Grape's Reviews: Guitar Hero: World Tour

Guitar Hero: World Tour (Xbox 360)

Release Date: October 26, 2008

Developer: Neversoft

Publisher: Activision

Players: 4

Guitar Hero: World Tour had many mixed opinions upon release. Some argued that it had copied Rock Band in every aspect, which basically meant that Guitar Hero admitted defeat and had to copy to survive. Others defend that Guitar Hero had to do this at some point, or they would have fallen behind. They might also state that it has a song creation feature, and completely unique instruments. Was this game up to standard, or just a lame copy?

Guitar Hero: World Tour noticed that Rock Band was dominating the market. If they remained a guitar-only game, they were sure to lose the rhythm game war. So, ‘guitar hero’ became ‘band hero’, which now has the guitar, the drums and the mic. I will agree that this was a step in the right direction, but it came much too late. Guitar Hero also came up with all-new peripherals; a new guitar with a touch-sensitive slide (used for tricky solos), and a drum set with two upper cymbals and three drums, as well as a bass pedal. Even though Guitar Hero allowed Rock Band peripherals to be used in the game, Guitar Hero’s instruments were too different from the Rock Band ones, so in order to get the full experience of Guitar Hero: World Tour, you will need to dish out ANOTHER 200 dollars for a new set of instruments, which seems very unnecessary. Of course, if don’t have Rock Band yet, it would be your first set of instruments, but Guitar Hero’s instruments cannot be used in Rock Band at all.

One major thing that needs to be reflected on is the new music studio, which allows you to make your own music via an in-game creator and play the songs. The creator deals with a very complex and intricate system that you may have to explore and experiment for days, if not weeks, to figure out. With an idea that had so much potential, Guitar Hero made it so difficult to do anything with it that the entire experience was destroyed. Luckily, you can download songs other users have made via Xbox Live, so if others were brave enough to venture into the impossible, you can enjoy their toils.

I was excited to see the soundtrack for this game. When I did, my excitement quickly turned to utter disappointment. Similar to Rock Band 2, there are 86 in game tracks available. About 20 of these are in Rock Band already. Not to mention that the songs were incredibly poorly picked. Many songs are lacking an instrument, for example Schism hardly has any vocals, and a lot of songs on the track have downright boring drum tracks. The rest, which is about 2 songs (“Beat It” and “Hotel California”), were actually pretty decent. Not to mention METALLICA! (E3 reference), their entire new album was released along with the game, which isn’t that exciting considering Metallica’s new content sucks anyway.

The gameplay in Guitar Hero: World Tour is much like the gameplay of the previous Guitar Hero games, as well as the gameplay of Rock Band. You press the fret buttons and strum, you hit the drums with wooden sticks, or you sing. As fun as this is, the songs provided kill this experience. I suppose the guitar was th only instrument that got the full deal, a multitude of songs had either little to no vocals or intensely boring drums. And while the guitar did get its fill, Activision pulled another cheap shot, and made many guitar solos impossible. Luckily we have the new guitar that you had to pay $90 for!

There is one major improvement that this game made over its predecessors; its graphics. The graphics of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock made NES graphics look like gold. They were choppy, blocky and an overall mess. The graphics of this game have been cleaned up and been given a much smoother look. There are also many different customizable options in Create a Rocker, which was expanded upon even farther than Rock Band’s was. The graphics still didn’t compare to the graphics of Rock Band overall, however... there was still that blocky look that the previous games had.

In conclusion, I give Guitar Hero props for trying. It’s hard to be a wanna-be, because then you get negative reviews and loads of criticism, kind of like the review I’ve written just now. If you had intentions of purchasing this game, I suggest you look into Rock Band instead.

Presentation: 7/10, Changed Guitar Hero into Band Hero, copied Rock Band in every way possible.

Graphics: 8/10, Much smoother than the games before it. Create a Rocker was very diverse and detailed, but still had that blocky feel.

Sound: 6/10, While many of the songs are classics, they don’t belong in a game. Many songs exclude at least one instrument, making the playing experience very dull.

Gameplay: 6.5/10, We’ve seen this already in Rock Band. The only difference is the instruments. If you don’t have Guitar Hero’s peripherals, this game becomes a nuisance to play. They even completely remove a drum note to be compatible with the Rock Band instruments… that tells you they saw it coming!

