Playstation Reviews A-B

As one of my very first Playstation purchases, this game (originally known as ESPN Extreme Games) was a hit with my friends and still remains a personal favorite of mine. 1Xtreme lets you rollerblade, skateboard, bike, or luge through exotic locations around the globe. This game has aged well, partly due to its distinctive visual style. Unlike most PS1 games that use polygon graphics exclusively, the developers used old-fashioned sprites to render the racers and obstacles. These objects might look pixelated up close, but they look pretty sharp from medium range. 1Xtreme effectively conveys the high-speed, reckless thrills associated with extreme sports. You'll battle it out against 15 CPU-controlled opponents, and the ability to kick and punch gives the action a Road Rash (Genesis, 1992) flavor. The hilarious animations of racers wiping out are complemented by crisp sound effects. Few things in life are quite as satisfying as kicking a defenseless luger to the curb! When you get knocked down, you can almost feel the burn while sliding across the asphalt. It's exhilarating to catch air, especially when you clear a moving trolley or train. Navigating the hazard-lined streets is tricky, but clipping a barrel will just spin you around instead of stopping you cold. I love how CPU players also suffer their share of mishaps, like running straight into a pole! Passing through colored gates rewards you with points, money, and the unlocking of alternate routes. I love the ability to duck or jump, but I always get those two buttons confused! 1Xtreme is fun, but its bright, imaginative stages nearly steal the show. The office buildings on the rolling streets of San Francisco look gorgeous, and I love how the Golden Gate Bridge looms at the end of the race. The South America location features pyramids, lush jungle, and suspension bridges. Lake Tahoe features quaint wooden lodges and a reflective lake. Rounding out the locations are Utah and Italy. The split-screen framerate is very good despite including all the CPU competitors. 1Xtreme's menu system is clunky, but I love those big fat televisions on the option screens. So what's not to like? Well, the strength meter seems unnecessary and I'm not crazy about running over rabbits for bonuses. The game exhibits extreme rubberband AI with opponents that tend to sling-shot past you, and it's hard to crack the top 10 in a given race. 1Extreme isn't perfect, but it's still a one-of-a-kind title that I never get tired of playing. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.

I learned a valuable life lesson from 2Xtreme. I had loved 1Xtreme (aka ESPN Extreme Games) but sold the game back expecting this sequel would trump it in every conceivable way. What a naive child I was! 2Xtreme turned out to be a monumental disappointment! I was disgusted at the time, and I'm still mad! The basic gameplay is the same as 1Xtreme, but you have fewer options. Instead of selecting your mode of transportation, you're limited to using a snowboard in Japan, in-line skates in Las Vegas, a mountain bike in Africa, and a skateboard in Los Angeles. Not only are there fewer locations (four instead of five), but the stages are far less impressive. What the [expletive] happened to the graphics? Everything is rendered in super-low resolution, making characters and obstacles appear insanely pixelated. The lack of detail in the scenery makes the locations look terribly fake. The slopes in Japan look angular and the jungles of Africa look like green tunnels. The Las Vegas strip looks dim and Los Angeles is just plain ugly. I was looking forward to the night stages, but they're just the normal LA stages with the brightness turned down! Where are the [expletive] lights!? The layouts are so repetitive you may as well be doing laps! In terms of gameplay, your speed and ability to catch air is increased. Unfortunately this takes its toll on the controls, and your character looks like an idiot when he catches air and starts flapping his arms (like that's going to help). The lower shoulder buttons are used to activate power-ups, and these are meant to add strategy but really aren't that effective. The fighting element is rendered pointless due to the rough animation and poor collision detection. 2Xtreme is an extremely sloppy effort that signalled the beginning of the end for a once-promising series. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.

1Xtreme (aka ESPN Extreme Games) was terrific, but its sequel was a complete bust. In fact, 2Xtreme left such a bad taste in my mouth that it took 15 years for me to even attempt 3Xtreme! To its credit, the developers started from scratch, delivering a game with an entirely new look and feel. The live-action intro video shows guys doing random stunts, and some of the wipe-outs made my stomach hurt. 3Xtreme eschews exotic locations in favor of realistic stages set around the Los Angeles area, featuring sea shores, parks, and dry river canals. Characters and obstacles are now rendered with polygons instead of sprites. The characters don't look bad from behind, but they look like zombies from any other angle. I dig the idea of realistic stages, but couldn't they have used less-pixelated background images? That blocky night skyline would look right at home in an Atari 2600 game! There's no reason why digitized photographs couldn't have been used instead. There's not much in the way of scenery. In the park stage you ride through the zoo, yet there are no animals - or anything else for that matter. The new control scheme lets you perform sharper turns by holding the pad diagonally down. This gives you more precision turning but it's not very comfortable, and there's no analog option! One area where 3Xtreme excels is the performing of tricks. The ease in which you can grind rails and flip off ramps would make Tony Hawk proud. Unfortunately the elements that made the original game so much fun are all but gone. Instead of competing against a crowd of opponents, there are only six competitors and you rarely even see them. You are now limited to skateboards, bikes, and in-line skates. The sensation of speed is minimal, and the new steering controls tend to cramp my hand. The menu interface is so poor that it takes a dozen steps just to save your progress. I'll give 3Xtreme credit for trying to "keep it real", but this lukewarm effort wasn't going to save the franchise from its tailspin. © Copyright 2014 The Video Game Critic.

