Tingle. A name that often finds itself tangled in a spider web of slanderous opinions and oppressive observations. Very few opinions are ever supportive of the character behind the name. However, it is safe for me to say that the majority of these opinions are often regarded as negative. Tingle has frequently been named as a running joke in the video game community. He has been branded and tarnished with a galore of labels. Some ignorantly mark him as a "homosexual" (not that there's anything wrong with that), a "flake", a "man child", and others in a clear attempt at extremism, as a "pedophile".

Tingle is a very different character then what most people would have liked to seen or interact with in a video game. His lifestyle and questionable attire regularly stir up the opinions and emotions that reside deep within each of us. I don't want this article to take any root in as a moral lesson, but the straightforward truth in all of this is that most of the time it is very easy to base judgment on differences alone.

Admittedly, I did initially perceive Tingle in a very harsh light. The first time I met this character was in The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask . I thought as the majority did. I labeled him as many things. I ignorantly passed judgment on the differences that I, myself, could not feel secure enough to hold onto as my own. I was 15 at the time, and I was still quite immature. Only later would I shamefully look at my past and find admiration and respect for this very different and disparate character.

When regarding Tingle, you may ask where my admiration and respect for this character has stemmed from? To put it frankly, Tingle has balls. Not just regular balls, but balls of steel. The kind of balls that you would only hear AC/DC reference to. Tingle is a character that has been rejected by many because of his bold individual differences. Not once though, did I ever see a flicker of regret in that poor NPC's eyes.



Tingle is a constant in an intermittently mannered world. The green spandex, the red shorts, and that merry glow on his face, all help showcase society what he's all about. Tingle is a 35 year old man who finds his joy in life as an enthusiast of forest fairies and rupees. You can often find him floating around underneath his red balloon, drawing or selling maps for his father, and deciphering triforce maps for high prices. As simple and as odd as his lifestyle sounds, he is living his dream, and it seems as if he has no intentions to ever stop living that dream. Many will sneer, snicker, and attempt to persecute him for his apparent differences, but inside Tingle knows deep within that those differences make him who he really is. Unlike the stone throwers, Tingle is not afraid to be his true self.

Aside from being a very distinct, unique, and passionate man, Tingle is an entrepreneur and business genius. He may have been working for his father when the land of Termina was still in a rocky time, but by the time waters flooded Hyrule, Tingle was turning a pretty good profit for himself. As the only person to decipher triforce maps, Tingle had a monopoly on the market. High prices would soon follow. 398 Rupees per chart, and 201 Rupees for the IN-credible Chart, a chart that layed out where each triforce chart was. As Link, you had your hands full by the time you started and finished excavating and having Tingle decipher the triforce charts. Not only did you have to save the world of Hyrule from the dark lord Ganondorf, sail an entire ocean forward and back, but you had to juggle a full time rupee hunting job as well.

Throughout the game, Tingle also sold you potions, shields, and other assorted items VIA the tingle tuner. If one thing is certain, Tingle sure knows how to squeeze out financial business growth within every opportunity given to him. At the very core of his existence, Tingle is a merchant in fairy's clothes. His bold business ventures may not be entirely motivated by greed or the aspiration of wealth, but by need. As explained in Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, a result of a curse placed on him by Uncle Rupee, Tingle needs rupees to live. It may be easy to label him at first as a crook, but in all reality, he's just trying to survive.



Tingle may be a hero in the business world, but he is also one in the real world as well. In The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Ankle and Knuckle, brothers of Tingle, and David Jr, who is not related were introduced. All of them were saved by Tingle after their ship was sucked into a cyclone.

This really says a lot more about the character then what was only apparent on the surface. Tingle is a man with a beautiful heart. A heart so big, that he would risk his own existence just to save a few other human beings. An act as great as this really speaks volumes in account to ones compassion and personality. If I was ever in a similar situation, I really wouldn't be able to tell you 100% that I'd do the same. Not only is Tingle a hero in reference to his courageous past act of saving his brothers and their one friend, but he is also one in regards to the human race.