Lasting Appeal: 6/10, The career mode is very boring and not expanded upon enough. If you can figure out how to use the song editor, this could last you a potentially long time. If not, you’ll be done with this game in a matter of hours.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.5/10

Grape's Reviews: Star Fox 64

Star Fox 64

Release Date: July 1, 1997

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Players: 4

DO A BARREL ROLL! USE BOMBS WISELY! TRY A SOMMERSAULT! USE THE BOOST TO GET THROUGH! If these phrases make no sense to you, go to the nearest second hand shop and buy Star Fox 64. Right now. Star Fox 64 is the second Star Fox title in the series, replacing a previously announced (but cancelled) SNES game called Star Fox 2. as noted on the boxart above, Star Fox 64 was not only the first N64 title to be compatible with the Rumble Pak, but the first video game ever to have rumble capabilities.

Star Fox 64 follows a story a lot like the title before it; Andross was exiled to Venom because of his past evil deeds. Things begin to get troublesome at Venom, so James McCloud (hero of the past game), Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar go to investigate. When they arrive, Pigma betrays the team, and allows Andross to capture James, however Peppy escapes. Several years later, Andross begins to act up again. This time James’ son, Fox McCloud (that’s you), recruits a team of Peppy Hare, Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad to invade Venom and bring down Andross. So while it pulled a Mario in the sense of story originality, it was modified enough to allow avoidance to the similarities.

The soundtrack of Star Fox 64 is one of the most notable and favourable in the Star Fox series. The sounds were smooth, and they fit the atmosphere of the level. Koji Kondo was director of music once again for Nintendo, which can very well explain the quality. Some memorable tracks, such as the Star Fox Theme and Wolf’s Theme have been used a fair number of times in future Star Fox titles.

The gameplay here closely resembles that of the previous game. There are a few extras added in, however. The first change is the path you take in the Lylat system on your way to Venom. Where before you were given full freedom, this game takes you on a different path depending on how you complete the previous level. For example, in Corneria, if you manage to keep Falco alive, and then fly under all the rock arches, Falco will lead you to a secret boss fight. I always try and find different ways of completing this game and beating Andross as fast as possible (speed run!). The controls are simple; A to shoot, control stick to move, and either Z or R to DO A BARREL ROLL!

Graphics were a major factor of this game. In the era of N64, polygonal shapes that resemble objects were taking over video games. This was one of the most well done games at the time, graphically. The landscapes had much better detail, the ships had much more detail... Even the communications boxes at the bottom were much better looking. There were also many effects such as lasers and explosions which looked decent. Of course there was room for improvement, for example lighting, and many supposedly 3-D objects were simply 2-D which rotated to face the screen.

Star Fox 64 blew the Star Fox series out of the water. With a creative-yet-familiar style and loads of options, this game will keep you entertained for days... if not years.

Presentation: 9/10, A SNES title turned N64, the fans wanted a sequel and they got a hell of a lot more. And we can’t forget the introduction of Star Fox’s nemesis... “Can’t let you do that, Star Fox!”

Graphics: 8.5/10, Classic N64 style polygons, with fitting atmospheres and creative level designs as well as well-created character models (for the time).

Sound: 9/10, Many Star Fox favourites. If you have ever played a Star Fox game that was released after this one, you will recognise at least one or two songs. VERY catchy.

Gameplay: 8/10, Very much like the previous title. Also very simplistic. Do lots of barrel rolls, and use your bombs wisely.

Lasting Appeal: 9/10, There are so many ways of beating this game that you will want to find all of the secret passages, and take as many paths as possible. While the game is only 20 minutes or so in one run through, you will spend hours finding all the secrets.

OVERALL SCORE: 8.5/10

Keeping you updated, because I have nothing else to do

Well, just another article to ad to the news section, but here's what has happened recently that I probably should tell you about, as well as some plans for the future.

So, many of you may have noticed I kinda ditched Unco Same and his world tour. I have decided to wait until volleyball is over to continue that, as volleyball tends to get in the way ALOT. So by the end of November expect Unco Same to return.

I have recently purchased Fable 2, which is an excellent game, might I add. I will cast this at some point, I'm trying to progress more into the story first. By the way, my character is pretty bad-ass.

