Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[blueflower999]

^That gives me an idea... you're a Megaman fan, right?

[Dudeman]

OMG YESYESYESYESYESYES

*ahem*...maybe...

[blueflower999]

Well then you get a treat! And yes, I realize that I've been doing quite a few NES reviews, but this system really is my specialty, and I
promise I'll do something different next time.

Mega Man:

Gameplay: 8/10 While the side-scrolling element of Mega Man was pretty standard to the NES (It is what the NES does best, after all), this game is far from the ordinary in terms of gameplay. This was one of the first games that allowed players to play stages in the desired order. Not only that, but because each stage ended with a different Robot Master, and each Robot Master is weak to another's power, and each power is stolen from every Robot Master defeated, this added a lot of strategy in which stages were done in what order. The 6 stages are Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man. I prefer to go in the order 1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 3. The variety of weapons obtained from the bosses also adds more strategy to how different enemies are defeated, and which levels are easier and harder. For example, Ice Man's stage is a whole lot easier if you have Cut Man's weapon. Also, after all 6 Robot Masters are defeated, the Dr. Wily's stage is unlocked. (This is the part of the game I can't beat; it's insanely hard.)

Addictiveness: 7/10 Much like Contra, this is another classic on the Nintendo Entertainment System that I'll pick up and play anytime. Even though it's not 2 player, the fact that you can do stages in any order you want adds much more replayability for me than, say, Super Mario Brothers, because in there you're just doing the stages in the same order every time, while in Mega Man, there are multiple different strategies to try.

Story: 8/10 For the NES, the backstory of this game is pretty in-depth. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily create 6 Robot Masters (Listed above) in order to help society. However, Dr. Wily back-stabs Dr. Light, and reprograms all the robots to take over the world with him. Dr. Light quickly re-fits another robot creation, named Rock, to have a laser gun, and also gives him the ability to steal the other Robot Master's powers. Rock is renamed Mega Man, and is sent out to stop Dr. Wily. While this story is used over and over in modern Mega Man games, for the first of its kind, I enjoy this concept quite a bit.

Music: 9/10 This is another area where Mega Man really shines. EVERY SINGLE SONG in this game is fantastic, with the stage themes in particular. Cut Man's theme is catchy, and epic. Guts Man is awesome as well. Ice Man's is relaxing and calm. Bomb Man's is intense and scenic. Fire Man's perfectly sets the mood for his stage. Finally, Elec Man's, which is my favorite, is so beautifully composed that words cannot describe it. Seriously, give this soundtrack a listen. This is about as good as it can get on the NES.

Cut Man's Theme

[close]

Guts Man's Theme

[close]

Ice Man's Theme

[close]

Bomb Man's Theme

[close]

Fire Man's Theme

[close]

Elec Man's Theme <3

[close]

Character Design: 7/10 While not too much character is shown in the game itself, the instruction booklets and future games clarifies, and shows Dr. Wily to be an incredibly annoying an obnoxious villain (My favorite kind), and Dr. Light to be a loving and awesome creator. Not much of this is shown in the actual game, but this game paved the path for some classic video game faces in the future.

Humor: 0/10 Not a game I would recommend for laughs.

Difficulty: 9/10 While the first 6 stages aren't hard, with a lot of practice, Dr. Wily's stage is IMPOSSIBLE. I'm not even going to try to beat it. I made it to the Yellow Devil, and I can tell that there's no way I'm beating him anytime soon, at least without my Game Genie.

Other Memorable Features: This game revolutionized the gaming industry, and I hear that Mega Man 2 is even better, so I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on it.

Overall: 9.2/10 One of the best NES games. Ever. And this is coming from a guy who has like 80 of the things. So that's saying a lot. Get it. If you happen to have a PSP, you can get a remake of this game called "Mega Man Powered Up", which is a remake with better graphics and 2 new Robot Masters.

[Yugi]

Hey. Hey. Hey.
You know what NES game you should play next?
ABOBO'S BIG ADVENTURE

[blueflower999]

You think I haven't heard of that? 

I might give it a try...

[blueflower999]

My nightly review! I promised I wouldn't do another NES game, so I'll mix it up a little and do a Wii one. Those of you who watch Chuggaaconroy should be familiar with this game by now:

Kirby's Epic Yarn:

Gameplay: 8/10 This game plays somewhat like your classic Kirby game, but with a lot of change and twists incorporated. Unfortunately, Kirby cannot inhale enemies or copy powers due to him being made out of yarn. However, he turns into a weight when ground pounding, a car when running, a submarine when swimming, a parachute to fall slower, and more. He can also transform into different vehicles in certain levels. There are so many mechanics in this game that it's hard to summarize them all in one paragraph, but there are also side mini games, a room decorating scenario, and 7 worlds to explore, each packed with levels. It's quite a long game, for the Kirby series, and it doesn't get boring fast at all. Each level has 3 treasures, and it's also a challenge to get gold rank on every level.

