Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

But Does This Review Run Crysis?

In LGR's latest review he takes a look at the PC benchmark that some consider a game Crysis at it's 10 year anniversary. Crysis doesn't feel 10 years old but apparently Wikipedia seems to think it is so it's a good time to take a look back at how good of a game it was and if it holds up. I never could actually play Crysis as I never had the kind of PC back then that could run it. It seems like a pretty cool game and I didn't know that it was the spiritual successor to the first Far Cry. If you want to play Crysis now LGR notes that you should pick it up on GOG DRM free as the Steam version STILL uses SecureROM and locks you out after 5 installs. That seems really... Read All

Load Up On Some Great Games In The Humble Care Package Bundle!

For the next 4 days the Humble Care Package Bundle is running a special 100% charity bundle where the proceeds go to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, GlobalGiving, Direct Relief and Save the Children. For a fixed $30 amount that goes to those charities you get... need to flex my fingers a bit because there are quite a few games here in Starbound, Darkest Dungeon, Minecraft: Story Mode, Stardew Valley, Move or Die, Duck Game, Her Story, She Remembered Caterpillars, Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition, DreadOut, Pony Island, Mighty No. 9, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Arma: Gold Edition, Grey Goo, Sorcerer King: Rivals, Shadowrun Returns, Kholat, Primal... Read All

Continuing On With New Super Mario Bros Wii!

After completing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS I've been wanting to try the next installment on the Wii aptly titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii. At this years Portland Retro Gamine Expo I picked New Super Mario Bros. Wii for $13 along with a raft of other old games and just recently put it in my Wii and have been playing it for the last week. Like Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an improvement over it's former DS predecessor. It contains the same basic gameplay and the Wii version stacks on the DS version with better graphics, extra mechanics and the inclusion of 4 player split-screen co-op. One thing I noticed right away is that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is... Read All After completing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS I've been wanting to try the next installment on the Wii aptly titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii. At this years Portland Retro Gamine Expo I picked New Super Mario Bros. Wii for $13 along with a raft of other old games and just recently put it in my Wii and have been playing it for the last week. Like Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an improvement over it's former DS predecessor. It contains the same basic gameplay and the Wii version stacks on the DS version with better graphics, extra mechanics and the inclusion of 4 player split-screen co-op. One thing I noticed right away is that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is more difficult than the DS version, which is a welcome improvement in that's it doesn't feel too punishing.

To add more replayability to the levels occasionally Bowsers minions will capture a Mushroom Kingdom Toad and you can head back to a level you completed to save it. If you do this you can get a shot at a Toad House giving you a crack and collecting items that you can use in the overworld to help you start out better in certain levels. This overworld item mechanic first showed up in Super Mario Brothers 3 and it feels really great to have it come back here. This really makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii feel like a proper sequel to the old NES Mario games and it seems like that's what this series is trying to do. Mario Galaxy and now Mario Odyssey seem like sequels to Mario 64 while the New Super Mario Bros. franchise is keeping the old 2D Mario platforming alive. I hope New Super Mario Bros. continues on to the Switch as it has had a few installments on each system including the Wii U and 3DS that I heard were really good that I plan on picking up at some point.

So far i've completed World 1 and if you've played a World 1 in a Mario game it's pretty similar to that. In fact New Super Mario Bros. Wii sticks to a very similar level format to the DS version in that the first and second worlds are themed similarly. From there the themes verge but if you are expecting a radical departure from past games like Mario 3 or NSMB DS you will be disappointed. There is plenty of level creativity on display here and many times in World 1 I was in awe at what Nintendo was able to accomplish with it's level design. But the bread and butter of a good Mario game is gameplay and enough challenge to be interesting and New Super Mario Bros. Wii has that in spades.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii so far, is a great platformer and if you have a Wii kicking around and want to play a good Mario game you can get this used at any game store or Amazon.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 04:15am

It makes me sad that you call NSMB Wii an old game. I mean you're right, but that feels like just two or three years ago.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 05:47am

8 years ago isn't quite retro but it's not new either. I think all the Wii games hold up though and this isn't an exception.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 05:48am

I imagine you played NSMB Wii?

