Developer: SquareSoft(now Square Enix)
Platform: Playstation 2
Year: 2002

What do you get if you combined the familiar Disney characters, some amazing characters from the Final Fantasy series and mix it together with some original characters and elements? You get Kingdom Hearts, an action adventure game that became surprisingly popular even with the weird mishmash. This franchise would go on to produce even more games and there are now presently six titles.

(left to right: Riku, Kairi, Sora, Donald, Goofy)

Summary:
You start as Sora, the main protagonist, on Destiny islands. Together with his friends, Riku and Kairi, the trio was planning to leave the island to explore new worlds only for their islands to be attacked and destroyed by the heartless, shadowy monsters without a body or soul and borne from hearts that are corrupted by darkness. Sora soon finds himself in Transverse Town where he meets up with Donald and Goofy (yes, yes you heard right). The two promptly teams up with Sora after finding out that he’s the bearer of the Keyblade, a weapon that can be used against the heartless, the ‘key’ that their king (hint: He’s a mouse. A very famous mouse and he’s not mighty mouse) had asked them to find before he left their world to fight off the growing population of darkness.

The three would end up travelling across different worlds, mostly based on popular Disney movies and cartoons, via a special ship called the Gumi Ship manned by Chip and Dale. Donald and Goofy are both looking for the King while Sora is out looking for Riku and Kairi. Each keyhole they find in that world and successfully sealed by using Sora’s keyblade would ensure that the world would not be consumed by the heartless. Meanwhile, one of the big bad in the game is Malecifient (villain of Disney’s sleeping beauty) who is out to capture the seven princesses of heart in order to seek out Kingdom Hearts, a collection of immense knowledge and power and the source of all hearts.

Gameplay:

The game keeps to many of the rpg elements, player can level up, pick up spells, learn special abilities, use items and change equipments. However the battles all takes place in real time so you really have to really run around fighting heartless and dodging them. The battles are not alone, as you’ll always fight with partners. Most of the time they are Donald and Goofy but you can switch to other partners, which are special citizens to the world they come from. For example, in Halloween Town, a world based on Tim Burton’s Nightmare before Christmas, you can switch either Goofy or Donald for Jack Skellington.

The gameplay follows a linear story but gives player the choice of which world to go and what to do first. Most of the time you need to revisit the world a few time be it to train and level up or as part of the story.

Something that irks me would be the camera angle in the game. Most of the time, the perspective the camera gives you during the battle fights can give you a headache. You either run around so you can get a clear perspective or play around with the manual camera. Another thing I didn’t like was the Gumi ship mini game level you will have to go through mandatory every time you want to head to a new world. Mainly, it is your typically space shooting game. The problem? I’m terrible at those sort of games. Failing that mini game meant that you could not unlock the world and you have to retry until you get through it.

The summoning part during battles can be weird too. Summon gems can be found by Sora during the journey. These gems are formed when the heart of one of the residents being too strong to be consumed from a world that has been destroyed by the Heartless. When summon, Sora’s partners will withdraw from the battle until the summon’s time runs out. Mainly the weird part comes from the characters used for as the summon. I’m alright with Genie from Aladdin or Simba from the Lion King but Bambi? That’s stretching it a little far

(Bambi's here to save the day!)

Graphics:
A standard enough that it seems you are really in a Disney based universe. It blends in the graphics from two different factions perfectly. The graphics is really what makes the whole game seems entirely plausible even with its bizarreness. The game doesn’t heavily borrow on the Disney graphics either. The designs for the heartless are extensive and also the Keyblade collections.

Audio:
Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Sure there are some of the tracks which are based from their original music but you can tell that they put a lot of effort to create the original ones.

Is it fun:
Yes. Surprisingly it was really enjoyable and fun. It's a great game to play if you don't find seeing Disney characters and final fantasy characters together....

Come along and sing a song
And join the jamboree!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Puzzle Bubble by Taito

A relatively boring game, which interestingly manage to survive for more than a decade, and still counting. Puzzle Bubble by Taito is a game where players have to shoot bubbles with a bubble of the corresponding colours. The game goes on and on and on with slight development of the narrative.

