Xbox One...The First One

The original Xbox was a console I did not own, however my flat mate at the time did.  I only played three games on the console.  The Xbox looked clunky, the design of the controller felt like it was made for the hulk & was not comfortable to hold. If you don't like this console why are you talking about? Well I'll tell you.  While the console for me felt very underwhelming it did help set the foundation for the Xbox 360 & Xbox One. I think it is important to remember what came before so you can truly appreciate what came after.

This was officially the first game I played on the Xbox. Worms has always been a fun series but I feel it only works if you play with friends.  I think its the thrill of using Holy Bomb or the Sheep to kill your friends in a funny way.  While the 3D element brought a new lease of life to the series I feel some how the original magic of worms was lost by moving away from 2D.  In terms of controls they worked fine but lacked a little something that I just could not put my finger on.  For me I would say save your money on this game unless your house mate happens to own it & you can play it for free.

This game peaked my interest as I am a fan of the series.  It brought me back to my time playing Zwei & Saga. It had beautiful scenery & it was great flying on a dragoon again but there was one problem, the controls.  I can forgive a game if the graphics are not great but I cannot forgive bad controls.  The aiming was bad & the lock on lasers were not always great at hitting their target & the camera angles were a real pain.  While the game is better than the original it is a far cry from Zwei which is a shame as I hoped it would be a worthy successor.

It is unlikely at this point that there is any one out there who has not heard of Halo.  There are lot of mixed thoughts & feelings on the series. Some of the games are considered ground breaking & others simply brought the franchise backwards.  For me Halo 2 was not a bad game if not a little long - what does he mean long? Surely that is a good thing? While it is true there are far too many first person shooters that have short campaigns this one just ran a little long.  Some levels were overly dark in terms of lighting & it felt like maybe it was a cost saving measure that got out out of control. The overall gameplay was fun & the story built on the original game.  As a whole the game made me long to play the original & look forward to the sequel. Turned out Halo 3 rocked!

Well that is all for this time folks & don't worry I will be a bit more positive with the next console!

A Playstation Made For 2

I was first introduced to the Playstation 2 by my girlfriend who just happen to now be my awesome wife!  I arrived at her parents house to find her playing Final Fantasy X, up to this point I had only seen brief gameplay of the Final Fantasy series & never played any of them.  She was at Lake Maclania fighting an Al Bhed machine called the Crawler.  I remember really liking the combat style & the design of not only the characters but also the world itself.  After that brief introduction I decided this needed to be the first thing we got once we moved in together.

Three month later & we had both left Mayo & moved to Galway. I was working in a music shop at the time & decided to buy the PS2 from there.  I wished I had not as I did not even get a discount which sucked ass but what are you going to do?  There was no bundle deal but I picked up two games that were in the 2 for €50 offer; Final Fantasy X & another game that I just can't remember what it was. If it comes to me I will update this post.

Final Fantasy X is set in the beautiful & dangerous world of Spira.  You take on the role of Tidus; star player of the Zanarkand Abes.  Through some strange turn of events you get dragged into protecting a summoner on her pilgrimage.  What is the pilgrimage for? Well she is gathering powerful beings call Aeons & needs them to summon the Final Aeon. But why?  Well according to elders of Yevon (the world religion) we are sinners & need to be punished & that punishment is called Sin. A huge ass creature which destroys everything in its path.  Summoners are the only ones that get defeat Sin & bring about peace.

Your party is made of a number of memorable & lovable characters. There is:

Wakka; easy going, full of heart & struggling blitzball Captain
Auron; he has a kick ass sword & is the most bad ass guy ever
Lulu; cold but caring & can kill you just by looking at you
Kimahri; protector of Yuna since she was a child, great with a lance & a little grumpy
Rikku; a little silly but full of heart & cousin to Yuna
Yuna; a young summoner that just wants to save everyone & never thinks of herself


There is a lot to see & many battles to fight. One of my favorite things to do in Final Fantasy X is play blitzball.  A sport played in spherical arena made of water.  The best way to describe it would be; it is a cross between football, rugby & hockey. I sank many hours into it & was a great way to unlock abilities for Wakka & win rare items. In fact the big reason I bought the remastered version on the PS Vita was so I could play blitzball any time any where.

While RPGs are not my go to genre I truly feel if you don't play this game you have missed out.  Between the gameplay, story & characters there is so much depth in this game.  If you have a PS Vita or a Playstation 2or 3 pick up a copy of this game. This is one fantasy you just have to play.

