Mario Kart is My Favorite Sports Game

While somewhat different than the last game I reviewed, Mario Kart 64 still realizes the potential of a great game, which is nothing but pure, unadulterated fun. There is no story to Mario Kart, no enemies or evil to overcome, no hero to save the day. There is you, the other racers, and the track. Nothing else matters. Games like this can never be compared, outside of how much fun it is to play, to the fantastic adventures of RPGs or so many other Mario platformers. This kind of game is all about the personal enjoyment of the player instead of a moving experience. To really review a game like this, one has to judge it based on what it set out to do. Is this game fun? Does it allow enjoyment throughout the game to a wide variety of people? Is this game, after fourteen years since it's release (1996), still fun to play with others or even on your own? These are the questions every reviewer must ask of the games like this, and I happily report that Mario Kart 64 passes with flying colors.

There are eight characters to choose from: two mediums (Mario and Luigi), three light (Toad, Peach, and Yoshi), and three heavy (Donkey Kong, Wario, and Bowser). If you can't guess, each class of character has slight advantages and disadvantages to it. The lights are faster, but more easily spin out when hit with something heavy - like another character - while the heavies are slower but more resistant when rammed. The mediums are not particularly bad or good against anything. They are the all-around characters. Most will choose one of the lighter characters; in my experience, most gamers specifically choose Yoshi since he is the least annoying of the three lights. As a side note, why even include Toad? He's so bland it disgusts me. I mean, really, there are thousands (millions? billions?) of Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom and who knows how many of them have red spots on their heads. Whose to say this is the same Toad we recognize from other Mario games? Whose to say it's ever the same Toad? Nintendo should probably make a more defining characteristic than a blue vest and annoying voice to separate this Toad from countless others.

Though, aside from the disturbing qualities of Toad, there is not much else to complain about while playing this game. There are four "cups" made up of four tracks (making that a total of 16 courses for all you English majors out there) and the player can choose to go for the gold trophies in every Grand Prix by getting the highest score out of all racers, of which only the top four receive any points at all. In single player, the game can get very repetitive if you want to get every gold trophy possible. Of course, the fantastic item boxes which litter the courses add much to the game's creativeness as well as it's craziness and interactiveness. Quite simply, the items make the game enjoyable and allow for greater satisfaction than your other, average racing games. Not to mention adding to the frustration. Nothing is worse than being 30 seconds ahead of 2nd place, but then getting lightning-ed into the water or off a high jump. The computer, of course, does not plan things like that and they rarely happen when playing by yourself, but expect a great deal of time being spent just waiting for the right moment to use that lightning strike against your friends.

For those new to the racing genre, the 50 cc engine size is a good place to start. It's the smallest engine, which means it's also the slowest and the least likely to spin out if you move the control stick back and forth too quickly. Once all four Gold Cups are earned with the slowest engine, you can move up to a slightly faster speed and do it all over again. And then once more on the fastest engine size. And then once more on the mirror courses, which are unlocked after achieving every other Gold Cup. These mirror courses at first seem like more of the same, however many of the tracks are actually much more difficult, mainly because of your own memory, but there is only one course that actually gets significantly harder: Toad's Turnpike. You'll know why instantly if you play it.

And, when it gets right down to it, the courses are your real challenges. The AIs do not have the skill required to beat someone who knows what they're doing. If you've already gotten all the golds, then going back and playing anything lower than 150 cc's is almost unbearable. Expect to be bored. The worst thing about the other racers is the random chance of items. Any time you're in front, the best thing you can hope to get from the item boxes is three green shells, so be prepared to lay a lot of bananas and shoot many single green shells backwards (or just hold onto them all for defense). While, of course, anyone lagging behind gets the best items so they can have a better chance at winning, which really only succeeds in messing with the players in front.

If I was to judge this game based solely on the single player experience, this game would fall short of being worth the time and money necessary. Luckily for Mario Kart - since I alone clearly have the ultimate judgment - that is not the only, or even main, part of my review. Mario Kart 64 was so clearly designed for multiple players that I wonder how much thought was put into the single player game. When playing Mario Kart with a friend (one to three others) the game hits the pinnacle of fun. The game gives you three choices when playing with others: play Vs. with each other, battle each other, or Grand Prix with the AI taking over the left over racers. Battle has only four different courses, two of which are very small, and the winner depends on who keeps any of the three of their balloons while the others lose all of their own. The Vs. mode is much less hectic than the Grand Prix, but also more ridiculous. Since there are only two racers, the person in second place will often get stars and lightning and all manner of excellent items in order to launch them into first place, which can be very hazardous for other players if the user knows when and what to save them for. Finally, the Grand Prix with multiplayer is the most fun this game can offer. Even so long after Mario Kart 64 debuted it's still fun. Every time I bring up that I have this famous racing game, people want to play. They, I'm sure, seek nostalgia more than a balanced and accurate racing videogame, but what they receive is more than forgotten memories, they experience amazing sensations of pure fun. Even being frustrated at the abuse of items, the game is always fun. For this reason, the game ranks higher than it probably should. Re-reading my review, I seem to portray this game unfavorably, but I cannot be more pleased with this game for accomplishing what it set out to do. I'm ecstatic with this game because of it's multiplayer, pleased with this game for it's single player, and happy with it overall.

