I was going through my collection (which will be growing quite soon when my friend finds his box of "old" games for me to try out), and I remembered Uniracers. It wasn't a real big hit for the Super Nintendo, in fact I believe I picked it up from the bargain bin at Wal-Mart several years ago for a really cheap price. It's a quirky race game where you race unicycles against each other and do stunts along the way to increase your overall top speed. The game uses the same 3D-rendering that Donkey Kong Country pioneered when it was released. All of the objects in the game have a nice clean 3D feel to them, even though it's only an SNES running the game.

Uniracers is a very long game, with plenty of races to accomplish, lots of options and the ability to do multiplayer. I've never actually beaten the game, but I have gone through many of the courses. Once you get up into the higher levels, it gets very difficult.

You may want to pull your SNES out for this game sometime. You really missed out if you never got to play it before. As I said before, the graphics are wonderful and you'll be able to pick the controls up in no time. I'll post some screenshots of it in action sometime and let you see what it's all about. On that note, what do you think of adding more screenshots to each post so that way you can see the game I'm playing as I describe it? It would be a bit of work, but I imagine it would make it more interesting for people to reminisce and think about these older games. I may do that in the future like I've done in a couple previous posts. It seems to add a bit more life to them...

Stay tuned for more gaming updates!

Hey, seems like the oldies never die. They just find themselves back on my computer years later. Remember Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri? It came out way back when and it was heralded as one of the best turn-based games ever! You can still get it as EA Games mass-produces them for their laptop value packs. It's a good game, although ironically it doesn't seem to want to play on my laptop right out of the box. Something about an incompatible processor...

The game is really in-depth and it'll keep you busy for several hours. I plan on playing it on my next trip out to Illinois if I can figure out what's wrong and make it work on my laptop. It's a great game for that too since it doesn't use the CD-ROM drive, nor does it need 3D acceleration. The battery will last awhile during play time... a good thing too since the game is so very long.

The game is a lot like Sid Meier's Civilization and Civilization II which came out many years ago. You control a fledgling faction and guide it through the path you believe will lead to ultimate victory. You can choose to fight, negotiate, spy, or do many other things in order to win the game. The course of the game spans several hundred years, chronicaling the landing on "Planet" to the advancement and transcendence of the human race. You can play with up to six other AI's or six humans, or anything in-between. You can also customize the planet you're on and make it more (or less) suitable for growth. The game gives you lots of options, and you can even create your own worlds or modify the alphax.ini file in order to customize unit stats, technology names, and add your very own factions to the game. It'll definitely keep you busy once you get hooked. Hours will drift on by as you play...

You can buy this sucker online, or in one of EA's game packs. If you've never played a turn-based strategy game before, it may be a bit much to bite off, but once you get the hang of it it's really fun. I just can't seem to find anyone who is willing to play it with me. :-\

I've had a bit of free time, with work being over and school not starting up until the 31st , so I've been playing some games. I was amazed too, as my new collection has some oddities that I felt I had to discuss in this post. I'll have some screenshots as well, because you won't believe what I'm telling you without them.

First of all, did you know there is a Sonic game for the Super Nintendo? Back in the days of the Sega, I sure didn't! I had to give it a shot, and let me tell you, it was definitely not up to the usual quality of the Sonic games of the time. Like any Sonic game, you basically run as fast as you can from the left side of the level to the end of the level on the right side. Well this one is a bit different, there are traps and stuff to slow you down. You can also rescue other Nintendo characters like Mario! I had to take a screenshot of that! I would have never expected to see Sonic and Mario in the same game together! It just seems creepy. I haven't really played the game all that much since it hasn't been very appealing. (I was never really into Sonic games, they all seemed like the same 'ole repetitive stuff to me).

The other game I was surprised to see on a different game system is Snake Rattle'n'Roll. I have the original for the NES, and it's really quite a good game, even though it's very long if you don't know it's secrets. It turns out this game also made it to the Sega Megadrive. From playing it, I can tell you that the graphics are pretty good... better than the NES version in fact, but the music and sound effects just seem off from the NES version, and in a bad way. I've taken a screenshot of how the opening level differs between the two systems. I'd like to note that the NES version of the game came out in 1989, but the Megadrive version came out in 1993. Quite a time difference for so few improvements.

That's all I've been up to for the past couple days. I'm interested in trying out the Sonic game a bit more now, so I'll probably post about that again sometime soon. Adios!