What the hell is Super Monkey Ball? Is exactly what I said when my brother in law brought this into my life.  Hands down this is one of the most fun games I ever played. Naturally you are a monkey in a ball & need to save another monkey (your wife) also in a ball from Dr Bad Boon.  Of course the best way to do this is; traverse crazy courses, collect bananas & cross the finish line.  Outside of the main story mode is party mode. You can play with up to four friends or play with yourself. The party games are:

Monkey Shot
Monkey Soccer
Monkey Billiards
Monkey Bowling
Monkey Golf
Monkey Tennis
Monkey Baseball
Monkey Dogfight
Monkey Target
Monkey Race


That's a lot of Monkeys & a lot of Balls!  One of my favorite mini games was Monkey Billiards.  The big reason for this is that one of the level designs is an old western style saloon, the monkeys in the background are wearing cowboy hats & drinking pitchers of milk. All these little details I really feel add a lot to the game & make it a really fun experience.

While it would be easy to say this is just another party game it is so much more. I implore you buy a copy of the game & invite some friends round to play, you won't be disappointed.

The first time I played Resident Evil was on the Sega Saturn, I remember my dad renting it from Blockbuster for me.  I really enjoyed the look & feel of the game & remember how challenging it could be. The first thing thing that springs to mind when I am thinking about the series is the title screen of the original game. When you pressed the start button the voice would say "Resident Evil" in a really evil & malevolent way, it still sends shivers down my spine.

Resident Evil 4 is probably my favorite of the series & is one of my favorite horror games. This games follows the story of Leon Kennedy who is sent on a mission to rescue the US President's daughter Ashley. She has been kidnapped by a one of those peaceful cults & all is well with the world & Leon can just relax -  of course this is a lie. Leon must defeat monster & psycho villagers who due to a down turn in the economy & being unable to knit very well wear cloth bags on their heads to keep warm.

I loved the gameplay because they use the over the shoulder view which gave a great level of control when playing.  In this game there are a number of quick time events which really works well & keeps you constantly vigilant.

There are two very memorable characters for me in the game. The first is a dog which you can rescue in the first few minutes of the game.  You have a choice not to save him but unless you have ice in your veins there is only one logical choice.  He disappears after you save him & returns later when your in trouble.  While his time in the game is short I really enjoyed his presence & I also like dogs.  The second character is The Merchant.  It is not just the entrance he makes or his outfit but what he says to you; "What are you buying stranger?", "What are you selling?".  While it does not sound that exciting it is & any one who has played the game will know what I mean.

Graphically at the time it looked quite well but I would love them to do a remastered version of the game.  I can't recommend this title enough, if you have a Playstation 2, (or Wii, Gamecube,  Playstation 3, XBOX 360) then pick up or download this game.

Before moving onto my next console I want to mention a some games that are must haves on the Playstation 2:

Black
GTA 3
GTA Vice City
Lego Star Wars (this was made before there was a Lego version of everything)
Time Crisis 2 (especially if you buy the arcade gun!)
Prince of Persia Warrior Within
Ratchet & Clank
Shadow Of The Colossus


Catch you next post!

The Age Of PC Gaming

I have been playing PC games for a long time now & while it may not be my go to platform it offers something many consoles do not.  One of the most important things PC games have over console games is the price.  While the original set up can be expensive once you have a good PC many of the games can be quiet inexpensive. Some of the older games did not even require you have the disc once the initial install was completed.  You could borrow the game to your friend worry free if they lost or damaged the disc (obviously if they did that they would be dead to me).

Another big plus of PC gaming is that you have a trusty mouse & keyboard.  I just feel there is a level of control you get from them that just isn't there with a normal console controller. For me if I want to play an real time strategy game I will always go for the PC version over console.  I love being able to map keys to what works best for me & the game I am playing. The mouse allows great speed & control which in an RTS can be very important.  Anyway lets get on with the show & talk about some games.

For me I feel the Command & Conquer series really got me into PC games.  I loved building up my base, creating a ton of units & then moving in & crushing the enemy. One of the most notable things about the series were the stories & actors used. Some of my favorites actors were; Joseph D. Kucan, James Earl Jones, Michael Biehn, Nicholas Worth, Udo Kier & Micheal Ironside.