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 03:44pm

Oh yeah, it’s one of my faves on the Wii. Actually all my favorites on the Wii are Mario games!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/16/2017 at 06:10pm

I liked Twilight Princess but never completed it. It's on my list of games to come back to. Funny enough I stopped at the water temple.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/16/2017 at 06:47pm

Heh, the water temple, your nemesis

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/17/2017 at 03:17am

Heh. I don't really mess around with them anymore I just use a map now. The others are fine but I think I am way to hyped about a Water Temple. Zelda can stop doing those too if they want. I'd be fine.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

GameShell Is A Cool New Moddable Retro Linux Gaming Handheld!

Back this on Kickstarter!

The Retro Pie community is huge and a big part of that is the fact that you can use the hardware for nearly anything you can think up. Lots of new open and moddable systems have been popping up and many Retro Pie builds feature making your own handheld but nothing makes it easy. Intro the new GameShell Kickstarter that aims to ship a modular portable hackable Linux handheld. It's seriously focused on gaming but it's not limited to that and since it runs Linux you can hack it to do whatever you want.

Many Kickstarter projects don't do well and hardware projects doubly so. I hope this takes off but there is an inherent amount of risk here but I wish GameShell well... Read All

This New Video Game Company Is Making Kids Brain Dead!

I just watched this news report by John Stossel that was a real eye opener. Apparently this 100 year old Japanese company is using American made computer chips to create a new toy that kids are obsessing over. It's distracting them from homework and creating such a product demand that some adults travel thousands of miles to get the latest toy games! I hope you take this video to heart so you can make sure your kids don't fall prey to this new evil!

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/14/2017 at 06:58pm

I be brain dead

Travis Admin wrote on 11/15/2017 at 04:21am

How quaint. They come in two categories: sports, and adventure.

Wow, the nostalgia trip of Nintendo mania. I liked his last few minutes. It takes imagination and thought to get through them and as long as they aren't obsessing with them, fine! That kind of thinking was rare back then.

And "watching Nintendo" was a nice, clear way to illustrate that people still didn't even really understand what it was all about. Or if they did understand, weren't used to the ideas.

Remember people who called it "Intendo?"

This video is an amazing nostalgia trip.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/15/2017 at 04:33pm

> How quaint. They come in two categories: sports, and adventure.

I thought that was funny too.

Another interesting point is even back in 1988 they were accusing Nintendo of limiting supply and they denied it due to chip shortages.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 11/15/2017 at 05:43pm

>Another interesting point is even back in 1988 they were accusing Nintendo of limiting supply and they denied it due to chip shortages.

Some things never change. BTW, I am still waiting on that cabbage patch kid. I can't believe they are still holding back the supply!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/15/2017 at 05:53pm

I had one but it was way after the craze was diminished such that one could get one by walking into a store.

I've headed out on Black Friday to get some really nicely priced stuff but never been part of a store rush or jumped in the air to get someone an employee threw to a crowd.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

Digital Foundry Analyzes Doom on The Switch!

I've been wondering how the new Doom Switch port stacks up to the PC & PS4 versions and Digital Foundry has a great break down video. Doom on the Switch runs a bit under 720p and runs at an uneven 30 fps. All that said, the port looks good and if you want to run Doom on the go I can't imagine a better way to play it.

Kingdom Hearts Final Remix Review

I originally beat Kingdom Hearts, back in 2002, when it originally came out for the Playstation 2. Having fond memories of the game, I picked up the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX compilation for the PS4. The version of Kingdom Hearts in this compilation is Kingdom Hearts Final Remix. It adds some new content in addition to updating all the game assets to HD.

So how did it hold up the second time around? Overall, it is not as good as I remember, but it is still fun. Some things are still just as horrible (the space shooter sections of the game), while some things remain awesome (character design).

For those that are not aware of Kingdom Hearts, it takes a lot of... Read All I originally beat Kingdom Hearts, back in 2002, when it originally came out for the Playstation 2. Having fond memories of the game, I picked up the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX compilation for the PS4. The version of Kingdom Hearts in this compilation is Kingdom Hearts Final Remix. It adds some new content in addition to updating all the game assets to HD.

So how did it hold up the second time around? Overall, it is not as good as I remember, but it is still fun. Some things are still just as horrible (the space shooter sections of the game), while some things remain awesome (character design).

For those that are not aware of Kingdom Hearts, it takes a lot of Disney characters, some Final Fantasy characters and some new characters and mashes them all into one action-role playing game. On the surface this sounds like a disaster, but Square pulls it off.