I am in the midst of playing all the games on my top 10, from 10 to 1, and once completed I will review them. A very unprofessional video review will be done for each of them, and I will post a written version right here on my own blog. I just completed number 10 on Tuesday.

Also, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT ON ANY POSTS! i feel as though my website is neglected :(

I have to thank wiiluigi for the following random idea. I decided that a top 10 wasnt enough, so i will be ranking every single game I own. all 120 + of them, from worst to best. the top 10 will obviously stay the same, but now you can see my least favorite games as well.

That's all for the updates, keep watching my channel for more news and stuffs.

-Grape

Grape's Reviews: Super Mario All-Stars

Super Mario All-Stars


Release Date: August 1, 1993

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

Players: 2

The era of Super Nintendo. When people mention classic gaming, most will think first of the Super Nintendo console (unless you’re retarded). Super Mario All-Stars released midway through the SNES era, and soon after also became bundled with the console. This classic is a must-have in any SNES collection.

Super Mario All-Stars did something no other game had done before at the time; it released four other classic games, remastered them, and put them together for the same price as any regular SNES title. The collection of games? Super Mario Bros 1, 2, and 3, as well as the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros 2 (also known as the Lost Levels, as they had never been released to America until this point). Looking at the line-up, I can’t see why they WOULDN’T put this dynamic quarto of titans on one convenient game. Not only that, but remastered as well, but I’ll get to that.

The first thing to look at is the soundtrack. The many classic tunes from the original games have been given an updated revamp, which made them clearer, crisper, and a bit more modern (for the time). This included some nice instrument-like sounds, rather than beeps. Its also important to mention that the tracks weren’t replaced. All the classics are there; Super Mario Bros overworld, underworld, and underwater, Super Mario Bros 2’s Birdo fight music and Wart theme, and Super Mario Bros 3’s overworlds and map themes.

As far as gameplay is concerned, there isn’t much of a change from the previous games. Of course, Nintendo made accommodations to support the new SNES controller, which made controls much easier. Mario is still the hero, his brother Luigi still by his side, Peach and Toad help out in SMB2, and Bowser is still the mastermind behind the madness. If you’re a speed runner, you may become frustrated that some previously doable glitches or tricks have been taken out. One example is piranha plant jumping; in previous games, Mario could easily jump over high piranha plants in pipes, but is now taken down by the savage plant if he were to attempt it here.

Another important innovation was the graphics. All the 8-bit graphics have been tossed and replaced with 16-bit graphics, which were supported on the SNES console. All backgrounds, blocks, enemies, castles, grass, pipes, vegetables, bosses, and of course the heroes, were revamped and looking the best Mario has ever looked.

While many people stray away from classics, this is definitely a game you would want to look into if you became interested. The 4 biggest titles in Mario’s history... I mean seriously, what’s better than that?

Presentation: 10/10, Bringing home four classics, Nintendo went totally out of it’s way to completely revamp these classic titles. Looks, sounds, and feels fantastic.

Graphics: 9/10, Now, of course, these graphics can be done by anyone. But at the time, this was state-of-the-art technology at its best. Backgrounds had a separate scroll session; grass blew in the wind, thunder in the castle windows, all the good stuff.

Sound: 9/10, Classic Mario tunes all redone to meet the feel of the rest of the game. You’ll find yourself humming to a lot of them.

Gameplay: 9.5/10, Mario. He jumps, he runs, he defeats Bowser, he saves the princess. It’s the way it has always been for the poor Italian plumber, but that just means loads of entertainment for you! TIMES 4!

Lasting Appeal: 9/10, Speed runners will be all over this title, as well as any gamer, actually. Getting to the end of the classic games never gets old, not to mention that Lost Levels has 5 bonus worlds.

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

Grape's Reviews: Rock Band

Rock Band (Wii)

Release Date: June 22, 2008

Developer: Harmonix Music Systems

Publisher: MTV Games

Distributor: EA Distribution

Players: 4

Rock Band came into a market with high expectations. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was a major success, and definitely made itself a game with high standards. With a game like this, it seemed nearly impossible for a competitor to beat Guitar Hero, or so we thought at first.

