One of the most memorable and challenging games on the genesis, Vectorman is a game that will keep up coming back for more. There are enemies in many sizes, shapes, and forms for you the blast into scrap and levels large enough to explore. I picked this game up in the 4th grade and couldn't put it down till I beat the game. Which I did, with great satisfaction.

The main story is about Vectorman, an orbot, a robot made entirely of balls, who came back after dumping some garbage into the sun to find the entire planet under the dictator control of Warhead, a rather large orbot once called Raster who went crazy after a smaller orbot installed a warhead to his head. Warhead plans to kill the humans, who left the planet so the orbots could clean it, when they get back. Now Vectorman must travel to the main control station past an untold amount of enemies and stop Warhead before its too late. The game is divided into days, each day brings a different level. The game starts at the launch station where Vectorman first steps foot out of his ship. Equipped with his palm blaster, he travels across the station and destroys anything that gets in his way. These include large orbots, flying bugs, turrets, and bombs. The first boss he comes across is a helicopter/plane hybrid with wrecking balls on each wing. After defeating each boss, he does a little victory pose.

The gameplay is simple, just point your d-pad at what you want to shoot and fire away. You are also capable of double jumping a great distance and falling down from great heights without taking damage. His default weapon is his hand blaster, which can be upgraded by picking up powerups from TV monitors you shoot down. Another feature to the character is his ability to transform. These range from drills, shield, parachute, bomb, and jetpack. These will often come in handy for destroying walls that block your path. You also transform during specific parts of the game which is often used to adapt to stages that Vectorman wouldn't be able to move in his normal form.

The enemies and bosses are numerous and creative. From hulking juggernauts to acrobatic blobs, each one has different skills and weakness to exploit. Bosses are what you expect in the environment you are in, but sometimes they surprise you when you think you beat them. One is the blueprint bosses that jump from the paper to attack you and the mechanical snowman popping out from the ground. These guys are really out to get you!

Graphics are surprisingly well done. It's as if it were a 3D game instead of 2D side-scroller despite the 16-bit graphics. The movements are smooth and everything is very shiny. You can barely see anything wrong with the game. If you make Vectorman wait there for a moment, he starts juggling his arm out of boredom. The music is also well made, one of the best techno industrial songs I've heard at the time and for a long time.

Overall, the game is well deserving to have a try at it. Which is possible now for the Wii and PS2. If you have a few bucks, be sure to get the game 'cause its that awesome. The game also has a sequel which tells what happens next, but that for another review.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion



Coming back again from the swamps of Morrowind, Elder Scrolls 4 gives you another chance to battle against the forces of evil and play as the good (or bad) hero. Picking this game up a set amount of time ago, I couldn't help but enjoy the lot of side-quests and storylines written in the game. Although there are some minor things that could have been worked, the experience had still been good.



The story starts out simple. You play as prisoner who, for unknown reasons, had been held there for a supposed crime. Then come Emperor Uriel Septim VII and his bodyguards. They enter your cell and open a passageway. Then they tell you not to follow. This becomes rather pointless as there isn't anything else to do and would make for a rather boring game if you just sat in the cell. There you meet up with the king again and after going with them a bit, they get ambushed by men in red robes. In trusted with the amulet that is suppose to hold great power and to have it sent to the next heir, you make your way out of the sewers to glories freedom. During this whole trip from the cell to the freedom outside the sewers, you have given choices to customize your character according to race and type of skills you would like to use over the course of the game. Although once you leave the sewers, the choices are permanent. So after you leave the sewers, you find out that the gates of a hellish place called Oblivion has opened up due to the lack of an emperor. So now you must journey onward and hone your body to face against the enemies you are bound to face in your quest to save Cyrodiil form certain doom. Along the way, you get caught up with a multitude of other storylines and characters that will help you either become more powerful or richer.


Hate to be the guy who stole from that thing

The gameplay aspect is fairly straight forward. At the beginning, you choose the appearance and type of character you want. Then you build him or her up however you want. You have an attack button, jump button, action button, block, shoot, and targeting. Despite the standard actions, there are a few things new to the game. You can pickpocket, picklocks, cast spells, wear any kind of armor, buy housing, and many more. You increase your skills and attributes by leveling up which can choose when to when you gain enough experience. You also gain mastery over certain skills when you do them enough times. Such as swords, if you use them long enough, you can gain special skills that allow you to give more powerful attacks. You also have the choice of either traveling by foot or using the map to travel to places you've already visited as well as adjusting the difficulty to however you want. There are also different ways you can earn cash to buy the equipment you require. You can even steal it if you don't feel up to wasting money. You also have the choice to be a good guy or the bad anti-hero by killing people, stealing or many other bad things.