Tingle exemplifies what it is to exactly live this life that we all are experiencing now. From the womb to the grave, we all try to find happiness somewhere in between. Tingle has found his, and is quite often persecuted for it. Behind his fairy inspired apparel beats the rhythm of millions. The rhythm that beats in all of us, the rhythm of life. The pursuit of happiness is what drives us to keep living and moving forward one day at a time, as we all grow closer to stepping over the borders of death. If there is only one thing we can all learn from Tingle, it is that we must all quit taking life so seriously and have fun while our hearts our still beating.

A few months ago I finished Grand Theft Auto IV. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. It probably is the game I have played the most on my 360. I never followed the hype or promotion of this game, and initially, I really wasn't planning on buying it. I ended up purchasing it though, just to rekindle the old memories I had of raising hell in Grand Theft Auto III . I never finished GTA III, so I thought I'd do the same with IV. Do a couple missions here and there, throw in some codes, and for the rest of the time I'd just go insane, sandbox style.

My original intent eventually subsided. With Grand Theft Auto IV, I really became more interested in actually finishing and playing out the story, then just raising cane like I did in the previous Grand Theft Auto games. Rockstar definitely put out some effort into improving this franchise. Not only did they shift focus to the story and the missions, but they also polished up, added, and removed different game mechanics and elements to make the game much more enjoyable. Although Grand Theft Auto IV was definitely a step up both technologically and in depth from the other games in the series, it is still is not without it's faults.

Grand Theft Auto IV gave me great hope for the interactive future of stealing cars, killing people, and picking up sluts. I'd love to see this franchise improve and possibly even fairly earn that 10 spot from mass game reviews. I doubt that anyone at Rockstar will ever read this, but as for Grand Theft Auto V and the future of this series, here is what I'm hoping for.

Freedom to kill
One thing that really gave me friction in GTA IV was the fact that you had to 'play out' missions. 'Play out' as in actually waiting for the game to give you permission to annihilate your targeted enemies. When chasing down a goon or a civilian, I want the satisfaction, motivation, and the freedom of creativity to actually be able to wipe his or her guts out at anytime within the given mission.

By playing out these events, we become more aware of just being a video game player again. It seriously limits the role we play as Niko Bellic; a confused Serbian immigrant monster of a human being. I know that this implementation of 'playing out' missions may have been a move to help be more beneficial to the story line. Certainly, there must be a way around this shallow attempt to keep continuity. Please Rockstar, I want my 'murder simulator' to actually feel like one.

Rampage inspired annihilation
As much of a sandbox of immoral acts that the Grand Theft Auto series is known to be about, you'd think there'd eventually come the option to destroy buildings. I can kill thousands of people, steal their cars, steal their cash, and I can even kill good, honest, and right standing just cops for fun. Yet, I still can not blow up a single building without it being wrote in as a mission! With each new installment of this franchise, there needs to be more potential chaos mixed in.

Personally, I'd love to see destructible buildings. How else am I supposed to reenact 9/11, if I can't destroy a building in the process? As a matter of fact, how am I supposed to reenact it without a use of a plane as well? Rockstar, get on it, there should have been at least one flyable plane in GTA IV, but that's not the subject here, destruction is. How amazing would it be to actually fire a rocket into one of those goliath skyscrapers, only to see it and possibly other buildings around it crumble into a fiery inferno of massive destruction? 6 stars, without a doubt.



Branching off
When I first played GTA IV, I was under the impression that it was a much more interactive and nonlinear game then the previous titles. It is, but not by much. There are a few choices you can make to very minimally change the storyline. The concept was great, but after replaying the game again for the 2nd time, I learned that these opportunities for choice and branching out are very scarce. There are only about 1 or 2 somewhat major choices in the game that really help branch it out. The rest of the choices really only effect minor non important opportunities.

