YouTube Street Fighter (PC)

We have a confession to make. If we were to compile a list of the Street Fighter games, we would miss a very important entry. Of course, we would include the four main games. We'd even mention the Alpha games! No, this game is far from well known.

YouTube Street Fighter is a game for YouTube created by director Patrick Boivin. Using SOTA Toys action figures and stop motion, it is full motion video based. When you start the game, you are asked to select an opponent. Now comes the clever part. Using the Annotations feature, you can use your mouse to click on the opponent's picture. There are only three opponents to choose from, but any more would have been too much to ask. Next comes the actual battle. The gameplay is quite different to other Street Fighter games. Firstly, you cannot move your character - the attack buttons take care of the moving for you. There are four attack buttons. Unlike the conventional controls, each button does a special attack, and all four attacks deal the same amount of damage (namely 1 of 3 HP). In terms of difficulty, the game is extremely easy. Most of the time, your opponent is standing still so you'd have to be half asleep to even take damage.

While this isn't the sort of game you'll be playing every day for the rest of your life, a lot of effort has been put into it and it shows. The concept is inspired and the animation is very well done. Though you'll go away feeling that you haven't played a proper game.

Verdict
+ Interesting concept
+ Animation is well done
- Hardly challenging
- Not enough opponents
- Far too short

5/10

Short Reviews: Twilight (book)

So Twilight. I found this at my library and took it out. The first thing I noticed was the cover itself. Hands holding an apple, this confuses me, there’s not one reference in the entire book or the film (“There’s not even one in the fruit bowl” Said a friend of mine). My guess is that the author likes Photoshop. I also noticed the ‘T’ in ‘twilight’ isn’t a capital. Though, I wasn’t going to judge a book on it’s cover.

The story can be summed up as the generic love plot of ‘Girl moves to place, Girl meets boy, Girl loves boy, Boy isn’t normal, Boy puts her in danger’. To be honest, very little happens. The boy, Edward Cullen, has a habit of liking the girl, Bella, one minute and hating her the next. The story is written in first-person and in the view of Bella Swan. Bella must have been bad at English as the way the story is written is incredibly poor….

The writer must like the letter ‘I’ a lot, to the point where in four sentances, there was six 'I's. Instead of stringing sentences together, they just have ‘I ate breakfast and Then I went to school, where I would see Edward‘. What would have been better for some of the sentences would have been ‘After breakfast, I went to school to meet Edward’. Apart from that it also has a habit of confusing you in long massive talking sequences
I.e.
“Talking” He Said
“Talking again” I replied
“Talking” He Said
“Talking again” I replied

This can confuse you if there are two people in the room or scene as instead of splitting the ‘Person said’ up with ‘He/She’ and the name of the person talking, it seems to just be ‘HeShouted/Said/Nodded. If you know what i mean.

It’s a shame because the plot is decent, granted, not much actually happens apart from flirting, Edward getting angry and running away. If you like love stories about vampires (even if that doesn’t come in till a lot later) and high school, I suppose I could recommend it but the way it’s written puts me off. See the film, is all I can say.

Street Fighter IV (ARC)

It's been ten years since the last proper Street Fighter game - and it's been well worth the wait. While it retains the classic feel of the series, there are a number of improvements.

For those new to the games, Street Fighter is a fighting game developed by Capcom. You move along a 2D plane and fight against another character. Of course, you can also use special attacks such as shooting surges of spirit energy. Think Guilty Gear or Tekken and you're along the right lines. You use the joystick to move up and down, to jump and to crouch. There are also six buttons, three for punching with different strengths, and the other three for kicking. Using the controls in certain ways will allow you to perform special attacks. The classic example is (assuming you're facing right) to move the joystick down, down-right, right and then press the punch button. This performs a Hadouken which has been seen several times in popular culture.

Those anxious that the tried-and-tested gameplay would have changed in SFIV needn't worry; it's still Street Fighter. However, the first thing you'll notice is the graphics. The menus are nice enough, but it's when you start playing that you'll observe the real difference. While you're still playing on a 2D plane, everything is modelled in 3D, meaning everything looks ten times more realistic. There are also a couple of changes to the gameplay, as well. A new system called Focus Attacks allow you to absorb your enemy's attacks and counter-attack. Also, as you take damage, your Revenge Gauge fills up and allows you to perform Ultra Combos (long, cinematic moves which are very, very bad for your opponent). The character roster is the same as the original Street Fighter II as well as newcomers Abel, Crimson Viper, Rufus and El Fuerte. The game also includes a hidden character and two bosses. The soundtrack, while not bad, isn't as great as in previous games.

