MLB 09: The Show







Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the USA, and like most sports, it has been turned a video game.  The Show stands out from the majority of these adaptions, as it is a PlayStation exclusive title.

GAMEPLAY
The Show retains the classic baseball gameplay we all know and love.  It has all the rules of the MLB, and complete player rosters.  The way the game plays is way better than the MLB 2K series.  If you have a PSP, PS2 PS3, or PS vita, this is the way to go for baseball.

GRAPHICS
The PS3 version has the best textures, and the PS2 and PSP versions are toned down a ton.

MODES
This incarnation of baseball includes modes such as exhibition, manager, road to the show, season, and homerun derby.  It also includes access to the MLB rosters.

AGE
Any age can play this game, but as with football, you need to know the game.

CONCLUSION
MLB 09: The Show, is a great baseball video game.  If you have any PS console, I would also suggest that you get a version of this game.  I give it 8 out of 10.

 

Sly Cooper and the Theivius Racoonus

The classic platformer, is like a little bit of heaven.  When you've been playing shooters non-stop, the shooting genre gets boring.  That's where Sly Cooper comes in, one of the most fun games on PS2.  It's one of three big franchises in the platform genre, made by SCEA, the other two being Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank.  Since it's 2002 release, it has been re-released on PS3 in 2010, for a collection entitled "The Sly Collection", which also includes Sly 2: Band of Theives, and Sly 3: Honor Among Theives.

GAMEPLAY

The game core relies on stealth, simular to Splinter Cell, sneaking around, staying out of the light, sneaking past lasers, climbing on ledges, and taking on enemies from behind.  The other aspect is Mario Bros. style jumping around and coin collecting.  There are five sets of levels, simular to Mario's worlds.  Each is set at one of the members of the Fiendish Five's hideouts.  Inside the hub area of the hideout, you can select a level.  The levels revolve around getting keys, to unlock the door to the boss.  Collectible items for each level include green bottles, which unlock a move from the "Theivius Raccoonus".  It only takes one hit with your cane to kill a enemy, but it also only takes one hit to kill you, unless you have a magic horseshoe. 

STORY

Raccoons are master thieves, well... if your born in the Cooper family you are!

The Coopers only stole from other master thieves, and wrote everything down in their ancient book the "Theivius Raccoonus", well on the night that Sly was to inherit the book the Fiendish 5 came and ransacked the house until ,they found the "Theivius Raccoonus".

Sly, who was left all alone, (they killed his parents) was dumped at the town orphanage.  There he met Bently and Murray, his best friends, who later become his crew.  Powered by determination, He and his friends set out to defeat the Fendish 5 and claim back the "Theivius Raccoonus".

GRAPHICS

For PS2, the graphics are nice and vibrant.  The animators did a very good job with the sprites for...everything, and the game has a noir feel, which adds to the funny cartoon like premise.  The PS3 version boasts updated graphics, and trophy support.

AGE

Sly's backstory is not detailed but, might be scary for younger kids.  The third set of levels is set in a Hatian jungle, while your looking for a Voodoo practicing alligator named Ms. Ruby.  Age 7 and up.

CONCLUSION

Sly Cooper and the Theivius Raccoonus is a game I would recommend to anyone.  The game it self only takes 12 hours to beat, so some might consider short. 
I give this 7 out of 10.

Galaga for Every Console

 

Back when game's were simpler, the and the Arcade era was at it's peak in 1981, alot of gems were released, such as Donkey Kong, Ms. Pacman, and Galaga.  It never gets old shooting those alien spacecraft.  If your wondering why the screenshots look weird, it's because their from the NES version.

 

 

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay involves shooting at alien spaceships that are flying in circles.  After the whole fleet assembles. they start to attack you, so you must dodge them, and shoot them at the same time.



There are three different types of alien ships in Galaga, the blue ones, which fly in circular patterns, the red ones, which fly straight down, and the green/purple ones, which take 2 hits to destroy, come as a mix of both and will try to capture you in thier tractor beam.

GRAPHICS
The graphics were decent at the time of it's release, but when your playing a classic, does it matter?

AGE
Back then, arcade games, had no offensive content, so anyone can play this game.

