO-KAZOOIE COMING TO XBLA WITH REDONE TEXTURES, STOP N SWAP, LEADERBOARDS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS. DO MOTHERFUCKING WANT. *ahem* Seriously the content is insane and Rare is delivering a new downloadable title, new Banjo, and new Viva Pinata within months of eachother? *explodinghead.gif* The cherry on top was the announcment that Final Fantasy XIII would be multiplatform. While that is certainly exciting, I'm more excited for Versus XIII (which is essentially Kingdom Hearts) but I'm happy more people will get to enjoy the game, and if the combat is horrid, I'll pick it up as well.

I'll abstain from commenting on Sony's conference because I don't own the PS3, however I was mighty impressed by Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, and MAG. If I was a PS3 owner, I'd be content with what was shown.

Ready for some Nintendo hate? I'm feeling the flames itching on my fingertips. I don't go into E3 conferences with big expectations, I want to begin my analysis with this. After Nintendo's E3 2007 love fest of Wii Fit, I figured 2008 was going to be the same. But boy was I wrong. Nintendo was flatout EMBARASSING. Wii Sports Resort: The Tech Demo with a peripheral we are going to force on you for our future games! Animal Crossing: City Folk; the third game in the series that looks EXACTLY THE SAME as the previous two entries and no evolution such as MMO capabilites! And finally, Wii Music! The latest in the Wii Blank series that serves no real satisfying gameplay and can be summed up like this:

If anyone is anticipating Wii Music, please doing the following:

1. Using your computer, radio, iHome, etc. choose a song you want to play to.

2. Grab your Wiimote and wave your hands around wildly while holding down the "A" Button.

3. Congratulations! You are playing Wii Music! Yay!

Nintendo...WTF? I didn't expect Zelda, Mario, KID ICARUS REVIVAL OMFG111. I expected a short teaser trailer with the likely showing of Pikmin 3 or lesser franchise (not demeaning Pikmin in anyway). My issue with the Wii is that 1 high profile game gets released and then it is drought time. I bought Smash back in March and it's almost August; I have yet to purchase a new Wii game. The fantastic thing about the 360 is how so many high quality titles are coming out on a monthly basis. In July alone, Civilization Revolution and Soul Calibur IV are landing onto the scene. My Wii purchases for the year are done. No More Hereos and Smash Bros....that's it. The lack of high quality, consistent content is what pisses me off about Nintendo.


/rage

0 Comments Leave a Comment

My Lists
Displaying lists

1. Favorites

A list of 3 items by BanjoKazooie last updated on July 27, 2008

BanjoKazooie: Favorites


2. Collection

A list of 21 items by BanjoKazooie last updated on July 27, 2008

Games of which I own.


Top Contributions

Banjo-Tooie
197 Points

Banjo-Kazooie
186 Points

Grabbed by the Ghoulies
78 Points

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
75 Points

Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge
57 Points

Mickey's Speedway USA
19 Points

Banjo Pilot
16 Points

Perfect Dark
7 Points

My Reviews
Displaying 10 of 23 reviews See all
Reviewed by BanjoKazooie
July 22, 2008
This is THE Quintessential Platformer


Super Mario Galaxy combines brilliant level design and perfect controls to create the quintessential platformer.

Every hundred years, a huge comet flies by in the skies above the Mushroom Kingdom. One year, that comet filled the entire sky, and from it fell a stream of shooting stars. The Toads scooped up the Star Bits and brought them to the castle, where they were reborn as a great Power Star. It was a happy time in the Mushroom Kingdom. Then one night Mario received a letter... "Dear Mario, I'll be waiting for you at the castle on the night of the Star Festival. There's something I'd like to give you. From Peach." With invitation in hand, Mario headed off to the castle just as the Star Festival was getting into full swing. Surrounded by Toads gleefully trying to catch falling Star Bits, Mario was looking forward to the night's festivities. But then, something happened... And Mario's latest adventure began.

Super Mario Galaxy takes every idea or concept you have about a platformer, smashes them to pieces, puts them back together, and presents to you an entirely new formula to not only a Mario game but the genre as a whole. Coupled with the epic setting of outer space and numerous upon numerous galaxies for you to explore and salivate over, Super Mario Galaxy does what few other games in the genre have accomplished: perfection.

To fully grasp the magnitude of Super Mario Galaxy's perfection, one must look at the core concept of the premise presented in the game: gravity. You'll soon notice the difference in Mario's speed, jumping, and overall maneuverability once you set foot on your first planetoid and begin to experiment the boundaries of Mario's movements with the Wii controller. The game hits you with a brick and at first you feel like you are controlling a tank and/or feeling nauseous from the inertia and constantly changing angle of the automatic camera. After gathering yourself, you feel like a moron and realize that Mario moves with finesse, elegance, and grace. It's truly amazing to find yourself wasting time in particular galaxies by just playing around with gravity and seeing what you accomplish and fulfill in the process. It's just one of those many moments in Super Mario Galaxy where you realize you are playing a present day masterpiece.

