The O/C Gamer

For a game as seemingly kid-oriented and innocuous as this, another of Capcom's attempts to create strong new franchises for the Wii, it sure was a time-sink. In fact, having just completed the game (in my usual O/C manner), the game clock is reading 53 hours, 53 minutes, spread over about a fortnight.

Which is odd, because the first play-through only took ten or fifteen hours.

From the opening orchestral strains, it's clear that Zelda is a massive influence. The bulk of the score could charitably be called an homage to the Ocarina and Wind Waker soundtracks; the more cynical gamer might use a phrase featuring the word "rip". Regardless, it fits the cartoony adventure of Zack & Wiki well.

The characters aren't anything special - there's little background proffered for the young pirate Zack, the miniskirt-wearing Captain Rose shifts little from her initial spoilt-bitch persona, and Wiki - a magical flying monkey who can instantly transform into a hand-bell - just annoys with his overly optimistic and sugar-sweet cutesy comments. They're all beautifully depicted using vibrantly coloured cel-shading, which makes the experience of playing Zack & Wiki more akin to interacting with a cartoon.

Ah yes, the gameplay. Let's cut to the chase: Zack & Wiki is a point-and-click adventure, similar to the SCUMM games of old. There's very few reflex- (or "skill"-) oriented parts of the game, allowing you to explore the small levels, experiment with various object interactions, and generally just have fun with the experience.

That's right - fun. It's an really enjoyable experience, with the small levels and limited inventory facilitating the type of "problem-solving" that often trips other games of this type up - ie, the try-every-object-everywhere approach. The penultimate level took me upwards of four hours and three concerted efforts to solve; I can go back and knock the bugger off in 15 minutes now, however.

And that's the biggest flaw in this game: the replayability, or lack thereof. Sure, the Obsessive/Compulsive in me gleaned another forty hours out of the title (and the time just flew by, performing gleeful 100% treasure hunts a-plenty); but, outside of maxing your highscore (which, once you've sussed the puzzles, is almost a step-by-step proposition) and acquiring all the collectibles (of which there are tons) there's little to draw you back. And, whilst that's an unavoidable failing of the fundamental structure of the game, it's still a shame - Zack & Wiki is thoroughly enjoyable while it lasts, a fantastic reminder that sometimes it's better to have a muddled think about a problem than go in with guns blazing.

(And, having just bashed out all of the above... Yahtzee says it so much better.)

Posted by pete at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So - I was in the midst of my Space Giraffe frenzy when I felt a bit of a lull - I wanted to try something a bit different (that's not to say the the Giraffe isn't different; in some ways, it's the very definition of the word. But you know what I mean). Something drew me down to the Wii, sadly neglected in the last few months; I turn it on and start browsing the Virtual Console for ideas. Super Metroid? Nah - too intense. A Link to the Past? Mmmmmaybe. But then I saw the answer to my gaming blues - Paper Mario.

A brief aside - when I clicked the "Buy" button in the Virtual Console shop, I was an RPG virgin. The nearest I had got to anything RPG-like was Deus Ex and, though there are certain tactical advantages to be had in that game, it's hardly the poster child for the Role-Players. So hearing that Paper Mario was a soft-RPG had me both eager and excited: I was entering the outskirts of a new genre.

And bugger me if I didn't start smiling the moment I started playing Paper Mario. And kept smiling for the next forty hours. From the simple charm of the eponymous graphics - flat, 2D graphics, sliding and flipping their way through a cheeringly colourful 3D world - to the gigglingly twee storyline, even the N64-era jolly chip tunes... Paper Mario was a wonderfully addictive experience, one of those games that you almost don't want to end.

I loved the turn-based combat. I loved the side quests. I loved the level-up mechanisms... I loved levelling up. I loved the level interludes that had you guiding the imprisoned Princess Peach around. I loved that shady chap who you could pay to switch your levels around. I loved the small puzzle elements. I loved kicking the shit out of that massive Koopa bastard, and I loved serving the whims of the cranky Koopa. I loved all the characters, both incidental and sidekick. I loved just wandering around talking to people. I loved weighing up the pros and cons of each of the three abilities: Health Points, Flower Points, and Badge Points. I loved letting my OCD kick in and collecting Badges. I love the trek through the final level. And I'm going to love going back and trying out all the recipes.