Yes, Puzzle Bubble seems to be boring, not puzzling which it should have been like. Players will just stare to the screen and press a button on the controller and experience the glittering bubbles explode which will most likely, spoil their eyes. I find that the game itself has too long history while the game is suitable for a short-period game.

There are ways to develop the game, like what Taito has tried, by injecting a narrative plot into it. However, they did it poorly. So it didn't work. And honestly, the main character, the dinosaur thing looks very irrtiating. So, there are some ways that this game can be improved like approaching it in a different narrative plot.

In the game that me and my teammates develop, we hope to be able to push this game into a slightly more interesting game, but applying a simple narration into it, with a completely different theme.

kelvin

This is the most dizzying game I've ever played due to its gravity defying platforms which allows you to literally walk on the underside of the planet. The controls are simple... touch the left/right or jump icons to activate the respective moves. You'll need to collect coins, save 'buddies' and kill enemies by jumping on top of them, pretty much like super mario.

Additional physics in the game includes jumping on a trampoline to get to greater heights and walking on thin vines. Each level begins with three lives and going off platform or not landing anywhere will cost you a life as well as being injured by enemies.

The level design is good with directions to guide you through like arrow sign and you can even click on the magnify icon to zoom out and see where you should be heading. Understandably these are important elements in the game as without them, it could get even more confusing to a point of vomit-inducing dizziness.

Despite the rave reviews, my personal opinion on this game is not so good. Graphics are average, the background music is a bit 'off' as it doesn't match the environment and even the story line about saving the earth is not really felt in the gameplay.

Okay come on, who doesn't like adorable little sheepsies? Especially ones that are created by Aardman!

Synopsis:
Based on his animation series Shaun the Sheep, Home Sheep Home allows you to control a flock of sheep; Shaun, Timmy and Shirley. Just like the cartoon, Shirley is the sheep that's built like a tank, Shaun is nice and averaged-sized, and Timmy is the itty bitty baby. Your goal is to get the 3 sheep to the signboard at the end of the puzzle to proceed to the next level, using their different sizes, weights and capabilities to manipulate various objects in each level.


Gameplay:
You control the sheep using either the [WASD] or [arrow] keys. Since you can only move one sheep at a time, you can switch from sheep to sheep by either clicking on them using the mouse or by using the number keys (1 to activate Shirley, 2 for Shaun and 3 for Timmy) to switch sheep. What makes this game interesting is that the various sizes of the sheep make them more suited to do certain tasks than the others. For example, Shirley is tremendously strong and can be used to move heavy objects, Shaun is fast and a good jumper, and Timmy can be used to squeeze through small spaces. The levels are varied, but simple. If you ever get stuck, or lose a sheep by making it fall off the edge, you need to restart again.

Review:
This game is undeniably cute. The scratchy style reminds you of primary school watercolour paintings, and the sheep are packed with individual personality. The timer gives you an incentive to come back and try and beat your previous score. The puzzles are not too difficult, and are suitable for kids of all ages.

The downside is, some of the puzzles are a little too easy, while some seem to depend almost on pure luck and bumbling. There are 15 levels, and since most levels take an average of less than a minute to complete, you'd be done with the game in about 15 minutes; so while this is a fun game, it's just a small snack in terms of gaming pleasure.

Play Home Sheep Home

Wokaysssss... time for some demolishing work! Time to put yourselves into the shoes of a bangla worker.... Have you felt like destroying buildings?! Then this the game for you.

The objective??

Rubble Trouble is a fun, online, building-basher game with the use of the click alone. Its objective is to bring down each structure on every level so that you'd get enough amount of cash for the next level.

You'll be given different kinds of tools to work with at every succeeding level to make it more interesting. Examples of these are nitro bombs, missiles, canons, helicopters with canon balls and even C-grabbers (you'll have to try it out if you don't know what are C-grabbers)!

Some of the tools have limited use because they are more expensive while some are given at your disposal. If you manage to bring the building down and hit the target amount of cash (each time you destroy a part of the building, you earn $$$), you move on to the next level. If you fail, then time to try again.