While the series has a few turkeys in it like; Renegade & Tiberium Twilight as whole the series is very solid. My favorites titles being; Red Alert 2 & 3, Tiberium Sun & Generals.  If you like real time strategy games I strongly recommend playing one or all of them - except for the crappy ones.






If you have not played Half Life then you probably don't own a PC or have never played a first person shooter.  Outside of that you have no excuse not to have played this game.  My interest was peeked watching my friend playing it one day & I thought I must try this game for myself. After a brutal fight I stole his copy of Half Life & ran home as fast I could. Looking back I think using a crowbar to knock him out may have been excessive.

The story is set in a top secret research base.  They scientists are experimenting with other worldly forces, which funny enough does not work out to well.  A smallish tear is created that is large enough to let through a lot of crazy creatures.  Who will save the day?  A scientist called Gordon Freeman. He graduated MIT with a PhD in theoretical physics & later went on to be an ass kicker & savior of humanity. Hail the Freeman!

Two official add-ons were released where you got the chance to see the game from two other perspectives. The first was through the eyes of Corporal Adrian Sheppard part of the Black Mesa Black Ops clean up team. The second was through the eyes of Barney Calhoun a security guard. Don't let Barney fool you he is much more than a mere security guard.

Closing advice: play it. That is all.

When most people hear Warcraft they think two things: oh World of Warcraft, that MMORPG with way too many expansions & oh yeah isn't there a movie coming out about that? While I did spend nearly three solid months playing World of Warcraft the key driving force which led to me to playing the game in the first place was Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos.

Warcraft 3 was the classic build your base up & complete objectives.  You could pick from four races; Humans (not bad), Orcs (Awesome!!), Night Elves (don't mess with them), Undead (creepy but crazy strong).  Each race had their own back story which intersected with the others.  The music & level designs always fill me with me excitement & pull me right into the action. The add-on; Frozen Throne added new units along with new story & the same great races.

Within all of this awesomeness was a little more awesome.There was a set of maps for something called Defense of the Ancients.  You play as a hero character completing missions & traversing the lands, you could play solo or with/against other players.  Originally I had thought this would what World of Warcraft would be - it really wasn't!

I loved & still love this game & when you consider how far the series came for the original to Warcraft 3 its amazing.  I look forward to Warcraft 4 especially if Blizzard make it an RTS. Once again all I can say is play it & play it hard.


Well its that time again where I say that's all folks & move on. Before I do that I want to mention some games that require your attention: Unreal Tournament (I don't care what people say the original is the best), Settlers 2, Sims, Plants vs Zombies, Commandos, Die Hard Trilogy 2 (I just really liked it).  All the best & I will see you next post!

There Can Only Be PS1 (& 2 & 3 & 4)

The original Playstation never really left much of a mark on me.  This is most likely because I never owned one myself although I did occasionally play with my brothers.  I was also a little distracted by the Saturn at the time.

The first game I played was Crash Bandicoot. It was a fun colourful platformer featuring a genetically enhanced animal who had escaped from a mad scientist & now just wanted to be left alone to chill out. Unfortunately Dr Neo Cortex is not contented to leave Crash alone & demands nothing less than his demise.  Crash decides to fight back stop the evil doctor & his plans for world domination.  While it was fun enough for me it was just a little close to another genetically enhanced animal trying to fight the evil scientist who created him from taking over the world.

The one thing that does shock me is that this is the same studio that later gave us Drakes Uncharted & The Last of Us - Naughty Dog has come a long way.

For me one the best games I played was Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes. The premise is classic Duke Nukem. In an alternate future all men have been killed by the evil Pigcops & they have taken all women as slaves.  There is a small resistance know as the Unified Babe Resistance & of course Duke offers to help them.It is a third person shooter which looked pretty good for the time & had some fun gameplay.

 If you have never played a Duke Nukem game & are easily offended don't play this - I myself love Duke & the Babes!

The only other stand out game was James Bond Tomorrow Never Dies.  Not the best bond game or even the best bond movie but it was good fun to play & okay to watch.  It's a third person shooter with you playing as James Bond. The object of the game was the same as the movie or any Bond movie - stop the evil villain from taking over the world.  You got to kill lots of bad guys before rescuing & going off with the girl. For a one night stand because you cant tie James Bond down unless your a bad guy with an evil plan & a laser.

That's all for now, see you next console!

