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Classic Review – The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Filed under: Classic Game Reviews — Leave a comment
February 6, 2011

What if you had to repeat the same day over and over again ad-infinitum, stuck in an endless time loop, seemingly there without reason or purpose?  You’d probably be Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.  Luckily for gamers, countless futile attempts of suicide won’t be necessary; the Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask incorporates a similar time loop to a very original – and incredibly fun effect.

1996’s The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was a monumental release in video game history – and THE reason to buy an N64.  The gameplay was phenomenal, the visuals were the best at the time, and the story captivated gamers for the nearly 40 hours it took to experience the whole adventure.  Fast forward two years and Nintendo released the next installment of the LOZ series, Majora’s Mask.  Using much of the resources created for Ocarina of Time helped cut development time considerably. That is not to say that the game was very similar to its predecessor. Quite the contrary – Majora’s Mask is a standout title in the series, both compared to its predecessors and the games that followed.

The premise of Majora’s Mask revolved around link arriving at a new land after his adventures in Hyrule.  Termina is a land quite literally on the brink of destruction, not by the usual antagonist Ganondorf, but by an evil mask wielding imp called the Skull Kid.  Link sets out to retrieve the Majora’s Mask from the imp but must do so before the moon crashes into Termina at the end of the third day, bringing everyone’s complete and utter demise.  Each day in Termina passes in about 30 minutes of our real world time, forcing players to accomplish their goals in about an hour and a half.   The stakes are high in Majora’s Mask, and such dire time constrains could have left little enjoyment for the little things gamers love about the Zelda series – namely exploration.  Luckily the mechanics are well done for the most part and although a sort of time limit is in place, it is by no means final.  This is where the three day time loop comes into play.

Using his trusty ocarina, Link can travel back in time to the first day of the three day cycle.  Only certain key items may be brought back in time and money must be deposited in the bank to be saved.  This may sound extremely tedious – and in some cases it can be – it usually is not.  Completing certain quests and tasks can earn you an entry in your quest notebook, the ‘bomber’s notebook’, dubbed after a ‘gang’ of young rascals dedicated to helping others.  Ultimately the rewards can include new weapons and masks – which have a much more prominent role in Majora’s Mask than they had in Ocarina of Time.

To compensate for link remaining 10 years old for the entirety of the adventure, you can collect a multitude of masks – 24 in total – to enhance your abilities and even transform into other creatures.  Minor masks such as the bomb mask and bunny ears can be attained through completing quests for the minor characters.  Major masks, which transform link, are given to link by key people, and are needed to complete one of the four main dungeons.  Link can obtain masks to transform himself into a Deku Shrub, a Goron, and a Zora – each with its own powers and abilities.

The four main dungeons featured are certainly less material than the eight major dungeons found in Ocarina, which is a bit unfortunate. The dungeons themselves are well done and as with the rest of the game require link to finish them in the set time limit of three in-game days. Link traverses the dungeons in order to awaken four giants to save Termina by stopping the descending moon from obliterating the planet.  The emphasis is set more on side quests and helping others solve problems than on dungeon crawling; hence the lower number of dungeons becomes more of a game-playdecision that sets Majora’s Mask apart from its predecessor rather than a shortcoming.

Although using many of the character models and enemies created for and used in Ocarina, Majora’s Mask expands the graphics for the most part; the titles one issue is that it keeps the somewhat below par frame rate of its predecessor.  The requirement to have an expansion pack allows for greater draw distances and more stuff on screen at any one time. Animations have also been added, including new animations for Link.  All in all, Majora’s Mask is one of the most graphically impressive games on the N64.

Many of the songs featured in previous Zelda games have been remixed and many other completely new added to Majora’s Mask.  One noticeable track is the theme from the main hub, Clocktown.  The theme changes its feel and tempo based on the day in the three day cycle, speeding up and becoming more dissonant as the time comes closer to the end of the world.  These little details make soundtrack outstanding and amongst the best in the series – although not better than Ocarina of Time.