I'd like to see the story branch off a whole lot more in this series. Instead of having 2 alternate endings, why not 6 or 7? How about 9? Or maybe even 11 and a half? Putting more effort and thought into exploring this aspect can really add much much more replay value and depth to a game. Think of it as an interactive adventure novel. Every time you picked up the game you could have a fresh new and exciting experience.

An empire of crime
In Grand Theft Auto it seems as if you are always playing the role of a little errand boy. In future installments, why can't the tables turn? Start up a gang, a mafia, an empire of crime. Start from the bottom and work your way up to the top like good old Tony Montana. Recruit some members, negotiate with other leaders, take turf, and rule the city.

Instead of taking role as just another whipping boy for all of the other schmucks you usually work for in the city, why not become that big time schmuck? Send out some boys to take down a few guys, do some drive bys, rob some banks. It may sound like a completely different concept for a different game, but this idea could easily be implemented in as a side dish to the true heart and meat of what Grand Theft Auto has always been about. Adding something like this into the game could really freshen up the experience a whole lot. Why raise hell alone? There's power in numbers.

Wretched tools of destruction
Where have all the chainsaws gone? Out of all of the weapons in the series, I certainly prefer it over all of them. It is seriously one of the more twisted and inhumane weapons one could use. Grand Theft Auto needs more weapons like this. Twisted, sick, juvenile, wretched tools of destruction to entertain our own shunned immoral dark sides, guilty brought out in the safe havens of sandbox style video games.

Fireworks, tasers, and hell, maybe they could even bring the tank back for a matter of fact. Although there is pretty good array of weapons in GTA IV, it seems as if they took it easy on this one, and just threw in the standards. Glory be to Jesus, throw us a chainsaw here Rockstar and let the good times roll.



Criminally Smooth
Though GTA IV was overall a much more polished game then the previous titles, the character controls and movements are still lacking a bit in performance. The driving is perfect, but when controlling your character's movements, the controls can feel sort of sluggish at times. When I press the jump button it takes probably a whole second to execute the command.

I eventually got used to the controls, but honestly, I wasted too many failed missions as a result of the controls to not care. What they had going for them control wise in GTA IV was fine enough, but as a video game enthusiast I'd really like to see them tighten up the response times. It wouldn't hurt Rockstar to throw some more sweat and effort into perfecting the character controls.

Continuation of an outlaw
GTA IV was such a great experience. The game in all good conscience is like a movie that you just want to watch over and over again as if it was your first time watching it. Though like a movie that you've already seen before, it gets boring and stale after a while.

I'd love to see GTA V and future installments take the franchise to another level in terms of replay value. If only there was much more replay value in IV, I would probably still be playing it just as much as I had been a few short months back. Shooting pigeons, clearing jumps, and taking on neglected side quests only last for so long. Not to say that those ideas were bad or anything to extend the life of the game, but there needs to be a little bit more depth taken into consideration for the replay value of the single player campaign.

I have yet to play the online mode. I can't really take any clear standing on the topic of multiplayer, but it seems as if this is really where the replay value of GTA IV comes in. Hopefully, I can eventually get my 360 online again. Without it, I've found my copy of GTA IV collecting dust. Hopefully GTA V can help keep the single player experience a little bit fresher.

East coast transition
It seems as if Rockstar cut out a few things in transition from GTA: San Andreas to GTA IV. You can no longer buy property, get a hair cut, bulk up, raise skill levels, or even fly planes. To an extent I can see why they would cut out a lot of this, but deep down, as a gamer I would have liked to see IV keep a lot of these elements. In the back of my mind, I am always wondering if Rockstar will ever release another San Andreas. One that keeps the over the top feel and vibe that the last one provided.

In conclusion, here's to anticipation! It will be quite some time before we see the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best. Rockstar yet has to really disappoint me in this series, and I am sure they will hold onto this effort of staying ahead of their standard for a long time. Grand Theft Auto is without a doubt the most popular, and probably the most controversial game franchise in this day and age we live in. As technology blooms and advances, so will games. Hopefully imagination and creativity will follow, especially for the Grand Theft Auto Franchise.

