Playstation Reviews T

Tempest 2000 (Jaguar, 1994) took the vector-shooting goodness of the 1982 arcade classic and gave it a makeover with flashy visuals, dazzling power-ups, and a pumping techno soundtrack. The result was a feast for the senses, and it would have been a runaway hit had anyone been paying attention. With the release of Tempest X3 the game got a new lease on life, reprising the pulse-pounding shooting action for the Playstation masses. Gameplay involves moving a claw-shaped cannon around 3D geometric shapes, firing rapidly at creatures scaling in from the distance. The particle effects are amazing and there's so much razzle-dazzle it occasionally obstructs your view. Half the time you can't even tell how you lost a life! Tempest X3 differs slightly from the Jaguar original. The polygon panels are not solid but have some kind of swirling oil-slick pattern. A new power-up called the "Megadroid" is a juiced-up version of the AI droid, providing a powerful temporary ally. The green spikes that were a non-factor in the Jaguar game pose much more danger here. Tempest X3 begs for analog control but the game was released before Playstation controllers were outfitted with that option. The digital pad doesn't feel right, so on hunch I pulled out my old Nyko Trackball controller out of the closet. It works like a charm! I suspect this device was designed for Tempest X3 because the control is so smooth and precise! Bump up the grade by one letter if you own one of these controllers. Tempest X3 includes all the modes from Tempest 2000, but the traditional mode looks tiny for some reason. I like the high score screen but wish it was broken out by mode. All things considered Tempest X3 is a strong title for those who crave "twitch" games. My friends joked that since the Playstation stole its best game, there's no reason left to ever own a Jaguar. I think they were joking. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

Being a big ninja fan a lot of readers have recommended the Tenchu series, claiming it provides the most realistic ninja experience. As I've always suspected, realism is vastly overrated. In Tenchu: Stealth Assassins you are a ninja named Ric Maru who looks a lot like Darth Maul. You embark on a series of missions with objectives like punishing an evil merchant or delivering secret plans. Prior to each you stock up on supplies like smoke bombs, grenades, mines, and poison rice. I prefer to stock up on throwing stars and health packs, as they are more conducive to my "aggressive" ninja style. I hate how the game won't let you reuse items you used during the previous game. You actually need to reboot just to get a full selection of stuff! Tenchu's stages take place in fenced compounds that are annoyingly dark. The idea is to creep over rooftops and down dark alleys unseen, but that's easier said than done. It's hard as hell to spot enemies, yet quite easy for them to detect you! At first I thought evasion was an option, but you're actually required to kill a certain number of enemies. You don't have to do it in a stealth manner, but it's a heck of a lot better for your health if you do! For some reason I always end up in sword fights. Button-mashing lets you dish out some potent attacks, providing you can keep your target in front of you. When you deal a fatal blow the display of blood is crazy. Not only does it shoot out like a geyser, but it runs down the nearest wall! My main problem with Tenchu is its clunky controls. The lack of analog support (!) makes it hard to move with precision. Holding O puts you in stealth mode, but then you move like a snail which is no fun at all! The aiming controls are haphazard, often pointing to the sky by default. I feel bad about all the dogs I killed in Tenchu. Maybe being a real ninja isn't all it's cracked up to be. I think I'll keep my day job. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

This box of Lost World: Jurassic Park Special Edition boasts of a new T-Rex level, mid-level checkpoints, and "stronger and longer lives". Clearly this Greatest Hits re-release was trying to atone for the sins of the original. The new opening stage features a T-Rex tearing through a warehouse, chomping on soldiers and flinging their lifeless bodies. The key is to maintain your health by consuming a guy every now. For the next nine stages you're a small but fleet-of-foot "compy" dinosaur, scampering through lush jungles, hopping between rocky ledges, and mauling small creatures when necessary. Lost World was an early example of 2.5D gameplay, with fluid animation and shifting camera angles that were absolutely mind-blowing in the late 90's. The compy stages begin to lose their charm once you start running into other creatures like raptors and flying insects. The collision detection is awful! Sometimes you can leap over several raptors in a single bound and sometimes you'll get bounced between them like a pinball. The stage where you walk between the legs of a herd of Brachiosaurus was always amazing to me, but did they really need to include extra hazards like poisonous red plants and rolling rocks? In the next set of stages you play as a human hunter, but your default weapon is useless. The fun of the raptor stages is undermined by exploding crates and beds of spikes. Biting humans is less-than-satisfying because instead of clutching them in your jaws you just sort of bite through them. Only a marginal improvement, this Special Edition proves lays bare just how fundamentally flawed the game was (and still is). © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

