“Metroid Prime” Retro Studios Nintendo
GameCube
If you are a fan of the old “Metroid” games for the
Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES and Gameboy platforms, but
think that the switch to a first-person shooter can only ruin the
classic gameplay, consider yourself mistaken and go buy
“Metroid Prime” for GameCube right now.
While Nintendo was certainly taking a major risk entrusting one
of its flagship titles to the relatively unproven third-party
developer Retro Studios, it proved to be a more than worthy choice.
Retro Studios designed one of the most elaborate, immersing games
in video game history.
The most important thing to know about the game, and the thing
that will make it most appealing to fans of the old
“Metroids,” is that this game, though three-dimensional
and first-person, manages to perfectly recreate the feel of the
originals. All of your favorite features and gadgets are back, such
as the Morph Ball and the Grapple Beam, and there are several new
features such as the ability to use an X-Ray Visor to see through
false walls.
Graphically, “Metroid Prime” is incredibly detailed,
from the perfectly designed, never-repetitive levels to the
minutia, such as condensation dripping off of your visor. The
attention to detail creates a sense of reality unmatched in the
gaming world. Expect to spend around 20 hours completing the game,
which covers five sprawling levels and has hundreds of hidden items
to find.
“Metroid Prime” is not only the best game to come
out thus far for the GameCube, it is, without exaggeration, one of
the finest video games ever made.
-Dan Crossen
“Mario Party 4″ Hudson Soft Nintendo
GameCube
That irascible little plumber Mario saves princesses, golfs,
plays tennis, smashes people, and still finds time to party.
The “Mario Party” series for Nintendo 64 consisted
of successful multi-player games that even the not so videogame
savvy could take part in. “Mario Party 4″ is a direct
descendant of those games.
It’s pretty. Hudson Soft makes all the lines smooth and
the character movement gracefully realistic (save Waluigi who looks
like a constipated guy on stilts) ““ as long as you consider a
green dinosaur/dog bagging fish in a net or outskiing an avalanche
either graceful or realistic.
Of course, gamers’ main complaint about any of the Mario
series for years has been its silliness, but if you’re just
in it for a romp with friends through a magical mushroom-filled
board game world, then this is the luxurious marble-floored
bathroom with the plush couch for you diminutive plumbers and
plumberettes.
There are a few new features this time around: a story mode,
which if you have to play by yourself is the way to go, and an
option that lets you play on teams in party mode. Utilizing the
team play mode means an opportunity for even more taunting and
back-handed strategy.
And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The
game control isn’t that great, the games themselves are
anything but complex, and the unskippable repetitive explanation
scenes are immensely annoying, but “Mario Party 4″ is
still able to tap into that inner competitive demon that gives you
an adrenaline rush when you emerge with the most stars, haughty and
victorious, while your friends curse the gods for their misfortune.
So plumbers of the world unite ““ and then sleep with one eye
open.
-Anthony Bromberg