Category: Review

Reviews on GameSpotting!

Sonic Riders PC Review

sonic riders pcI am a big fan of Sega, I really like the Sonic series. It has its ups and downs and sometimes its major downs. Sonic Riders for the PC isn’t really much of a down. On the PC Sonic Riders isn’t very diffrent compared to its brothers on the console.

BUT THEY FIXED A BUG THAT WAS DRIVING ME NUTS! In the console version of Sonic Riders, if you went back to the menu after the race, progressed through the story line, viewed a replay, went to the “black market” it would save the game. The problem was that the game often forgot that it saved after the race and would save again. This would cause the game to save multiple times when it didn’t need to.

Anyway, Sonic Riders for the PC has some great controls, they are very simple and flow well. If you are going to play this game, it would be better to use a control pad then a stick (it will come in handy for those very tight turns you are normally required to make). All the levels are exactly the same as the console versions (despite the more detail in the graphics area).

But during their improvements Sega fell short on quite a few details. One the sound sucks. At certain points the music would stop and you could hear noise like the save noise, the menu sounds (not sure why this is). Drifting Controls and the Restore Air controls (when you lose control of your character just before the next lap line [if you have played the console version before you will know what I mean]) should have been fixed to support joysticks. When trying to map controls to my joystick I noticed that Sega accidentally typed in all caps…again. And oddly there is no option to shut up the stupid announcer (like there is in the console version) only, the option to make him (it’s actually an omochao [so it has no gender..somehow..]) quiet also kills all the character’s voices, sound effects, and menu noises.

On a good note, Sega finally rendered the cut scenes. Which before they looked like they looked like graphics from the beta version. That’s good. So to the ratings:

Sound: 3/10 -This is so unexceptible, the game sound and music don’t work well togther
Graphics: 7.5/10 -Better then the console versions
Controls: 9/10 -Fantastic!
Playback: 7.5/10 -Great! but it loses value over time
Improvement: 6/10 -Not much changed from the console versions

Overall Score: 7/10 – Sound was a big problem as well as new content (improvement).

LEGO Star Wars II Review

legostarwarsLego Star Wars 2 is a great game, I love legos. I like Starwars. It’s a great mix. In Lego Star Wars 2 you play through the “old school” movies with many references to the recent movies. Like the first game, it’s jam packed with humor. From Han Solo kissing Leia and then winking to the camera to things like the stormtroopers in a spa, or them acting like models to open the gates of doors. New to the game is the ability to customize your own character, bringing the true spirit of LEGO to the game. At times the game is really frustrating due to controls (I play with a joystick). And the game keeps repeating that you must press “J1_Button 1”, which I have no idea what that is since there is no button 1. The ability to change the controls is nice but the descriptions for what the buttons do are very very vague. I like the special powers some characters have, like chewbacca can rip other characters arms off or greedo (some weird bounty hunter) can throw thermal detonators as well as shoot you.



The graphics are really good for a lego game, in fact they improved from the last game. Better reflections (as seen in the photo above) and much more. The game has pretty good voice and sound. However most of the talking is “Blah blah blah”. But it makes the cut scenes a lot funnier. That aside, let’s get to the ratings:
Graphics: 8/10 – A nice improvement from the last game
Sound/Music: 9/10
Controls: 6/10 – Yeah it kinda failed here, with terrible button descriptions and the annoying messages
Playback: 10/10 – Awesome makes me wanna play again
Improvement: 9/10 – Great improvement except the controls are a step back from the first game.
Overall Score: 8/10 -Awesome game just needs better control functionality.The best version to get is the Xbox 360 version as it’s controls, sound and options for graphics are way better then the PC version.

The DS version is the game that you should pass on. Do not get this game. It’s not even fun. It’s a terrible port and is filled with levels that were not finished, terrible graphics and the whole game is pretty much a glitch. So many that you will go insane.

Sly 3 review

Considering that Sly3 has came out and that I am a fan of the Sly series (yeah I know). I couldn’t wait to play this game. Which is really good game. Once again you play as sly who once again has to pull off a major feat of stealing something. This time it’s Sly’s family vault. But in order to do this he has the “bad guy” (police officer who sounds like a bad guy) join his team. Which is really desprate attempt by the people at sucker punch. I think the most major change that was made to Sly 3 was the introduction of 3D. With each retail copy of the game comes a pair of 3D glasses inside the manual, which you can cut out and use whenever the game calls for it. The 3D sequences in the standard playthrough are few and far between, and each time you encounter a 3D level, the glasses are vaguely incorporated into the story. For example, in one instance, you’re heading into a dark cave and are told that you can use optical enhancers to see more clearly (even the characters inside the game can be seen wearing them). However, it’s entirely optional, because before each sequence you’re prompted with an option to play in 3D or not. The game is really fun and very enjoyable. But however is not as great as Sly 2. I like the feel of control from Sly 2 better then Sly 3. And the story is better played out in Sly 2

I rate this game a 4.5/5

LA Rush Review

Yes I know this game isn’t out, yet. But I beta-tested it so I know. They tried those midway guys but failed…miserably. The game starts out ok..you get a cool car and get to drive around a big open space. Then it gets weird. You must run into 7 yellow light beam thingies from heaven before the CPUs do. Unfortunately they have the special power of going through buildings. Other cars are on the road and the car models are terrible. They look like cars from the Micro-Machines game for the N64. And that’s bad. When you crash you get to see this weird foggy screen with your car hitting another car and then exploding but then you car becomes perfect again and all the cars you hit are ok. Very odd. Don’t get me started on the Cops. Oh too late. The cops in this game are EXTREMELY annoying! They spawn from everything. Semis, Buses, other cars, buildings, etc. The turn on their siren when you are even going the speed limit and are in the right lane. The cops also use (the terrible horrible…I hate to say it…….EA games…….Hot pursuit……..engine. This means they are really dumb and like to swarm in on you. In unfair numbers like 40.) Also your boost is terrible (max speed of 100, the cops go 120). And the cops are dumb…..Like take this. I was just driving along with 2 cops on my trail one blew up randomly and the other was still following me. We smashed into a brick wall in the middle of a hill next to the hollywood sign. His car was upside down. The guy inside was dead (There are people in the car. And their faces change). Guess what happens. I start to back up and the cop car siren goes on. Next thing I know there are 12 more cops on my tail. Unfair. The car models are horrid and you can see through the terrain. The programming guys have another 36 more bugs they need to work out (I counted). DON’T BUY THIS GAME AT ALL. DON’T EVEN CONSIDER IT. This game is for people who liked the game: Big Rigs Over the Road racing (which is so bad it is the only game to ever get a score under zero [later the score was changed because it didn’t fit the “range”]). LA Rush comes out 10/10/2005 for the PS2 and Xbox. The final version sucks. The game is horribly unrealistic. I rate this game a 1/5.