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A Little Less Conversation

Writing is not necessarily for everyone. This could be due to a number of reasons: lack of time; fear; no inspiration; missing brain due to Zombie Apocalypse; I’m sure you can think of your own excuses. At Toronto Thumbs, we want to make sure that our readers do not miss anything that we might have to offer. Information is precious, and any man with a small member will tell you that “size doesn’t matter”. And so, A Little Less Conversation is born.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, News Bytes | 5 Comments »

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
Motorstorm: Arctic Edge

Motorstorm: Arctic Edge starts like a Coors Light commercial: The camera follows helicopters as they weave between snow-capped mountains over a pristine white landscape. The helicopters unload their cargo and, instead of six-packs or inappropriately dressed women, its cars and ATVs. Like Coors Light, Arctic Edge is a pale imitation.

The Motorstorm series is known for its vibrant graphics and Arctic Edge, being released on the PS2, can’t compete with its next gen cousins. Even adjusting the curve, the style of Arctic Edge is muted and gray. I would rather drive through the pure snow of the intro than the depressing steelworks and mud look the game goes for. The scant bit of colour that finds its way into the game is neon loud and garish. Crashes are shown in slow motion, a feature seen in the Burnout series, but in those games the slow destruction is a thing of beauty and gives you the chance to crash into competitors. Arctic Edge’s version is neither beautiful nor practical, but a waste of time.

Speaking of crashing: I got a clear lead during a race, but then I crashed. Five times. In any other game I would’ve had to restart. Here I didn’t lose my position. That’s right, five crashes and nobody had managed to pass me. This happened several times. On one stage there was a “challenge” to remain in first place for ten seconds straight. Aren’t challenges supposed to be difficult?

The accelerate button isn’t the standard X button, but rather R1. X is reserved for boosters, which give you a burst of speed, but can explode if overheated. Driving through snow could help with the overheating, but differentiating between which shade of white means ice and which means snow is not a task to be attempted at 100 miles per hour. It didn’t matter though. I’d hold down the X button out of instinct and explode into a fiery (slow motion) wreck. It was okay, though. I’d still be in first.

Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, PlayStation 2 | 3 Comments »

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

As a Turtle fan, I gotta tell you it doesn’t get much better than a classic TMNT beat-’em-up game. TMNT Turtles in Time was a game I rented several times back in the SNES-era, and one I beat on single play-throughs repeatedly. Now that the game has been given the HD treatment in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, I’ve once again come under the influence of Turtle Mania.

Two things you must know if you’re considering purchasing this game: The first, you have to really like TMNT. The second, this is a button masher. Some skill is required to avoid enemy attacks and find the right time to strike, especially with the bosses, but in the end it comes down to a war of attrition. You pound away at the Foot Clan until you are victorious. That’s it. It’s still lots of fun, but I don’t see why anyone who isn’t a big Turtle fan would be into it.

The game is based on the original Turtles in Time, and that original arcade edition is supposedly what has been re-vamped here. So some things from the SNES game aren’t in here. It’s been a while since I’ve played the SNES edition, but I recall distinctly that Roadkill Rodneys were in the game – they don’t appear to be in this one. I’ve played through the whole thing but didn’t notice them. Also missing is the end battle with Krang wherein you toss Foot Soldiers at the screen to defeat him (or am I just remembering things really wrong?).

While the 3D visual makeover is nice, there are some setbacks. For instance, character models have changed quite a bit, especially the bosses and the Aliens-like sewer, er, aliens. So it strays away a bit from the conventions used by the goofy 80s cartoon but it’s a forgivable offense as the feel of the characters remains unchanged. The visual makeover has slightly changed the control aspect – with the pixel art it was easier to judge distances and therefore evade attacks. Things feel a little more haphazard now. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a noticeable thing.

There’s minor voice acting, as with the original version. However now it’s really easy to draw comparisons between Krang and Gollum from Lord of the Rings. The music is also jazzed up a bit but the departure from chip tunes makes the score a little less memorable.

In the end, you’ve probably already made up your mind about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Again, Turtle fans will not want to miss this one, and the more friends you can get together to kick some shell with, the better. It doesn’t take long to play through, but the title is a good mix of old, new, and some obvious fan service. One thing is for certain: I prefer this brawling style for my TMNT games and hope to see some more like this (and the excellent GBA TMNT movie game from a few years ago) in the future.

Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, LIVE, Xbox 360 | 12 Comments »

Byte-Size Review
Dragon’s Lair II - Time Warp

Over the last week I’ve been struggling to find the right approach with regards to From Software’s Ninja Blade – a game that uses quick-time events as a heavily integrated game-play feature. And oddly enough, I’ve also had the opportunity to review the upcoming Blu-ray release of Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp – a game that is entirely composed of a series of quick-time events. The Don Bluth series of games has often given rise to an argument questioning whether that single mechanic actually constitutes game-play. At my simplest, my vote would be that the requirement of input from the player to receive visual outputs as a response to actions means that it is at least a video game in the two word sense.

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Posted in Blu-ray, Byte-Size Reviews | 5 Comments »

Byte-Size Review
Mirror’s Edge 2D

If you haven’t played the 2D online interpretation of Mirror’s Edge, you should think about doing so immediately - but maybe finish reading this post first. It’s bizarre, the idea that a side-scrolling interpretation of a game intended to innovate the first-person perspective could work so well and simply fit from play-zero - but here we are. The concept and design of DICE’s game come together so perfectly here, that it is nothing short of simple, harmonious game-play - like better days, long past but not forgotten.

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Posted in Awesome, Byte-Size Reviews | 3 Comments »

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
R-Type Dimensions

Today, one of my favourite childhood games got the HD treatment. No, not dodgeball. I’m talking about R-Type. It was the first game to scare me yet I kept going back to it, getting just a little better and going just a little farther into the mysteriously creepy Bydo Empire with each attempt.

Now, R-Type and R-Type II are part of the same download in the excellent R-Type Dimensions for Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game will set you back 1200 points, but if you’re a fan of shoot-‘em-ups, this should be a part of your games library.

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Posted in Awesome, Byte-Size Reviews, LIVE, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
Space Invaders Extreme

Space Invaders Extreme is as good a remake as one can hope for. Like Pac-Man Championship Edition, this remake has a pumping techno backbeat with brightly coloured sprites as enemies and power-ups. The action is all superimposed over a stylized video background, and each stage has its own video effects.

Like the original, players control a lone gunship defending Earth from an oncoming alien horde. Rows and columns of Invaders shuffle from left to right. When they reach the end of the screen, they drop down one row. Should an Invader reach all the way to the bottom of the screen, the player loses a life.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, DS, PSP | 12 Comments »

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
Game & Watch Gallery 4

With Club Nintendo recently opening its arms to North American gamers after having shunned them aside for years, many of us have been leaping at the opportunity to register games for virtual coins. Among the most sought-after goodies available from Club Nintendo is the pricey Game & Watch Collection for Nintendo DS. Because I don’t have this game, I can’t comment on its greatness. But from what I’ve read about it, it only contains three games.

Sure, it’s an exclusive Club item and one I’m sure with fetch a great resale value at some point. I was considering dropping my coins for it until I realized that the GBA title Game & Watch Gallery 4 could be purchased used for relatively cheap and that it included more games on it, including 14 unlockable games.

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Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, Game Boy | 2 Comments »