And most of all, I loved the way this game makes me feel. Cute and perky, tongue-in-cheek, never taking itself seriously, never letting a joke run too long - you've always got a smile on your face, and the Game Over screen is never glowered at. It's perfectly pitched, wonderfully weighted, and I can't wait for my memory to fade so I can play it again.

And so, after 40 gorgeous hours of Paper Mario (including the fantastic end sequence with a glorious, if largely inconsequential, side-battle that actually made me jump and yell "take THAT Kammy Koopa, you fat fucking shithead!") I thought that the new Wii chapter of the series - Super Paper Mario - would be a sure bet. I was expecting sharper graphics (the N64 incarnation, bless it, suffered a little from Fuzzy Chunk-O-Vision), a bit more depth (after all, the original was a mere 40 megabytes!), but basically more of the same.

I would've been happy with that.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

How terribly wrong I was. Almost as soon as the game started up for the first time. Yep, the sharp graphics were there, but what's with the overly sentimental opening every time I start the game? And the jarring jaunty tune that follows it?

And where's my bloody turn-based combat?

Harrumph.

Super Paper Mario is indebted to the previous Paper Marios in terms of graphic style, and to earlier traditional platform-based Mario games for play mechanics. Unfortunately, the RPG elements that so entranced me have been simplified to such an extent that they're no longer challenging, nor enjoyable. Levelling up is score-based, automatic, completely out of the player's hands. There's no decisions to be made, few side quests to pursue. The much-vaunted flip into the third-dimension feels gimmicky, and its use is either bluntly telegraphed or horribly forced.

The ancillary characters, so wonderfully realised in the first Paper Mario, were gone - replaced by a bunch of non-dimensional, characterless, half-witted SQUARES that jiggle around pretending to be the inhabitants of Flip/Flopside. Geez, they shit me to tears - so utterly, utterly un-engaging, their presence actually made me feel more lonely... even whilst traipsing around this paper world in a party of four that includes Mario's brother, lover, and nemesis (another jarring decision). Boss battles are mildly interesting, but more often than not are either a battle of persistence or (once you cycle through the characters to determine the most effective offensive option) a walkover.

To be honest, by the time I entered Chapter 5 I was almost praying for this game to end. Yes, I finished it; yes, I succumbed to OCD and performed all the post-game snippets - recipe collecting (spent aaaaages trying to find one more dribble of Inky Sauce), card collecting (ggggnnnnnnnnn), the Flipside Pit Of 100 Trials, the Sammer Guy Showdown (another 100 battles), the Flopside Pit Of 100 Trials - twice. And now, it's over - and I couldn't be happier.

Now, I've never played the original Super Mario RPG, nor have I played the Gamecube iteration of the series (The Thousand-Year Door, which apparently merges the turn-based combat system with cleared graphics); so any criticism of the series as a whole would be suspect at best, and more likely completely misguided. But I get scared when an earlier game plays so incredibly well, but later games rub me entirely the wrong way (see also Metroid Prime and its direct sequel). Here's hoping the 3D Mario series doesn't turn out the same way - even though I've barely scratched the surface of Super Mario 64, I can tell it's a stone-cold classic; and I want Super Mario Galaxy to have the same impact.

Super Paper Mario is a mild curiosity, entertaining at best, dull action-grinding at worst; the original Paper Mario is a life-changer. There's your capsule review.

Posted by pete at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First thing's first: what's my Zelda background? I claim completage of the original Legend of Zelda, the much-maligned Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker. There's moments of utter joy to be found in all of them, but there's also moments of "WTF?", "you fucking bastard" and "fuck this, I'm off to GameFAQs". The mood of the Zelda games is what sucks me in and permits me to label them "great", despite their penchant for occasionally obscure problems.

They grow up so fast...

And so we come to a new console, and a new Zelda; and, as usual, it all starts out a little twee, meeting all your chums and catching fish for cats and befriending birds and avoiding bees and… it's pretty boring. But here's the thing: if you can survive the dullness of the first few hours, you're in for a treat - it gets much much infinitely much better. If, on the other hand, you really enjoyed the goat herding, horse washing, and the bloody annoying clan of children who dote on you, you'll literally explode in bliss later in the game.

I can't pick the point at which the game turned from a somewhat tedious trek to a blissful bounty - but I suspect it was when a baboon spanked its arse in my general direction. That made me laugh - a lot. In fact, despite the darker-than-usual storyline, there's a lot to laugh at; incidental characters like the Fortune Teller and the flamboyant Cucco master add a lot to the giggles.

