released February 2006, received May 2006
This was sent to the office one day, so the bright idea was hatched that we should all get together and play it.
Taking turns, we made it through Hour Nine and then gave up when none of us could "LOSE THE TAIL!" Although we put in a second evening's effort a few weeks later - and did in fact LOSE THE TAIL - our opinion of the game being slightly better than good dog shit did not change.
I mean, it tries. The story is original (but is it canon?)... the actors were all super excited to be involved, judging from the PR-alicious commentary videos. There is a nice variety of levels, from regular ol' third-person shooting to regular ol' third person stealth to regular ol' third person driving to regular ol' psycho interrogating, but none of it is particularly well done. The best you can say is that the game's stinkiness largely does not interfere with your ability to complete it. Even though we never did because we got bored.
Memory Score: LOSE THE TAIL.
| Genji: Dawn of the Samurai |
released September 2005, purchased June 2007
I picked this up for $10, a few months before I bought a PS3. I'm sure I got $10 out of it.
The worst part was, I went from Okami to this. Although Genji is probably a fine, serviceable, deep-enough experience, not many games could stand to follow up Okami.
I never finished Genji, but I should have. It's very pretty for a PS2 game. It is sort of strange amalgam of RPG talk-and-search with Dynasty Warriors-esque action combat levels connecting all of the towns. You get to power up your dudes, collect trinkets for special attacks, etc etc. Once your guy gets a ton of special energy built up, you can unleash an uber-killing mode that lets you dice through a pile of enemies in a showstopping chain sequence. That's about the ballgame.
Sony has tried to turn Genji into a genuine franchise, but the results have been less than spectacular.
Memory Score: Amahagane!
released September 2006, purchased July 2007
"Oh, how bad could it be?" I wondered. This was another $10 grab, but this one isn't worth the tenner.
Obviously crafted early in the PS2's life but then shipped to America only after the anime grew legs, Mamodo Fury is one ugly, confusing, unplayable game. I would hope that somebody, somewhere, has achieved a better Zatch Bell game than this.
I like the Zatch Bell concept. I think the manga is surprisingly weighty and well-written. It's a neat riff on Pokemon with a Battle Royale flavor. This game, however, sucks.
Offensive in design, Mamodo Fury has some of the absolute worst menu screens ever devised. Offensive in gameplay, Mamodo Fury's levels consist of repetitive, impossible battles with charged attacks that rarely work. Offensive in presentation, Mamodo Fury's battlefields are of PS1 quality, with barebones graphics that would look crappy on a DS. Were this 2001, we'd have our excuse.
This is a textbook example of a license raped, an elderly game sold as new to unsuspecting fans.
Memory Score: Fun loading screens though.
Next time: the final tally!