CONCLUSION
If you have never played Galaga, go play it, it's one of the best Arcade games...ever.
It's also on every platform availible, and in most arcades, so go now!  I give this 8 out of 10
 

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) for Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360, PC, PS3, PSP, DS, GBA, and Gamecube

 

Racing games have been around since the creation of arcades.  The Classic arcade style of racing met with realisim in The Need for Speed, a mid 90s racing game, and the first in the popular NFS series.  9 games later we have Most Wanted, which is one of the best racing games released for 6th generation consoles.

 

GAMEPLAY

You can expect the core of racing video games, to be in every single one, you can drive.  But in NFS: MW you take that and add it to an open city, where you can drive around, ram into cars, smash signs, take on challenges, evade the police.  I did start to wonder where all of the citizens of rockport were, because the streets were empty!  Yeah sure, there are civilians driving thier car to and fro, but none are out walking on the sidewalks.  Also when you start a race, you can only do laps in the course, there is no freeroam aspect.  The civilian cars also disappear when you start a race.  As for the cops, you need to look out for them, if they see you, they'll start pursuing you.  The more they chase you, the more heat is on your car, so you'll have to change the color at "The Shop".  The most realistic part of the driving, is that you must brake to take on sharp turns.  For each racer on the blacklist, you must complete a set number of races, and challenges.  There are 15 sets of challenges on the blacklist.  The gameplay of the portable versions is different.

 

STORY

You, A hot shot racer, come's to town, and gets challenged to race.  The other racer sabotages, your car and wins, leaving you to be arrested.  When you are released, you find out that the other racer used your car to beat the entire blacklist.  You set out to work your way up the ladder and claim title that should be yours, Most Wanted.

 

GRAPHICS

Now for the PS2, Xbox and Gamecube versions, the graphics are quite phenomenal, looking very realistic for thier time, and as always, not as good as thier modern counterparts.  The PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions, the graphics are realistic, with superb textures.  If you have ever played any racing game, on whatever console you have, you'll probually be able to guess what it wiil look like.  The cutscenes mix live action, with CGI effects, and are still good compared to newer games.

 

AGE

This game, is rated T, but there is some content that is not for younger players, women are displayed in a manner that is suggestive, and the cop chases are violent.  Ages 11 and up.

 

CONCLUSION

Most Wanted is a very fun racing game, and is on almost any platform, so that can open up the possiblility of it's availablility for you.  Anyone that loves a good racing game should have this game, and I give it a 8 out of 10.

 

 

 

Lego Batman for PS2, DS, PC, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP

 

 

 

Lego's are fun building toys, so why not put them in a fun videogame?  Lego Batman was the first non Star Wars entry.

 

   

GAMEPLAY

The basic style of the lego series is here, keeping true to the gameplay established by Lego Star Wars II.  Some changes were made, to help the caped crusader save Gotham.  Batman and Robin can drive cars, climb, punch enemies, and each have a bunch of suits to help them with challenges.  Suits can only be accessed from certain points, which are sometimes hidden, and the player must build it.  You can also build lego peices that are scattered and jumping, throw batarangs, and collect lego studs.

There are also missions that take place at the same time as Batman and Robin's, shown from the villians perspective.

 

Story

In Gotham City, trouble is begining, as arkham asylum's inmate's have escasped, and Batman must defeat them, and send them on their way back to arkham.  Each of the 15 levels contain a different villian. 

 

GRAPHICS

The Graphics in the game are cartoony consisting of lego's on a cartoony 3D background.  Lego character's can bend in places, that they can't in real life.

Texture's are better for Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 versions.

 

AGE

Nothing that bad, but it is rated E10.  Some crude humor is shown, in speechless cutscenes.  I suggest this title for 6 and up.

 

CONCLUSION

If looking for a fun family game, or for a young child.  The batman elements are fun, but it really doesn't add to the gameplay, so there's no fresh feeling, compared to Lego Star Wars.  I give this 7.5 out of 10. 

 

 

 



 

Medal of Honor: Frontline

In 2002, the fourth game in the Medal of Honor series "Frontline", was released.  It's one of my most favorite shooters for 6th gen consoles.