Also new to the title is the motion control abilities granted to the Wii remote. Your most basic and pivotal motion gesture is a simple spin attack that completes just about everything the game throws at you, the least of which includes sending Mario into orbit with Launch Stars, rebounding projectiles at your foes, flipping switches, adding distance to your jump, etc. Only the tip of the iceberg, motion gestures come into play when you are granted power ups. As a sort of homage to Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario can don multiple suits that take advantage of the Wii remote's motion sensing capability. In an attempt to not spoil all of the various suits to you, I will only name one in particular for the sake of this review. The Fire Flower has returned to the Mario platformer for the first time in 3D and once granted the abilities of Fire Mario, you can launch fireballs at your foes with a simple flick of the Wii remote. It doesn't get in the way of actual gameplay, feels totally satisfying, and serves as an extension of your hand to Mario's. 

Having already mentioned the use of suits, I'll go into small detail about the other elements of gameplay. Your primary objective is to collect Powers Stars in an effort to save Princess Peach and thwart Bowser's evil plot once again, and in the vain of other Mario games, there are a grand total of 120 stars to collect and call your own. New to the formula is the presence of an on screen cursor in the same vain as that of the fairy cursor seen in the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. In Mario, the cursor is shaped as a blue star and grants you a genre breaking skill: collecting important items from a distance. You'll use the cursor to pick up the many Star Bits lying lazily around the galaxy, beckoning you to collect them all. And you should so rightfully attempt to do so in order to feed the many hungry Lumas placed around the game. Feeding them the correct amount of star bits makes them transform into Launch Stars and creating new, exciting galaxies for you to explore. There are other uses of the cursor used for actual gameplay instead of collecting, such as Sling Pods and Pull Stars, but I'll grant you the liberty of discovering those for yourself.

Super Mario Galaxy also exudes high production values and a superb presentation. In an attempt to cover all my bases, I'll begin with the visual elements of the game. To start off, I'll be blunt and straightforward: This game is gorgeous. The art direction used in Super Mario Galaxy not only makes it the best looking Wii game on the platform but it also stacks up high to the prowess of the competing systems Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. I swear upon my personal honor that I am not exaggerating this statement and you'll believe me when you see it. The small touches, most notably the use of motion blur when the camera pans to a new angle, contribute to the beauty that has been crafted in Super Mario Galaxy. Not only that, been a number of visual gags paying homage to previous Mario games are present and deployed in full force, such as Goombas wearing Pumpkins over themselves (a reference to the end of Super Mario World). The final visual touch and definitely the coolest aspect of Super Mario Galaxy's presentation is the animation of the Launch Stars. Throughout the game, your jaw will constantly be hitting the floor as you watch these. The mastery of velocity, cinematography, and art direction commanded by the developers show just how talented and experienced Nintendo truly is, and further proves and exemplifies the magic and bliss they still withhold dear in their design philosophy. 

The final aspect of Super Mario Galaxy I want to touch upon is the music present in the tile. Simply put, this is easily the grandest and pleasant sounding Mario track ever composed in the series twenty five year history. The original score by Koji Kondo matches the epic scale and sheer diversity of the galaxies present in the title. Your inner child will also grin with glee when you hear updated and remixed music of Mario titles yore, creating the ever sweet indulgence of nostalgia and invigorating the memories of the first time you manipulated Mario in his previous endeavors.

In closing, what is there to say about Super Mario Galaxy I haven't said to death about in this analysis? I won't simply repeat what I've already communicated to you. Rather, I'll end on the following note. Super Mario Galaxy does for Mario what should have been done many years ago and performed in the then second party tile, Banjo-Kazooie. Super Mario Galaxy takes the essence of what makes a platformer great, innovates all of those concepts, and does the most important item of all: sets Mario's adventure on an epic scale. Truly, this is the greatest Mario title crafted to date.

0 Comments Leave a Comment


Reviewed by BanjoKazooie
July 22, 2008
Will the Hero Rise...or Fall?


While Twilight Princess is a great game, this installment falls flat due to aged gameplay and several Zelda cliches.

Deep in the southernmost region of the kingdom of Hyrule lies a village by the name of Ordon. It is here where the hero of the story, Link, resides and makes his living as a rancher, and has also made himself known as the most skillful rider in all the land. But one day a group of monsters storms his village and the narrative quickly switches to classic Zelda. The hero is about to set out to prove himself...

Ever since Ocarina of Time, all the 3D console Zeldas have used the same exact same control scheme. Twilight Princess also includes this same combat system, but loses one button to equip an item from your inventory in favor of a help button where you can contact with Midna, both in human and wolf form.