Out of all the Zelda games, Majora’s Mask is without a doubt the darkest and most morose.  It’s a wonderful adventure that can at once move both adult and child sensibilities – it’s certainly a more mature outing by Nintendo than their usual save the princes mantra.  Unfortunately because of the release of the PS2 and the close release of the Gamecube, the game never got the attention it deserved.  It has a few very minor and mostly subjective flaws, namely the lack of more dungeons and the occasional tediousness of repeating quests in the three day cycle; although none of them should stand as issues to most Zelda fans.  The game is available as a download on the Nintendo Wii, as part of the Legend of Zelda collector’s disk for the Nintendo Gamecube, and of course on the Nintendo 64.

Final scores

Gameplay- 9.5/10

Graphics- 9.5/1-

Sound- 10/10

Overall – 9.5/10

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Does the Academy still recognize the ‘Best Picture’?

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February 2, 2011

What do aliens, Nazi’s, and adrenaline pumped soldiers have in common?  They were all prominently featured as Best Picture nominees at last year’s 82nd annual Academy Awards.  Sure there were other types of films, some good, others great.  Yet the sci-fi/action films nominated truly broke the norm for the Academy to nominate mainly dramas – some with action thrown in here and there but dramas none the less.  Blue screen alien flicks and action war films, (note I say War/drama, Ala Saving Private Ryan) while great on their own merits, seem to be included for/because of sales and ratings.  James Cameron’s own Terminator 2, groundbreaking in the cinematography and special effects departments in its time whilst being successful at the box office and with critics, did not receive the best picture nomination.  Times are clearly changing.

This trend of more nominees must = more viewers/money continues this year with 10best picture nominees, up from last year’s nine.  The nominees this year include:  True Grit, Winter’s Bone, 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, The Social Network, Inception,  The The King’s Speech, Toy Story 3, Kids Are All Right.

Strangely missing from this hodgepodge of varying genre’s is Ben Afleck’s Directorial magnum opus The Town; a picture that might not have been nominated 10 years ago, The Town has a higher aggregate rating from Rotten Tomatoes, and special effects aside is believed by this writer to be the superior movie both from an acting and thematic perspectives.  The Social Network and The King’s speech are both excellent films and fit the typical academy winner archetypes.  At least Toy Story stands a chance at becoming the first animated feature to win best picture – and as the best reviewed film of the year it probably deserves to -although a cartoon being the best would likely be too much for the Academy to swallow. This year’s nominees are better than last year’s yet the idea if ratings/sales as the driving point behind the awards over-looms the awards show non the less.  There is a plethora of other categories at the awards yet the best picture Oscar essentially defines the direction the the Awards ceremony gears towards.

My prediction is that True Grit will most likely take the honors with The King’s Speech coming in as a close second.  The Coen brothers’ newest film features not only outstanding performances by Jeff Bridges and Mat Damon, but a very memorable breakthrough performance by Hailee Steinfeld; not to mention all the wonderful cinematography and writing.  The 83rd annual Academy awards should be a good even and worth tuning into – even if many of the nominees are there just for you to do exactly that.

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Crysis 2 and You

Filed under: Game Previews — Leave a comment
January 30, 2011

Crysis has been to console gamers what the far east was to Renaissance Europe: A mystical far off entity that doesn’t really pertain to day to day life.  As was life in the far east at the time, it is quite the opposite to a PC gamer.  Everyone who has ever gotten a new video card or CPU has installed and fired up Crysis even if they hate the damn game. Incredible and groundbreaking graphics aside it was an excellent game back in 2007 – its expansion, Crysis Warhead, was no slouch either.  Crysis 2 is finally nearing release and console gamers will get to experience some of what the series has to offer – sans the large holes burned in your wallet after buying a new video card.