WHAT is compelling about this game?

1) Simple and straightforward - No complicated storyline, no mess, just a get-on-with-it game that's easy to understand, easy to relate to and simple to play.

2) Aesthetics - The design of the game is cute and quirky. Characters, background and assets all match up pleasantly with just about enough details. Nothing too extravagant.

3) Rules - The rules in this game are not a lot but not too many either. There's the time factor in which you need to complete each level by a stipulated time (note: timer running on the right). Certain tools can perform only a certain type of task so it doesn't mean you'll win all the time. There's a limitation on each tool. Basically the rules enhance the game play.

4) Level Design - Each level provides you with a suitable amount of challenges. After you proceed on to the next stage, the task escalates gently.


FLAWS?

Hmmmmmmm okay lah it's not exactly realistic - the way the buildings are demolished. But I guess it's okay for me! But other than that, it's cool!


Wokays.. moving on... some graphics!

Start!


Choose a level. As you can see, I'm on level 9, hehe.


There's also a storyline along the way... and tutorials on how you are supposed to use the tools






If you hover over a certain tool, a brief description will pop up














Once you get enough money, you move on!



Drill tool



Canon tool



Helicopter tool





All in all.... it's a fun game! Go try!
HERE

Game: Metal Slug X

Platform: ps,psp,pc and arcade (quite a lot of plaform)

Developer: SNK

What is it?

It is a highly action packed game whereby player has to constantly killing enemies and awaiting for more new enemies(monsters, soldiers, aircrafts etc) to appear to fight on. It is a play which requires lots of skills to control the character. In the game, player can choose one to use from the 4 characters(Marco,Tarma,Eri and Fion) at the start of the game. Personally i like to use Tarma as my character.There is no special difference in power of each character. Just that they are each unique personality and they will do unique animation in the game. For Tarma, this character will always smoke (which is cute) as it will smoke even it is half way fighting monster.

What i like ?

-Interaction
It is a highly action packed game whereby player has to constantly killing enemies and awaiting for more new enemies(monsters, soldiers, aircrafts etc) to appear to fight on. Animation is used effectively to show the interaction between the player and the enemies. For example, soldiers / monsters/ aircrafts are effectively animated to show that they are being hit/ destroy by the player to give a better user feedback to the player. Thus, effective animation is used to enhance the interaction between the player and the enemies.
In addition, player can find and obtain weaponry upgrades/ machines/ transport throughout the game whereby they can use these special items to fight against the enemies. Great variety of items (weaponry upgrades/ machines/ transport) can be pick up by the players make the game a more interesting one as player can use these items and see how it benefits them. Thus the collectables makes this game into a more explorative game whereby player will play the game in order to explore new weaponry items.

-Challenging level
It is a game which requires great control of the character in order to finish the whole game with the given life given. The placement of the enemies is carefully though of whereby there will be a spur of enemies charging at the player at certain time of the game. This poses a challenge for the player to be able to fight against the enemies and be able to break through this chaos. In addition, the player will meet different unique boss at the end of each mission (stage). Player then has to figure out how to beat the boss and at the same time avoid the endless and merciless attacks by the boss. In this game, it requires good coordination of the hand and eye of the player in order to win this game. Thus, this game is highly addictively as players will aim to win this highly challenging game.

-Competition
This game can either be player individually or in pairs. Players can work together to fight against the enemies by cooperating seamlessly in their movements. At the same time, players can complete with each other in this game. For example, Players can complete with the number of the POW (Prisoner of war) they can rescued in each mission. Scores will be given to both players based on the number of the POW they had rescued and the lives the players had left at the end of each mission. Thus competition pushes players to complete with each other and it urges them to continue playing the game in order to win one another.

Platform wise?

The first time i played this game is on a pc.Personally i do not like playing it on a pc as i find it quite hard to control the keys movement. I feel this kind of action packed game should be played on joss stick(controller). Perhaps it is due to the arrangement of the keys on the joss controller that make it more comfortable to control.

Life Limit?
I play another metal slug series on a ps and one can choose the life limit to UNLIMITED.