Street Fighter IV is a game that fans will enjoy very much. It retains the classic gameplay while adding new and fun features. This game shows exactly what the series is about.

Verdict
+ It's the same Street Fighter we all know and love
+ Graphics are top-notch
+ Interesting new features
- The music is not so good
- You'll end up spending quite a bit of money

8/10

Short 360 Reviews

(Sorry for any grammar mistakes, especially on Halo 3)

Halo 3
Yea, I got this with my 360. Why? Because it’s Halo and apparently Halo is fantastic. Yea, so is it? Eh, it depends really. Single player can be summed up as ’Get somewhere and on the way, shoot things and there we go‘. Maybe it’s ‘cause I haven’t played the other halo games and this doesn’t explain anything. I suppose this is a game for the fans, I’m unsure myself. Multiplayer is the basic and usual affair ‘get the most kills’, ‘Capture the flag’ and all that. Even so it’s Online fun and addictive. Note I say ‘Online’, Well what if you don’t have online? Apart from the single player you get the multiplayer modes and can play with friends. My only problem here (and it’s kind of a problem with this Generation on a whole) Is that you can’t play these modes against the computer/bots. This is slightly annoying especially if you don’t have online play which you most likely won’t have straight away when you get your 360.
Anyway….
My Game Ratting: 6.5 or 7 out of 10


Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Eh, mostly the same as Halo but this is still a great game. Instead of being another crap war game based in WWII, Call Of Duty 4 is set in ‘Modern’ times (Hence the title ‘Modern Warfare’). The story is presented in the loading screens with some pictures and voices. It’s not perfect but for a war/shooting game it does the job. Many levels are memorable and are fantastically presented. For me, the most memorable levels are the two sniping levels. While there is only two of them, the quality is great. The difficulty? Depends of the mode so you should get through it even if you’re not much of a gamer. Multiplayer is basically the same as Halo 3 but more realistic. Lastly the length of the game…It’s quite short and leaves you wanting more, there are three chapters each with about 6 or 7 levels. The achievement system on Xbox gives you a reason to play through the game on the hardest mode though, which adds length
My Game Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Tomb Raider Legend
I got this pre-owned for £8. It’s pretty good, but has a few flaws in the camera. This is also the type of game that has the ‘You do it this way or you don’t do it at all’ rule which can be a pain if you’re trying to climb a rope a metre or so in the are but can’t grab it ‘cause you were supposed to be in the ledge above. There are only seven or eight levels but they can take over an hour each. The controls are the usual Tomb Raider affair. Actually, that sentence can summarise the whole game;
It’s the same game and affair as every other Tomb Raider
My Game Rating: 7 out of 10

Alone In The Dark
I’ve already done ‘First thoughts’ of this game so I’m not going to do a review of this. All I can say is I enjoyed this game and it shouldn’t of been based the way it was
My Game Rating: 8.5 or 9 out of 10


Soul Caliber 4
This game is Mediocre, It can be ‘completed’ in a few minutes and it’s just a button masher. If you’re a fan of the series, you may like it but I though it was dull. The modes are the usual fighting game crap. This game has only two or so modes; Arcade and Story. Neither are pretty good to be honest…
My Game Rating: 4 out of 10


Dynasty Warriors 6
This game bores me. It’s just a button masher. That’s it. Yea, I know Dynasty Warriors is only liked by the fans (if that makes sense) and the rest of the gaming world doesn’t get it but I still don’t like it!
There is some story but it’s text and I’d prefer to have cut scene. If your character dies, you go back to where you last save and in a full ‘game’ you can only save, like, four or five times. This can be annoying considering each match/game is over an hour….To be honest, though, I’ve not played this game THAT much….
My Game Rating: 3 out of 10


Yea, not that detailed. Not that great, But they're short reviews. Eventually i'll do proper reviews and more gameplay details

Animal Crossing First Thoughs (Wii)

I'd like to say first I’m sorry for my absence. My computer has ran into a number of problems.

Anyway, On Christmas i received Animal Crossing; Let's go to
the City, So with my Laptop i though i could get another Review in. I've only just started, really, so i though I’d do first thoughts like i did with 'Alone
in the Dark

So your on a bus -like on the Gamecube- and you talk to Rover - Again, like the Gamecube - And set your settings. Once that's all done you're put into the
town just like the other two games. So far the controls are DREADFULL, in my opinion. You use the Wii remote and point, like you're using the stylus but
mine seems to stop responding, I'd plug in the nunchuck if i knew where it was but i don't...

