Viewing entries tagged
funny
Life has been pretty good in the world of licensed games for the last decade or so, but it wasn't always that way. If you've been around long enough you might remember when the term "licensed" could be synonymous with "rushed" or just "crap". Thankfully though, these days when a licensed game is released, fans of whatever franchise is being given the treatment can look on with interest and expect something worth diving into.
I feel like at this stage, I could ask any regular reader of this blog for a short list of things that I really like to see in games and anyone keeping track would have an easy time figuring it out. Perhaps you might start with a narrative, or some king of story-telling device that plays a central role. You might then add in some kind of aesthetic importance, where the graphics can be considered art, and they play an important role in telling the aforementioned story. Finally, even though it's not as obvious as the others, you might think to shape the game mechanically as a traditional point-and-click adventure. If you did all that, you'd undoubtedly be pretty close to a game that really can't fail to impress me.
Every now and then I read some article on some gaming web site that attempts to go in-depth on the notion that video games and movies have something in common. There's an ongoing discussion about whether the two mediums are able to be combined, or if they should ever cross paths at all. At the very least, I think many of us will have played a game that straddles the line between video game, and movie.
I've never been one of those people who believes media classics to be untouchable and something pristine and perfect. Perhaps I'm not that sentimental when it comes to the things I remember enjoying as a kid, or maybe I've seen nostalgia used far too often in marketing empty promises. Actually, I put it down to being a fan of Blade Runner.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that a classic genre like point-and-click adventure games has nothing new to offer. In fact, for the most part I believe you would be right, as even when we transitioned from 2D to 3D, the format still remained the same. Turns out that it takes a little bit of imagination and circumstantial context to inspire something truly unique and interesting.
It's easy to forget that Telltale Games made a bunch of excellent adventure games before they became a household name in the gaming industry. They were always around, but I'd argue that it wasn't really until The Walking Dead came around that the studio was firmly placed on the map of notable developers. Although, with their recent closure surrounded in questions of mistreated workers and other controversial headlines, it might be worth remembering some of the good work they did before turning into the 'licensed game sweat-shop' (my words, nobody else's).
I'll be honest from the start: I've never been a big fan of brawlers, and I've only played a little bit of the original Double Dragon before. I consider it a big compliment then to say that this remade classic is a damn good time. If you've ever needed an excuse to see what an old school brawler is all about, this might be it.
There once was a time between when I got my first job, and when I actually had to start paying bills. This was a time of spending money on anything at all, without responsibilities or obligation to tie you down. It was the perfect time for feeding coins into arcade cabinets, long after the arcades had gone out of fashion and jacked up the prices.
There aren't many genres that invoke a noticeable cringe from me when they're mentioned, but "puzzle platformer" sits among the very top of the list. Even without the puzzles, I'm averse to platforming a lot of the time, despite the occasional exception to the rule.
