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Post by zipp on Apr 24, 2010 13:14:33 GMT -5
Samy's first review is well received by the community! www.honestgamers.com/forums/threads.php?thread_id=2230HG staff are brutally honest, so if you're getting a feedback thread with no suggestions on your first review, you should really be proud! I hope our other occasional TOTs reviewers will continue to write, as well! I get asked whether or not Evil TB or Beowuuf are planning on writing again!
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Post by Samildanach on Apr 24, 2010 15:50:18 GMT -5
I didn't think anyone would notice that. Thanks for the mention. I'm glad my brevity wasn't too much of an issue. There's really very little to say about a nuts-and-bolts tennis game, so I just commented on the things I thought people would want to know. I usually write at greater length. ;D
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Post by eviltb on Apr 25, 2010 4:37:58 GMT -5
well, its nice to know we get asked about! And Sam, thats is a very good review The good thing Ive seen about HG is that they let multiple reviews through on the same game, so if someone rates something a 10, then you can very easily review the same and give it a 1 should you so feel. Ive recently finished FFXIII, so will have some thoughts about that. I plan to write something about SSFIV when it comes out next week too
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Post by zipp on Apr 25, 2010 12:20:21 GMT -5
Very cool! Please post them when you do!
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Post by greywolf on Apr 26, 2010 4:35:44 GMT -5
Not bad at all
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Post by Samildanach on Apr 26, 2010 7:17:22 GMT -5
I'm working on a review for Body Harvest on N64 now. I love that game. Hmm, I should probably write a review for something I hate.
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Post by eviltb on Apr 26, 2010 15:41:31 GMT -5
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Post by zipp on Apr 27, 2010 12:37:41 GMT -5
Cool review, from a different perspective! More comments in your feedback thread.
My only real criticism is that I think you could use one more paragraph justifying that 6/10, but it's a slight criticism.
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Post by Doomy on Apr 27, 2010 13:00:06 GMT -5
I personally wouldn't buy a game just because of how easy or otherwise it is to milk Gamerscore from it, but I appreciate that there is a number of people for whom this an important consideration and this review tells them what they want to know.
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Post by eviltb on Apr 28, 2010 4:43:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the comments guys. I felt it was a slant thats not covered and raises a more interesting point when it comes to "completing" a game fully. While I was never much a completionist, since the advent of achievements and trophies, my completion rate has gone up since Im getting some sort of reward for getting all these sub-bosses, missions, collectibles and whatever. But Im in no way as bad as some people who play all the Disney games and whatever just to get their score up. Although I have played TMNT hehe...
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Post by zipp on Jul 30, 2010 18:02:30 GMT -5
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Post by Doomy on Jul 31, 2010 7:53:57 GMT -5
You gave Elite 6/10?!?!? ELITE!?!?!? SIX OUT OF FUPPIN' TEN?!?!?! BURN HIM! STONE HIM! YAAAAARGH!!!! Ahem. Now for a defence of Elite that's slightly less insane. The NES version is a bit of an oddity - Ian Bell (who created Elite along with David Braben) personally rates it as his favourite 8-bit incarnation, but it does have marked differences from the original versions found on the 8-bit micros, such as the Amstrad CPC which is what I first played it on in the '80s. For one thing, you start with a Docking Computer, so you don't need to dock manually, EVER. Secondly, the "jump" function which is sort of equivalent to a timeskip is MUCH more effective, so you can complete a trip to a station in well under a minute unless involved in combat. Also, enemies need a lot less damage to destroy. All those things add up to NES Elite being like " Elite in fast forward" - one evening's play took me up to "dangerous" and the Invisible Asp mission which comes after the "tribbles". It would take weeks to reach that point in the original. I find the slower progression of the originals makes for a more satisfying "simulation-esque" feel. The 8-bit computer versions look a bit nicer, I think, particularly the Amstrad one (the CPC was the best of the 'big three' 8-bits for vector graphics) which had shaded suns and planets. The 16-bit versions have fully shaded, albeit untextured of course, "solid" 3D and the Archimedes version further expanded on that by making the universe less player-centric - you might arrive in a system to chance upon the Viper police ships battling pirates, for instance. When it came out in 1984, Elite was totally unlike anything most people had ever seen. It was also smartly packaged, with a decently-written novella and manual that greatly expanded on the atmosphere, at a time when most games' instructions were a couple of sentences on the casette inlay. Also, if it wasn't THE first "sandbox" game, it was certainly the first most people had seen - that, combined with the 3D and the sheer scale of the open-ended universe, totally blew people's minds at the time. For perspective, consider other big hits of 1984 - Daley Thomson's Decathlon, Jet Set Willy, Sabre Wulf. Elite is a totally different animal. It's a bit like a British version of the " Doom effect" - most people simply had no idea their computers were capable of such a thing. And unlike Doom, you didn't need to upgrade your hardware to experience it. Coming to the party almost a decade late probably dampened the "wow" factor for you. But Elite is one of THE classics, at least in my book. For further reading, see here for the text of the original manual, sadly without most of its incidental artwork. You can also read Robert Holdstock's novella, The Dark Wheel, on the same site. Anyone interested in checking out Elite but lacking vintage hardware should either emulate it (Bell's site above also hosts freely downloadable copies of every commercially released version) or check out one of the remakes. The most recent I know of is Oolite, which runs on all major OSes and supports a wide variety of user-made content. Get it here!
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Post by Samildanach on Jul 31, 2010 14:16:12 GMT -5
I've never played the computer versions of Elite, and I suspected they might be superior to the NES version. I was, however, specifically reviewing the NES one. I ploughed my share of time into the game, but that was primarily because it was unlike any of my other games. Looking back, it wasn't all that much fun. I still play it occasionally because it does have some qualities, but it (this version, at least) is too flawed for me to really describe it as good.
I feel lucky that I've submitted two reviews and not had a harsh word yet. I was a little concerned about this one, being longer and wafflier than my Mario's Tennis one.
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Post by Doomy on Jul 31, 2010 16:11:41 GMT -5
Hope you don't think I was bashing your review just because I don't necessarily agree with all of it. It's a well-written piece that inspired me to put my debating trousers on and write that counterpoint above. As I said myself, the NES version is a rather unusual interpretation of Elite.
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Post by Samildanach on Jul 31, 2010 16:46:30 GMT -5
No, that didn't bother me at all. I was interested to read your thoughts. It wouldn't really bother me if you were bashing my review; we've all been here together long enough to not take offence.
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