YES!!! This game is seriously VERY hard and challenging. If you want to complete this game, either you have very good skills( limited life) OR you have unlimited life where you can heck-care shotting the enemies and heck-care being dying. The acrade has this game and one REALLY have to spend a lot ot money to complete this game (someone like me). Though this game is highly hard, i find this game addictive and will play it again and again( in a unlimited life mode,of course).

The Sims 3

Website: The Sims 3
Publisher: EA Play
Developer: EA Black Box, Visceral Games
Genre: Simulation
Platform: PC, Mac

After reviewing a bunch of bite-size games, I thought it's time I attempted a commercial game. Back when I actually have time to play games, The Sims was one of my favorite time wasters. I played the first and the second game, now I have the third game in the series and I've got swanky green bling to show for it (i.e. the thumb drive)! I'm clearly not the only fan -- The Sims has garnered an enormous fan base as well as a dedicated modding community, which is a sure-tell sign of a game's success. So what is it that is so compelling about The Sims?

Something compelling... there...

If you've never heard of The Sims, it's a game of simulated life. It's a sandbox game -- instead of playing towards a goal, you simply make up your own goals and your own narrative, even. The player controls a family of Sims, simulated people who listen to your every bidding. If you choose not to control their actions, they act on their own. Like in real life, your Sim could make a meal, have a night out in town with friends, work for a job promotion, settle down and make a family, and many others. Also not unlike real life, your Sim has needs to fulfill and there's rent to pay.

"Picnics mean no dirty dishes to wash. I don't eat at home anymore."

There isn't a "best" way to play the game but if you fulfill your Sim's Wishes (such as going on a date or eating a bowl of mac and cheese), you have more points to spend on Lifetime Happiness rewards, perks that improve your Sim in various ways. A Sim with the Steel Bladder attribute won't have to worry about peeing in his or her pants whereas an Attractive Sim gets a lot of glances in their direction. Then,you could work on your Sim's skills are not only necessary for job promotions but are also useful for hobbies like gardening or fishing. At the peak of your Sim's career, there's is no shortage of cash. When you've turned your Sim into a multimillionaire with a huge mansion filled with designer furniture and made friends with the entire town, what's there left to do?

"Blue phallic sea monsters? Not in my town!"

You could start a family, watch your little Sim babies grow up and repeat the cycle. You could explore the local crypt, become the best cook in town, find the secret to everlasting life (yes, it exists), break a few hearts, become a rockstar, design a Frank Gehry-inspired masterpiece of a building, feed your pet piranha named Pooch, catch a burglar, sculpt a bodybuilder's physique at the gym, punch your arch-nemesis, buy out the local hospital, join in a protest against mysterious sea monsters, steal candy from a baby -- the possibilities are many... but not endless. Eventually you'll play out every possible interaction and then you're left wondering: what's next?

"I could do this all day."

Well, this is perhaps what makes a Sims game so compelling. You could wake in the morning, go to work, come home to your loving family. Or you could commit arson, kick your neighbour's trash can then sleep over at a lover's place. There is a lot of freedom to create your own narrative and huge internet communities have been formed for this purpose. Mod The Sims is a website and forum where anyone could share and download user-created content for their Sims game, ranging from custom eye colors and makeup to beautiful villas and even new objects with hacked behaviors, such as a voodoo lamp that could deliver a fast and painful death to any Sim of your choosing. You could then download Paris Hilton and put her in your game where you film a movie, directing her through a series of unfortunate events eventually leading to her demise. This process of film making with games is known as machinima. The trending popularity of this has not eluded the makers of the Sims -- with Sims 3, anyone could upload the movies they created in-game to the official website. This has resulted in some creative storytelling efforts (but mostly terrible ones). The point is that the experience of creating something of your own is extremely satisfying, whether it's making a short film or hacking a coffee maker object to make it talk. You might have played the entire game inside out but you are only limited by your own imagination when it comes to playing in the sandbox.

"I think Daddy just left me a huge inheritance!"