Ahhh Crisis Force, what a beautiful game. Everything I love about video games is present here. It's a shmup, it's on the Famicom, and it's just one damn fun game to play overall. Whenever I feel the need to raise hell in Tokyo, I usually either bust out my army of deadly robot Godzilla clones, or I just take in hand good old Crisis Force. I never get sick of unleashing a lethal reign of bullets and lasers over and upon the city, destroying everything in my path. From buildings to giant air crafts, nothing stands in my way of total annihilation. Crisis Force is an amazing game that will help you finally live out those wild dreams of Tokyo destruction. Hopefully I can persuade you all to eventually try it out.

Crisis Force is a vertical shoot em up developed by one of my favorite companies, Konami. It was released back in 1991 for Japan only. The Japan only release was probably due to the fact that the N.E.S was becoming outdated and eclipsed by the new cutting edge 16 bit machines at the time; the PC engine, the Megadrive, and the Super Nintendo.

Crisis Force featured many staples of Konami's past shooters. Staples such as 2 player co op, the use of the Konami code, and the inclusion of many standard Konami power ups that you'd come to expect from one of their shooters. Although it did include many staples of past Konami shooters, Crisis Force was definitely not just another run of the mill shooter. The ability and concept of switching between three different ship configurations during play offered both depth and a refreshing change of pace to the formula. Crisis Force offered 7 different varied stages all balanced, blended, and beautifully orchestrated with obstructions, bosses, mini bosses, power ups, and a contrasting array of endless enemies.

You have to really hold onto your ass with this game; it is one fast paced bitch. Crisis Force demands alot of attention from you. Sometimes blinking just will not seem worth it in the midst of a heated battle. You will have to keep your eyes peeled and your thumb moving, because any wrong move can be a deadly one. Although there are 3 different difficulty modes to choose from, Crisis Force can honestly be one hell bent beast of a game to play.



The power ups are pretty standard in this game. There are two different gun upgrades. One of these upgrades will improve your basic straight forward shot in rate. The other upgrade will allow you to use a wave laser. Speed up icons also exist; picking these babies up will help add speed and enhanced maneuverability to your ship. Two other icons will grant you more power then the standard icons will, for both your shot and your speed. There are also small blue icons that will need to be collected in order to unlock their powerful ability.Once enough are collected, your ship will transform into one real bad mutha of a form. In this form your ship will take on invincibility combined with the most powerful shots in the entire game for a limited amount of time. In two player mode you can also merge ships together with your friend. One player will be assume responsibility for steering, while the other, for shooting. Once the Invisibility ends, your planes will split apart, and you will become separated once again.

The controls are fairly simple. Hold down the B button to discharge a steady stream of bullets. Hit the A button while you are letting off these bullets to release a bomb or special attack, these change depending on which ship configuration you are using at the time. When you are not firing, hit the A button to change your ship configuration. There are 3 in total. Your main ship form will fire pretty powerful shots exclusively straight. The second form will allow you to fire both straight and behind. Last we have the third ship form, this form will let you fire from the front and the two sides of your ship. You will need to use and master all three of these configurations throughout this game to survive.

There is a story to this game. Just like many other shooters though, it's just there to add some motivation to finish the game. It's very typical and cliche. In the year 199X, a force of robots have descended upon Tokyo in an attempt to destroy the city, and possibly the rest of the world. The nameless protagonists are a girl and a boy who both pilot red and blue fighter ships. The story is incredibly weak, bland, and sterile. I know this is a shooter and it doesn't really have to be strong in the story telling aspect, but as a whole it just doesn't even feel like shmup developers even try that often when it comes to story. This game is no exception.



The presentation for this game is absolutely amazing. This has to be visually one of the greatest looking games on the Famicom, if not, the best. Konami really pushed the limits of the hardware here, and you can really see it. From use of multiple layers of parallax scrolling, to destruction effects, to very detailed and defined tiles and sprites, and the simple manipulation of them all, Konami really did the impossible here. However, with all of this going on, there are occasional slowdowns. Slowdowns aren't really anything too uncommon with the N.E.S library. You may even look at them in a positive light, as a moment to finally wipe the sweat from your brow. Although I would prefer the game not to have these slowdowns, I don't really mind them too much as is.