The story follows a boy named Sora, who is out to save not only one princess but seven princesses and multiple worlds from the Heartless (the bad guys). The Heartless' end goal is to destroy all worlds through the power of darkness. During Sora's journey he is joined by Goofy, Donald and a handful of other level specific Disney characters.

Each world you are trying to save is essentially a level. The majority of these worlds are mainly straight out of Disney movies. You have Tarzan, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, A Nightmare Before Christmas, Hercules, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, and a handful of other worlds that are newly created for the game. The design of these worlds has not aged well. All the worlds are walled in, which in turn makes them feel very claustrophobic. Each time I made it to a new world, I was ready to leave it as soon as I could and move on with the story.

Going between worlds is bizarre. Square decided to slap on a space shooter as your method of travel. In addition to the space shooter aspect, they added in a whole system to modify and create your own spacecraft. This portion of the game stands out like a sore thumb. It is just so mind-numbing. Luckily you are only forced to travel like this when it is your first visit to a planet. After that you can skip this portion of the game and just warp to where you want to go.

The final complaint I have about this game is the controls. Some of the controls suck. First off, Square decided to update the camera mode for the Final Remix to match Kingdom Hearts 2 (The original camera mode is still available). This new camera mode gets in the way of battles and platforming more often than not. I should have tried the original camera mode to see if it was any better (sadly I don't recall what was used when I originally played it). The other part of the controls that gets in the way is using items and magic. You can assign three magic spells to hot keys within the game, for the rest of the magic and your items, you must navigate menus in realtime. What this means is you literally need to find a place to hide during any battles if you plan to navigate the menus to cast magic and/or use items. If you do not do that, you risk getting severely hurt or even killed.

So what saves the day for Kingdom Hearts? The art direction, voice acting and story save the game from being painful, to somewhat enjoyable.

Kingdom Hearts nails the art direction. Each world is colorful and nails the theme of the movie that Square is going for. All the Heartless are well designed, and the characters look amazing in HD. The Disney characters are so well designed they look like they came straight out of the cartoons.

The voice acting is top notch too. The Disney characters sound like their movie counterparts (and are sometimes the same voice actors) and the new characters are voiced by the likes of Haley Joel Osmet, Hayden Panettierre and Billy Zane.

Finally the fact that Square manages to cram a bunch of Disney movies, some Final Fantasy characters and some new characters together without the story falling apart is amazing. It is pretty much a standard video game story, but overall it works.

While my recent play through has soured me on the game a little bit due to bad camera controls, realtime menu navigation, claustrophobic levels and a crappy space shooter, the story, art direction and voice acting save the day. I look forward to giving Kingdom Hearts 2 a try and hope they solved some of these problems. If they did not fix the problems, hopefully I can at least enjoy the story.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/11/2017 at 10:18pm

Cool, thanks for the review. Kingdom Hearts is one of the few reasons I have for even wanting a PS4. I have the original, sequels, and games on other platforms (like the DS). I'm looking forward to the new game. I'd like to see these games on Steam, but I'm glad they're getting the HD treatment.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member Post Author wrote on 11/14/2017 at 06:47pm

You're welcome! What did you think of 2? I have yet to play it.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/15/2017 at 01:34am

It's been so long since I've played it, I don't remember it very well. I got it not long after it came out, I think, and played it once through. I missed some things. I would love to have the HD versions of these games (especially on Steam). As I mentioned, I've played games on the DS and PSP as well. I think the story is pretty deep, even "heart-wrenching" at times. I generally like the series. I was happy to hear David Boreanaz voice Squall (my own personal favorite FF character). I also liked Leonard Nimoy voicing a character on the PSP game. That one also had a cool mini game that was much like Monopoly, very fun actually!

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In

So I Heard You Like Bubsy - Cygnus Destroyer Reviews New Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back!

Continuing the Bubsy thread from before with this Cygnus Destroyer video reviewing the all new Bubsy game. Looks like it's not too long at clocking in at a handful of hours but looks to be the best Bubsy yet according to Cygnus. That said, the Steam reviews are butchering the game for the $30 price tag and very short playthrough. I can understand why development on the game may have been under budgeted and the end result seemed to suffer. Once this hits Steam sales I wonder how that will do to it's rating?

