5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Let me know what you think about my reviews.
Edward M

5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Edward M » May 13th, 2007, 4:32 am

Well I remember reading reviews for excite truck insulting it for "lack of features."  I much prefer Excite Truck to a boring collect-a-thon  like Gran Turismo.  It deserves its A  score.  While there may not be a 200 hour boring campaign mode, the actual game is insanely fun, and isn't that what counts?



You were way too tough on Metal.  I understand your complaints.   Perhaps the Wii isn't the best system for the series.  But this is 7 of the best shooters of all time near arcade perfect(minus some minor load times between levels). It certainly deserves higher than B-. The wii Controls sucks, but they offer gamecube controller support.  I know you said you were disappointed that they didn't offer D pad support.  I know I'm in the minority, but I prefer the GC analog stick to a D pad.  It feels very precise and I actually fell like it combines the best of 2d and 3d gameplay.   Regardless, they do make arcade joysticks for it that accept analog input.   Here is one that is getting good reviews.http://www.digitpress.com/archives/cc_xarcade.htm
But if you prefer to play with gamepad with a DPad, get the PS2 version.  Its basically the same game.

You complained about the difficulties settings.   I don't think thats a very valid complaint.  It includes unlimited continues for someone who just wants to beat the game.   But then it includes 30/20/10 continues depending on which system you choose.   It must be near impossible to beat metal slug 3 in less than 10 continues so I don't see what the big deal is.  It seems to offer challenge if you want it.  It seems to offer a setting for everyone, unless you are a gaming God who can beat these games on 3 continues on hard.


Shawn

5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Shawn » May 13th, 2007, 9:23 am

I don't think the critic was hard enough on the terrible music in Excite truck. Is that not an important component of a racing game? I think if somebody had to load up an SD card when playing a racer on the 360 or the PS3 the critic would be like "I hate the fact that these new systems make use of these new fangled functionalities! Couldn't Microsoft or Sony just make the game with good music built in! NO! They make you buy their overpriced SD cards!" I could here it now.......

Keep in mind I am not saying Excite truck is a terrible game b/c of the music, but I think it detracts from the experience.

dreary79

5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby dreary79 » May 13th, 2007, 10:46 am

The Metal Slug controls are in no way "crippled".  The reviews says, "Metal Slug games were designed for a joystick", but then the reviewer wants to use the GC controllers digital pad instead of the analog stick.  And the review also says, "You also have the option of using a GameCube controller, but that's a pain to hook up"  I thought that the VGC reviewed old school games all the time that required a person to plug in a controller.  What's so hard about plugging in a wavebird dongle?  Metal Slug plays fine with the Wavebird controller and there is no reason to bash this game for controls.

The reviews of Excite Truck and GT Pro were right on as usual. 


Austin

5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Austin » May 13th, 2007, 11:13 am

I can't see the reviews. It only link to the 3 original Wii reviews


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VideoGameCritic
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5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby VideoGameCritic » May 13th, 2007, 11:47 am

If you're not seeing the reviews, hit the refresh button on your browser.  Is there a way to specify a "freshness" date in HTML code?

Concerning Metal Slug, the games are solid gold but the interface is a mess.  I would like to use the Wii controller with all the functions mapped to the buttons (no motion control).  I don't think that would have been too much to ask, and I would have been perfectly happy with that.  Sure, hooking up a wavebird isn't too hard, but I shouldn't have to do that!  And yes, the analog control sucks.

Next, the continue/difficulty thing is a confusing mess.  Is the difficulty only correlated to the number of continues, or does the game REALLY get hard on higher difficulty levels.  It's never clear, and something so simple should not be so confusing. And for those of you who think I'm unfair to bash it for this, remember, there's a reason why that scheme has never been used in the past and will never be used in the future!



Sudz1
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5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Sudz1 » May 13th, 2007, 6:17 pm

Hmmm, I dunno Dave, I would tend to think that the Metal Slug game should be less than a B- if the controls really are as bad as you say.  Really when you think about it, if you can't work the controls on *any* game, no matter how good, isn't it pretty much useless?
I don't know about Excite Truck getting an "A" either; it's a fun game for sure, but if I had my choice between that and Motor Storm I would pick Motor Storm 9 times out of 10.  I just don't think the Wii controls translate well at ALL to games that require steering and I always feel like instead of enjoying the game I'm busy fighting to compensate for the horrible steering effect.
Sudz



Atarifever1
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5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Atarifever1 » May 13th, 2007, 8:51 pm

[QUOTE=Shawn]I enjoyed Excite truck a ton but I thought it was boring as hell after about 2 to 3 hours. I think having to unlock things to extend a games value (if you will) that has very modest offerings is just cheap.


[/QUOTE]

I don't know if you understand what a "ton" is.  Perhaps it's different in the states.  But, measured in time, I would think something that is enjoyed a "ton" would need to fill more than 2 or 3 hours before --not just boring you but-- boring the hell out of you. I mean, that doesn't sound much like a ton of enjoyment to me.  Thus, I think you could have just been honest about it and said "I didn't overly enjoy the game, and could only stand to play it for a couple hours". 
I know you often feel attacked for voicing your opinion here, but trust me, trying to soften every statement with something like "I like this game a lot but..." isn't going to make a difference.  Say what you mean and if people don't like it argue with them. 

Personally, from what I've played, I loved Excite Truck.  However, for a little perspective, my favorite other racers are Need for Speed Hot Pursuit (I know, Atarifever actually liked a PS1 game!), Excitebike, and Mario Kart DS, while my last favorite racing games are Forza and GT: Version whatever. 

Shawn

5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby Shawn » May 13th, 2007, 10:34 pm

Let me spell it out for you Fever, I enjoyed it a ton for a couple of hours before I got bored with it. Meaning it isn't an "A" title. Do you feel better now?


m0zart1
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5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby m0zart1 » May 14th, 2007, 1:05 am

[QUOTE=Sudz]I don't know about Excite Truck getting an "A" either; it's a fun game for sure, but if I had my choice between that and Motor Storm I would pick Motor Storm 9 times out of 10.  I just don't think the Wii controls translate well at ALL to games that require steering and I always feel like instead of enjoying the game I'm busy fighting to compensate for the horrible steering effect.[/QUOTE]

I've become accustomed to using motion controls on Excite Bike, so while it was confusing at first, it is now almost second-nature.  At this point, I prefer using them to using an analog stick.

a1
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5/12/2007: Wii: Excite Truck, GT Pro Series, Metal Slug Anthology

Postby a1 » May 14th, 2007, 1:20 am

I played through Excite Truck for a good 15 hours just on single player, and I still have fun playing through on multiplayer. The music is crap, but I give Nintendo points for letting me listen to my own through an SD card. Maybe that isn't fair, but I'd give points to the Xbox Vice City for letting me listen to my own CDs, too. I think the Critic is the only reviewer to get the Excite Truck review right.



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