The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Wind Waker is one of those top rated GameCube games that I have added to my collection. I managed to get an excellent copy of the collectors edition that included a compilation disc containing versions of The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. There was also a guide booklet included too, which is also in excellent condition.

The Zelda series is a strange one for me. I have only ever played one through to completion, A Link to the Past on the SNES. Myself and my friend poured hours into that game and loved every minute of it. Since then I haven't played much Zelda but did get a fair portion of the way though The Phantom Hourglass on the DS. I think I like the idea of playing through a Zelda game more than I actually enjoy doing it.

I put The Wind Waker into the Wii a few weeks ago and played through the opening section of the game. One thing stands out above all others and that is the graphics. For a game released in 2003 on an underpowered system, the game looks phenomenal. It is the cell shaded graphical style that gives it the wow factor. In another ten years this game will still look amazing because of the art direction, whereas games like Gears of War that look great now will look terrible in the future. I can't believe there was such a commotion when the game was released over the look of it. The game played exactly like I expected, the same as Phantom Hourglass the direct sequel to this game. I know I finish too many posts saying that I will return one day to play this game. In the case of The Wind Waker I hope that is true.

Super Street Fighter IV

I remember my first reaction when I heard that Street Fighter IV was coming to the PS3, 'I didn't even know they'd made Street Fighter III'. That shows how out of touch I am with the beat'em up genre. I haven't played a game like this seriously since Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II on the SNES and Mega Drive. That type of game just didn't hold much appeal to me anymore. Still I was intrigued by this new game, probably because it seems to be playing on the nostaglia factor by making it look like a spruced up version of Street Fighter II.

I decided that I would get this game if I could get it at a good price and a couple of months ago I came across it for €24 in Game. For a game only a few months old and selling for €40 in other shops I thought this was too good to pass up. I have played it a few times now but I'm struggling to get into it. I still have all the moves from Street Fighter II ingranined in my muscle memory but that just isn't enough for this version. There are so many characters and so much to learn that it is overwhelming. It is a good game to have in the library as it is something that can be returned to on and off, especially with some friends that will remember playing Street Fighter II.

WipeOut - PSone

This is the game that made me believe that the PSone really was a new generation beyond the Mega Drive and SNES. Neither of those consoles could have produced the amazingly smooth and blisteringly fast graphics and then coupled that together with a fantastic soundtrack. Along with Worms, Wipeout is probably the game that I played the most on my PSone. After getting over the steep learning curve the game really opens up. I just think of it as a more mature version of Mario Kart and like that game I have played most incarnations on a variety of systems.

I would be interested to play this now on the PS3 to see how it has held up. But it is probably best to leave it as a memory and when I want to play it, just stick on Wipeout HD instead.

Doom 32X

As I mentioned in the previous post I had this sitting at home two weeks before I had a 32X system to play it with. So by the time I was sitting down to play it, expectations were pretty high. I can say that I was pretty pleased with the game. The graphics and sound were certainly an improvement over the normal Mega Drive game and I can't say I was too bothered by the infamous border on the screen. I know that people now slate the 32X port as inferior to nearly every other version, including the SNES version but at the time it was great for me. It may have lacked a large number of levels and any multiplayer but I never went on to beat the game so a lack of levels wasn't an issue. On the downside this was the first game that ever made me feel nauseous while playing and still gets me with some FPS games.

This copy of the game is in quite good condition, which is probably about as good as you will find most 32X games at this stage. I had totally forgotten this but the 32X games come in cardboard boxes that slide out on a cardboard tray. I can't understand why Sega would move from the destruction proof hard plastic Mega Drive cases to these flimsy cardboard boxes. The box for this game is frayed at the edges but overall isn't too bad.

I would like to get a 32X again to play Doom one more time. I'm pretty sure it'd would only be one more time too.

32X and three more for the collection

Three more games that I used to own arrived to take their place in my slowly rebuilding collection - Doom, Virtua Racing Deluxe and Star Wars Arcade all for the Sega 32X. I thought I would start this series of posts with a quick review of my 32X experience.

I first became aware of the 32X while watching a promotional video on the Channel 4 show Gamesmaster. I thought it was going to be the coolest thing ever. It would make my Mega Drive twice as powerful, blowing the SNES out of the water and I would be playing arcade perfect ports of all the best games. Of course most people reading this article will know that this isn't how it would turn out for owners of the 32X.

I was promised that I would be getting the 32X that Christmas so in preparation I purchased Doom a week or two before Christmas. I remember my Dad driving me into town to the Virgin Megastore on the quays. I think I am right in saying that there was only three launch titles to choose from. So I had the game now but nothing to play it on. The wait till Christmas was a little longer than usual that year. So Christmas morning finally arrives and I unwrap my new toy. I quickly read through the instructions and started putting this strange mushroom shaped contraption together. If you look back at it now it really was a pretty messy piece of hardware, with several bits and pieces to assemble to get it to work. I eventually hooked it all up, powered it up and then, nothing.

Nothing happened. There seemed to be power going into the unit but no picture on the TV. We had to go out visiting family as usual that morning but I took everything with me to try again to get it to work. I reassembled it all again in my nana's house and it still didn't work. I don't remember what my reaction was to all this but I'm sure I wasn't too pleased. My dad actually figured it out in the end. One of the wires at the back of the 32X wasn't pushed in hard enough, I mean this wire had to be REALLY pushed in to connect. So it was working now and I was happy, and thankfully really impressed by Doom.

One side effect of I had of playing normal Mega Drive games through the 32X was that it would turn NHL 93 monochrome. I'm not sure how long that Doom was my only game but I eventually ended up adding Star Wars Arcade and Virtua Racing Deluxe to the collection. And that was it, just three games ever for the system. I read about some great looking games in magazines like Sonic and Knuckles Chaotix and the port of Mortal Kombat 2. I don't know why I never got anymore games for the 32X. Where they too expensive? Could I not find them? I think the most likely reason is that it was 1995 by this point and the PSone was on the market. It was an interesting experiment but there was just too many flaws with the system for it to succeed in the end.