All your Zelda regulars are here - the mazes that have you running around in pointless circles until you get off your arse and map the buggers out. Dungeons that are a perfect mix of "whaaaaa?" and "aaaaaah!" Some familiar weapons are a little tweaked; the upgrade for the old hookshot is a pleasant surprise, and works like a charm. Likewise, the boomerang gets a bit of a makeover, and the inventory screen gets tarted up and is a treat. There's plenty for the O/C amongst us to do - Heart Pieces a-plenty, along with the usual Poes and a few other little collect-em-ups which initially shock in scope before you realise that it's 5am and you've just spent the last 8 hours roaming Hyrule but at least that's done no wait there's more.

Boss battles are epic, engaging, visually delicious and - above all - fun; more Wind Waker than Ocarina. And taking another leaf from Celda, there's a fantastic boss battle redux near the end of the game which reminds you of all the goodness that has come before.

And that's the thing about this latest Zelda installment - it knows exactly what it is, and where it's come from; there's a certain self-assuredness about it. But it's learnt from the mistakes of earlier games, too - there's no obscure puzzles (even all the Heart Pieces are easy to find!), there's no long treks required, and there's certainly no fucking annoying bosses (Bongo Bongo, I'm looking at you). It all just effortlessly flows along, dragging you blissfully in its wake.

Twilight Princess is just packed full of Moments - extravagant boss battles, great storytelling, arse slaps, character entrances, the thrill of the new. Minutes or hours spent fishing. Oddball action sequences that, as in Mario 64, just seamlessly blend right into the game. The first time you stream onto Hyrule field atop a motion-blurred Epona, sword drawn, hacking evil minions… akin to the first steps onto Hyrule field as young Link in Ocarina, it's one of those Gaming Moments that you'll never forget.

Of course, the benefit of having not one, but two "platonic" love interests (the rather plain Zelda and the fiery hotness of the eponymous Twilight Princess) for our effeminate hero merely adds two inches of sweet, sweet icing to an otherwise calorific cake. Dreams of a Princess threesome leave me in a sticky slumber most nights, now.

It's pretty obvious I like this game. And I've not mentioned a thing about how the Wii handles… so let's be brief: the graphics are fine, the sound is great (except for the tinny Wiimote speaker which occasionally feels overused), and the controls are brilliant. By game's end, when you're dispatching Lizardmen with a Z-lock, two jabs of the Wiimote and a flick of the nunchuck, you're convinced that there's no other way to play the game.

So - is this game perfect? Hell no - to attain that status, I shouldn't have had to hunt out orange rupees like a madman to complete one sub-quest, nor had that dull intro, and the end-game would have involved female nakedness and hard-core lesbian frivolities. Many interweb twonks will cry "it's too easy!" or "it's too linear!" or "it's just a GameCube port!"

And you know what? They're right (except for that guy who says "it's too easy." Possibly the most rock-fucking-hard Zelda moment ever is hidden in there.)

But you know what else?

And pay attention, because this is the really important part:

It's A Really, Really, Fun Game.

I've spent 75 hours and four AA batteries traipsing around the world of Twilight Princess, and I'm not bored yet… nor am I finished. And nor has it stopped providing me with FUN. It all adds up to the deepest, most complete experience on the Wii - nay, the entire Next-Gen - so far.

Posted by pete at 06:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Righto - so the Wii was released in Australia on December 7, and it (allegedly) sold out, making it the biggest console launch in Australian history. I pre-ordered way back in September, and eagerly awaited the 9am store opening (no midnight launch for me, as I do my bricks-and-mortar shopping at an independent).

So - how is it?

Well, I'm amazed at just how well the Wiimote works - lovely and responsive. Wii Sports is an absolute belter, with the exception of the baseball (which seems to be a bit wishy-washy to me). Wii Play is barely worth the AU$10 it cost as part of the Wiimote bundle. And Zelda is, quite frankly, a little dull at the moment.

But the killer app is, without a doubt, Wii Sports Tennis. It's absolutely brilliant, and even the completely un-sporty sister-in-law managed to flail about enthusiastically. The inclusion of Mii-s in the background in some of the events is delightful.

More to come, no doubt, as I dutifully plough through Zelda...

Posted by pete at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)