Where Guitar Hero only had the guitar, hence the name, Rock Band introduced an entire four course meal: Not only guitar, but bass guitar, drums and vocals. The whole enchilada. One of each of these instruments (excluding another guitar for the bass) is included in the Rock Band full set, so if you are willing to dish out 160 bucks, then you’re set to go right away. Because of the different instruments, this game is one of the best multi-players I’ve ever played. Everyone I know enjoys rock music, and being able to play classics like Wanted Dead or Alive or Enter Sandman in four different ways is enough to please many audiences.

When a rhythm game is played, the first thing to be considered is the soundtrack. The Wii version of Rock Band boasts 63 songs from famous artists including Kiss, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Queens of the Stone Age, and many more. While the tracks featured may not be the biggest hits of the artist, there are still many great and memorable tracks regardless. While the Wii version doesn’t include downloadable content (I’ll get to that later), there is a bonus disc on the way for the Wii, which will include 20 more songs. We can look forward to that in a month or two.

Another important aspect to look at is how the instruments play. The mic is basic; you sing, it records your pitch, puts it on screen, you match the pitch with the sliding bars. Fans of Singstar for the PlayStation 2 or Boogie for the Wii will recognize this style of karaoke gaming. Now, the drums. When Guitar Hero came out, everyone was amazed at the feel of the guitar and liked how it played. Take that feeling, multiply it by over 9000, swap the guitar for drums, and you have the feeling I had when I first picked up those drum sticks and beat on the pads. The drums are nearly perfect in every aspect, except that the drum pedal is known to break. Luckily, I’ve been fortunate enough to have not broken it yet. Now, I’ve saved the worst (surprisingly) for last, the guitar. Perhaps I only feel this way about the Rock Band guitar because I’ve played Guitar Hero, but the way this guitar’s strum bar felt was awful. It felt stiff, yet loose, where as the Guitar Hero guitar made a click sound, this guitar is soundless, and sometimes unresponsive to the strumming. The strum bar was the only bad bit of the instrument, however, at the fret buttons were excellent (built into the fret board rather than on top), as well as the whammy and star power activation, it was all created nicely. Difficulty-wise, the guitar in Rock Band is much easier than the Guitar Hero version, but that won’t surprise most people as Guitar Hero was very cheap in the sense that they added extra notes in places where no guitar could be heard in the song.

As this is a review of the Wii version, and not the game in general, there are a few differences by console. Once again, Rock Band is a classic example of how 3^rd Party companies exclude the Wii version of their game from many features. Harmonix was actually nice enough to go out of their way to remove customization of characters, as well as online competitive and co-op play, and no downloadable content. Considering that Guitar Hero 4 has been announced with downloadable content and online play, this wasn’t a smart move on Harmonix’s part, but hopefully Rock Band 2 will take care of this.

After the dust settled in the battle of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, Rock Band had absolutely destroyed Guitar Hero in every aspect. A great party game, or by yourself, Rock Band is definitely a game you will want to save up for.

Presentation: 9.5/10, 4 different instruments, 63 songs, and 4 difficulties, thats 1008 different playable options, what more do you want?

Graphics: 9/10, The graphics are identical to the Xbox version of the game, and Rock Band’s graphics overall are smoother and much nicer than Guitar Hero’s.

Sound: 9.5/10, Many classics on their master recording, anybody can pick up an instrument and be able to recognize at least 5 of the songs, guaranteed.

Gameplay: 9/10, Would have been a perfect 10, but the guitar is a bit iffy. Everything else is created perfectly.

Lasting Appeal: 9.5/10, Even though I didn’t mention it, Rock Band’s tour mode will last a good hour or two if you plan on unlocking all the tracks. The quickplay mode will last you forever, you’ll come back to play over and over.

OVERALL SCORE: 9/10

The new home of Grape's Gaming Channel Website

I've decided to drift away from freewebs and its limitations into the vast sea of endless possibilities that is blogspot. While before I was limited to 7 sections per page, I now have one page with an endless amount of entries, that can be separated by category using an ever so simple labels feature (this has been labeled "news", by the way). I am now free to write as many reviews, previews, news stories and endless rants as humainely possible. Some things I've decided to start immediately is Unco Same's World Tour recaps, which may include video highlights as well as a short re-cap of the songs sung that nights show. Later I plan to expand to game reviews, maybe previews (which are easier to write but not as fun), and contests, but I'll get there when I get there. However, if anyone for some reason misses my freewebs website, I still use it for my games list and schedule, so be sure to check that out whenever you want.

- Grape