4/5 Near Perfect Score! Super Good!

My First Game is My First Review

I'm not sure who would want to read a recent review of a videogame that came out over a decade ago (1998), but it is with great zeal and love that I write one. It seems only right to begin with my first console game I ever owned (kiiinda... the Nintendo 64 came with a Duke Nukem game that I didn't like and returned the next day, all in order to buy this game that "I heard good things about two years ago at school"). Yes, what is largely considered the best game of any console of any generation was my very first outing into console gaming. Sure, I played Duke Nukem 2D, Monster Bash, Commander Keen, various other DOS games, and various SEGA Genesis games through my cousin - even Super Mario World and Mario Kart 64 at a friend's house - but Ocarina of Time was the first game that was ever mine. And boy did I play it. Every morning I'd get up and play it for 30 to 60 minutes before I had to go to school. So many hours and hours spent trying to figure out each of the dungeons and even harder temples. When I started, I couldn't even run in a straight line. It took me a week to beat the Deku Tree dungeon. Now it takes me a little more than an hour, but I have beaten the game more times than I can remember. Anyway, enough of nostalgic waxing, on to the review.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time begins with a young boy, Link (really just whatever you place as your file name, so, for me, GREG), separated from the rest of his kind, the kokiri kids, on account of his missing one defining characteristic: a fairy to call his own. This, however, is quickly rectified in the opening scenes of the game, when a fairy, Navi (who is nowhere near as annoying as many believe), on a mission from the forest leader/protector/boss man, comes to find the boy and begin a grand adventure throughout the entire world of Hyrule and towards Link's destiny. The idea of this is at the same time startlingly simple and hopelessly involving. Who among us as gamers has never felt like an outsider or has never wished to be something great? Who among us as humans? What is a little disconcerting, perhaps, is that Link at the outset of his journey must be no older than 12, although he looks 8. Despite this seemingly young age, Link overcomes all odds and meets the game's namesake, Princess Zelda. With her help, Link finds the spirit stones and uses them to open the doorway to the Triforce, which grants the wish of the person who touches it. Of course, Link is not the one to touch it, but the Evil Man of the Desert, Ganondorf, does and becomes the King of Evil and conquers Hyrule. During this time, Link is imprisoned in a magical chamber until he is old enough to wield the Master Sword, evil's bane you see, and defeat Ganondorf, with the help of the six sages of the world, gained by passing each temple in the "Adult Link" part of the game.

If that story seems convoluted or if you think the names of the characters and places and items are all confusing, I understand. This game took my 10 months to beat it my first time, but I ate it all up, and happily. Just be thankful it's nothing like the infamous storyline of the Metal Gear series. In actuality, the story is a big part of what makes this game great. Link allows the player to identify with him and think of him as a "larger than life" hero. This entire game is an epic, fantasy adventure that puts the player in the driver's seat. This indeed is nothing new now, what with the Lord of the Rings and more Final Fantasy games than you can shake a stick at (I don't know why that's an expression), but back when Super Mario 64 departed from 2D side-scrolling, this was unbelievable. The story, even judged by today's standards, still holds up among other such amazing stories Mass Effect or Bioshock. Truthfully, it can be boiled down to "reluctant hero becomes confidant and finally banishes evil to make way for peace," but that type of generic characterization fails to do this game justice.

The more technical aspects also are still appealing. When playing any of the current-gen consoles, one may be used to high level graphics and incredibly detailed environments, but if one plays the Ocarina of Time there is no lost love or looks of disgust. When picking up the game today, I at first find myself surprised that games have come so far from the polygons and blurry edges and the sharp and hard backgrounds of yesteryear, and I must admit I'm slightly hesitant. Still, after a few minutes of playing, I can't help but feel accustomed to what would be lacking from modern games. Sure, there are no detailed flames or bloody rag-doll physics, but there is a solar glare and after a little while, night. And rain. And lakes, forests, deserts, temples, dungeons, bugs, giant monsters, and the like. There is nothing missing from this game in terms of style or presentation. Most of the enemies are colorful, but not excessively so like Wind Waker or what Skyward Sword appears to be. Everything about the feel of this game is natural. Even the controls feel right and are easily learned. Of course, it helps that they're always present on the screen. Still, nothing is awkward about the button uses or combinations. Z to target, B to attack, A for Action, and the C-buttons for items. Not to mention the fantastic soundtrack. From beginning to end, the soundtrack mirrors Link's actions, fitting with any situation. When in the kokiri forest, it's light and whimsical; in the boss fights, it's exciting and fast-paced; when fighting Ganondorf, the music is heavy, slow and epic. Combine this with the idea of using music on the ocarina to solve puzzles, open doorways, and, eventually, just to travel from place to place, then the soundtrack is more than just background to an otherwise great game, it becomes a reason for greatness, increasing the overall quality of the adventure. All perfectly accessible and formed for common hand placement. These elements can all come together to make the perfect gameplay experience.

