[last updated: 28-JUN-2019]
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
I was going to hold onto this for the sake of my brother, who got into Battlestar Galactica thanks to his wife, but then he found out it was based off the old series and lost interest. C'est la vie.
Completion: No.
RATING: 
1/4
WHEN: Aug 2011
NOTES: Xbox Original.
Quite acceptable when it sticks to basics. Contemptible when it's anything else.
(reviewed January 14 2016)
[NEW!] Crash Bandicoot 3 set the bar high for its content; imaginative, challenging platform stages and a variety of new and unique vehicle levels for both Crash and Coco. Wrath of Cortex was the first instalment on a then-next-generation console and under new management, and it seems like Traveller's Tales asked themselves, "how are going to update this?" and decided upon, "let's not."
Fancy lighting and smoother models aside, there's no radical changes to the formula. You still traipsy through five levels, collecting crystals and gems before beating a boss, unlocking the next world until all five are done. Crash controls as smoothly as ever, and he unlocks a new perk after defeating each boss, though none as imaginative as in Crash 3. If you were looking for a basic expansion pack, you couldn't ask for much more.
What makes the game fall flat is its infatuation with vehicles and gimmicks. There's a half-dozen vehicles ranging from jeeps to submarines to planes to slightly different planes to man-sized hamster balls. Their level of tediousness varies, but they rarely if ever offer the challenge and engagement of a typical platforming stage. What were once amusing diversions are now straight-up roadblocks; I groaned upon unlocking a world where three of the five stages were vehicle-based, and a lot of levels segue between platforming and vehicles without warning.
I could critique each type of vehicle stage, but they're not what I'm playing Crash Bandicoot for, are they? By and large they're slow, uninteresting and take more time to complete than they're worth. Who cares about doing time trials in a slow-as-beans submarine?
The traditional Crash action isn't a dramatic leap forward, but it's fills a hole for anyone looking for more of the same calibre. It's just unfortunate it plays second fiddle to a troupe of experimental sideshows and disappointing boss battles.
Completion: Finished, didn't get 100%.
Further reading: More waffling on its faults can be found in Some Games I Played in 2015.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Pretty and decent, but yeesh, does it have to be so dark?
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: Mar 2010
Not bad, not great.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
It's Halo. I've said enough, haven't I?
[no review]
Completion: No.
Further reading: There's a whole ream of stuff about the game; mostly me nagging about it.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: 
0/4
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Uninspiring.
Maybe modern war games have spoilt me with their realistic imagery and their opportunities to have polished up the gameplay - maybe this game didn't interest me because I'd already seen all the same environments (the exact same environments!) in the few other war games I'd played. Maybe it's because I couldn't scale a knee-high fence. Maybe it's just not for me. Sorry, Electronic Arts! Better luck next time.
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Strangely awesome!
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: 1/4
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Meh.
The Sims is one of those games that I used to like and I can see why people enjoy them, but they just lack the magic for me nowadays. I respect open-ended games for, well, being open-ended, but I usually like a goal to work towards. The Sims is essentially all about making your own goals, but given the limitations of it you can't really aspire to be an awesome rock star or become a daredevil stunt man or anything since you never actually see your character at work. So it basically boils down to having a kickass house, since that's the only goal you can actually see.
Like all the console versions I've had played via some means or another, it's a bit more goal-orientated. You start off at your mother's house and go through a quick tutorial to show you're capable of living on your own (i.e. not crapping yourself), then move into a friend's place and get a job, and then from there it looks like the main goal is to get the mansion your friend's nasty dad owns, who is nasty because he repossesses furniture with a ray gun and dresses up like Snidely Whiplash.
The PC game doesn't interest me anymore, and the console versions less so - while I prefer my PC-based games to have a gamepad simply because the mouse is used for aiming and I feel it all comes more naturally on a controller, having a mouse-only game with two control sticks and some buttons is just awkward. I admit it didn't keep me interested long enough to try and figure out how to cancel actions from the sim's list of things to do. Maybe it's an awesome Sims game! Maybe I don't care anymore.
Completion: No.
RATING: 
2/4
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Somehow has the highest play time of my Xbox games.
Seriously. I buy a brand new console full of supposedly exciting shooting games, and I end up entranced with Tetris again. Knowing nothing about console versions of Tetris (I'm all over the Game Boy version), I'd dare say it's not too bad. It's got a decent presentation, there's a variety of modes and there once existed an online multi-player mode, but the original Xbox Live is now defunct. Major bummer, dude.
Completion: No ending?
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
RATING: n/a
WHEN: May 2009
NOTES: First game.
Haven't played.
[no review]
Completion: No.
