Blueflower's Gaming Blog and Reviews

[blueflower999]

...Really? Like an actual copy of the game, or a ROM on an emulator?

[Zunawe]

If he found the actual game you have a right to bash his face in I think.

[blueflower999]

If he found the actual game you have a right to bash his face in I think.

Why? I have the actual game.

[Zunawe]

Did you find it difficult to get? If not, then never mind.

[blueflower999]

I'm lucky enough to live near a store that sells older video games. While I haven't seen it in that store in awhile, I did run into it several times there before deciding to buy it. It was the first game I ever got that was older than the Gamecube, so I had to buy the SNES as well. It cost 90 dollars, which is a real bargain considering what they've been going for on eBay.

But yeah. If you live near a store that sells old video games, it's not THAT hard to find, but if you don't, then it is. And it'll still run you at least 100 bucks today either way.

[Zunawe]

Ah. Not many stores do sell games like that anymore.

[blueflower999]

I think it's safe to say that if I didn't buy EarthBound, I might not be on this forum today.

[blueflower999]

OK, I'll admit, I'm starting to run out of ideas. But I want this Christmas marathon to continue until I go back to school. So I'll start reviewing more obvious games. Like this one.

Pikmin:

Gameplay: 9/10 Like many of you know, Pikmin 2 is my favorite game of all time. But this is one, not two. While 2 is far superior in every way to the original, there obviously would not be a sequel without the original. Pikmin 1's gameplay was incredibly original. I've never seen any game like it before, and I haven't seen any since, except for that shameless ripoff on the Playstation Vita. You command your Pikmin, and salvage 30 ship parts in 30 in game time days, with each day lasting approximately 15 minutes, and the 30 parts scattered throughout 5 areas; one of which being only for the final boss. While I do love this game and consider it to be much overshadowed by other Gamecube games, it did have its flaws. For instance, there are TONS of glitches in both this and its sequel. But really, could you blame them? There's just so many ways to screw with a game of this complexity. The areas are so elaborately and intricately designed that it would be impossible to make this game glitch-free. Also, the fact that this game has to be completed in exactly 30 days or less, or you get the bad ending, does add a very unique atmosphere to this game, (it's like Majora's Mask) it is a little annoying not to be able to explore the entire environment and enjoy yourself. However, there is some great variety in enemies. Nothing in comparison to the sequel, but it still adds a sense of adventure and mystery that's just a foreshadowing of what's to come from this series.

Addictiveness: 8/10 I actually put this game down. Yes, I'm a die hard fan of the series, and I put down this game. For like a month or two. And then I saw the sequel in stores. I think God just spoke to me. "Blueflower, buy this game", because I still don't know why I did. But I did it! And almost immediately, I was hooked. After beating the SECOND game, then I found true value in the FIRST. So... play them in whatever order you want, (I'm still waiting to see if 3 will be better than 2) but if you don't like #1, try playing #2 to get used to the series with easier controls and no time limit, and then try #1 again. I guarantee you'll like it more.

Story: 9/10 I do like this story a lot. Olimar gets hit by an asteroid while going on a vacation, and gets wrecked on this... mysterious planet. he only survives one night with the aid of the Pikmin he discovers, who help him locate his ship's engine. This allows him to blast off at night to save himself from the indigenous nocturnal creatures. After this, he proceeds to collect ship parts until he finally recovers all 30, and then blasts off to his home planet of Hocotate. The ending is touching, and epic. It's great. If you've played it and only got the bad or average ending, play through it again and try to get the good one. It's worth it, I promise.

Music: 9/10 Every song in this game is fantastic... except for the theme of The Distant Spring. It's just too environmental, and I never liked it. The Impact Site is awesome, Forest of Hope is beautiful, Forest Navel is my favorite area in the Pikmin series and has one of the best songs, and the Final Trial is also outstandingly epic.

Map Theme

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The Impact Site

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The Forest of Hope

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The Foest Navel

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The Final Trial

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*SPOILERS* Final Battle

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Character Design: 8/10 The only character that ever talks is Olimar, but he has a lot of character development in his dialogues. Much like Portal and Portal 2, the Pikmin franchise thus far focuses only on a few number of characters. It's not like Final Fantasy where there are enough characters to make a periodic table of them. Rather, the only real "character" in Pikmin 1 is Olimar. There are 2 more in the sequel, but Olimar's going solo in the first. However, the enemies display tons of character in themselves without actually speaking, and the Pikmin are ADORABLE. Don't even get me started there.

Humor: 8/10 Many of Olimar's dialogues are witty or humorous. How he names the enemies is also always entertaining. (I know Pikmin enemies like the back of my hand. Well, better, actually. I couldn't draw the back of my hand. Well, I couldn't draw a Bulborb either. You get the point.) Some of his descriptions for bizarre ship parts are also comedic. Who ever thought that a giant canon capable of destroying an entire star isn't necessary for his ship to fly, but a little cushion for his seat will cause his ship to crash if he doesn't have it?