Saturn - More Than Just A Planet

It was only natural after owning the Sega Master System & Sega Mega Drive I would go on to get the Sega Saturn.  My parents got it for me as a joint birthday & Christmas present. I love the design of the console & always loved that you could store you games saves on a memory cartridge - it made me think of the Mega Drive games.  While the polygon graphics used are out dated by today's standards at the time they were cutting edge.

The first game I got on the Saturn was Sonic Jam.  You could play the first three Sonic games along with Sonic & Knuckles.  Within each of these games you had options to save the game & turn on/off abilities e.g. Sonic's spin attack.  Outside of that there was also a 3D World you could explore & complete small challenges in.

For me though what I loved most about it was that you could visit a cinema & music studio.  The cinema was great as you could watch different marketing videos from around the world on Sonic - the Japanese ones were awesome! On top of that you could watch videos from the Sonic Universe including the opening of Sonic CD - a very well animated piece.  The music studio was great as you could listen to pretty much any sonic music along with sounds effects from any of the games.  Ice Cap Zone was one my favorite tunes along with the classic Green Hill Zone.

As a whole a great collection of games with lots of extras packed inside.  If you have a Saturn & like Sonic you probably have it & if you don't, well....go buy it!

As I made reference to previously I am not the biggest sports fan but there were two very great sporting games on the Saturn I have to mention.  The first is Athlete Kings & the second is Sega Worldwide Soccer 98 - both of these were games myself & my Dad got hooked on.

Athlete Kings is a button bashing goodness.  You had to have fingers as strong as steel & as flexible as a Yogi Master.  The 100m dash event was a classic we played & I am sad to say rarely did I beat him at this.  Pressing one button a few times is not hard pressing it tons of times at the same speed & timing not so easy.  A lot of fun & well worth your time.

Worldwide Soccer 98, ah the memories.  Myself & my dad would usually pick really random teams like Egypt & Korea.  The players/teams were not very balanced so it really made no difference who you picked. Whenever I did start losing super bad to my dad I would take great pride in getting as many red cards as possible & injuring his players. I was never great at it but loved playing it all the same.  The commentating could be quiet fun especially if it was out of sync with the game. A great example of this was "what a cracking goal"just as the second half was starting. Arguably the best soccer game on the Sega Saturn.

Panzer Dragoon is hard to talk about for me, not because it is a bad game but because it is so awesome it almost demands its own blog.  Before I played Panzer Dragoon Saga I had not really played any RPG style games.  My introduction to the game was Sega Saturn Magazine May 1998.
Remember when magazines used to give you demo discs? Me too!  Well this issue topped the lot, you got the first disc of Panzer Dragoon Saga for free!  There were many hours of great playing on the disc & when I got the full game that Christmas all I needed to do was pop in disc 2 & I was ready to play.

You play as Edge a mercenary guarding a dig site.  Out of no where a large monster attacks you & your comrades but you mange to get rid of it.  It is then you notice encased in the wall Azel a beautiful being in a sleep like state.  Then everything goes to hell! Your friends get killed by the Black Fleet, Azel gets taken & you fall into a giant cavern.  Edge's day is pretty rough already so lets make it worse by surrounding him with tons of monsters.  Lucky enough you have a side arm for protection but of course that craps out on you too! But don't worry hope is not lost a giant dragoon comes to your rescue.  That is all you I can tell you with out spoiling the game.

The game play itself was great.  Most of the time you spent on the back of your trusty dragoon but occasionally you got to walk around caravans & small village communities. Like many RPG's you go so many steps & get a monster encounter. The battles themselves are turn based but your attack gauge fills up during battle.  This meant if you decided to hold off attacking for a turn you could unleash a killer attack on the next one.  You could also move on the battlefield (airfield) so as to avoid enemy attacks. You could use dragoon attacks or use pistols - you get great ones later that  are really powerful.  Boss battles were lots of fun & there was a real feeling of achievement when finally taking them down.

Graphically speaking for the time it was very well done.  There were some great level designs my favorites being; Forbidden Zone, Uru & Air Force Post. The game could be at times colorful & at other times very dark.  Darkness often meant hard enemies or an up coming boss battle.

Overall a fantastic game & if you are considering purchasing a Saturn or have one & never played the game pick up a copy.  Of course picking up the game is not a cheap venture & cost 100's for it.  Even so still well worth it!

Well it is time to move on once again but before I do here are a few honorable mentions: Daytona USA, Die Hard Trilogy, Sega Rally, Virtua Figher & Panzer Dragoon Zwei.  I went on to play this console for many years before embarking on my next console journey. See you next time.