Gaming: Multiple Rentals
Status: All Track Unlocked
All Cars Unlocked

This game rocked to no end. While Draco wasn't so sure about there being much replay value, I have to say I intensely enjoyed this game. If you're all about racers, then you better already own this. And if you do, then be aware a sequel is coming out real soon. PlayStation 2 owners will be able to play it by the end of this year. X-Box and GAMECUBE owners will have it at the beginning of next year. While I originally played this game on the PlayStation 2 (for a rental), I liked it so much that when it came out for GAMECUBE, I rented it a second time. Luckily, I didn't notice the three-month gap between the releases because (just like they're about to do again) by the time I'd played it, since it was just about to be released on the one Next-Gen I currently own when I first rented it. However, since I'm saving my real Head2Head review for a later Edition of Huntermun's Second Look, I'll just go ahead and tell you that the GAMECUBE Version is the better of the three, narrowly beating the X-Box version in the controls. The PlayStation 2 game is great, but once compared to games that were in development longer (in fact, the company had GAMECUBE hardware to build with before it had PlayStation 2 hardware), it just doesn't stand up. Controls and Anti-Aliasing are the main problems. If you are rich and own all the systems, and you love a good racer, get it on the Cube. If you at least own a Next-Gen, then I would get yourself a copy of Burnout, at least for rental. Lucky PlayStation 2 owners will have the sequel really shortly. I'm gunna rent it, and then buy it when it comes out for my GAMECUBE next year.

RatingSystem.ED Targets an Overall 9.286 out of 10

Gaming: I Own a Copy
Status: Finished

Beware an old game, for I may review it. Seriously, though, FFT is by far my favorite Final Fantasy (dun hurt me). I liked VIII fine, but only because it was easy and I could beat it. Tactics, on the other hand, was hard, and I have still managed to beat it once. That puts my grand total of RPG's I have beaten or helped to beat to two, I think. In most RPG's I can get right up to the end, but I'll ultimately get bored, or forget about it. This bothers me because I've nearly seen the ending of FFVIII, BoF3, BoF4, and possibly Chrono Cross (still not sure how far into that game I am). Tactics, however, is a whole-other breed of game. It's completely turn based in a method I haven't seen anywhere else. It's really hard to explain in text, but once you sit down and work with it, it grows on you. Oh, and beyond that, the story of the game is just great, really. I really like the story and the characters you get to meet on the way. There's even side-quests and such that will help you get new people. It's a really well done game. It's graphics are really nice (even by today's standards, seriously), and it's load times are really acceptable on the PlayStation.

Insano Clown gives it a 8½ out of 10.

Gaming: Rentals
Status: Story Completion

Ah yes. The big, the bad, the imfamous. I actually thought this game was really good, like many others did. But since I neither currently own a PS2, nor the game, I've not really been able to just sit down and play it when I liked, how I liked. I was able to complete the story and get upwards of 60 packages (I think), but I had only one Kill Frenzy (Rampage) under my belt. Plus I also didn't have all the secret stockpiles of cars, nor did I ever go visit that fourth, hidden island (the one that's actually just the mockup for the streets in the opening sequence). I did, however, have a lot of fun, and while I haven't played the game in months now, I promise to rent Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the half sequel, as soon as I can. The graphics were pretty decent, the one big city was huge (with moderate load times beteween the three section), though I do wish it had been easier to just find certain cars when you wanted to, and I do wish that some codes didn't save, and some did (like picing a new character skin). Other than that, the game is just so wide open that the only reason you wouldn't enjoy it later is because a lot of the gangs you pissed off earlier in the game make it really hard to just go back and visit your old neighborhoods.

Score as of Today: 8.63

Gaming: 2 Rentals
Status: Exhibition Completion

Looking for a party game this year? This is your answer. I really hadn't played a Blitz game in a long while, but this game is actually way more fun than I actually remembered the last one I played (back on the Nintendo 64) being. The graphical detail is up there pretty high, and this can be shown even better by the Created Players. Now, if only they had a Wolf in the lineup for my Create-A-Player, I would have been slightly happier. The unlockable videos aren't exactly what you'll be aiming to get by playing--well, maybe the Exhibition one--but they still are a nice insentive. Mostly, you'll want to play this game with other people, as the human component cannot be denied. However, I do not know if it was playing against a Blitz vetrain that turned me off from the four player, or if the game was slighly unbalanced. I'm thinking it was Beef. In any event, I did tend to enjoy the 2-Player more in this game for some reason, rather than the 4-Player. Not sure why. But I have to say that, at the very least, this game is worth a rental or two. And if you're gunna rent it for a party (which I recommend), make sure that you and your freinds have an equal amout of time to play it. I'd racked up a nice big total of about 137 Create Player Points in about two weeks when my other freinds had only gotten up to about 90 or something. In any event, I give the a game high score. Fun one player, fun multi-player. Good sound, audio, graphics, replay, and all that. About the only thing wrong with it is the Annoucers repeat. All Midway games do that, don't they? Yeah, well I figured out the reason this game seemed to have it worse off wasn't that there was a lack of things to say (they actually say quite a bit), or that their comments were way off (that happened, maybe 7% of the time), but the fact that what the Annoucers say in this one is actually longer by a long shot. "So, Bill: What, exactly, does a back-up place-kick holder do?" The upside is that the audio bits have been well woven this time. Some comments you hear a comment start the same way will end differently, and some things will start differently and end the same. So, like I said, the game repeats (and somewhat less than they have in the past), but you'll notice it more because they'll talk longer. However, unlike Draco, I didn't think that took away from the overall fun of the game.