Addictiveness: 7/10 It's as addicting as any other platformer. If you're a fan of Mario, Mega Man, or other Kirby games, I'd definitely give this one a go. The side games and room decorating functions also give this game much more longevity than most Kirby titles.

Story: 7/10 Not too bad, actually. Yin-Yarn takes over Dream Land and turns it into yarn land. Meanwhile, Kirby is sucked into the destroyed Patch Land, where he meets Prince Fluff, and the 2 set out to literally stitch the kingdom back together. King Dedede, and Meta Knight as well, are also sucked into the kingdom, and after the world is sewn back together, they exit back to Dream Land to stop Yin-Yarn. I like this plot a lot because it's just so bizarre. I mean, seriously! YARN! Where does Hal Laboratory come up with this crap!?

Music: 9/10 Kirby games are known in my mind for having a few, excellent motifs in their games: Green Greens, Meta Knight's Revenge, Gourmet Race, KING DEDEDE'S THEME, and more, but this game is different, and still manages to contain all the songs I just listed, while introducing plenty of beautiful and original songs. Some great songs in this game are Rainbow Falls, Snowy Fields, Fangora's Theme, Mole Hole, and more. If you're a Kirby fan, give this soundtrack a listen.

King Dedede's Theme

[close]

Rainbow Falls

[close]

Snowy Fields

[close]

Fangora (Boss)

[close]

Mole Hole

[close]

Character Design: 7/10 While Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight are all their old, awesome selves, Prince Fluff is shown to be a likable character from the cutscenes, while Yin-Yarn is shown to be a quirky and hysterical villain as well. I would personally love to see more of these characters in future games. The enemy design is great, too. While Epic Yarn does have classics like Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, Gordos, SCARFIES, and the lot, it brings a whole new slush of enemies into the mixer to keep things fresh.

Humor: 8/10 This game all has a child-like atmosphere around it, but it does so without being immature. Some of the fabric puns in the game are downright hysterical, and some of the levels have hidden jokes in them, for instance, healing a Teddy Bear's torn leg by pulling a string, and then having a lollipop of gems appear in his hand.

Difficulty: 8/10 While the actual game itself is fairly easy to beat (You can't die, after all) getting gold rank on every level, and getting all the treasures, as well as completing all the mini games is quite difficult. The mini games get hard very fast, and a few of them are incredibly irritating.

Other Memorable Features: The reason I got this game was because of its 2-player function, and boy, did me and my friend have fun with it! If you're a Kirby fan with some brothers or sisters that like to play with you, and you've already gone through Return to Dreamland, give this one a try.

Overall: 8/10 A very, very underrated Kirby game and Wii game in general. Definitely one of my favorites.

[FSM-Reapr]

This review feels like pants.

[Waddle Bro]

This review feels like pants.

A+++++++++

[SlowPokemon]

Couldn't get that into epic yarn, but then I've always preferred Mario platformers to Kirby platformers. I think Kirby works better on handheld systems (but even then I'd rather play Mario lol)

The while thing about it being difficult or impossible to die in Kirby games takes a lot of the fun out of it, and it feels a lot less organized than Mario (although epic yarn was definitely an improvement on that).

[blueflower999]

This review feels like pants.

Win

Couldn't get that into epic yarn, but then I've always preferred Mario platformers to Kirby platformers. I think Kirby works better on handheld systems (but even then I'd rather play Mario lol)

The while thing about it being difficult or impossible to die in Kirby games takes a lot of the fun out of it, and it feels a lot less organized than Mario (although epic yarn was definitely an improvement on that).

I do see your argument. While Mario games and Kirby games are both amazing in my view, I play them both for different reasons. Mario games are often more challenging and hardcore than Kirby games, but playing hardcore games all the time gets boring. I play Kirby games because it's a nice way to just skim through an easy game and still have fun doing it. While Super Star is probably my favorite Kirby, Epic Yarn is probably my second. Also, not how I said that being unable to die only makes it easy to finish the game. If you want to get 100%, dying makes you lose a lot of beads if you're over a gap or lava, and because you need every bead you can get if you want gold rank (which is required for 100%), then you can't go around dying all the time either.