Crysis is the spiritual successor of Crytek’s first PC outing, Far Cry.  After loosing the Far Cry IP rights to the game’s publisher Ubisoft, the company set out to develop a new IP.  The resulting game became quite different from the Far Cry series.   The premise of Crysis revolves around a handful of special forces in multi-million dollar ‘nano suits’ on a secret mission to rescue stranded archeologists on an island controlled by the North Korean army.  Needless to say, things go awry, and you find yourself  spearheading the mission amidst some very peculiar goings-on. (read: aliens) The gameplay was quite open ended in the regard that you can proceed and complete your next objective in any way you please; unlike say, the Call of Duty series.  Your suit has different powers such as maximum strength, speed, armor and even invisibility.  These boosts to your abilities go a long way to tilt the scales in your favor when dealing with North Korean soldiers and eventually the aliens.  If was anything lacking about the game, it would have to be the said aliens.  The Matrix inspired aliens were fantastic adversaries no doubt; the trouble came with the fact that you don’t really fight any until the last third of the game.  Crysis 2 seems to fix this shortcoming by prominently featuring aliens as the main adversary.  All in all it was an excellent although not perfect game.

Changing the setting from a pacific island to the big apple New York City, Crysis 2 has the potential to be very different from its predecessor.  For better or for worse, both console and PC gamers won’t be getting the same experience as the original – I’d like to think that’s a good thing.  The market is bursting with other shooters so Crytek has to make Crysis 2 stand above the pack; if they can do that while maintaining the quality they are known for across all platforms, whether PC or console, then the Crysis series will get the attention it deserves.   The release is set for March and I will hopefully have a review shortly after .

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PSP2 – Code Named ‘NGP’ Is revealed.

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January 28, 2011


Amidst the recent rumor mill surrounding the next gen PSP, Sony revealed the successor, dubbed NGP, (next gen portable) yesterday at a company meeting.  Engadget.com provided all the juicy details as I sat giddy and impatient like a preteen at a Bieber concert.  Sony delivered.

We all knew that Sony would not simply abandon it’s 33% market share -not counting apple or other smartphones – and leave  Nintendo to have its way with our wallets; no that would be plain wrong.  The cat – or should I say sabertooth tiger – is out of the bag and I think fans will be pleased for the most part.  The device is beautiful; abandoning the failure that is the PSP GO Sony mostly reverted back to the original PSP design and it’s certainly for the better.  I say mostly because it seems that the shortcomings of the original have largely been worked out – particularly with the inclusion of a second analog stick on the NGP.

The graphics look great, about 80% of what the PS3 can do in my analysis of the early footage.  Konami’s Hedio Kojima (director of the Metal Gear series) put strong emphasis on cross platform compatibility between the PS3 and NGP – with some tweaking, of course.  A very selling point the system, yet this ideology has some problems.  Fans of the original PSP can remember the slew of PS2 ports on that systems a few years back.  The PSP was also billed as having ‘nearly PS2 level graphics’; which roughly translated as ‘Nearly playable Ps2 ports’.  Ports are great in some cases, yet definitely not in others. Hopefully the cost of making NGP software does not exceed the level of creativity needed to really make a console shine.

Speaking of cost, Sony has not revealed the expected pricing for any regions, although claims that the device will be available holiday season 2011.  A price point bellow $300 is definitely out of the question considering the Arm cortex A9 quad core CPU, SGX543MP4 Quad core GPU and the gorgeous 960×544 OLED touch screen and 3G networking.  Based on the pricing Sony chose to go with  the PS3, (i.e. high) I’m guessing the unit will go for something near $350, still a bargain depending on first year software.

10 months down the line Apple should not be ruled out as a threat to both Sony’s and Nintendo’s new toys.  The cortex A9 cpu is not exclusive to Sony and is likely to be used in a future iteration of the iphone/ipod, along with a glasses free 3D screen.  Microsoft has also been watching attentively for an opportunity to grab up some market share – it’s only a matter of time and money before they throw in their 2 trillion cents.