The main thing I can talk about for hours in this game is the way it unfolds. I went from not being able to move in a straight line to blocking every attack, flipping out of the way, and then being able to land the perfect counter. I started with a wooden shield and small dagger in a small forest of kids and moved onto a legendary weapon with gauntlets of power in the fortress of evil. It never feels as if the game is forcing you to do things that you don't want to do, excluding the Water Temple, of course. Every action made is a step taken on your way to vanquishing Ganondorf and saving Hyrule. I can see where the temples can get repetitive what with the map, compass, special item pattern, but the expansive areas and fantastic themes of the temples more than overcome this slight shortcoming. To be able to fight a dragon in a volcano, an atom... thing... under a lake, or a ghost on a bongo in an ancient well is nothing less than amazing and really just a lot of fun in a totally awesome game.

I'm not sure how many games I've played in my life, but I am sure this is the game that started me down the gaming path. Most games are average, some are terrible, and many of them are very good. Some games, however, have everything a game needs in order to be great and even continuously pushes other games to strive for greatness. More than that, games like this are able to have such an effect on the player that no matter how often or how much later one plays the same old game, it is always challenging, fun, moving, and all-around a great way to spend one's time. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of these games. For my first review, I give the best game I've ever played a perfect score of 5 out of 5.

5/5 Perfect Score! Super Dope!

This is the Beginning

Welome to my one and only, first time ever blog. To start, My name is Gregory Allen and I have decided to create this page in order to discuss, review, and offer news on videogames. Having had few mistresses in my life and even fewer loves, I've come to realize that the only real constant in my ever-changing, ever-expanding life is how I feel a, possibly inappropriate, love for videogames. Still, I believe my love to be just. I mean, who really doesn't want to be the fantasy hero/villain who saves/destroys the world/princess? Not to mention, no matter how terrible my day was, or how much fun I'm having with friends, a round of Mariokart or Team Fortress 2 is always a nice way to top it all off. My day, as it is, is spent mostly doing grad-school things. I have a B.A. in Classics, which means I can read Greek and Latin as well as tell you all about ancient happenings, which was earned at UCSB and am now attending SF State for my masters in Classics.

With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that I aspire to write professionally (Not just writing, of course, but writing about videogames.). As I am currently not writing professionally - about anything - I've decided to create this site. Unfortunately, however, being a grad student, my funds are limited and, having a girlfriend, so is my time. Despite all this, I will find a way to manage this page with some kind of regularity of more than once a week. To start, my time will be spent reviewing games that are a bit older, but only because they are my absolute favorite. I'll be starting with what is highly regarded as the best game ever created: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the beginning, my posts will be in rapid succession because I won't have to buy/rent the games and then beat them in order to review them.

I believe it is only fitting for this page to start with the games that started my love for videogames in general. Eventually, of course, I'll get to newer and more relevant to the gaming community. One hardly needs a review of a game that came out in 1999, but that is what this site will offer. At first.

Anyway, Super Dope Game Reviews is a little misleading. This site is dedicated to videogames and anything having to do with videogames. That means so much more than just reviews. This site will pertain to news from any game developer - one of the big 3 or any indie developers - and also offer the ability to discuss any thing game-related in the comments section. Some day, when I'm able, I will post podcasts of myself with one or two others whom I consider to be knowledgeable or even simply fans of the topic. Super Dope Game Reviews is meant to be among the more serious gaming websites, perhaps one day to be counted among the greats such as "ign" or "kotaku" (two of my personal favorites, at least). Other than that, if I'm ever lucky to attend any press conference or convention, images will be posted on the site, accompanied with descriptions of the event and any information discovered there.

Besides all this, the most important part of this first post is that it is a welcome mat for any and all gamers to open the door into the wonderful world of fantasy and imagination (Disneyland has got nothin' on videogames.... not counting Epic Mickey). And, to continue with the house metaphor, the comments section is the doorbell, where all contributions, within reason, are welcome.

So, finally, once again, WELCOME.