You can see that Konami also put in about roughly the same amount of effort in towards the sound and the music here as they did for the graphics. The sound effects all seem to fit in pretty well. They're your usual Konami sounds, but they all work just as fine as they have in years past. The soundtrack however, is exceptionally well done. Alot of the songs you hear will stick in your head for days. Most of them make you look forward to hearing them in the stages they reside in. There's also an option to here each track in the options menu. Not every song is exceptional though, there are a couple of songs that just don't do the rest of the soundtrack justice. Although they aren't bad as stand alone songs, some just seem like filler in comparison to the other tracks.

Overall Crisis Force is a very impressive, outstanding, fun game that has, and will probably be overlooked as time keeps trudging forward. If not for the late release date and the exclusive regional release, this game could have been a well known legendary classic. Despite few bland exceptions, Crisis Force has all of the elements and chemistry to make up for one immaculate experience. Almost everything present here is at the top of it's game. It's hard to hate Crisis Force. Give it a try and see if you like it, chances are you probably will.

When I was still a lad, there was this craze going on about making cartoons based on ducks. Back in the late 80's to the early 90's, mallards ruled the entertainment world. We had the pleasure of watching Count Duckula, Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck, The Mighty Ducks, and every now and then we would have the opportunity's to watch the old classics, staring either Donald Duck or Daffy Duck. I have no idea why my generation at the time was a target for duck related entertainment, but as time went by we all seemed to grow fond of it. I have yet to find one person in my age range that has never had at least one fond memory of any late 80's to early 90's 'duck shows'.

It must have been a growing market back then. It just seemed as if everyone was getting into the duck business for some reason another. Even Capcom, one of the biggest third party video game developers at the time, would go on to eventually contribute to this new wave of children's entertainment inspired by the Anatidae bird family. (Yes, I just pulled that out of Wikipedia.)

Capcom, in my opinion, made the definitive duck related games for the dominating system of that time; the time when ducks ruled the world. That system was the Nintendo Entertainment System. Capcom had the licensing from Disney. It was their job to create games based on Disney's hit shows and movies. With this license, Capcom would go on to make three of the greatest duck related games ever created. Three games that would be released at the peak of this new era in entertainment; the era of the duck.



The most notable and praised game they created due to their relationship with Disney was Duck Tales. Duck Tales, the show, starred Scrooge McDuck, a cheap stubborn wealthy old prune who traveled the world with his nephews and a few friends. They traveled on reasons to uncover lost and hidden treasures. Capcom's game basically took this premise and ran with it. From the Amazon to the Moon, you discovered treasure as the old cheapskate himself.

With your cane you could finally unleash that pent up old man rage you have been building up over the years. Pressing Jump and down would activate this cane mechanic. The cane acted in a 'pogo stick' fashion. It would allow you to hop up and down, break rocks, and it would also harm enemies. The cane could also be used in the form of a 'golf club'. You could hit rocks, and other objects to clear out paths, as well as enemies. The cane mechanic really helped establish a strong foundation for this game.

Duck Tales stood true to the show as well as to itself as a game. It didn't try too hard to be something that it wasn't. All it did was provide a fun interactive experience based on a popular TV show. I still find it fun to pick up after all these years. I regard this game as a true classic. Not only was it fun, but it starred ducks for duck sake!!!

After Capcom's Duck Tales made a hit, the company went on to make Duck Tales 2 in 1993. Duck Tales 2 provided new mechanics for the cane. Not only could you use the cane in 'pogo stick' fashion or 'golf club' fashion, but you could use it to drag blocks, flip switches, latch on to rings, and move rafts. The game also changed locations as well. Scrooge in Duck Tales 2, could travel to Niagara Falls, the Bermuda Triangle, Mu, Egypt and Scotland. New friends such as Webby and Gyro, who would help provide Scrooge with cane upgrades, would also accompany him on his adventure. Duck Tales 2 could have been just as big as the original, but due to the late release date of a system that was going out of date, Duck Tales 2 just would not have the chance to fairly prove itself.