This leads to one of the new gameplay aspects in Zelda. When Link crosses into the realm of Twilight, he transforms into a divine beast. The wolf. As a wolf, you have certain different skills that your human form can't do. The most important part that the wolf plays is in its' Sense ability. Using this Sense, you can follow the scent of various people and creatures, ranging from the smelly Reekfish to lost children. You follow these secents to progress through the story and reach your main objective. You also have the lesser Dig ability. You can dig through the ground to gain access to new areas, find bugs, or receive hearts and rupees.

The major problem with the entire wolf aspect is that it is at first overused and then later underused. A lot of your time through the first third of the game is being in your wolf form and killing bugs to restore light to the twilight infected areas. To those new to the series and even veterans, this gets old...fast. You'll go through the hunt just wanting to return to your normal self. At a certain point in the game, you gain the ability to transform to a wolf and back to normal at will, as long as no one can see you. You would think this would lead to some expertly designed puzzles that utilize you transforming back and forth into wolf in a dungeon. This is not the case. For the rest of the game, you will mostly remain in your human form and wish your alter ego was used more. This kills one of the newest things that Twilight Princess has to offer. Items are what make Zelda special, and Twilight Princess is chock full of them. While some remain unchanged, such as the Bow and Empty Bottles, a lot of items have received a much need renovation in their design. Some examples include the Boomerang and Iron Boots. The Boomerang has kept its multiple targeting system from the Wind Waker, but has now added a gale of wind that blows with your boomerang, which can pick up items in its path and bring them to you...or your enemies. The Iron Boots, which make you so heavy you can walk through wind and underwater, can now allow you to attach to walls through magnetic fields.

It also wouldn't be a Zelda game if there weren't any new items in that universe. One such example is an item called the Spinner. With this item, Link can traverse over quicksand quickly and attach to railings in walls, riding along them swiftly. There are other numerous items with great new premises, but they are never fully taken advantage of. You'll have these awesome weapons that are collecting dust in your inventory and you'll never use them again. And if you do, it will be once or twice later on. Along with these new item disapointments, the new temples and dungeons are a huge disapointment. Don't get me wrong, the dungeons are very well designed, but they are all easy. I never got stuck and they all use Zelda cliches. Even with the new items, it does not increase the diffuculty of these dungeons. The bosses are also a huge disapointment. None of them provide a challenge, save for possibly the final boss based on your total heart collection and excerpience with hidden skills.

Visually, Twilight Princess is the cream of the crop on Gamecube, save for Resident Evil 4 and The Wind Waker. While Hyrule Field isn't exactly the most technically impressive environment out there, the character models and Twilight Realm more than make up for this. The biggest treat of the character models is in their facial expressions which are so realistic and beautiful, more so than that of Wind Waker. The Twilight Realm has this oversaturated beauty and brillance that make use of Cell Shading in some of its enemies, creating a sort of destroyed beauty in effect. The Wolf Link animators also deserve a huge pat on the back. Wolf Link takes animation in Zelda to new heights and you may find yourself in awe at first.

In terms of sound, Zelda is stuck in the past. Nintendo didn't give this game the full orchestral treatment this game rightfully deserves. Sure some tunes and melody did get the treatment, but MIDI takes up a chunk of the game for the most part. Also, voice acting needs to be adressed. With these beautiful new facial expressions and cinematics, voice acting would have been a huge plus. There is even perfect lip synching for each character in these scenes, but they remain silent in their motions, which is truly disheartening.

So in the end, the main adventure lasted me to almost the 30 hour mark, but if you add in all the extras like Pieces of Heart, Poe Soul and Golden Bug Collecting, and fishing, you can expect that number to grow into the 50-70 hour mark. Don't get me wrong, Twilight Princess is a great game but with this installment, it is clear that Zelda needs to evolve and tackle these issues in the next big console experience.

0 Comments Leave a Comment



636 Points
Ranked #623 of 17,975

BanjoKazooie's Latest Images





















BanjoKazooie Stats
Date Joined: July 21, 2008
City:
Gender: Male
Alignment: Neutral
My Friends
Major
pǝɹoq
15 hours, 4 minutes ago
mubress
would like his points total to update
2 days, 6 hours ago
Ryan
is 140mg of caffeine.
3 days, 1 hour ago
DreamsVisions
Jeff
just ate a ChocoTaco on camera.
23 hours, 4 minutes ago
Willy105
has installed Star Wars: Empire at War.
2 weeks, 2 days ago
MoldOnHold
still wants an orange username
4 weeks, 1 day ago
Aljosa15
thinks Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the best handheld TBS game ever!
3 weeks, 1 day ago
Brad
isn't really missing Germany.
1 day, 2 hours ago
5_LD_5
is sexy profile FTW!
3 weeks, 5 days ago

View all BanjoKazooie's relationships...
BanjoKazooie's Wall
5_LD_5
on July 27, 2008
I hope that's good:P
Willy105
on July 23, 2008
HEY! Willy105 was here.
view all »
BanjoKazooie
Friends Blogs
View All....