Cygnus Destroyer Reviews The Infamous Bubsy Games

Cygnus opens this video saying that Bubsy is one of the most hated mascots in all of video games. I'm not sure about all that but Bubsy 3D is considered one of the worst games of all time and rightly so. When Bubsy came out on the Super Nintendo I rented it and found it to be a really visually fun game but nothing really hooked me so I didn't buy it. It was obvious to me that Accolade was trying to make it's own Mario or Sonic but way more 90's X-TREME and TOTALLY IN YOUR FACE so it felt a bit forced but my biggest critique is that it's fairly derivative. I look back on Bubsy now as a fun historical point in gaming and something that they are trying to bring back now... Read All

The News From BlizzCon 2017: Kobolds & Catacombs, StarCraft II F2P & More

This year my friend Dan gifted me a BlizzCon virtual ticket and I spent this weekend basking in 24/7 Blizzard live stream goodness! I watched a bunch of the BlizzCon panels and tournaments and if you are into Blizzard and want to experience it live I recommend looking into the virtual ticket. Not only do you get a live stream of the events but also a bunch of digital bonuses and some are really compelling(like the Hearthstone golden Legendary).

New Hearthstone Expansion Kobolds and Catacombs

I think one of the biggest news nuggets our of BlizzCon is the new Kobolds and Catacombs Hearthstone expansion. Not only is K&C an all new expansion but it also comes with... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/06/2017 at 02:02am

Excellent news for Hearthstone, as I want much more of a single player element in the game.

I was also disappointed in lack of news regarding Diablo. I read another article that contains a couple of wish lists, like the next Diablo or DII remastered. I know some of you are expecting another expansion, while I'd love to see one, I'm not quite expecting one, hoping perhaps.

As for StarCraft II, I already own it (it was one of the first games I bought for my new PC years ago) and all the expansions. Letting WoL go free might help bring more people into the SC universe. I really liked that they remastered StarCraft and I wish they'd do the same for the first three WarCraft games.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-was-missing-from-blizzcon-2017/1100-6454674/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/06/2017 at 10:16pm

I decided to check out the single player stuff you mentioned. I, too, had to reinstall the game, since I removed it some time ago. I defeated the three challengers. It was fun. I also got that free gift with the new client update.

I noticed you can pre-order the card packs for $50. After looking at it again, I think it's just the card packs and the new game mechanic will be free. Or, at least, that is my hope. https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/product/hearthstone-kobolds-and-catacombs

I started playing CCGs with Magic and Star Trek back in about '94. I don't collect cards anymore, but I still have some around. I liked a Magic game I bought for the PS3, but there seems to be a lot more of them on Steam. I enjoyed my recent play of ES Legends. I also reinstalled Faeria to check it out again. My only problem with these games is playing against other people, I really don't like it. So, I greatly appreciate single player modes and knowing that Hearthstone is getting more of it makes me feel better about it.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/07/2017 at 03:35am

There was some Diablo 2and Warcraft 3 news but the news was kinda just that... there is no news.

https://www.vg247.com/2017/11/06/warcraft-3-and-diablo-2-remasters-arent-in-the-works-because-the-base-games-still-need-work/

It's interesting to hear that they're working on how they could do it though. So while it's not likely we'll see them next year or anything, it's likely we *will* eventually see them.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/07/2017 at 04:06am

> I think it's just the card packs and the new game mechanic will be free.

Yep. Just new packs, the single player adventure content AND the new Dungeon Run mode are both free.

I am really looking forward to the WarCraft III updates too. They updated it to run on modern Operating Systems and that worked really well but I'm wondering what they might do next there? They might be making StarCraft stable as i've seen MANY updates on that since launch and then maybe look into doing the same for D2 or War3 and if so they didn't really hint which one they might do first. I think they'd maybe rather just surprise us that say anything ahead of time and fail to meet fan timeline expectations.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 11/30/2017 at 05:05am

Hearthstone Kobolds & Catacombs releases 12/7 https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-hearthstone-expansion-kobolds-and-catacombs-re/1100-6455248/

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/01/2017 at 03:08am

Yep, I saw that. You gonna play the new dungeon run mode it when it comes out?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/02/2017 at 04:28am

I don't know. If I remember I may check it out.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Sign Up / Log In