What's more, the amount of customization in the game is staggering. The wardrobe of clothing by itself has a disappointing selection but every part of the clothing could be customized with a different pattern and color. This also applies to the floor tiles and most of the objects in the game. If you ever want to live in a world with only pink in it, you could. The game allows you to put in your own music which could be played on the radio in-game. The Sim also has customizable physical attributes so you could create your dream man or lady. Something I thought is very interesting is the use of thought and speech bubbles in Sim-to-Sim interaction and Simlish. Simlish sounds like a foreign language that makes no sense. It actually doesn't because it's entirely made up! The speech seems to be intentionally designed to be abstract so that users can fill in their own dialogue. This works extremely well because most of us have a story in mind and making the game narrative explicit will really ruin it for us. For those who are familiar with the Tale of Genji scroll, the pictorial scroll portrays the character's faces in a generic abstract style so that the viewer could fill in with their own images of the characters. Likewise in the Sims, if my Sim burns her omelette, I could interpret it as her being a really awful cook or I could pretend that she's intentionally making a charred meal for her two-timing douche bag of a husband.

"You give me the red crayon now or you'll be playing by yourself in that oven."

"Who, indeed! Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?"

The Sims 3 is a step up from its predecessors in many ways. The graphics are better and the game loads really smoothly. Previously, the gameplay is often interrupted by long loading times as your Sim moves from one place to another but this has been replaced with a vast seamless world where your Sims can move around with much ease. Also, the implementation of the Story Progression feature means that other Sims age with your controlled Sims, allowing for continuity in the narrative of the town as a whole. It's not always great though. For some reason, your neighbors have very low metabolism and hate exercise so the next time Aunt Martha comes around, you might have to widen your front door to let her in. The same wacky humor of the previous games are also present in The Sims 3. You might witness enemies engaging in slap fights, full-grown men playing tag and prancing about the sprinklers, ghosts in the house looking for a night snack, etc.

Get off my lawn!

For all the things they got right, there are still parts of the game that leaves much to be desired. Let's start with the appearance of the Sims. They are downright hideous and it takes a great deal of tweaking in the character creation screen to make them look halfway decent. Unfortunately, this means you're the only good looking Sim in a town full of deformed noses and double chins. Worse still, they are look the same even with that many options for customization.

Needs more anatomy. (Yes, that's a dude.)

Actions have little consequences in the Sim world unlike in real life and that's where it becomes less compelling to play. Most objects in the game serve basic needs like hygiene and hunger and they lack a certain "meaning" to them. It would be interesting to see objects having an effect on the Sims (other than the rather bland Mood level). Come to think about it, I often play the game like this: A beautiful Sim seduces someone with a happy family and destroys everyone's lives. There are several mysterious deaths later and new graves in my Sim's home. It's more fun to play this way because there are obvious consequences resulting from your actions. The thing is when it comes down to it, The Sims 3 is a family game and there is no way the game designers are gonna make it anymore "real" than it is.

"That child eats too much. I knew we should have gotten a dog instead!"

So it seems that the "best" way to play the Sims 3 is to play it like a sandbox game: create a narrative with your imagination and puppet your Sims to realize your story. Children do this all the time when they play with Lego bricks or dolls. The camera in the game allows you to take snapshots or videos to share your stories with fellow gamers. It's unfortunately badly designed which is a pity because it's the best feature of the game.

"And for my next trick, I'm gonna make those shorts disappear!"

A feature that could really change and improve the playing experience is to implement multiplayer. Imagine having your Sim go over to a (real life) friend's place interacting with his Sims. Actions are determined by the players instead of being hard coded into the game. A human aspect creates an experience that is social, dynamic and exciting. Of course, it could turn into a disaster if you have assholes for friends who think it'd be funny to build walls around the pool your Sim is swimming in so that he inevitably drowns.

What burglar actually dresses like that?

The Sims appeal to the basic need in all of us to imagine and to create. Because of this, the game is compelling to even the most casual gamer. It plays on something that people could relate to. Where in real life, we are bound by rules set by society; in the game setting, we are free to act our fantasies and escape. This is perhaps why the games in The Sims series are such a commercial success.

One last witty quote! Ah... nope, I ran out.

-- Benjamin