It'sa me! Mario!

Super Mario RPG K-A (kids to adults)

Ah, the good ol' Super Nintendo. Who doesn't love the system that came out with many a good game? Legend of Zelda? Super Mario Worlds? And, although I was hard for me to play again after playing Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart.

But let's just get one thing straight: Mario RPG is basically one of the best RPGs ever.

For those of you who aren't especially knowledgeable about RPGs, RPG=Role Playing Game. This means that you play one character and work through a storyline plotted out; sometimes, one can choose the path of the protagonist, but usually the choices one makes has little to do with the rest of the game. You sometimes get different responses, a surprised look or, if you're lucky, a different scene than normal (if you're consistant enough).

The games that are made for storyline changing depending on what you choose are usually well known for it. Fable, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (choosing which side to be on changes who's nice to one when entering villages), and Shadow of Destiny are a few examples.

Those kinds of games remind me of those Choose Your Own Adventure novels; at the end of every few pages, you get to go to another page that will determine what happens to you the rest of the novel. Except that I'd usually die the first time through because I'd want to take the "safe route". Good tips for you guys: by taking the tough route, you usually wind up doing something right in the mess, allowing oneself to live.

So, what's so different about this RPG? What makes this game stand out from Final Fantasy games and anything else that screams "I'm a male main character! I only look like a girl! I swear!"? Well, besides the fact that it's Mario, I suppose it's time for...

A CLOSER LOOK!

First things first, it's to be remembered that this is on the old school:


Perfect fit for hand, really. Anyway, it's noticeable that it doesn't look so different from the PS2 controller. Easy to say that, indeed, it's a good controller. Enough buttons to make one have fun and go crazy.

Instead of getting into the mechanics, I believe that I'll get into what makes this so different: Usually, in an RPG that's turnbased (which means that one takes turns before hitting the other. I hit, but I have to wait a while before being able to hit again), you press a button on "hit", "magic", "special" or "item" (or whatever they have on the plate). Some have time limits, some don't.

But Super Mario RPG keeps you involved. By timing, one presses the button at the right time to make a double hit, which causes more damage, which every character and every move. In fact, to get the right amount of moves on special moves, one has to do the timing correctly. Mario, noticed throughout the game as famous and known for his high jumping, has an ability that can allow you to jump on an enemy more than fifty times (I'd done well at times).

I've yet to find a game with this much of a difference.

You don't wait for fancy moves because you're a part of it.

But it's also Mario. And Bowser and Princess Peach. One doesn't normally get to play with Princess Peach (unless it's Mario Kart).

I'm going to wait to do a full review, after I beat the game "officially"; surprisingly enough, the ending is rather hard. It requires thinking, beating and skill. Another different aspect of the RPG. Usually, one just beats the end guy with brute force.

Nintendo, I love you so much.

Ripping Torsos

I won't be doing that for quite some time.

God of War II, as so many of you should know, is coming out on the fourteenth.

I'm not able to pick up my copy because I'm at home, rather than at the place I've had it reserved at for so many days/months.

*sighs*

Wait for me, beautiful. Just... wait....

Psycho....nauts

Psychonauts. Rated T.

What can I say about this game? Besides the fact that I basically screamed for joy when I found out that I would have Pyrokinesis. And that Levitation was to come. I can't tell you I wasn't particularly pleased. It's like Harry Potter; all the benefits without all those incantations.

Let's back up here as I explain the main things needed to know. You play Razputin, a very powerful psychic who has yet to harness his powers. He's not supposed to be at the Summer Camp (which is actually a place for the children to train), but he still wants to train. Unfortunately, they inform Raz that they're contacting his parents and he'll be taken home. So, Raz decides to learn as much as he can. However, the plot thickens.

It took about a good two hours or so until the plot fully came out: someone is stealing Raz's friend's brains--not only that, but he sees these events happen when he goes into his concious. He decides to take it upon himself to see what happens.

