Game Reviews

I believe that one of the biggest problems that befall Brunswick 2 is that it's based on a sport that is essentially boring.

Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling 2 (Brunswick 2) strives for that larger-than-life approach, but it can't get past the fact bowling just doesn't generate much excitement unless you're directly participating. Bowling is repetitious by nature, and there's little this game can do to change that.

Having never totally experienced Sonic in all his 16-Bit glory, I was eager to get my hands on his first journey in the world of 3D. It may have taken almost a decade and millions of angry letters from disgruntled Saturn fans, but Sega has finally unleashed Sonic and friends into a 3D world. Unfortunately, Sonics blazing speeds and developer inexperience have him tripping over his own feet throughout the entire game.

The Dreamcast, for example, launched with as many as five racing titles; each offering a suitable showing in both the graphics and speed departments. But, to little surprise, amid the games flashy visuals, there was little in terms of innovation or fun gameplay. Speed Devils, on the other hand, presents us with quite the opposite scenario; the game won't wow you with stunning graphics, but its arcade gameplay may be just deep enough to add up to a good time.

In critiquing Maken X, I am surprised I went this long without blasting the game's overall look. Although the game is rendered with crisp, high-resolution graphics, it is ruined by the choice of character designs and models. Being the anime fan I am, I have no problem with Asmik Ace keeping the anime-look and porting it into a three-dimensional environment. After all Capcom and Square have done it wonderfully with Power Stone and Final Fantasy VIII respectively, and the games were the better for it. The one caveat is that the designs must be appealing to begin with.

Of all the games released that are based on hit titles in their respective genres, few escape the stigma of being a clone or rehash. Those that do usually do so because either there is such a dearth of that type of game on a system, or that the developer did such a great overall job that the similarities can be ignored. In the case of Vanark, it is such an underwhelming game, that as a whole it cannot shine.

Within minutes of loading up Vanark, I can clearly see where the game draws most of its inspirations. Star Fox, Resident Evil, Wing Commander and Star Wars are just a few of the major themes that Vanark boldly borrows from. Unfortunately, in the process of co-opting all its ideas from other games, Vanark fails to define its own identity and pushes the term "generic" to all highs (or is it lows?).

To be perfectly frank, Speed Devils is one of the worst games I've played all year. This thing is ugly from top to bottom. It's not very original or cool (although it thinks it is), the gameplay is weak, the graphics are dull, the music sucks and most of all, it's boring—Speed Devils lacks any kind of excitement whatsoever. High energy is what carried games like Daytona USA and F-Zero X over the edge. High energy even saved San Francisco Rush from being a complete waste of time. Unfortunately, high energy is something Speed Devils doesn't have.

I have incredible soft spot for games that take preexisting genres and really put their own spin on it. This was truly the case with Maken X. While it uses the first-person view to full effect; it plays nothing like the usual Quake-engine based shooter. Instead, Maken X fuse styles of gameplay (hand-to-hand combat, lock-on feature, charged attacks, blocks, computer AI patterns) more commonly found in console games with the first-person view.

There's no doubting the amazing audio and visual advancements that NHL 2K so eagerly showcases. Combine those with easy-to-handle controls and solid gameplay and you have a strong case for the most enjoyable hockey simulation ever. This game gets back to the basics, whereas the most recent hockey games on PlayStation and Nintendo 64 have been following an ugly trend of overly complicated gameplay. NHL 2K is the most fun I've had playing hockey since EA Sports' glory days on the Sega Genesis.