Super Mario Bros 2 (1988) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Ok, so I know that this particular review is not exactly, 'horror' or, 'sci-fi' but since enough of the series fluctuates with elements of, 'sci-fi' in it, I thought that doing a review for, 'Super Mario Bros 2' (1988) would be fun!

Originally developed by Nintnedo's R&D for the NES, this game, which would be re-released at least 5 different times all over the world for video game systems that besides the, 'NES' would also include: the, 'Game Boy Advance', 'Wii', '3DS' & 'Wii U', and which also utilized the same, 'platform' format that tells the story of how, 'Mario' and his team went to a new, 'dreamland' to stop a new big bad for carrying out his nefarious deeds!

Where as it is true that the same basic 2D, 'platform' format was used in the creation of this game, this game also was the first... and as far as I know, only Mario game of it's type to utilize a system that allowed you to play as different characters (besides just Mario or Luigi...)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="618"] In, 'Super Mario Bros 2' (1988) one of the characters you got to play as is, 'Toad.'[/caption]

Another thing that this game did was that it introduced the concept of being able to not just pick things up in the game, but also to be able to pick things up and throw them at the enemy... This variation proved in my opinion to not only be a lot of fun, but with the expanded story line, I actually (and until I played this game for the first time, couldn't believe,) but all of this in my opinion had actually made this game a lot more entertaining then it's original game!

Now like most of the older games, I have to imagine that it is at least to some extent harder to find, but in the end, it is well worth trying out if you get the chance!

http://youtu.be/j_gmxAMUmV4

Video Gamming... A Next Generation Closer To The Holodeck

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="618"] The Holodeck... The next evolutionary leap in video games?[/caption]

I will admit that I am a major trekkie, and well... As a gamer going back to the days of the NES, I am still excited to see how the successive generation of video game systems seems to be bringing us closer and closer to the Holodeck!

Now for those of you who don't know what a, 'Holodeck' is... A Holodeck was a concept that was first introduced in, 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', as a fully interactive, game/tool for the Enterprise crew that was created to simulate the real world in some capacity or another, using life like looking and acting holograms that were given their solidity by special created shielding.

Sounds like fun right?

Well unfortunately we aren't quite to that level yet, but we are getting closer and closer as time goes on... What I mean by that is well... Look at what has been created with the, 'Wii' and, 'Wii U' special controllers that act and give the feel more and more like you are holding a, 'gun' or a, 'tennis racket'...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="384"] A light sword controller for the Nintendo, 'Wii'.[/caption]

Or what about the XBox's, 'Kinect'... I mean I personally have not tried it yet (I made the mistake when I got my XBox 360 of not getting one of those with it,) but with it's motion sensing technology, you are pretty much controlling the avatar with out a controller at all!

In the end I guess what I am trying to say is that as a gammer, we are living in exciting times, and with each successive generation of video game consoles that are released, we are getting closer and closer to creating a real life, 'Holodeck'... And trust me, if you haven't seen Star Trek, and so haven't seen one in action, trust me when I say that the experience is one that will be well worth it when the time comes!

http://youtu.be/vZ7CGBM4JJo

Star Wars: The Force Unleased (2008) - Video Game Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

I will admit that I spent some time away from the video game world... So coming back in to the world of video games I found that I was a little bit of a novice, but I got to say that I was really quite impressed! The X-Box 360 is an amazing system that has taken video  games to that point where it has come very close to being a sort of controlled movie! And one of the first Video Games that I played as a novice to the X-Box 360 Was the video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008)

Based on the Star Wars movie saga, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a video game that was released by LucasArts for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles and on the iOS, second-generation N-Gage, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Java-equipped mobile phone handhelds, and told the story of how just after the Emperor betrays the Jedi, Darth Vader decides to take on his first apprentice in the child of another Jedi...

Now this child's name is, 'Stakiller' and at first would ultimately do anything that his Sith master, 'Darth Vader' asked him to do, including infiltrate the newly formed Rebel Alliance... But while on this mission, the light side of the force so to speak begins to take hold and the longer he spends with the rebels, the more and more he ends up defecting to help the Rebellion... (You could almost say that he did what Luke could never do for Anakin in the movies! )

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="533"] The dark apprentice for Darth Vader is about to get a rude awakening to the truth about his dark master![/caption]

And in the end, Starkiller will end up going after the man who was his father and trying his best to destroy him!

In the end I played this game on X-Box 360, and so I can't really  say how the game was for the other systems, but I can say this about the X-Box 360, it took me a little while to figure out the controls on this one. As for the story, it was pretty awesome... (Although if we consider the fact that the whole reason that Anakin Skywalker went over to the dark side was to protect his family... Then why through out this video game did they not get mentioned?

As for the special effects, they were obviously pretty awesome! And as for the music... Well what can I say... They did a pretty amazing job!

In the end, the only other thing that I don't really understand is why non of the characters from the prequel trilogy were not more predominantly displayed?

This video game is a hard one to get used to, but if you really work on it, trust  me when I say that it is worth the effort!

http://youtu.be/asvKQOJZXcs