I had the opportunity to try out Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on the PlayStation 2. I've actually played it for a couple hours now, just driving and flying around Los Santos, Las Venturas, and San Fierro. I've been blown up many times, but I've finally gotten the hang of the control scheme on the PlayStation 2. I haven't done any of the missions as I've been amused just by driving along the interstates in a variety of different vehicles, like an RV or a nice, fast motorcycle. The game really has shown how far the engine and series has come from its early days and the the jump to 3D in GTA 3. The world is massive, if you've ever played GTA 3 or Vice City, this game easily dwarfs them both put together, and the best part is that the load times are almost unnoticeable... and I'm the type of person who notices those types of things, even if they're just for a second or two. You can also go in burger stands and get a bite to eat. Eating fatty foods enough will make you overweight, and then you can go to the gym and burn the pounds. As you play the game more your skills go up too. You start off as a lowly hoodie, but as you learn how to use your weapons and spend time driving on all the different types of vehicles, you can do more experienced things with them. For instance, if you use your assault rifle enough, you can go from only targetting and firing when you're standing still, to targetting and firing it while you're running... useful during a gang war. I've been playing this and all I can say is that I can't wait until it's released for the computer. The controls will be much better, and of course the graphics will be of a higher resolution also. Some of the music in it isn't my type, and it definitely earns the Mature Audience rating for all of the killing and vulgar language... I certainly don't remember that much vulgar language in Vice City or GTA 3... It's definitely unnecessary to enjoy the game. Even if you aren't the violent type, you could still have plenty of fun in San Andreas as a Vigilante cop, a fireman, a taxicab driver, an ambulance driver, or just a regular pedestrian taking in the sights. That's what I've been doing the most of, taking in the sights, carjacking a new ride (I took a lawn mower once) and generally being a nuisance to the city. This game is definitely one of the best to depict an online world. When it comes out for the computer, I'm definitely going to buy it!

Oh boy... I've started playing this game again. Basically, it's a racing game in space with weapons and you try to blow up your enemies while racing around the track. It's relatively simple, but quite enjoyable.

I'm having a little trouble with it too. I know there is a warp point that allows you to warp back from either Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn to Earth... giving you time to build up funds to purchase the almighty Stiletto spaceship. Sure, I'm enjoying the game otherwise, but I always love going back to Earth with the powerful Scorpion to crush the opposing forces on the track.

I've gone through the first five races about three times today looking for that stupid warp hole and I'm just not finding it! Where is that thing????

Well, I've been playing those GameBoy Advance games, and I've taken a few screenshots of the ones I've had the most interest in playing.

Mario vs Donkey Kong
Mario vs Donkey Kong is probably the one I'm enjoying the most. I've mentioned it earlier, you basically jump around trying to rescue little Mario toys from Donkey Kong. It's pretty fun, and now I'm up to level 3-2. The music and Mario's constant giggling while he's jumping gets annoying, but I keep coming back for more. I'll definitely get this if I ever get a Nintendo DS. When I get tired, I switch over to something else, like Advance Wars 2...

Advance Wars 2
I've been playing Advance Wars 2 as well. I've accomplished some of the initial levels in the Campaign mode, and it's a pretty fun strategy game for on the road. It isn't as in-depth as the stuff on the computer, obviously. I'd still much rather play a game of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri or Command & Conquer Generals, but when you're on the run without a laptop, you have to make do with what you have. I'll probably pick this and Mario vs Donkey Kong up if I should ever manage to lay my hands on a Nintendo DS.

Doom
The last game I've been playing is Doom. Now, let me tell you I went in with low expectations. I played it on the Super Nintendo and it lacked floor and ceiling textures. To put it really bluntly, the game sucked horribly and I would never consider buying it for the system. Well, I went in and played in the GameBoy Advance and it wasn't quite as bad. Now, the frame rate and resolution are nothing to write home about, but at least the game is reasonably faithful to the original computer version. Some of the levels are clearly redone to limit the amount of memory used, but all in all, the game still plays the same. Figuring out how to change weapons and to sprint wasn't so easy. Weird button combinations are needed to change your guns, and they make it difficult for you to dodge enemy fireballs and rockets. I have to suggest jDoom for the PC instead. Doom just wasn't meant to be played on a handheld system, definitely not one with the limited power of the GameBoy Advance. Maybe the DS will be able to handle it alright. I plan on doing some more posts like this one, maybe every weekend. Expect some interesting screenshots... and for other game shots definitely check out my Miscellany of pictures.

