Championship Sprint: Sprint Away from that Track

It’s hard to imagine the developers of Championship Sprint making a worse choice than taking the wheel away from the original arcade game but that is just what they have done. By making this game downloadable, the makers have eliminated the only part of the game that was worthwhile. Without the wheel, the controls of this exceedingly monotonous racing game are so sensitive as to be impossible to go around the track once and not run into a wall or another racer.

  

Even when the walls open up to let you take a short cut, you can’t respond quickly or precisely enough to take advantage. Besides, the walls open often enough to make the short cuts redundant and unnecessary. Only one opportunity to upgrade presents itself on each level so once you have passed the wrench in the road (I did laugh at the reference to the fork in the road—if it was intended or not), you might as well spin the dial on the radio to get a better song.

  

The game is also meant to be played online but this presents more problems. First, you have to find someone to play and then you have to deal with a time lag that can be maddening. So you just race and race and race and race—you get the picture. Championship Sprint doesn’t have much to recommend it so sprint away from whatever site you can download it from.

Add comment December 9th, 2007

Cars: Mater-National Hits the Young’uns

Events in Radiator Springs begin to heat up as Lightning McQueen establishes new headquarters and Mater decides to host a new racing tournament. All of the familiar spots can be seen here like the Wagon Wheel Motel and Willie’s Butte and you will see most of the characters from the movie as well.

And just like the movie, the game is aimed mostly at young gamers with rather simplistic action and easily controlled racing moves. What make Cars: Mater-National Championship interesting for the younger set is the number of tracks and the ability to take on the various personae of the movie roles. Voices are done by the same actors (Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shaloub), thus lending a certain amount of credibility to the game.

The look of Cars: Mater-National is commensurate with the movie also so that kids will have gravitate to it more readily. This is an environment that kids will have an easy time adapting to and probably will not get bored too quickly with the tracks and game play. The responsiveness of the controls is a bit sluggish but will probably not get noticed by youngsters.

Mini-games are an important part of Cars: Mater-National Championship as the game shows us 17 races across 14 different tracks in the story mode. The challenge mode features 28 events in three different categories, (Trophy Hunt, Elimination, and Beat the Clock.) It is this variety that will make this a favorite among the kids who have seen the movie (and there are lots of those) so Cars: Mater-National gets a thumbs up but primarily for those who have just stopped sucking their thumbs.

Add comment December 9th, 2007

Calling All Cars: To Catch a Crook

With graphics that do not pretend to be real and non-stop action, Calling All Cars has the formula for lots of fun. Saturday morning cartoons are brought to mind here in a maverick cop and robbers game where the objective is simply to catch the bad guys. Suitable for single or multi-player modes, the pace is frantic and the action varied. The arcade aspect of this game is attractive while the online experience is enhanced by a split screen function that adds excitement exponentially. Practically devoid of a story line, you will nonetheless find yourself shouting at the screen as your quarry (or opponents) outsmarts you again and again.

  

But the most fun comes from the online players with headsets who offer a running commentary on the action. The fun of the game is commensurate with the verbal cleverness of the participants. The vehicles are evenly matched which makes for some very close multi-player contests. You can take control of another player’s captured criminal by crashing into his car and escaping with the prey.

  

One limitation is the sparse number of maps (4) but this is really only a minor gripe. You are designated to catch a crook and the map points the way. How you get there is most of the fun as each map has a varied environment that keeps even the most prolific user on edge as the action gets extremely hectic. Some might say that using four players makes it a bit too chaotic. Anyway, the path back to the jail can be just as dangerous as the capture. Three weapons are available but you might just choose to be a bully and smash into the other competitors to take the crook yourself.

  

Calling All Cars is more than worth the ten dollars you will put out for this exciting and enjoyable game.

Add comment December 9th, 2007

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Goes Beyond

Castlevania has a long history that cannot be detailed in this space so suffice to say that gamers everywhere are aware of the premise of this astounding game series.

What distinguishes this game from its forbears is the absence of the whip in the protagonist’s arsenal for he now wields an incredible array of weapons. Alucard—mmm, what could that possibly spell backwards? Alucard is the protagonist waking from a long sleep and searching his father’s castle for clues as to why the original hero, Richter Belmont vanished mysteriously. Along the way, he encounters some rather grim enemies amidst a gothic environment that has no end of surprises. Hidden passageways populate the numerous rooms of the castle and the gruesomeness of the monsters is particularly appalling.

The 2-D backgrounds are surprisingly deep and gorgeous to look at. The game play and the astounding number of weapons are what make this game so good. Alucard’s attributes increase as he kills enemies and uses the available weapons, so you shouldn’t pass on kills when you have the chance. The map system reveals itself as you go from room to room, and while you can buy the map at any time, this won’t do you any good because you can’t get into some areas until later in the game anyway.

Working your way through the castle in numerous ways with a variety of weapons will keep any long-time fan of Castlevania’s past games occupied for repeated plays. This game you will love to play repeatedly. It goes right for the throat.

Add comment December 9th, 2007

Lair for PS3 Game Review

This game is available for a price of $39.99. There were many bad things I had heard about this game and I was wondering whether my money would be wasted on this one. The things I had heard were numerous.

My pals told me that the motion controls were really bad, terrible, from hell! etc. I found out that things were not that bad actually. If you just want to get into the heat of things right away in a game then this game is not for you.

If you do not mind practicing a bit and honing your skills, this game will prove really enjoyable. There is a training section where your skills can be practiced. The good thing about this game is that the sixaxis controllers are used to their full ability. The bad thing about this game is that you cannot play with a joystick. The same two sides to a coin story.

If you continue playing this game you will get better and better at it. If you really like dragons, then you have the incentive for it. The fighting is fun and novel and I really enjoyed it. The story in this game is great and I loved the music as well.

So would I recommend this game. Yes, I would. It is good enjoyment and at the price of about 40 dollars, I would say that it is worth it.

Add comment December 9th, 2007