Having recently rewatched The Mummy trilogy I was curious about the games they spawned. I had some trepidations, knowing full well movie-based titles have a tendency to suck. The Mummy's video intro is lifted directly from the film, boasting dazzling CGI effects by 1999 standards. In the game itself the character models appear angular with digitized faces mapped onto their heads. They look very good... from the front at least. The action begins in a dark tomb where you can only see a few feet ahead, even with a torch. When I stumbled upon two guys I immediately pulled out my guns and shot them dead. They were grave robbers... right? Not many games let you brandish a pair of pistols right off the bat, but I think I like it! Later you'll face mummies which absorb more shots. The machete is my weapon of choice, allowing you to hack away at multiple foes at a time. The game had a habit of dropping enemies behind you while during combat, and that's bad news. Once you get surrounded you're toast. The craggy tombs are nicely rendered with spooky lighting and artistic engravings, but limited visibility makes each feel like a repetitive maze. The game quickly falls into a pattern of slaying creeps, grabbing items, pressing a switch, and moving on to the next room. The analog control is a lot better than digital but gauging jumps is tricky. Once I died for no apparent reason, and then it dawned on me I was standing on lava. The sweeping orchestrated music adds weight but the voice actors don't sound like the actors in the film. The Mummy isn't terrible but the ravages of time have not been kind to its of rinse-and-repeat gameplay. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

I spotted this one at a used game shop in Louisville and for three bucks I figured it was worth a shot. The Simpsons Wrestling was surprisingly popular back in the day, even topping sales charts at one point. It's one heck of a license, considering the show has featured so many colorful personalities over the years. You'd think the game would be worth at least a laugh or two... right? The load screen displays a playful animation of Itchy and Scratchy pounding each other with mallets - so far so good. The cast of playable "wrestlers" includes Homer, Barney, Apu, Krusty, Willie, Bart, Lisa, and Marge. The fighting moves are obviously zany in nature. Homer brandishes a bowling ball, Bart shoots a slingshot, Krusty wields a mallet, and Marge swings a frying pan. Yet the bulk of each match consists of both fighters slapping each other silly as their health meters slowly erode away. The confusing control scheme lends itself to rampant button mashing. Painstakingly collecting five letters allows you to "taunt" your opponent with an unfunny jibe ("in your face, loser!"). What is the point? The scenery is remarkably dull and the random voice quips are lame. Matches drag on and on, and just when you think you've put your opponent away he'll snatch a health power-up! Even pinning him is not good enough to end the misery; you have to do it twice! This game is absolute torture! The animation is choppy, the collision detection loose, and fighters tend to face the wrong direction. And then there's the whole matter of watching Homer slap around Marge, which is beyond disturbing. There is a price to be paid for playing Simpson's Wrestling, and rest assured it's far more than three bucks. © Copyright 2018 The Video Game Critic.