I’m truly excited about Sony’s next portable console; the ergonomics look tight, the functionality seems sound,  and hopefully the battery life is comparable to the original.  I think Software and price point will ultimately determine the success of Sony’s little powerhouse.  Now the true question remains: Can it play Crysis?

Source: Engadget.com

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Beyond the Gameboy: A look at portable gaming

Filed under: Tech Opinion — 6 Comments
January 26, 2011

Having owned the first fat Gameboy back in the heyday I can safely say that hand-held gaming has come a ways since those dark, monochrome, 8 bit days.   After few minor revisions of Nintendo’s hand-held wonder I was excited for some progress.  Sure there was that brief stint with SEGA’s little black hand-held that could… but I didn’t really own one, nor could I afford the massive upkeep in batteries to keep that bad boy running.  The Atari Lynx, a technical marvel at the time, never really garnered too many developers or sales and eventually leaving its place in history as a collector’s item.   My Pokemon addiction certainly did not help wean me off of Nintendo’s allure of inexpensive portable heaven.  Like many young gamers of the Pokemon era, Nintendo had me hook line and sinker.  And then came the DS, a first month purchase no doubt, but something was different. Either I was growing long of tooth or short of imagination – something was missing.

In 2005 Sony met it’s naysayers head on with the release of the PSP, an incredible device and one that has inadvertently shaped my views on what a hand-held gaming device is and what one could be.  In a response to the lackluster games library arose an enormous community of homebrewers and coders to bring emulators and other apps to a new audience.  PC gamers, myself included, have toyed with emulators and mods long before the PSP’s release; but now it was portable fit in your hand goodness for $200. Barring the inevitable and unfortunate side effect of piracy, the PSP is a gateway drug for not just hand-held gaming, but hand-held computing as well.  After some research and a few hundred dollars in pocket I set out in a journey to rediscover portable gaming.

The first stop was the now infamous Gizmondo, run almost quite literally into the ground by it’s mobster CEO, the device had powerful hardware yet a limited library.  The homebrew community never quite took off the ground as it mostly adopted the projects of other windows based devices.  Tapwave’s Zodiac, Gamepark holdings’ GPX, and their later GP2X were other homebrew centric devices that never quite caught my eye due to their lack of commercial games. Never quite attaining the level of success that Microsoft billed, the Ultra Mobile PC initiative called the origami project never quite took off.  Two particular devices stood out due to their portability/gaming potential:  Sony’s UX series – in my case the UX180p – and Samsung’s Q1 Ultra.  Aside from the many PC games released over the past 20 years, emulators up until the 128 bit Dreamcast era stand out as a feature surpassing the likes of the PSP and other dedicated homebrew devices. Having a fully featured version of windows really helps.  Unfortunately price is another issue altogether.

One of the most portable – with a 4.5″ screen – UMPCs, the handheld UX series cost a fortune at $1500-$2500 depending on the model.  Luckily the prices of used models have fallen to nearly $300-500 on auction sites.  Mostly ergonomic and quite capable at running many PC games of the early to mid 2000’s, the device remains one of the best UMPC’s to this day.  Micro PC talk is a community forum dedicated to the UX and featuring How-to guides and game/emulator compatibility lists.

Samsung’s Q1 series began its life unsuccessfully as one of the first UMPC’s under the Origami project; Bulky, difficult to hold and short on battery life the original was not a success.    Luckily Samsung quickly revised their product and re-released it under the name of Q1 Ultra.  Still an imperfect device it was a major improvements and featured and analog nub/face buttons along with a blackberry styled keyboard.  Barring the top end $2000 model, the ‘mainstream’ Q1 Ultra was not the powerhouse that is the Sony UX series, yet was available at a much more reasonable $1000 – still an astronomically high figure for portable gamers, although is available now at auction sites for about $300 used.

Other UMPC’s capable of portable gaming exit, their makers all hoped that the UMPC’s would catch on in the public eye and eventually become mainstream.  Apple had other ideas, and it’s their innovations with the iPod, iPhone, and the recent iPad that really took the market, and gamers by storm.

