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jakwright
Reviews
Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate II - Shadows of Amn (2000)
Worthy Successor to Baldur's Gate.
While I thought the game was a worthy successor to the original BG, I thought the first one was better. BGII felt too linear to me once you left the mainland. After that, you had only one path to go in order to continue the game. It really didn't give you the chance to accidentally do stuff out of order (while not ruining the storyline at all) like the first game. I guess I just didn't like being led around to areas. It was though great having characters from the first came making either cameos or being playable characters again.
Still a really fun game though and definitely worth buying if the storyline from the first game interested you at all. Which I'm sure it would've since you were playing the game in the first place.
Long live the Interstellar Giant Space Hamsters!!
Tetris Attack (1996)
One of the Most Addictive Games Ever
Probably one of the most addictive puzzle games I've ever played since the original Tetris. The idea is so simple, move blocks that come up from the bottom of the screen to form colour combinations to erase them. On the SNES version (haven't played it on Gameboy), not only is there the 1 player, but also a player vs. player, player vs. computer, timed mode, three difficulty levels and speeds up to 100 and one of the greatest things about the game is the puzzle mode.
The game has fantastic music, most of it taken from the Yoshi's Island game.
Um, yeah, I don't know what else I can really say. This is a great game and can easily kill hours playing it.
Resident Evil (2002)
Well, It Could've Been A Lot Worse.
So, I just got out of the movie about 20 minutes ago so my mind is fairly fresh on some of the details. I guess I really had my hopes up with Paul Anderson (Event Horizon) directing this and having played Resident Evil 1 & 2, I was hoping that the movie would be as thrilling as the first two games (Yes I know it was only loosely based on the 1st game). (I guess I have to say that there may be spoilers and all that other fun stuff ^_^)
When I first saw the Mansion, I thought that half the film would take place there, and the second half would occur in "The Hive," but only the first 10-15 minutes are spent there before the Umbrella organised team infiltrate the mansion then head underground.
I liked how the dogs were brought in, but Alice quickly dispatches with all 6 or 7 of them in a single scene (One in which she wanders off alone and returns without any questions). It almost seemed like the scene was shot later after primary filming had finished. Another thing I liked was the opening part of the film, showing what a normal day in the Umbrella Corp. was like. This was really the only part of the film where I felt tension and suspense that seemed to be lacking from the rest of the film. The inclusion of the "Lickers" from Resident Evil 2 I thought was really cool and how it gave some background into their origins (I don't recall if the game included any).
At the end of the movie, when the camera was panning out from Alice, I really liked the various small details; such as the streaks of blood from an open window and despite the entire film, it made me hopeful for the sequel. Either that or I'm just gullible.
If the sequel were to take on a more gothic approach (without all the pounding scare chords and the heavy metal music; why is it that because the movie was about zombies, killing et cetera, that death & heavy metal bands have to be associated with it? What if Night of the Living Dead had been done with death metal music? I cringe at the thought; off topic.)
So overall, the only point to see Resident Evil 1 would be to understand what is going on in Resident Evil 2, as long as it is better than this movie.
Fainaru fantajî IX (2000)
If you liked Final Fantasy I, you'll love Final Fantasy IX!
Once I started to play this game, it brought back so many memories from the three previous Final Fantasy games that debuted on the Nintendo (I, IV & VI). The music was great, better than VII & VIII in my opinion (I wonder how many people caught one of the dungeon themes from the original FF that was redone for the cave outside Esto Gaza; that the second airship theme was the main theme from FF V; along with the Final Fantasy theme that was played near the end of the credits before the "Prelude" or "Crystals Theme" was played).
The back cover for the game said that FF IX combined the best of the old with the best of the new, which was a great description for this game. It was great to see Vivi in the traditional Black Mages' outfit and the brief inclusion of the White Mages' outfit on Princess Garnet as she flees Alexandria was a great touch. I thought that Quina was a near useless character, as far as the storyline went and I really thought that Zidane was not such a great choice for the main character; I would have put Vivi in as the main character.
In an attempt to keep this readably short, (and inadvertently make any of the FF fans who have only been fans since FF VII came out mad at me even more) this is what FF VII should have been since FF IX was in a very similar style to FF VI. One of the best things they did in this game was to allow FOUR characters to be played and not the three that has reigned havoc since VII and will now will also be in FF X. So sad. And going back to the old, 'weapon'/'armour'/'arm'/'helmet'/ and 'accessory' in lieu of just 'weapon/'armour'/ & 'materia'.