I feel a little guilty about Thunder Force 5 (TF5). In the 16-bit era we were spoiled with a wide selection of side-scrolling shooters, so when this one came along in the late 90's we took it for granted. Fortunately it's never too late to enjoy old video games. Thunder Force 5 attempts to combine the richness of 3D graphics with the simplicity of 2D gameplay. The action plays out on a single plane but enemies frequently scale in from the background and the camera occasionally shifts for dramatic effect. As with the original Thunder Force titles, you collect multiple weapons and toggle between them on the fly. I just wish that weapon selector didn't encroach onto the main screen and obstruct your view! Fans will instantly recognize weapons like the twin shot, wave, hunter, and back shot. One new addition is the "free range" that deploys a wireframe cone and disintegrates anything in the vicinity with laser beams. It's hard to aim, but since it deploys from the back, it's great for making short work of enemies sneaking up from behind. There's also a powerful "over weapon" that you'll want to save for the bosses. It takes a while to become comfortable with the controls, but once you do, the action is engrossing. The graphics are substandard. From the chunky buildings of the post-apocalyptic city to the ugly haze of the forest stage, the visuals are arguably a step down from the vibrant 16-bit titles. Even digitized scenery like mountains and storm clouds appear very grainy. Enemies look chunky and indistinct, and when they fly in from the background it's hard to determine when they're in range. For that reason alone, homing weapons like the hunter and the free range are your best options. Smaller enemies tend to be generic tanks and satellites, but the larger foes assume more interesting forms like a swinging monkey or a speeding motorcycle. A white crosshair appears over large enemies and turns red as you wear them down. The explosions are satisfying but sometimes it's hard to tell harmless raining debris from deadly missiles. When your game ends you'll see the message "Game Over. Pilot Error" appears. Thunder Force 5 offers some neat bells and whistles. There's a stage select feature and a ranking screen that tracks the top 20 scores for each skill level. There's plenty of art to unlock, and it's actually worth looking at. TF5 supports analog control (recommended) and the vibration is used with proper restraint. The musical style is faithful to the old games, but not as catchy. The "game over" theme caught my ear because it's the same one used in Thunder Force 3. Thunder Force 5 lacks the pick-up-and-play quality of its predecessors, but if you can overcome the learning curve you might just find some 16-bit shooting magic underneath all of those polygons. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

I love the concept behind Tigershark. It lets you control a submersible that skims along the surface of the water, torpedoing ships before diving to destroy undersea targets. The first time I played this game I was just whizzing around sinking boats and blowing up land targets. When I finally realized I could dive it was like discovering a whole new world! There's an undersea city down there! The visual effects of moving above and below the water surface are convincing and I really like those bubble sound effects. The missions offer a series of targets to seek out and destroy, but that's easier said than done. Unfortunately the game was released before the Playstation analog controller, and it's hard to aim with the digital pad. Oh sure you have lock-on missiles, but they are useless! Am I out of ammo or does this weapon just plain suck? Your more effective option - by far - is your machine gun. Hell, you can sink an entire destroyer by focusing your fire on it for a few seconds! When a ship sinks and hits the sea floor it sends shock waves that knock your ship around. Couple that with the fact that you're constantly taking fire from unseen sources, and you have a recipe for sheer frustration. Sometimes my ship seems to stop for no apparent reason, making me a sitting duck. And there are precious few power-ups to renew your armor. The radar is confusing and that green arrow will send you on wild goose chase. Messages on the screen instruct you to do things like "Destroy Russian tap 1." Am I supposed to know what that is?! When you die, you restart the entire mission from the very beginning, which is truly demoralizing. Tigershark is one of those games you want to like but it fights you every step of the way. © Copyright 2016 The Video Game Critic.