It's mainly just the Gamecube/DS version with new wallpaper over it. I'm unsure how to react to be honest. I loved Animal Crossing: Wild World. I played it for an entire year none-stop and then just left it.

Why don't I like this? It's most likely the controls...Or maybe it isn't. I remember long before this game was announced, being in a small AC Forum and talking about how great it would be to have a Wii version. You know, Motion Controls and being able to put furniture outside. I also remember myself suggesting that there could be clubs like fishing and bug clubs. We couldn't of been the only ones who wanted new stuff so why is it exactly the same?

I'm also wondering how the Hell the named the entire game after a tiny Plaza with about five shops. Maybe I’m over-reacting. Maybe I should play a bit more before i continue. Yes, There is still hope but so far, what I’ve seen has disappointed me

Mega Man 9 (WiiWare)

12 years after the last Mega Man game, Mega Man 9 was released on WiiWare, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. Unusually, the graphics and audio have gone back to prehistoric times during those years.

Capcom wanted to do something different. Their most famous series, Mega Man had been going on for years, and with each new game, its popularity was decreasing. The company decided to look at the most popular games for inspiration. That was how the idea to make the ninth game in the original series in the style of the first two. In the 80s, games consoles had very little processing power and could only handle very basic graphics and sound. Also, the games were extremely difficult so that players wouldn't be able to rush through the relatively small number of levels.

Since Mega Man 9 is emulating this experience, it is also extremely difficult. Simply, it's a platform game where you play as the titular Mega Man, a robot who has to defeat the evil Robot Masters. You can run left and right, jump and climb up and down ladders. You attack by shooting bullets and other projectiles which you acquire after defeating a Robot Master. The levels are as hard as nails, making you remember when and where platforms appear so that you don't fall down holes to your death. Anyone who has played any of the original games would know that Mega Man is most definately not for the "casual gamer".

As with most games, it is not perfect. Most obviously, it is one of the hardest games ever made. Unless you are a really seasoned gamer, you are going to find it very hard. Some people might get fed up with not being able to beat the game, while others will keep trying again and again. For the latter, you are in for a treat. For the rest, it's probably best to leave this particular game on the virtual shelf.

Another annoyance is that it is not retro enough. While this may seem strange seeing as it is the most retro game around these days, we believe that if a game is made to be retro, it is best to make it as retro as possible. The best way to explain this would be to describe the preview screen. While it may be pixelly, it is overly so (a developer would have had to be mad to use that in a game of the 80s). The animations don't look retro, either and the logo is lovely and new; which is not what the game's aim is. When you have started the game, you are presented with greatly-detailed logos of the developers, which look out of place. Also, when you are using the online features (where you can download extras and upload to the rankings) the font looks like an outline font.

These annoyances do little, however, to detract from the awesome gameplay. If you have played any of the previous games and enjoyed it, Mega Man 9 will no doubt put a smile on your face. If you haven't, but you feel you're up for a challenge, try downloading the game. It can only improve your gaming skills.

Verdict
+ Tried and tested gameplay
+ Rubbish graphics and audio...
+ ...which is a good thing!
- May be a bit too difficult for some
- If you're going to do retro, do it properly

9/10

Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii)

After lugging the box from Gamestation, almost crippling my shoulder and killing an old guy, I got to play this. Having not played Rock Band I was curious to see what the drums where like. Took me a while to put them up because I thought it was quite confusing, but that's probably just me. Finally I was set up and ready to go. My first thought was, am I doing this right? It seemed I was, and the pad was just un-responsive. Then my sister comes in the room and asks me what the hell am I doing as she could here banging, like someone knocking a nail in to a wall. Yes, they are that noisey.

After a toy around with the drums, I tried the guitar. I sort of knew what to expect because I had Guitar Hero 3. The guitar has always worked and always will. The only thing I don't like is the new Touch Strip, it just doesn't feel right and kind of arkward to use, also un-responsive at times.

Another new addition to the Guitar Hero family is the microphone. I have a terrible voice so I couldn't do it that well. The dot that tracks your pitch seems to stick every now and again and gives you a low score. But again, that's probably just me unable to sing.

Overall I would reccomend this if you didn't get Rock Band or infact Guitar Hero 3. The drums are nothing special. Guitar Hero 3 is quite cheap so if you don't have anyone to play this with, I'd get that, but it's up to you.

Verdict
+ Multiplayer is good
+ Guitar works well. Always has done
- Takes up a lot of space
- Expensive
- Sometimes un-responsive

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