The last game I'll bring up in the Capcom duck trilogy will be Darkwing Duck. Now I wasn't as big of a fan of this show as I was of Duck Tales, but it still was one of those shows that I watched on a regular basis as a kid. The game was somewhat of a hybrid between Mega Man and Duck Tales. In fact according to Wikipedia, this game was literally built off of the Mega Man 5 Engine. Darkwing Duck has the ability to shoot enemies, gain special guns, and spew out the "I am Darkwing Duck" phrase at the beginning of each stage.

The main mechanic in this game is hanging. Everywhere you go, you'll have to hang onto either ledges, switches, hooks, or mobile objects to make progress throughout this game. Although it wasn't anything new for 1992, the hanging mechanic was a pretty welcome addition to this game. Don't quote me on this, but to my recollection Taito introduced this mechanic in The Flintstones: Rescue of Dino and Hoppy a year earlier in 1991. Used mechanic or not, Darkwing Duck was, and still is a pretty damn fun game.

The duck trend was something that I nostalgically hold onto fondly. It was just a really different and odd concept at that time. Cartoon developers targeted us with ducks, of all things. Why ducks? In retrospect, I find it hilarious. Words really can not describe how ridiculous I find this now after all these years looking back on it. It makes me feel somewhat special to have been in that targeted demographic. Video games, cartoons, and yes, ducks made up my childhood. Capcom just helped merge those worlds together for me with the development of these three titles.

[This is the start of a new line of articles I thought I'd try to write up every now and then. They are about taking on different perspectives to major infamous flaws in games. These perspectives may not be ones that I hold onto myself. I am simply writing about them to help broaden my opinions on certain games and franchises.]

In the creation of Castlevania franchise, I'm not sure if Konami was originally bucking for an action game. Action games usually are often heavily reliant on smooth controls. Castlevania on the other hand has some of the stiffest controls I have ever witnessed. I know that Konami in that same time period has made many great action games with silky smooth controls, so why would they care to burden Castlevania, a budding title with alot of potential, with these stiff ungodly controls?

You can look at this in two ways. One, if it's true that Konami was originally aiming for an action game, then they screwed up royally with the controls. Two, Konami went a different route and put a twist on the action formula. A twist that would rely more on memorization and pattern recognition then quick reflexes and maneuverability.



Taking an approach to this with perspective number two, I don't think that making an action reliant game was Konami's main initial vision for the Castlevania franchise. The controls were good enough for what this game was all about. To help further prove a point from this perspective, I will also bring in account Castlevania 2 and 3. Not once between the gaps of the development of these 3 games has Konami ever really changed the control scheme. They were either too damn lazy to change these controls, or they just kept them like they were because of a stance in this formula that bares heavy reliance on memorization.

To be able to get through Castlevania you have to really study what is going on just to progress. Unlike action games where you have the chance to finish the game in one sitting, Castlevania is different because you have to indeed learn and study the game. There is no way anybody can finish one of those 3 games in their first play through. This is what I like most about this title, and the 2 following it. They demand sacrifice from you.

This formula, no matter how frustrating it can be at times, is very very richly rewarding. Progressing anywhere can give you enough satisfaction to carry on. This balance between cradling two opposing emotions influenced by the design is what I admire most about the original Castlevania games. Just finishing one is almost orgasmic. I can see why people hate the controls, but when you look at these games from a different perspective, it is in truth, hard to see anything remotely wrong with them.



However, maybe Konami really did screw up. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was made by the same company, the controls were amazing, and it also relied on memorization and pattern recognition just like Castlevania. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles though still had that wider window of luck compared to Castlevania. By that I mean, because of the smooth controls and maneuverability that this game possessed, there was a better chance of finishing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a first sitting then there was with Castlevania. Although to this day, I have never witnessed anybody who has been able to finish either one of these games on their first try. Both require a lot of practice, and both have very little room for error. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles though is a little more lenient with this then Castlevania because of the controls.