The original Ballblazer was a popular 1984 computer game with cutting-edge, psuedo-3D graphics. A futuristic one-on-one sport, it was played from a first-person point of view. You'd expect this sequel to be a winner considering how far 3D graphics have come, but Ballblazer Champions lacks the fun and charm of the original. At times, it's an absolute chore to play! The sad part is, it didn't have to be this way. If LucasArts had stayed true to the original formula, this game might have worked. But instead they completely overhauled the gameplay, creating a confusing mess. Champions is played from a third-person perspective in elaborate arenas with fixed goals and power-ups sprinkled all over the place. The ball tends to blend in with the surroundings, making it hard to track down. An arrow directs you towards its location, but I think a radar display would have been more useful. It's hard to tell what's going on in this game, and the problem is even worse in the split-screen mode. Your vehicle is equipped with a speed burst, but it doesn't work when you have the ball, so you'll crawl like a snail when it's in your possession. The instruction manual recommends continuously shooting the ball ahead of you and speed-bursting to it. The original game let you shoot from any distance, but in Ballblazer Champions your shots stop dead at a few feet, so you'll need to be directly in front of the goal to score! The audio is equally horrific, with bad music and an annoying announcer yelling mindless drivel like "I love it!" and "That had to hurt!" What game is he watching? © Copyright 2002 The Video Game Critic.

After experiencing the thrilling, high-speed racing action of other Batman games (notably Batman Returns on the Sega CD), I was very disappointed with the tedious nature of Gotham City Racer. It's just a series of boring driving missions punctuated by cartoon cut-scenes. Most missions involve simply driving from point A to point B within a set period of time, which isn't the least bit exciting. The on-screen overhead map is crap, but at least a green arrow at the top of the screen keeps you headed in the right direction. Consequentially, you'll spend most of the game staring at that ugly arrow. The Batmobile itself looks junky, and the analog steering sucks. You tend to swerve from side to side, making it difficult to stay on the narrow roads. Some missions involve trailing a villain or disabling his vehicle with weapons. You can fire weapons forward or backward, but no visible damage is inflicted (lame!). Worst yet, the maze-like layout of the city prevents you from attaining high speeds. Gotham Racer's scenery isn't very elaborate. Most roads look the same, but there are a few landmarks and shortcuts to spice things up. In terms of audio, the orchestrated musical score is terrific, but the Batmobile engine is in serious need of a tune-up. The animated cut scenes are entertaining enough, and fans of the series will enjoy watching Batman battle foes like Two-Face, Firefly, and Clay-Face. This footage appears to be taken directly from the show, although the visual quality is somewhat degraded. Gotham City Racer is definitely mediocre, and only die-hard Batman fans will find any redeeming qualities in this. © Copyright 2006 The Video Game Critic.