Nintendo has recently announced the price point of its 3DS’ software: $40-50.  This would fall completely in line with their competitor’s – that is Sony’s – pricing strategy.  Unfortunately in the year 2011 things have changed thanks to apple – for better or for worse.  The app store launched with the iPod touch and iPhone devices, and features much of its software library at $ .99.  Arguments of quality aside the game has changed. (pun intended) The devices themselves are no slouches either; receiving yearly revisions the hardware has come to rival the psp in performance. A homebrew community exists on apple devises provided they are jailbroken.  The lack of buttons can be off-putting but not deal-breaking since many developers have optimized the onscreen controls to emulate real buttons as best as possible.  Still, the incredible portability and inexpensive (or often free) software has proven to be appealing and very lucrative for both gamers and would-be-developers.

Worth a mention is the completely open source by gamers for gamers Pandora hand-held gaming system.  Running similar innards to that of the iPod and iPhone the system sets out to be a successor to the GP2X and is running on open source Linux distribution.

Stepping away from the mainstream portable gaming devices one can find a plethora of gaming possibilities on the go; some requiring deep pockets- both figuratively and literally – others can be found cheap on the net.  There is a world beyond that shelf one’s local Gamestop.  It may not be for everyone but whoever embarks on that journey to seek to Holy Grail of portable gaming goodness will find that it’s an immensely rewarding journey…most of the time at least.  If all else fails, you could just make your own 🙂

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Nintendo Handhelds Episode IV: A New Hope

Filed under: Feed the Monster, Tech Opinion — 1 Comment
January 24, 2011

Contrary to what some may believe, the Nintendo 3DS is not Nintendo’s first foray into 3D gaming.  The infamous Virtual Boy was an abysmal failure with it’s eye-crossing, head-ache inducing screens; but it’s apparently not the only attempt.  According to an interview between Nintendo Presidet Iwata, the company’s lead designer Mayamoto and a Japanese journalist Itoi, several other attempts at 3D gaming were done over the course of the company’s history.  Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally: A  Famicom racing game staring our favorite plumber in 3D was developed by HAL Labs and released in 1986 featured special goggles to see the game in a type of 3D.  According to the same interview the Gamecube had 3D functionality built in, only requiring a a certain accessory and a 3D LCD screen, which according to Iwata, was extremely expensive at the time.  Nintendo even developed a version of Luigi’s Mansion in 3D, which sadly has never seen the light of day.  Now where does this place the 3DS, nintendo’s fourth major itteration of it’s handlheld brand started nearly 22 years ago with the original Game Boy?

Handhelds have been Nintendo’s bread and butter for the past 20 years.  Especially with the decline of console sales starting with the 64 and continued up until the success with the Wii.  The DS is now the second biggest selling system off all time, just a few thousand units behind the PS2.  The 3DS has a lot to live up to even though Nintendo has consistently shown that it can capture lightning in a bottle more than once in the handheld market.  According to early reports coming from preview events the 3D is sound and for the most part lives up to Nintendo’s claims. It may not be as pronounced as watching a 3D blockbuster at a movie theater but it’s certainly no Virtual Boy.  There are other issues surrounding the 3DS which will determine the outlook of Nintendo’s new system’s long term well being; that is to say one expects it to sell out like gang busters for the first few months.  The question is, how will people respond to the reported 3-5 hour battery life and the seeming overabundance of ports?  The PSP owners have had to deal with both of those issues since the system’s launch in 2005, issues that have certainly contributed to the system falling a distant second behind the DS.  While on the subject of Sony one must take into consideration the rumored official unveiling of the PSP2 at a strategy conference on January 27th.  Early reports claim that the system is half as powerful as the PS3 and will have an OLED screen and 3G wireless functionality.  Nintendo has issued a statement that it is not interested in it’s competitors products and simply wants to be left alone to do its own thing. Marketing bravado aside Nintendo should learn from their experiences with the Wii that novel control inputs and 3D won’t secure the long term lifespan of their systems.  3rd party support and a cheap price point will.  Nintendo fans have allot to look forward to in the next year on the 3DS, hopefully sooner than later.  Ocarina of Time is finally getting a remake, Kid Icarrus will get a new game after nearly 25 years, and hopefully Nintendo will correct the woeful display of laziness that was Animal Crossing City Folk.  Hopefully Nintendo has something up it’s sleeve for the console owners, but for now we are about to enter a new episode of Nintendo’s hand-held history. 3D hand-held gaming is upon us, but oh if it weren’t so damn expensive…