[Dudeman]

Once you do get 100%, though, there's nothing really left to do...(except do Dusk Dunes again lol)

[blueflower999]

Once you do get 100%, though, there's nothing really left to do...(except do Dusk Dunes again lol)

Well... yeah, I guess you're right. But Mario platforming games don't really have much to do afterwards either... 

Also, new poll! Please vote, everyone!

[blueflower999]

Well, you guys seem to want a Link to the Past review. I'll get right on that. (I still need to beat Ganon, and I'm moving, so I need to get all my retro games packed up and put in my new house.) Also, I apologize of the lack of review last night. I was out late to see a musical, and didn't have enough time to write one.

In the meantime, though, I'll review another underrated childhood classic of mine for the PC. If anyone's actually played it before, speak up! I'll be impressed.

Age of Mythology:

Gameplay: 10/10 If you're a fan of other command-and-conquer RTSs, (I.e., StarCraft,) then you'll know what this game is like in a nutshell. Gather resources, (Food, Wood, Gold, and Favor from the gods) and use these to build an army and a city to crush your opponents. Standard stuff, it's been done before after all, but what I really love about this game, and what really suckered me into buying it, was that it has loads of mythology (hence the name) from 3 different historical cultures; (4, with the Titans expansion pack) Greek, Egyptian, and Norse. Each culture controls and plays remarkably different. If that weren't enough, each of the 3, or 4, cultures has 3 major gods to chose to worship at the beginning of the game. (For instance, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades for the Greeks) And then, after aging up in the game, you can chose to worship even MORE minor gods. These 3 levels of classification add TONS of replayability and strategy to every match, as each choice unlocks different upgrades, units, and monsters. There is a skirmish mode, a very well designed campaign, a level creator, and a very good multiplayer server (in its prime). All of this added up to a game that I played for HOURS and HOURS on end for multiple summers in a row.

Addictiveness: 9/10 As a little kid, this was the first video game I ever remember buying, and boy, did it get me hooked fast. For days, this was literally the only thing I'd play for hours and days and weeks on end! There's just so much to do, experiment with, and accomplish.

Story: 10/10 Like Mother 3, AoM is another game that deserves its own novel written about this game's story. I'm not going to spoil the whole thing, (there are some GREAT plot twists that you don't want ruined!) but to be frank, it's great, and is a great way to keep the player glued to the screen during the campaign to see what will happen next. For me, the AoM story has always been like another Greek myth that never made it to the history books, because it's just that good.

Music: 8/10 While it's no Super Mario Galaxy, after playing this game for so long, I've pretty much memorized every song in the game, and there are some great underrated hits here. Many of them reflect the different cultures that you're playing as in the tones of the instruments and overall style of music.

Greek Theme

[close]

Egyptian Theme

[close]

Norse Theme

[close]

Character Design: 10/10 This game has some of the best characters I've ever seen in a game. The main characters are lovable, and humorous at times. The villains are... my favorite kind. The kind that make you want to stab them in the chest every minute of the game! That's why I don't think GLaDOS is deserving of IGN's #1 villain spot; because I don't HATE GLaDOS, I LOVE GLaDOS. So she's not a good villain, but a good overall CHARACTER. The opposite is true of Gargarensis, Kemsyt, and Kamos, the trio of baddies in AoM; I hate every single one of them. And that's great.

Humor: 9/10 Many of the lines in the cutscenes of AoM and clever, memorable, and hilarious. While it's no Portal 2, there are some great one liners and lol worthy quotes. Also, some bonus characters that you can acquire with cheat codes have very frivolous descriptions in them.

Difficulty: 7/10 While there definitely are some challenging missions in AoM, (One in particular is a pain in my butt...) on the easy difficulty, I can usually beat the campaign in a day or two. However, that's why there's a moderate, hard, and titan setting of difficulty. So, if challenge is your thing, you've got it here if you want it, but if it's not, you don't have to.

Other Memorable Features: The characters all speak in their native languages in actual gameplay, and the monsters all make amusing noises. Some examples of monsters you get to control are Sphinxes if you're Egyptian, Cyclopses and Medusas if you're Greek, and Giants if you're Norse.

Overall: 10/10 A true masterpiece of gaming programming. AND BY THE WAY. I know some of you guys know this, but I hate the Xbox. A lot. I'll never get one. And there are a million and one reasons why. Guess who made this game? Ensemble Studios. (If you've played Halo Wars, it's the same guys.) Guess who bought them and shut them down? Microsoft. I will never forgive you.

[MaestroUGC]

This game was great, I think I might replay it during the semester in the spring now that you reminded me of it.

[Roz~]

I loved that game! I wonder if we still have it...