A vile gangster descends on an innocent civilian on a dark street. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the batmobile appears and the caped crusader leaps out, fists clenched! Then, inexplicably - Batman is run over by a bus! This scene is typical of Batman and Robin. This is an overly ambitious game with massive potential, but all of its pieces don't quite come together. It should actually be called Batman or Robin, considering you can't play both at once (Batgirl is also available). It's hard to criticize Batman and Robin's graphics - this game is pure eye-candy! From the impressive cinematics to the glitzy streets of Gotham, the game sports a dark but colorful motif in the spirit of the movie. The heroes look awesome. Although somewhat stiff when they move, I love the way their capes flow. Your adventure begins in the Batcave at Wayne Manor, where you can train and analyze clues. The training room is a Tomb Raider knock-off, as are the swimming controls (who asked for swimming in a Batman game anyway?). The Batcave is pretty cool though because there are plenty of things to do and places to explore. When it's time to hit the road, you'll hop into the batmobile and cruise the streets of Gotham in search of thugs and clues. The driving graphics are impressively smooth, although the steering is over-sensitive. Mr. Freeze's thugs attack from motorcycles and tanks, but your machine gun is very effective at dispatching these goons. There are also civilian vehicles on the road that inexplicably explode when you accidentally sideswipe them (whoops!). The buildings look really good, and you can get out of your vehicle to explore at any time. Unfortunately, only certain designated areas offer anything to see, indicated by a parked police car. Once you determine where Mr. Freeze will strike next, you go to that place and battle his thugs. These fighting sequences are where the game falls apart. Confusing controls, awkward camera angles, graphical glitches, and collision problems make each fight a painful experience. In addition, the sound effects feature a lot of annoying alarms, and the voice samples sound nothing like the real actors. Finally, be prepared to spend a lot of time staring at loading screens. I like the concept behind Batman and Robin, but Acclaim couldn't quite pull it off. © Copyright 2001 The Video Game Critic.

Review contributed by DaHeckIzDat of the RPG Crew and edited by the VGC.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is an action-RPG with a dark theme but lackluster gameplay. You play as Kain, a nobleman who is murdered by bandits and then resurrected as a vampire. Enraged by his condition, he sets off on a quest to find and kill the sorcerer responsible. As you travel through a medieval landscape the action is viewed from a top-down perspective similar to The Legend of Zelda. The graphics are decent and the voice acting is appealing in a cheesy sort of way. Unfortunately Kain runs his mouth so often you'll start to wish he would just shut his pie hole. A sword is your primary weapon, but the fighting tends to devolve into hitting the attack button faster than your enemy can react. The ability to stun enemies sends them into a "dizzy" state, allowing you to suck their blood to regain health. It's a neat feature but it's silly how blood streams across the screen directly into Kain's mouth. An elaborate HUD consumes the entire right side of the screen when a simple row of icons would have sufficed. Kain acquires different powers as you progress including the ability to transform into a wolf or a bat. The bat form is mainly a quick travel option. I once activated it by accident and then realized that I couldn't exit the map screen! The fact that I was then forced to warp back to a waypoint and walk halfway across the map is just bad game design. Furthermore, you have to pause the game to equip items and powers, and it can take up to ten seconds just to bring up the menu! Considering how many times you're required to perform this action it's completely unacceptable. I wouldn't say Blood Omen is unplayable but it probably hasn't aged well enough to convince most players to endure its 60+ hour storyline. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

As one of the first baseball games to incorporate polygon graphics, you might expect Bottom of the 9th to totally suck, but it's actually quite entertaining. Although Konami failed to secure an MLB license (no team names or stadiums), the game does contain real players, complete with digitized photos. Bottom of the 9th's gameplay is simple and fun - once you get over the primitive graphics. With the featureless bodies that are rough around the joints, the players on the pitcher/batter screen look more like robots. Their animation however is very smooth and lifelike - and that's what really counts. The batter aims using a "swing box", and the better the hitter, the larger the box. Once a ball is put into play, the game truly shines. Playing defense is a pleasure, with responsive fielders who can whip the ball between the bases with ease. The outfield is huge, so there tends to be a lot of hits into the gaps. The ball really tends to "die" after it hits the ground, as if the grass was soaked with rain. Be sure to keep an eye on your runners, because they run on anything. Bottom of the 9th has its share of little quirks, but these give the game character. Teams are referred to by their city, and their fake logos are cheesy as hell. You'll play in odd venues like the Comet Dome and Panther Field. This is also the first baseball game that lets you throw "warm up" pitches. Bad idea! Hell, they even need to drop that from real baseball! When selecting a pitch, the pitcher sometimes will "shake you off" from the mound, which looks cool. Finally, when a player gets thrown out at a base, it's funny how he sulks back to the dugout totally dejected with his head down. Bottom of the 9th is an odd case where its graphics are so bad that they're good, and its smooth, arcade-style gameplay is timeless. © Copyright 2005 The Video Game Critic.