Difficulty: 8/10 If you stink at Pikmin 1, here's my advise to you; play the sequel and get better, then come back to the first. If you're anything like me, you'll stink at Pikmin when you first pik up a controller. However, the sequel controls much more smoothly, and the first game will get a lot easier with practice in the later game. However, it's still far from easy. The final boss is RIDICULOUS, and there's a hidden boss in The Distant Spring that is insane.

Other Memorable Features: There is an enemy reel at the end of the game, which reminds me a lot of the cast roll at the end of Mother series games. Did you know that in Japanese, Olimar is pronounced Oh-ri-mah, which backwards is Mah-ri-oh, or Mario? Also, Pikmin is supposed to mean "pick me".

Overall: 9.8/10 I would have given this a 7 or 8 out of ten before playing the sequel, but now I see what potential this game has.

[MaestroUGC]

This game has a lot of replay value, which I think you forgot to mention. Each time you play you can improve your routes, strategies, and place challenges on yourself (the 9 day run and 50 Pikmin challenge are ones I usually attempt). This is probably the only RTS I've seen on a console that got the managment elements right, since you've got limited input with a controller. The Sequel is a better game, in regards to control and gameplay, but not as challenging as the first (Purples really break it).

[blueflower999]

Hopefully no one will be too terribly mad at me, but I'm taking tonight off. I wanna watch the ball drop!

[blueflower999]

Superman 64:
Gameplay: 0/10
Addictiveness: 0/10
Story: 0/10
Music: 0/10
Character Design: 0/10
Humor: 0/10
Difficulty: 10/10
Other Memorable Features: It sucks
Overall: 0/10

yay i'm done

[blueflower999]

OK, for real this time. I think you all know what I have saved for the end of my Christmas  bonanza, but for now, let's review a different type of game.

Mario Party DS:

Gameplay: 8/10 I realize that the Mario Party series has been criticized over, and over, and over for this; it's really mostly luck. However, while there is the fair share of games that require luck to win, (with Cheep Cheep Chance being the most prominent) there are plenty of skill games, like seeing how fast you can tap a button, (I know how much some of you love button mashers   ) or how hard you can blow into the microphone, or how fast you can make swiping motions with the stylus. While it is fun for a while, it does get boring. I can only usually do one or two rounds of party mode before wanting to pop in Pokemon or Yoshi's Island DS. Granted, it is a good party game, but I would still prefer Nintendo Land over this one because of the repetition of the minigames. However, there are 5 stages to chose from, which are pretty unique and characterized, which is a plus. There are also 8, I believe, characters to play as. There are also 5 boss battles at the end of stages in the single player mode. A few other mini games here and there, with the options to select mini games just for singular play makes it a little big more fun for longer.

Addictiveness: 7/10 Like I said above, it's fun, but it doesn't last lost. I play it with my sisters and with friends, (it's great that DS download play works without the other people having the game!) but really it is just the same thing over and over.

Story: 5/10 The Mario gang gets shrunk down and has to go defeat Bowser. While challenging other members to Mario Parties at every opportunity to see who can be the "Super Star". Really, it's kinda lame. I prefer the traditional Bowser-kidnaps-Peach scenario.

Music: 6/10 The songs aren't BAD, but none of them really catch my ear either. And that's surprising. Mario games are known in my head for having great music! I have no songs to post.

Character Design: 4/10 It's all the same Mario characters you know and love, with surprisingly even less character development. Besides Bowser and Bowser Jr., every character is literally exactly the same in the story mode.

Humor: 7/10 Some of the mini games are clever and humorous, while the stages have the signature Mario touch. However, the game never really goes out of its way to be funny.

Diffiiculty: 6/10 Due to the luck-based nature of this game, it's hard to rate its difficulty. You can make the CPUs harder, if you want, which is cool, but if you keep losing, the only help that makes sense is to keep trying and hope for the best.

Other Memorable Features: My sisters love this game, but I'm sure there has to be a more enjoyable Mario Party somewhere.

Overall: 7/10 It's a good game, but like I said, there has to be better, right?

[SlowPokemon]

It's weird, but I prefer Mario Party Advance to Mario Party DS. I had a lot of fun with Mario Party DS when it first came out, though. My siblings and I would always play on road trips. XD

I remember liking the themes to Toadette's Music Room and Kamek's Library.

[Waddle Bro]

I have the ultimate medal in Mario Party DS, unlocked by a shitload of those Party Points! :3
That should tell you that the game is addictive as Pokemon!!!

[Dudeman]

Superman 64:
Gameplay: 0/10
Addictiveness: 0/10
Story: 0/10
Music: 0/10
Character Design: 0/10
Humor: 0/10
Difficulty: 10/10
Other Memorable Features: It sucks
Overall: 0/10

yay i'm done

Lolololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

Way to go, blueflower.