GAMEPLAY

Frontline keeps most FPS elements from the time, this means no iron sights can be used.  Obviously you shoot Nazi's throughout, and sometimes, different classes take longer to kill.  Some inanimate objects, such as bottles, windows and crates can be destroyed, which is a nice feature for the games age.   A cool factoid is that the levels "D-Day", and "Seaside Stowaway" are modeled on the set of Saving Private Ryan.  When it comes to guns, your loadout is pre-determined, but throughout the course of the game, you get to use a lot of vintage guns.  Since there are 19 levels spread accross 6 missions, this game should keep you busy for a while. 

STORY
The game takes place from during the events of D-Day and Opeation Market Garden in 1944.  You play as fictional american OSS agent and Medal of Honor recipient Jimmy Patterson.  Over the campaign you storm Omaha Beach, aid in Operation Market Garden, rescue a captured agent from a mansion, infiltrate a secret Nazi base.
The story isn't amazing, but the historical tie-in materials make interesting.

GRAPHICS

The graphics in Frontline were good for the time it came out, but not the best seen by FPS game's in the 6thgen console era.  The Xbox version has the best graphics all together, while the PS2 version has the same texturing, but pale colors compared to other games from the time.

CONTENT

Being a FPS, this game is naturally violent.  You kill hundreds of nazi soilders during the first time playing through the game, and you do see them fall somewhat realisticly.  Due to the age of this game, there's no blood or gore, so it's cleaner than the modern Call of Duty and Medal of Games. There's also minor profanity occasionally throughout.

Frontline is rated T for Violence.

CONCLUSION

Medal of Honor: Frontline is a fun shooter to play, and learn about history from.  I became very interested Operation Market-Garden, and this sparked me to watch movies such as "A Bridge to Far", and seek out books at the library regarding the battles featured.  I'm not saying "let kids play violent games", but that in the case of older tweens/teens, playing games like Frontline can teach them a small amount of history.  Although the story portrayed is highly implausible, there's footage of real battles shown during cutscenes, and mission dossiers that have even more historical info to add

The old graphics aren't that bad, and the 4 player splitscreen deathmatch in the Xbox and Gamecube versions is also a fun addition.  

I give this one...

8 out of 10.



Super Mario Bros.

Mario is one of the most beloved video game franchises ever, which brings adults back to their childhoods, and creates memories for children still today. What many people don't realize is that Mario is really a spinoff of Donkey Kong. Super Mario Bros. pretty much invented the platforming genre, many elements of the game and its sequels being copied into later rival game franchises.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is, guide Mario through a level only going right, while collecting coins that sounds simple, but its not. There are also obstacles including:

Pipes- green tubes sticking up from the ground, sometimes with piranha plants poking out of the top, steer clear of them, and when they go back into the pipe, you can then stand on the pipe. Sometimes Mario can enter a pipe and will take him to a secret area or back up to the end of the level.

Blocks- literal blocks in the level, these can be smashed by mario sometimes to find powerups or coins. Some are marked with question marks to signify they do have something in them.

Pits- Pits in the level must be jumped over an any way necessary.

Stairs- Must be jumped up to cross, can contain enemies.

Enemies- In Super Mario Bros., there are few different kinds of enemies but most notable are the goomba's, and the koopa's. For a full list of Mario's foes and what they can do, refer here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recurring_Mario_franchise_enemies.

And as mentioned there are powerups including:

Super Mushroom Turns Mario into super Mario.

Fire Flower turns super Mario into fire Mario, unless collected by normal Mario. 

The 1up Mushroom-adds 1 life to Mario. 

And the star makes him invincible for a short amount of time. 

Jumping to and fro might seem a tad out dated, but with hidden blocks, warp zones, and some glitches that are fun to find, make this game very addictive. 

 

GRAPHICS

The NES is no PS3, but for 1985 the graphics are very good.  The blocky and and chunky look of the 8bit machine are quite charming and add to the retro feel. If the graphics are to Old and chunky for you, then I would suggest the Super NES version which looks more like Super Mario world, with 16bit graphics.

AGE

Super Mario Bros. has no offensive content, however you do need to have keen platforming skills to play this game.

 

 

OVERALL

This game is in short a timeless classic.

Using a witty sense of platforming, cartoony graphics, and the most loveable plumber ever, makes this on of the greatest video game titles of all time.

I give a 8 out 10 just because of the NES graphics.