• Tag Archives Xbox

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly (August 2002)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly – August 2002

    Electronic Gaming Monthly was perhaps the most popular and certain one of the longest lasting video game magazines in the U.S. The first issue came out in the late 1980s and it continued publication into the 2000s. The August 2002 issue includes:

    Features

    • Miyamoto’s Angels – Referring to Nintendo’s popular franchises Metroid, Mario and Zelda. This article previews the new games coming soon in those franchises to the GameCube and Game Boy Advance including Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube), Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA), Metroid Prime (GameCube), Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance), Legend of Zelda (GameCube), and Zelda GBA.
    • The First GameCube and Xbox RPGs – Morrowind for the Xbox (but honestly, your better off playing it on a PC) and Lost Kingdoms for the GameCube are a couple of the first major RPGs for those platforms.
    • Grand Theft Auto Copycats – A look at some games that are, shall we say, influenced significantly by Grand Theft Auto, including The Getaway and True Crime: Streets of L.A., both for the PS2.

    Departments

    • Editorial – Looking at trends in video games, both good (adult themes in games) and bad (poor licensed games…but this has almost always been a trend).
    • Letters – Letters from readers about Tony Hawk 4, cel shading, Star Wars games, the Final Fantasy movie, and much more.
    • Press Start – The top news this month includes highlights from E3, and update on the PlayStation 2’s success, Microsoft pushes online gaming with the Xbox and new games like Unreal Championship, Nintendo pushing new games in major franchises but lacks online presence (Phantasy Star Online is the only online game at the time). For the GBA, more games are being released that make use of the GB/GBA link. Get extras in Animal Crossing and Phantasy Star Online.
    • Gossip – Quartermann speculates on rumors including Sonic retiring from Adventure games; Rare to start developing games for multiple systems; Doom III for the Xbox; and more.
    • Previews – A look at tons of upcoming games. For the PlayStation 2: Shinobi, The Two Towers, The Getaway, True Crime, WWE Smackdown!, Dark Cloud 2, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2, Zone of the Enders 2, Contra Shattered Soldier, The Sims, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Mega Man X7, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, James Bond 007 Nightfire, Silent Hill 3, Suikoden III, Wild Arms 3, Breath of Fire, Tenchu 3, Red Faction II, DDRMax Dance Dance Revolution, ATV Offroad Fury 2, War of the Monsters, RTX: Red Rock, DAve Mira BMX XXX, and NCAA Football 2003. For the GameCube: Resident Evil 0, Mario Party 4, Project BG&E, Wario World, Haven, F-Zero, Capcom Vs. SNK, Dungeons & Dragons Heroes, 1080 White Storm, and Aquaman. For the Xbox: Metal Gear Solid 2, Dead to Rights, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Blinx, Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, The Fellowship of the Ring, Duality, WWE Raw 2, Project Ego, Tao Feng, and Hitman 2. For the Game Boy Advance: Kirby, Contra Advance, Golden Sun The Lost Age, and R-Type III.
    • Review Crew
      • PlayStation 2
        • Aggressive Inline – Like Tony Hawk games but with inline skates.
        • Britney’s Dance Beat – A pretty terrible music based game.
        • Dropship: United Peace Force – A combat vehicle sim in which you not only pilot aircraft but drive ground vehicles as well.
        • Endgame – A light gun game that you probably don’t want.
        • Freekstyle – Kind of like SSX but with dirt bikes in instead of snowboards.
        • Legion: The Legend of Excalibur – A Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance like action/RPG that unfortunately does not live up to that comparison.
        • Fire Blade – A 3D combat helicopter arcade game.
        • The Mark of Kri – A 3D action adventure game that earns EGM’s ‘Game of the Month’.
        • MLB Slugfest 20-03 – A baseball game on steroids.
        • MX SuperFly Featuring Ricky Carmichael – A motocross sim with unrealistic physics…but fun to play.
        • Shifters – A not so great action/RPG.
        • Stuntman – A fun game that pits you as stunt car driver. Can be frustrating completing multipart stunts…
        • Sky Gunner – A fun 3D shooter but with some slowdown.
        • Stitch Experiment 626 – A 3D adventure featuring Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. Could have been a better game with better camera tracking.
        • The Way of the Samurai – A 3D fighting/adventure game.
      • Xbox
        • Test Drive – A continuation of the Test Drive series that I started playing on the Commodore 64. This one is comparable to Burnout.
        • Crazy Taxi 3 – A great sequel in a great series.
        • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – An excellent RPG from the PC world. The Xbox version is excellent…it’s just that the PC version is better.
        • Totaled! – A demolition derby simulator that even has a career mode.
      • GameCube
        • Bomberman Generation – There have been a great many Bomberman games over the Years. This is one of the better ones.
        • Lost Kingdoms – A new and somewhat unique RPG for the GameCube.
        • WWE Wrestlemania X8 – Fans of WWE and wrestling in general should enjoy this one.
      • Game Boy Advance
        • Guilty Gear X: Advance Addition – A decent portable 2D fighter.
    • Tricks – Infinite grenades in Resident Evil, play as Laura Croft in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, several secrets for Jedi Starfighter, increase the size of your stolen-car collection in GTA3, Bonesaw in Spider-Man, strategies and clues for Eternal Darkness, unlock hidden wrestlers and arenas in Wrestlemania X8, plus tons of codes, GameShark codes, and questions answered by the Game Doctor.
    • The Final Word – A look at some of the under the radar games at E3 including Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Robotech: Battlecry, and Super Monkey Ball 2.

