This post is by guest blogger Steve.
Comments: 0 (Go to Comments)
Categories: Commentary
Tags: ds, ps2, wii
This past Sunday I went to my local Toys R Us to preorder a Nintendo Wii. There had been some whispers on the internet about a second batch of preorders opening up and I had hoped I could just walk in and easily get a preorder, but I was greeted with a mob of people waiting outside. I thought I might still have a chance when I got in, but I learned that everyone had been waiting since 8 or 9 in the morning and had managed to get on a list that gave them priority. While it would be nice to have a Wii on launch day, I can accept this as a distant possibility. I have made a few new game purchases recently, and some of them can help hold my interest until I have that Wii remote in my hand.
One of my recent purchases was Elite Beat Agents for the DS. The DS has a lot of great titles, but this is the first one I’ve really been excited about since I got an import title called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! last year, which just happens to be the spiritual prequel to Elite Beat Agents. In both these games, you are charged with helping people out of various bizarre situations. One stage will have you helping a pug get home after accidentally falling asleep on a pickup truck. Another has you helping a disgraced football player battle a giant golem wreaking havoc on a theme park.
And how is this all done? Through dancing, of course! The three Elite Beat Agents cheer these people on, and your role is making sure they do it properly by tapping a series of numbered beats that appear on the screen. This is all done to the rhythm of cover songs ranging from Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” to Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8ter Boi.” Oddly enough, all of the songs worked for me with the glaring exception of Good Charlotte’s “Anthem”. I’ve never heard that band before, but the song really grated on my nerves.
So far, I have completed the game on normal mode and am working on the hard mode. It is incredibly fun and highly recommended. And if you find yourself craving for more (and you probably will), import Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!. The scenarios are just as wacky, and not understanding what is going on only adds to the charm.
Another game I bought recently is God Hand for the PS2. This is a modern tribute to the beat ‘em up genre popularized by games such as Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Final Fight. Thankfully, it does not take itself too seriously.
There’s some semblance of a story here, but I haven’t been paying much attention. The first scene is your character walking down the street while his female companion says something about beating up the guys in your way. There is no explanation given–just go in there and beat the crap out of them. I did so, but not after dying about 8 or 9 times until I had figured everything out.
God Hand fixes the camera directly behind the protagonist. It reminds me of Resident Evil 4 in this way, but that’s really the only similarity. You are given a variety of moves and can assign different attacks to button combinations. As you progress, you can buy new moves. You also get “roulette moves” in which the action slows to a crawl while you choose an attack from the list and hope you picked the correct one. Finally, you can unleash your “God Hand” which renders you invincible and allows you to attack twice as fast.
I’m only on the second stage, but I am enjoying the game so far. I just wish I had the option to grapple an enemy like in many of the old school beat ‘em ups. Instead, I can just knock someone senseless, then perform a special move which depends entirely on the type of enemy I am fighting. The fat guy gets the “stinger” which involves kneeing him in the face about 20 times and then suplexing him into the ground, while the dominatrix ladies get a “spanking” which is exactly what it sounds like, followed by a launch into the nearest wall.
Finally, there’s Tetris for the DS. Yes, it’s an old game, but I finally got around to purchasing it last week. I hadn’t played any serious games of Tetris in about 10 years, so it was interesting to see what has changed. You can now spin a piece eternally to prevent it from landing. Since it is on a Nintendo system, there are lots of Nintendo-themed stages. There are also new game modes, including one that uses the stylus, but I have not played with these just yet.
One thing I do enjoy is the online multiplayer mode. I can connect to my wireless router and within a minute or two I will be playing a 4-player match against random people. I’m one of the worst players on there, ranking somewhere around 4300. But I am having fun.
But who am I kidding? I’m going to try buying a Wii on launch day anyway.