With this sword, I shall rule the world!

Visually, this game is vast. Very vast. It can take you days just to find every nook and cranny of the world and you would still have more secrets to find. The environment is detailed, although you'll start to see a pattern in which the land is placed, you can't help but enjoy riding around the place. The characters are also well made, although their voices are often poor quality. One minute a beggar is speaking rather raggedy like you you would expect... then suddenly she is speaking in a clear, intelligent manner. It doesn't help that most of the voices done are the same on almost every other character except the main characters. An interesting visual extra is that if you steal their clothing they normal wear during the night, they come out with just simple rags and clothing. A nice touch by the developers as you can not only change your own clothing, but to a extent, others as well.

Overall, the game is something that is worth looking into if like to spend long hours leveling up and large open spaces. I recommend renting it in case you done have a taste for the this but would like to try it out. The only other problem I have with the game is the vampire glitch. To which you turn into a vampire by a disease but can't return to normal when you try to get ingredients to turn back. So other then that, it's a game worth checking out. Good morrow everyone.

One man against an entire army and a mech called Metal Gear. Seems impossible, but for a man named Snake, it's his job. Once again called from retirement, Snake must embark on a mission that could result in the earth's salvation or demise.

The story starts off with Snake receiving his debriefing from the Coronal, who will serve as one of his advisers for the mission. He must infiltrate an enemy base and sabotage Metal Gear to prevent a nuke from being launched. However, due to a number of factors, you only have a pair of binoculars and a pack of cigs at the start of the mission so you must use what you can find on site. You enter from an underground tunnel via underwater and must make your way toward the elevator past the patrolling guards. Once inside, you will remove your scuba gear and the elevator stops just outside the heliport. There you will see the main villain, Liquid Snake, who gets on the Hind helicopter to shoot down some nearby air-forces. Once the cutscene is played, you will be introduced to your advisers and continue on with your mission. You must first find the DARPA chief and rescue him from his imprisonment. So you must collect the needed items and sneak past all the guards and cameras littering the rooms. Of course, this is easier said then done and it's never that simple.



You, as Snake, have the ability to sneak past enemies using the ability to duck, crouch, crawl, and hide. You can use your surroundings to your advantage, hiding under a crate or a box and waiting for the guard to pass by. You can also misdirect them by knocking on the wall or leaving footprints for them to follow. You can also see the enemies nearby using your radar. In the case you do get caught or have to fight, you also have an array of weapons at your disposal. These include, but not limited to, a pistol, machine gun, assault rifle, grenades, and explosives. While on alert though, you can't use your radar as it gets jammed rather easily. To get out of alert, you must find a hiding spot until the heat dies down. Of course this doesn't work during boss fights. Each boss you face requires a special way to fight them. One even requires you to switch control ports in order to keep him from dodging your attacks.



Graphics for the game is very blocky, though it is understandable with the limited resources of the PS system. Its actually the most graphically adapt for its time. The use of simple shapes in such a complex manner is not often seen in games like that. This includes the Enemy's AI. They are capable of recognizing footprints in the snow and following their trail and going toward the source of an unnatural sound. They also fall asleep and catch colds as well, adding realism for the game. Music for the game is also memorable, having one of the most recognizable tunes in video game history. Not as much as Mario, Zelda or Sonic, but still knowable for your modern gamer.



The first Metal Gear game is definitely a game worth checking out. If course its not meant for younger audiences since they would have trouble figuring out what do on their first play through. I recommend buying it with the collectors set of the entire series so you can enjoy the entire series at a reasonable price or download from Playstation network for only 5 bucks.

I would like to review "Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow" for the SNES system. A game created by Disney Interactive and stars Donald Duck as the leading protagonist in this platformer.