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interview.html#/how-nintendo-3ds-made/0/2

Click to access consolidated_sales_e1009.pdf

http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/hardware/specs

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/23/nikkei-psp2-to-have-3g-cellular-data-oled-touchscreen/

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Film Review: Blue Valentine

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If you have ever seen  The Notebook (2004) on your own free will or otherwise,  found it cliche ridden, unrealistic, and downright vapid; and wished for something more down to earth, Blue Valentine might be your romance to see in 2011.  Then again, if mundane melodrama is not your cup of tea, then this portrayal of a realistic, albeit failing romance might effectively bore you to wishing for the same cliches that you thought you were escaping by going to see this movie.  In other words: be careful of what you wish for.

Blue Valentine is David Cianfrance’s second feature film and his first to be widely released in theaters.  A film that has spent several years on the drafting board, Blue Valentine explores the realities of romance, parenthood, and how sometimes they don’t mix well.  The Notebook favorite Ryan Gosling joins Michelle Williams of Dawson’s Creek and Broke Back Mountain fame.  Take Gosling’s Notebook character, put him in an urban modern day environment, add in a bottle of Jack Daniels and top it off with a few four letter profanities and you’ve effectively got Dean, a husband in a failing marriage.  Michelle Williams’ character and other half of the film’s couple, Cindy, is not quite original and yet more than meets the eye.  The two are in a marital quagmire and are in a relationship held together by their seeming desire to provide a happy life for their young daughter.  Realism is the motif of Blue Valentine, and rather than give us a stylized star studded portrayal of a failing marriage – Ala Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road – Cianfrance takes us to places we might find familiar and with people we could very well know.  Gosling and Williams portray these roles admirably and naturally, almost to the point of one feeling like they have heard it before, not in a movie but perhaps from the neighbors across the street.  This is both the high and low point for Blue Valentine; the characters seem to real and mundane, the issues as old as relationships.  The film takes the viewer back and forth between flashbacks of the young couple first meeting and beginning their relationship and their unhappy lives in the present.  Gosling’s attempt to rekindle the terms of endearment between the couple is sad indeed, a scene particularly noteworthy for its acting, yet one that makes you cringe at the same time.  Rewind to the past and we  see Gosling serenade Michelle Williams with a Ukulele and an exaggerated – yet quite good – voice, a scene not unlike one found in The Notebook.  These scenes overlap each other, constantly see-sawing your feelings from happy to sad.  As a drama it is a great portrayal of what might be happening to you or your down the street neighbors, as a “love story” (poster slogan) this movie will certainly not put you in a happy place, not for long at least.

It truly great mainstream feature for Director Cianfrance, with great portrayals by Gosling and Williams that will surely get nominated for a few awards.  Both of these actors have developed their craft beginning from a young age and neither disappoints here.   The trouble comes with the viewer.  This movie is not for everyone.  Certainly everyone can view it and appreciate/understand it and perhaps even relate to it.  The problem is not everyone wants to appreciate a story about a failing marriage between two very mundane people, myself included.  While it certainly has substance it does lack some style found in bigger budget romance/drama’s, that may not be a deterrent for some, but coupled with the subject matter it could be a deal breaker. I would probably not recommend anyone on a date to see this film lest you want to find yourself trying to awkwardly piece together the rest of the evening -Indie-drama nuts need not apply.  If you are looking for a film with great down to earth performances then this film is worth a look.

7.5/10

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