So please don't get me wrong, I love the Final Fantasy series and have since the original FF. I would like to say more, but most of it would come off as harping on the past two games in the series. So, play Final Fantasy IX as a traditional RPG, and not as a movie. 10/10.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Excellent Film and Worth Seeing Multiple Times
When I first heard rumours about a Final Fantasy movie 5-6 years ago, I was beyond excitement. And now having seen the finished product, it was well worth the agonising wait
Background: Being a fan of the Final Fantasy series (played I,IV,V,VI,VII & IX)I feel that I knew what to expect out of the storyline since it was written and directed by the creators of the series; in depth characters as well as a deep storyline (which often involves saving the planet from a tyrannical force), which involves adventure, love, a terrible loss to main characters; a great soundtrack (for the video game series it's Nobuo Uematsu) and since Final Fantasy IV (not having played II or III, I don't know) an engineer/scientist named Cid/Sid. Suffice-it-to say, I knew what I was getting into when I saw this movie.
The Movie & Other Tid-Bits (spoilers not included): First of all, the PG-13 rating should give the audience an idea that the movie isn't going to be a light hearted romp about showing off lush sceneries, but is in fact a fairly dark movie showing a devastated Earth, human suffering and death included. There is very little foul language, just two "s**t's", a couple "damn's" and a "hell" or two. So just be advised that the movie has its rating for a reason, if it was a live action movie, I wouldn't doubt that it would have an R rating.
Now that that's out of the way; Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within plays like a good old fashion science-fiction movie: alien invaders vs. the human race and in the Alien fashion, our hero is a woman. Final Fantasy (FF) does relate to other films such as Apocalypse Now, Star Trek, The Rock and Titan A.E. just to name a couple. But FF is an original enough movie that the audience (In my own opinion) does not feel like they're watching a mush of different movies clumped together.
In the case of all the CG characters, there are many moments of awe, but very few times in the movie that the characters don't look real enough. Dr. Sid, in my opinion was the most realistic out of all the main characters, also helped by Donald Sutherland who seemed to embody Dr. Sid. What really impressed me was all of the individual mannerisms each character had, the subtle eyebrow movements and the movement of their eyes projected a feeling of genuine humanity.
(Spoiler of Sorts): One of my favourite parts in the film, was when Dr. Sid compared his teams research with that of Galileo and the punishment for unpopular ideas. In this scene, Dr. Sid destroys his personal diary out of fear that any notes or records in relation to the existence of Gaia could put him or any of his colleagues into prison, which would halt there search for Spirits with compatible wave lengths. I feel that this helps define Dr. Sid as a human being and not out to change the way society thinks or to be looked on as a hero.
Well, what can I say now that hasn't been said by the some-odd hundred people before me except that Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was an excellent film and worth seeing multiple times; as well as to be purchased when it's released on DVD. (Apologies for any grammatical errors in this text).
Super Metroid (1994)
Couldn't Have Done Better!
Being the third in the Metroid series, "Super Metroid" takes everything that was ever great from the first two "Metroid" and "Metroid II: The Return of Samus" and makes everything better. The game plays the same as the previous two (side scroller) with Samus Aran returning the Metroid Home World to eliminate her past enemies. Again Samus has to locate various weapons such as the ice beam, missiles, bombs, high jump boots, energy tanks along with new weapons; super missiles and bombs, grappling beam and x-ray scanner. Super Metroid uses some of the same maps from the original Metroid which are now deserted and has an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. Accompanying the beautiful graphics is a great soundtrack reminiscent of the music from the series. I'd like to add more to this attempt at a review, but I fear that I might give too much away for those who have yet to play this game.
The Legend of Zelda 2: Rinku no bôken (1987)
Great Game
Being only the second game in the Zelda series, it can't be said that there was an established format for the series. This is, as stated above, a great game; combining a gigantic over world map with wandering monsters, which then converts to a side scroller to fight the various types of beasts. Link can go to towns and converse with the local populations, explore caves, temples and the like. Unlike in the first game, Link can now gain experience, learn new sword techniques and cast spells!
The story begins after the original "Legend of Zelda" with Ganon's minions trying to resurrect their fallen master by sprinkling Link's blood on Ganon's ashes. The storyline is very deep brought to life by the expanse of the world map and the depth of the game play and exploration. Highly recommended game for any fan of the Zelda series.
I know I'm leaving stuff out, but I hope this description will help anyone unfamiliar with the Zelda series.