The back of the box for this game reads "NEW! 1998 opening day rosters! NEW! 1998 inter-league schedule!" So why is it called Bottom of the 9th '99 again? The only reason I bought this game is because it has Brady Anderson on the cover, one of my favorite Orioles from the 90's. Speaking of Orioles, I can not get over just how stacked their roster was in 1998! Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro, Harold Baines, and Brady Anderson were just a few of the team's heavy hitters that year. I really enjoyed the first Bottom of the 9th (Playstation, 1996), but this one is less interesting. The boxy players look more "fleshed out" than the first game, but their blank faces look creepy as hell! The animation is extremely fluid, and I actually recognized the distinctive stances of several batters. The pitchers deliver with a nice winding motion, but they are so lanky that it looks like a frickin' praying mantis out there on the mound! The infield throws from knees and head-first slides look very realistic, but I hate how outfielders "twitch" as they approach the ball from an angle. Exclamation points appear over players who make a poor throw - as if they're cursing or something. In addition to the default behind-the-batter view, you also have the option of a behind-the-pitcher angle, which alters both the view and controls drastically. It's like a whole different game! Bottom of the 9th has a nice pick-up and play quality. The pitching controls are okay, but I wish the fastball was the default pitch instead of the change-up. Also, these fastballs sure don't look very fast! Fly balls tend to float in the air, so shots to the gap usually end up as shoestring catches. Likewise, infielders usually snag hard liners that appear to be well over their heads. Getting on base is like pulling teeth, and this lack of offense sucks the excitement out of the game. Other annoyances include fielders who don't try to tag runners, or players who stand around after the third out like a bunch of idiots! In one amazing glitch, my friend Chris managed an underhand throw to himself on first base! The stadiums are rough approximations of the real things, but I do like those skylines at night. The controls are digital only, and there's no instant replay function. I wouldn't call Bottom of the 9th '99 bottom of the barrel, but you can find better baseball games for the Playstation. © Copyright 2009 The Video Game Critic.

If you hated Bubsy in 2D, wait until you get a load of this 3D atrocity. This is the kind of game that makes you stare at the screen and shake your head in disbelief. The main character is incredibly unfunny and creepy to boot. His goofy voice will make you cringe as he randomly tosses out lines like "Owwww - what's the number for 911?" The game allegedly takes place in "distant worlds", giving the developers an excuse to throw together the most unimaginative, aesthetically repugnant stages ever devised. They are basically composed of geometric shapes with gaudy color schemes. The draw-in is horrendous as triangular mountains and square platforms magically appear as you step forward. Strewn across the landscape are hundreds of atom icons. You're supposed to collect those things, but that would be a colossal waste of time. Populating the flat, featureless worlds are green, armless goons that stand around and spit red projectiles. You can pounce on them for points, but the horrendous digital controls make even landing on a stationary object tricky. Enemies are deadly to touch, and thanks to poor collision detection just being in the general vicinity is fatal. Lining up Bubsy for jumps is tedious work, and that fact that he'll grab the side of a ledge if you come up short is little consolation. Combining 2D sprites with 3D objects makes depth perception hard, so grabbing floating objects is very frustrating. The weird music sounds like something from a haunted carnival. Playing Bubsy 3D is one of the most unpleasant experiences you'll ever endure. I forced my friend Scott play this a few months back, and the poor guy is still in therapy. Lacking any glimmer of charm or creativity, Bubsy 3D takes "bad" to a whole new dimension. © Copyright 2012 The Video Game Critic.

I think I would have enjoyed this arcade racer in 1996 had I known about it at the time. The title screen exclaims "Burning Road!" with a goofy voice that sounds just like Waluigi! Burning Road's muddy polygon graphics may not measure up to Ridge Racer (Sony, 1995) but they are comparable to Daytona USA (Saturn, 1995). Three tracks offer high-speed racing thrills between chunky muscle cars. Select a vehicle and a voice quips "allll-righty then!" It doesn't get much more 90's than that! The colorful tracks incorporate windmills, ruins, tunnels, and rickety wooden bridges. The snowy mountain section looks beautiful and driving through the city at night during a raging storm is amazing. The controls are limited to brake and accelerate, and you'll want to use that brake around long turns to avoid sliding off the road. The bumpy tracks make for a bouncy ride, so the first-person view is out of the question. Burning Road claims to support analog control but apparently that must be a steering wheel because my analog controller didn't work. The arcade-style races are short but sweet, clocking in under four minutes each. This game is a wild ride! Helicopters and planes buzz the courses and collisions send you bouncing around like a toy. Hitting timed checkpoints adds tension and excitement. Each course must be completed in a certain amount of time to advance. A score is tabulated between rounds and you can rank in at the very end. Just don't try saving to memory card because it's not worth the trouble. According to the manual: "The only way to save over an existing saved game in Burning Road is to first delete the previously saved game and then give the command to save the current game". Really? They couldn't fix that? Two players are supported via a link cable option. It may be a poor man's Ridge Racer, but I enjoyed Burning Road's simple, pick-up-and-play style. © Copyright 2019 The Video Game Critic.