    …and more!


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  • SSX 3 (Electronic Arts)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

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    Source: Girls of Gaming – Volume 1

    SSX 3 is a 3rd person snowboard racing game that was released by EA in 2003 for various systems, including the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. As the name would suggest, this is the 3rd game in the series though the second game was called SSX Tricky. As far as this type of game goes, this was one of the best. It received very high ratings and sold well.

    I’m not much of a fan of sports game in general but this one plays more like a racing game. I happen to like racing games. If you like racing games then you may like this game regardless of your feelings about snowboarding or sports games in general. However, a significant component of the game is performing tricks both during races and as part of separate freestyle events.

    This is an excellent example of the genre so if you have any interest at all this one is worth giving a shot. The good news is that there is even a recent release of this game in the form of an enhanced Xbox One port that was released in 2018. Otherwise, an original copy for the Xbox, PS2 or GameCube shouldn’t be too hard to track down either.

    The image at the top is from Girls of Gaming and features Elise, one of the characters from the game. Screen shots are from the GameCube version of the game.


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  • SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Licensed games usually get a bad rap for a reason, they’re rushed to market, are full of generic ideas and gameplay elements and rarely ever end up being worth the $8 value ticket to whatever movie they’re promoting.  But back on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube came an unlikely entry into the pantheon of great 6th gen platforms: Spongebob Squarepants Battle for Bikini Bottom.  Unlike many of the other examples of licensed games, especially from that era, BfBB had a masterful grasp on what Spongebob was and how to translate that to a fun game that could be enjoyed by all ages, much like the cartoon at the time, which you’ll remember, was explosively popular.

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/177179027638/battle-for-bikini-bottom-captured-the-world-of

    There are three distinct versions of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, all of which were released in 2003. The first and most well known is a 3D platformer that was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The second is a 2D platformer released for the Game Boy Advance. The third is a point and click adventure game released for Windows.

    All versions are of course based on the cartoon of the same name. The best version is probably the 3D platformer for the PS2 and other platforms. While licensed games such as these are often mediocre at best and downright awful more often than not, I’ve found that games based on cartoons are often an exception. There a a number of great games based on Disney properties and Looney Tunes among others. This SpongeBob game is also, surprisingly, a decent game.

    While it isn’t anything spectacular and the gameplay is pretty generic for a 3D platformer, the SpongeBob theme adds humor and a uniqueness that makes this one worth playing…at least if you are a SpongeBob fan. The player gets to play three characters including SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy. The goal is simply to collect various items that are necessary to progress to the next level. Along the way, you will of course face various obstacles and enemies. Each characters has their own special moves and some levels require the use of a certain character and their moves to progress.

    While this game is not particularly innovative or otherwise special, the gameplay is solid and it will certainly appeal to fans of SpongeBob. Those looking for a 2D game with the same theme should also enjoy the GameBoy Advance version. As far as I know, neither has found its way to any kind of virtual console or other modern release so you will have to track down an original or use emulation. As far as the 3D version, all of the ports are about the same so pick your favorite system (Gamecube, PS2 or Xbox).





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