All in all despite either these controls being intentional or not, Castlevania will always be a classic. I could probably go on about this for days repeating myself, but I just wanted to point out a different perspective on Castlevania's notoriously stiff controls

Article inspired by Kawaiininjakat.
Select Images Credited To Retrowarp.com

*Minor Edit: To make a better comparison, I changed Contra With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Sin And Punishment is a game developed by the highly acclaimed developer Treasure. Unlike many other Treasure games, Sin And Punishment was only released in Asia. Because of it's limited run and high import demand, it has become a very rare sought after game over the years. Seven years after it's initial release Nintendo has finally released it worldwide onto the virtual console as an import title.


So what exactly is the concept of Sin And Punishment? The game is an on rails 3D shooter fashioned in the style of over the top arcade experience. Your main objectives pretty much are to shoot up everything in sight, survive, as well as to study and to adapt to different situations, patterns, enemies, and bosses.

The entire game is themed around a futuristic setting of japan with subtle overtones of magic, spirituality, and the urgency of a potential apocalypse. This theme really does work well for this type of game. In combination with the theme and the story, both elements help meld meaning and reasoning into your every move.




With exception to the horrible voice acting, and some of the messy character models, the presentation is astounding for an N64 game. So much detail has been put into all of the environments that you encounter throughout this game. They are all very rich in both color and texture and overall they really are quite pleasant to look at despite this game being released in the year 2000 for a now primitive 64 bit console. For the time, these graphics pretty much were mind blowing for the system. Although they aren't as advanced as some of the expansion pack games, graphically Sin and Punishment holds up very well in comparison to later more advanced 64 titles.

As For the music, it really does fit well. Although I may not be a huge fan of the 64's midi chip interpretation of the electric guitar, the songs themselves hold a very arcadish character to them, whiling simultaneously enveloping you into the whole atmosphere of the game. Overall the songs are easily forgettable though. When I'm actually playing, I really find myself appreciating the music, but shortly afterwards I can't remember a single note. The only thing I can grasp onto afterwards with the music however is the memory of the general feel and vibe it brought to me.




Sin and punishment definitely has a story to keep you going in this game. Like I said earlier, the story here really helps provide reasoning and meaning for your actions. As fitting as the story is in all aspects of this game, it really does not translate well if you are only taking it in context with the game itself. I'm not sure if my opinion on this would change if I was able to read the native Japanese text in the game's cut scenes, but as far as solely being reliant on the English voice overs, the story really seems to be very hard to follow when exclusively following it through the game. After reading the manual though, you'll find a great deal of insight into what is really going on in this mad mad world. Reading the back story in the manual will really help put rails on your comprehension of the actual in game plot.

Backstory taken from a translation of the manual:

It's the dawn of a new century, mankind has succeeded in maintaining peace and has prospered like never before. However, from this newfound prosperity has come a population explosion. This increase in mouths to feed has caused a strain on the food supplies of the world. Shortages of food became critical in all regions of the world. Mankind needed a new food source, one that could breed even under the most abnormal conditions; and so scientists began creating a "New Species" of life. After some time, the scientists succeeded in creating this "New Species" of life, and Hokkaido (The north-most Japanese Island) was chosen as the huge nesting pasture. The humans who succeeded in obtaining the new source of food expected their new found prosperity to continue again.

However...

From the midst of the "New Species" came mutated beasts which suddenly began to devour their human hunters. The attacking hoards which formed a loose group henceforth became know as "Ruffians", they travelled south through the Japanese Islands and gained control over all of north-east Japan. In Tokyo the Ruffian began invading in front of the very eyes of the city's inhabitants, large-scale riots of confused citizens occurred frequently. This situation led to dispatch of an international peace organization called the "Armed Volunteers", but they began to use their military force to suppress the people of Japan.