Underappreciated in its day, many gamers now regard Tomba as a hidden gem in the Playstation One library. As much as I would like to concur, Tomba didn't win me over. The main character is a primitive dude with wild pink hair. A cheesy cartoon intro explains how his magical bracelet was stolen from him by a race of evil pigs. So far it sounds awful but Tomba has a distinctive look and feel that some might find appealing. Its friendly graphics are 3D-rendered but the action takes place on layered 2D planes. For example, at the start of the game Tomba moves side to side in front of a fence, but later he can run behind the fence. It works pretty well although it's not always evident where you can and can't go. The controls are extremely crisp and responsive. Tomba can bash enemies with his mace, pounce on them, and hurl them into walls. He can latch onto just about any wall, plant, or animal, and it looks like he's trying to hump them. It's especially disturbing when he latches onto those pink, ass-shaped flowers. Did the programmers do that on purpose? The game can be amusing, but you spend too much time running tedious errands. Everybody's like "collect these" and "find that". You'll need to scour every nook and cranny of the stage to locate items, but fortunately the areas tend to be very constrained. This game doesn't make a whole lot of sense. There are these puff balls hanging from some trees, and once when I pulled on one a dwarf fell out of the tree! You'll need to collect a lot of unusual items including "evil pig bags" (I knew I forgot something from the grocery store!) Overall I found Tomba's nonsense more aggravating than endearing. I think President Obama put it best when he said, "Look, I have better things to do than hump flowers and yank on puff balls." Nope, he never said that. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

After a three-year layoff, Tomba has returned with his spiky pink hair and a buff new body. The original game was a unique platfomer with a layered 2D style. This sequel tries to take the concept to the next level, but it's not much of an improvement. For some reason I expected this sequel to be faster, but Tomba 2 is just as slow. You still navigate platforms, climb walls, battle evil pigs, and run errands for everybody and their mother. You need to complete certain actions to progress and it's easy to get stuck. Fortunately the stages are small and confined so it's possible to explore every nook and cranny. The treasure-hunting aspect is great fun, and jumping between chains in the mine stage has a nice Donkey Kong Junior vibe. Fans of the original will be disappointed with the degraded graphics however. Since the game is now fully rendered in 3D polygons, the characters and objects take on a more pixelated, angular appearance. Your movements are still confined to 2D planes, but now there are now "crossroad" areas (designated by arrows) that let you change direction. This system allows for more sophisticated level designs but it can be awkward and disorienting. The developers included a few areas where you can move freely about, but navigating these areas is a chore thanks to a misbehaving camera. Some of the platform jumping tested my patience. I guess it's not so much the jumping that bothers me as it is all of the missing. The fact that you can't adjust the camera is a problem, and falling into water is deadly. Tomba 2 lets you save your progress at designated spots, and the music is exceptionally good, especially in the coal-mining town. It never quite lives up to its promise, but fans with a lot of patience are in for a satisfying romp. © Copyright 2011 The Video Game Critic.

Playing Tomorrow Never Dies gave me a serious case of deja-vu, probably because it's a heck of a lot like 007: The World Is Not Enough (N64, 2000). The production values are pretty good with realistic voice acting and an amazing soundtrack that conveys a sense of excitement. Cut-scenes intersperse clips from the film and you even get the complete movie intro featuring the Sheryl Crow theme song. Unfortunately these clips tend call to your attention to just how boxy the actual game graphics are. You play a 3D Pierce Brosnan with a close-cropped polygon hairdo undertaking ten missions that follow the plot of the film. The third-person shooting begins in snowy Siberia, where the purple twilight sky is really easy on the eyes. You'll move between camps while gunning down soldiers and collecting health and weapons. James Bond isn't capable of fighting without a weapon, believe it or not. You can always tell who the bad guys are because they have these big red and yellow targets superimposed over them. You commandeer a plane at the end of this mission, but sadly you don't get to fly it. The analog controls are clumsy and inexact, and I found myself running in circles around a key card I was trying to pick up. The camera unstable and jittery, and a nightmare in close quarters. I actually became queasy at times. At least the game is forgiving, offering plenty of ammo, checkpoints, and health packs. Certain stages let you ski or drive a car, and during one mission you gun down bad guys who fall into printing presses! Fans of the movie will be interested to know that Bond does have an encounter with an angular Terry Hatcher. Multiplayer split-screen modes highlighted the Nintendo 64 Bond titles, but they are mysteriously absent here. This makes the box claim of "the most complete Bond experience" ring hollow. Once you beat the short missions of Tomorrow Never Dies, there's nothing here to keep you coming back. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.