QuickTakes gives the Game 8 out of 10

Gaming: One Rental
Status: Unfinished

I'm thinkin' Draco will have a review up for this game sometime in the so near I can't see it future. My initial impression of the game, having not wanted to play it to begin with, was actually quite good. The game is so well designed, I can't think of anything else to say. Anything and everything is a platform, wall, or something else you can hop to, bounce off, or anything like that. It makes finishing a level so much more satisfying now that you can complete the tasks any way you like. In fact, when I first rented it, I saw myself, Lester Z, Draco, and Beef all play through some of the same levels, completely different from each other. That's not open-ended, that's just good level design. The characters are well drawn, everything is colorful, and the game has a real story behind it. It's a story that, while not exactly MGS2, was good, and fit the game well. I laughed every time I saw the opening sequence, and there's a video showing all the locations of the island, where Mario, Peach, and all the Toadies are going for vacation. There's this part where it's showing certain scenes and then it shows this huge banquet, and Mario leans forward, hearts in his eyes, his tongue lolling out of his mouth staring at the food. It's a riot, I swear. However, having mostly watched, and not beaten the game, I can't exactly review it. But, it looks good for what I saw, just be ready to be your own camera.

Master of Doom says: Thumbs Up, 8 out of 10

Gaming: I Own This Game
Status: Collecting Dust

Yeah, it's old, but I'm just rambling here. I want to get as many game reviews as I can into my site, and sometimes just mentioning an older game feels good to me. Tetris DX came out alongside the Game Boy Color much like the original Tetris came out alongside the Game Boy when it was first released. It's the same classic gameplay, with one very important feature (amung many improvements): battery backup. You and two others can have save files to keep track of your own personal best scores (as well as someone signing in as Guest). The game keeps track of the high scores on each level you started on (so if you got 600,000 starting at 0 and 400,000 starting at 1, then those would be on different pages). You can also play the game in three other modes. One mode has you playing to see how good you can do in a short amount of time. Yet another mode has a setup so you can see how fast you can clear a certain number of lines. It's all old school, and it's all fun. I really the like color, the animations for high scores, as well as the scrolling background that looks really cool when you drop a Tetris. The game, for all the Game Boy's, is really fun. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

Pocket.ED gives it a 10, seriously.

Gaming: I Rented It
Status: I'm Sorry I Did

Now it's time to end out QuickTakes with something I call "The Suck". Here I talk about a game that was so bad it was, well--it sucked, ok? This particular part may not be here every time, so I figure I might as well try to tell you about two games I thought were really bad. I have played neither, in case you are wondering, though Draco was at my house when he played one of them. First off, there's this PlayStation 2 gane that involved Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table that came out over the summer. I don't recall it's title because Draco returned it, like, right away. It was bad. Voices weren't that good, graphics were ok, but the play mechanics, as well as the settups for a battle didn't look that hot. It was kind'a like playing Gauntlet: Legends without all the cool power-ups. Not sure what the company was going for at the time, but--whatever it was--I doubt they reached their goal.

Huntermun-ED's Note: I've recently rediscovered this game with the help of Seanmun. He'd walked into a Gamestop and was looking for an RPG to blow money on. He saw the game and, not remembering the title, I couldn't tell him for sure that it had won "The Suck". Sure enough, when he got it back to the apartment, he couldn't play it for long before feeling disgraced that he'd blow cash into such a thing. It's true name is Legion: The Legend of Excalibur, and it got a good review from IGN for some reason.

Remember boys a girls, Huntermun's doing this for as much an excuse to type as he is to inform. Sure, all my reviews are my opinions, and you should take them with a grain of salt... but I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about (most of the time, anyway). (11/10/2006)

Gaming: None
Status: I Saw it On TV

As for the other game, it's called Gravity Games' Bike. Extended Play said the game "borders on not being worthy of release." Adam also comment that "No, that's not a trick. That's the game sucking." Hence, these two games win The Earthsaver Database's "The Suck" Award. And if they're proud of it, I feel sorry for them.