As expected, the future of Japan has become again... bleak. And possibly so has the future of humanity. On the other hand, a mysterious rumour began to circulate among the people of Tokyo, where the battle for the survival of mankind is being lost day by day.

The rumour...

The arrival and appearance of an organization of citizens which call themselves the "Saviour Group"...

The "Saviour Group" were formed from a group of people who recovered from illness, injury & sorrow due to the miracles of a mysterious holy woman called "Achi". The "Savour Group" is a self-defense organization of Japanese citizens who support themselves by hunting Ruffian, they oppose the Armed Volunteers who they consider hypocritical masses.

Exhausted and wounded people began to gather to the holy woman Achi one after another, and ask for "salvation".

However, her "salvation" was not without a price. In compensation the healed must "fight" in the name of the holy woman. Many weak people became involved in many unnecessary disputes, and began following a path to despair...




First off, I do not own the actual physical N64 cartridge of this game. I only own the Virtual Console version, so I will only be explaining the layout of the Virtual Console's best suited controller for this game. That controller would be the Classic controller, not the Gamecube controller. When I first initially bought this game I made the mistake of using the Gamecube controller, because most 64 games on the Wii are layed out better for that controller then the classic controller, but this game is clearly an exception.

To move your character in the only two directions possible, left and right, you will be using the D pad, or alternatively the Y and X buttons. You can also strafe by double tapping the directionally mapped out buttons. The right analog stick will move your on screen cross hair. Holding down the L button will provide you with a constant stream of firepower for distant enemies, while tapping it with close enemies nearby will discharge a slash attack with your sword. You may be questioning the choice of mapping these two actions to one button because of potential confusion or cheapening of gameplay, but here, that's not really the case at all. When you get to actually play the game, you'll thank God that they didn't go the route of mapping slashing to another button. Both actions blend together very nicely married to that one common L button.

As for the other buttons, A will change your cross hair between free roam targeting with raised power and Lock on targeting with weaker attacks. The whole addition of having this at your disposal throughout the game really adds to the depth and overall strategy. The R button is used for jumping,and tapped twice you can perform a double jump. The start button pauses the game while bringing up a small menu.

At first the controls can be a little awkward, but you have to realize that for an N64 game, it really did something different with the 64's controller back then. You'll eventually get used to it, but looking back at what the original button layout was and how it translated, I'd say it came out pretty well for a virtual console release.




What can I say? The game is fun, damn fun to be exact. Despite it's aged look, it really still holds up today in gameplay. Sitting down and playing this game today really excites me. It has that great unique hybrid feel of over the top arcade action with the serious overtones and highlights that we expect more from console games.

Graphically for an N64 game, it really does hold up well and it looks pretty pleasing to the old eyes. The story, the theme, the art style, and the music really all help transport you into this world Treasure has created. The game never gets old or repetitive because every level is pretty much a twist to something you've already done or it's a completely new experience.




Despite being a very solid title, the game is definitely not without faults. First off the voice acting is extremely horrible and in game phrases can get very repetitive and annoying extremely fast. Now some may argue that the voice acting may be so bad that it's good, and to an extent I can agree with that, but in account to the theme and the story of Sin And Punishment, the game is supposed to be presented with somewhat serious overtones. The voice acting really at the time and now is atrocious in its effort.

The character models are a train wreck of scrapped together polygons. You can tell what the characters are supposed to look like and you can still get the individual vibe of each character, but compared to numerous 64 titles these models aren't really up to snuff.




Hands down Sin and Punishment is really worth your money. Either buy it on the Virtual Console for 12 measly U.S. dollars or try to find it on Ebay. If you are a fan of 3d rail shooters, unique games, Treasure games, or if you just want something fun to play then this game is definitely for you. It brings so much to the table that you will enjoy. Just the overall mix and feel of a game that barely ever gets stale will keep you playing it until your death. You can play this game off and on casually as well as playing it to rack up a huge score, either way it's hard to deny that this game is fun and worthy of your time. If I had to give this game a grade then I'd definitely give it an A.



Select Images Credited To Platypuscomix.net