The story starts off with the "Medium-boiled" detective Maui Mallard investigating the whereabouts of a missing idol that belongs to the local tribe of the island. If he doesn't find the idol in time, the island explodes. The first level involves exploring a mansion full of spiders, ghosts, and creepy butlers. The only weapon at your disposal is a gun that shoots different variety of bugs. While you run through the stage, you collect any gold and jewelry you find laying around; they help you get to the bonus round and unlock your password. Four or five stages later, you meet up with a giant mechanical spider. You'd think after all that, it would be over. No, that's only the beginning.



Shooting things with a buggun can be fun, but that would get old rather fast. So how do you spice it up? Turn yourself into a ninja of course! When the second level comes about, you are given the ability to turn from a Hawaiian shirt-wearing detective into a badass blindfolded ninja with a staff thanks to the Yin/yang power tokens. Abilities include close-range combat, narrow tunnel climbing, hiding yourself in your staff by ducking, and swinging. As soon as you turn into a ninja, however, you also meet up with the witch doctor who stole the idol. He, I assume, takes major portions of your ninja coolness and sends them all over the island to hamper with your progress. After the second level, you will be given the ability to switch from your ninja self, aka Cold Shadow, to your normal self at will. Which is a good thing since some level will require you to be Maui Mallard in order to progress. Levels range from jungles to volcanos to even the land of the dead. Enemies will fit according to the story and level you are playing and rarely appear more then twice.



Graphic for the game were surprisingly high-grade compared to most SNES games. Little details like feathers being scattered after getting sucked into a bookcase and awesome background images made the difference compared to games like paperboy or Batman Forever. Not to mention the animation and style of art what gave this game life of it's own. Plus the music played in the game is simply made of awesome. If I could, I'd make it my ringtone.

There had been talk in the past that Disney once thought of making the game into a TV series. I am unable to confirm if this is right or not, but it would have been a colossal series to watch.



If you ever get the chance, I recommend playing this game. It's not often a game like this comes about.

There are many classic within the NES lineup, Scrooge McDuck's game happens to come up to this list. Ducktales the game is a rough spin-off of the show of the same name. Released September 1989, I got a copy of the game a few months afterwords and played for hours and hours. I eventually beat the game a few years later, but despite having no save feature, it had been a fun game to play.

The game starts off with Scrooge, the main character who you will control the whole game, traveling the world using the huge computer to locate the lost treasures of the world. From the jungles of Africa to the icy Himalayas to even the moon itself, you will go many places for the treasures you've crave to find. You fight many enemies and overcome the various obstacles in your way. The plot, if any, is simply Scrooge getting all the lost treasures of the world before Flintheart Glomgold does. To help you along this journey is his family and friends. These include Huey, Dewey and Louie, Gizmo Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Gyro Gearloose, and Bubba. They will help you in various ways and move the game along when you have certain items at the time.

The gameplay is simple, but challenging to master. You only have an attack and jump button along with movement. The only real weapon and item at your disposal is your cane. While its only one weapon, it can do many things. You can hit objects with it, activate switches, hit enemies with it, and even bounce on it like a pogo stick to reach higher places. The pogo function allows you to bounce on things that would normally be harmful to the player such as spikes and enemies. You can also defeat enemies by hitting objects, which slide straight at them to cause damage. There are other items to help you along the way, but these are more context sensitive. You would need to only use them at one moment of the game before they become relatively useless. The levels, which are around 5 plus a few bonus levels, are rather large maps with many passage ways and hidden secrets. You go around each level, beating enemies and collecting as many jems and jewels as you can to add up to your score. You have a limited amount of health with power-ups and health points scattered all round the levels. At the end of each one, there is a boss fight. Every one of which you must defeat after learning their patterns. When you win, you get the main treasure of the region and have everything totaled to your fancy money bin computer.

Graphics for the game are simple and what you would expect on a 8-bit system. From the enemies and the characters, you can tell what is what and who is who. The levels themselves are excellently done with careful detailing with things such as the jungle plants and mirrors that would normally be overlooked. The music itself is memorable. Easy to listen to and fits greatly with the level. One of which is the "Moon" stage theme, which has since become one of the iconic music tracks of the late 8bit era. Once mentioned by a gamer to be the music version of how the beginning represented the time of the video game crash of 83 and how the increased tempo picks up represented the rise of VG's popularity.

Anywho, the game itself is fun and challenging. With memorable characters and a solid gameplay, it can keep you on for hours just so you can collect everything and beat the game. I would recommend buying the game, since it should be relatively cheap now. Something even a money-tight Scrooge McDuck would be happy to buy.