Did I also mention that he was part of the circus? Oh, oops. My bad.

That's as far as I've played so far, so I'm sure I'll be writing more about all those "gasping" moments, and when I finally get my Levitation and who knows what else.

I suppose I should mention I'm playing my version of Psychonauts on the Playstation 2, rather than the XBox. My choice was purposeful: I don't own an XBox yet. But that can make the controls different, though they were hard enough for me to memorize. Usually, I find that 'X' is the button to press for fighting, 'O' for jumping. Now, read closely: 'X' for jump (press it again for a double jump), 'O' for stop, 'square' for fight and the 'triangle' for talk. Though I could change this controls to whichever I please, I like to play on their controls, if only to use what they originally want me to play with. Also, it changes the way these games are played; not the same old, same old.

After getting used to these controls (any game asks for this), it was time to really get into the game's qualities. Fancy ideas like, "excess baggage" can be found and taken care of by finding the keys floating around random areas. You pick up "figments of the imagination" as well, which increases your level. You also use arrowheads as currency.

Things I Liked About Gameplay:
*You can skip talk you hear all the time by pressing 'X'! Very nice when you accidentally talk to them or are killed and have to see a sequence once again.
*Witty script! When asked about what Raz has learned, he replies, "That shooting things is fun and awesome!"
*Originality. Everything is kid of based of something else, but this really gives off something new and never done before. The graphics aren't an everyday use and the odd vibes that radiate from the case are the good kind.
*Character voices. They did well, and even their development is pretty fancy, and unique. Who would have thought to have a main character from a circus who has a dad that detests psychics?

Things That I Dislike About Gameplay (and maybe more than dislike):
*Loading times take forever. It's come to a point that I actually wish they were longer so I could read the full paragraph of a book I keep nearby for those long scene changes--because, well, that's what it feels like. The scene changes of a play. Most everyone will roll their eyes if it takes longer than ten seconds.
*The bouncing of the items. Let me explain this further. When you "defeat an enemy", usually, something will "burst forth" from their diappearing existance and, usually, those things are A) currency B) life or C) something else that fills a gauge you have (such as for the PSI blast). However, usually, those things don't bounce around in circles, flirting with the idea of being captured. I'm not good at dancing in real life, so who's to say I'd want to do it in a game? Just give me my reward for dominating evil!
*For some odd reason, I feel like I'm doing things out of order. It's nice for them to have cut scenes for telling me what I need to do next, but I sometimes get the feeling that the game is mocking me for not already having what I need to do next done. This is an obvious "possible" dislike, considering I tend to think inadament objects mock me all the time.

Since I'm still involved in the game, I think I'll wait to fully rate this. But at this time, it's at least 4 yetis. Out of what, you ask? I still haven't decided yet.

Hopes, Dreams, Elephants...

Well, I believe that this will be more for my liking than yours--a post about what I will hope to achieve and may quite possibly continue doing depending on what comes of this: a place where I can write about my gaming experiences, my own thoughts of whether it's a good game or not, my own pictures rather than linking to five bajillion others and my own my own my own. Everything, that is.

What I'll be reviewing and taking into account: loading times, difficulty of levels and button schemes, material within the scripts and overall graphics. What characters I enjoy, whether they're developed, how the plot unfolds and try not to have any spoilers.

I'll mostly be doing games I haven't played yet, though I'll more than likely be posting things so I can refer back to them for later games, and also because I like to write about my previous games that I drool over anyway.

What I won't be doing, however, is getting into the personal life. I've already got a blog for that, and I think it'll be a different experience to keep that personal stuff out. Just like a job.

The hardest thing to achieve is writing enough on the subject and not repeating myself. I don't have internet at home right now, so I'll be taking notes while I play, then posting the "experiences" later.

Let's hope everything will unfurl correctly.

Go!

Thank you, Daryk! Not only do you have a fancy name, but a quick mind to go with it.

Thus, Wanna Games is born.


Also, testing, testing.

Testing.