For lack of a Goodreads-esque forum in which to post my thoughts on video games, I shall use this blog. First up:
Metroid Fusion (GBA)
Finished: February 25, 2012
Gameplay: An old-school platforming and shooting romp. I'd never played a Metroid game before (not even the more recent non-platforming entries), so I made the grievous mistake of asking Brook "this one's like those Castlevania games, right?" when I first picked up the cartridge. After (or despite) being treated to an impassioned recounting of the Metroid franchise's history in relation to Castlevania, I packed it up for my trip. Subsequent research shows that the first iterations of both franchises came out approximately a month apart in 1986 (Metroid was, in fact, first), so I'm not sure I actually committed any sort of deadly gaming sin by comparing them as I did, but regardless, I discovered Castlevania on the DS, too (with Dawn of Sorrow) and was keen to play more games of the genre (what genre is that, anyway? Action-platformer-shooter-something?). I digress. All this has nothing to do with gameplay. You run around, jump, shoot things, shoot bigger things and get upgrades from them, jump higher, and eventually save the galaxy or some such. It's very fun. You either like the genre, or you don't, or you've never played it, in which case this is a fine game to start with.
Story: Utilitarian, to put it in the best possible light. "Something's going wrong in sector 5!". You go to sector 5 and fight some guys. "Samus, an alarm has gone off in sector 3!" You travel to sector 3, fight a boss. Etc, etc. Mass Effect this ain't. It does make the one interesting bit of story reveal near the end more impactful, somehow.
Difficulty: Tough, but I beat it after putting the DS down 2-3 times and vowing to stop playing altogether, so it's probably just the right amount of tough.
Overall rating: 4 / 5
Metroid Fusion (GBA)
Finished: February 25, 2012
Gameplay: An old-school platforming and shooting romp. I'd never played a Metroid game before (not even the more recent non-platforming entries), so I made the grievous mistake of asking Brook "this one's like those Castlevania games, right?" when I first picked up the cartridge. After (or despite) being treated to an impassioned recounting of the Metroid franchise's history in relation to Castlevania, I packed it up for my trip. Subsequent research shows that the first iterations of both franchises came out approximately a month apart in 1986 (Metroid was, in fact, first), so I'm not sure I actually committed any sort of deadly gaming sin by comparing them as I did, but regardless, I discovered Castlevania on the DS, too (with Dawn of Sorrow) and was keen to play more games of the genre (what genre is that, anyway? Action-platformer-shooter-something?). I digress. All this has nothing to do with gameplay. You run around, jump, shoot things, shoot bigger things and get upgrades from them, jump higher, and eventually save the galaxy or some such. It's very fun. You either like the genre, or you don't, or you've never played it, in which case this is a fine game to start with.
Story: Utilitarian, to put it in the best possible light. "Something's going wrong in sector 5!". You go to sector 5 and fight some guys. "Samus, an alarm has gone off in sector 3!" You travel to sector 3, fight a boss. Etc, etc. Mass Effect this ain't. It does make the one interesting bit of story reveal near the end more impactful, somehow.
Difficulty: Tough, but I beat it after putting the DS down 2-3 times and vowing to stop playing altogether, so it's probably just the right amount of tough.
Overall rating: 4 / 5