I had the opportunity to play two Mario games yesterday; Mario Pinball Land and Mario vs Donkey Kong. They were both recently released for the GameBoy Advance. I've played Mario vs Donkey Kong a bit more, as it has been more fun than Mario Pinball Land. So far I've made it up to level 2-4 in that game, and I've been making decent progress. The puzzles in it haven't been too hard yet, but I know they're going to increase in difficulty soon.

Mario Pinball Land has been a bit of a disappointment. The gameplay is pretty monotonous, even though the pinball levels are unique. You get to fight the usual array of Mario baddies and collect coins and stars, but after awhile it's just boring. I definitely have no interest in picking it up for the GameBoy Advance as it hasn't been very enjoyable

Well, I'm going to head back and play some more Mario vs Donkey Kong... or maybe I'll try and beat the next level in Advance Wars 2. At least I'll have something to do on my freetime before this Christmas! Afterwards, well, hopefully I'll be able to play a new Nintendo DS! ¶ 5:41 PM 3 comments

My friend was playing SimCopter last night, and today he gave me the CD to install it on my own computer. I'd just like to take a moment and reminisce about the days when you could run an entire game off of a CD-ROM. The smallest install for SimCopter is two megabytes. The nearly complete install, is a massive 38 megabytes. As a matter of fact, you could run several games like these off a USB flash drive. You could literally have all the original Sim games on one small drive that you could plug in and run on any computer with a version of Windows installed. These days, a game's online manual file can be more than 38 megabytes.

After taking about one minute to install, I loaded up SimCopter and gave it a shot. Obviously, in this day and age it's possible to easily run the game at maximum settings with no problem whatsoever. Strangely enough, I had the game crash within a minute though. I restarted it and then put in the infamous I'm the CEO of McDonnell Douglas cheat code, and I had all of the helicopters at my disposal. I always enjoy flying the Apache and firing missiles at buildings. I have actually played through the game and accomplished my missions way back in the day. You can do a variety of things like rescue people, transport people, put out fires, shoot down UFO's, quell riots and summon public services.

The game is very open-ended, and if you have SimCity 2000, you can import your cities into it and fly around in them unrestricted. It's really helpful to have an airport, although the game will find a place to put a hangar if you don't have one. If you pick this game up, and can look past its dated graphics, you'll see a pretty fun helicopter rescue game underneath looking back at you.

Today at lunch my friends and I were discussing all the upcoming games for the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, and we got on the topic of 3D games. Being the gamer that I am, 3D doesn't have to be in the game for me to like it. I still enjoy side-scrollers, and I still enjoy old games even though new games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 model physics, lighting and everything else with a fantastic level of detail. Even if they have 3D up the wazoo, with everything modeled perfectly, and the gameplay sucks... the 3D element isn't going to save it. In fact, it would be safe to say that it probably would suck even more than if it were just 2D, since incompetent game designers would be hard pressed to screw-up a 2D scroller.

Anyways, back to the DS and PSP. I like to make jokes about the PSP since it always looks so large in all of the advertisements for it. and I've taken a real interest in the DS. It really looks to be a fantastic system. I've even had the chance to play Super Mario 64 DS, and I can say that it played very nicely. The graphics were even better than the Nintendo 64 version. Strangely, my friends were saying that the PSP would be more of a PlayStation-on-the-go. I've always been of the impression that the Nintendo 64's graphics were pretty darn good, outshining the PlayStation easily.

They brought up how much better the 3D graphics were going to be, and I daresay, one even said that it would be immersive. Hold on, immersive?? The screen isn't very big. How can it be immersive? We got into an argument over whether 3D really matters... and here I am now, talking about why I'm perfectly happy with 2D games.

I personally don't think it matters. I'm really looking forward to the newest Mario game on the DS, which won't be 3D. As long as the game looks beautiful and of high-quality, 2D is just fine with me. A nice side-scrolling shooter is great too. Ever played Raiden Trad? Very good game! In the end, as long as the game is fun, 3D just doesn't matter.

I spent some time playing Paperboy 2 last night... I remember the old days playing the original Paperboy on the Nintendo. You would always go one direction avoiding obstacles and trying to get the paper to the door or in the newspaper bin and then at the end of the level you would drive through a small obstacle course to complete the level.

Well, Paperboy 2 simply adds to that. You can play on both sides of the road now (not at the same time though), and you also have much more to avoid and throw your newspapers at. The game will keep you busy for a few hours before you'll begin to lose interest due to its repetitiveness, but you'll come back to play again later. The game has about 21 levels or more, one for each day of the week on three different courses.

I'll post the review up soon on PrezKennedy.org.