Take-Two Interactive is an interesting company that releases games for the Playstation at $9.99 when other companies are releasing games in the range of $30-$40. While consumers are complaining about the rising prices in video games, Take-Two Interactive seems to have the consumers' feelings in mind when they release their cheaper games.
Cheaper is often times not better and at $9.99, there is a reason to believe that many of their games would be rather cheesy, containing bad graphics, sound and horrible game play, but that is not necessarily the case with this company. Take-Two Interactive is making a name for themselves and putting some pressure on the higher priced video games we may just start passing over. What follows are reviews of four of the company's most recent releases.
This is a very interesting type of game. Set in a futuristic world, you are a convict who must compete in battles against other convicts. Only problem is, your legs have been cut off and replaced with a ball. Think Gladiator, but with a ball guiding you in battle.
You have been sentenced to life in prison and must compete in these types of gladiator contests to move up in the system and earn your freedom. There are six characters to choose from, each containing specific attributes, combo attacks, and moves. You choose one that will compete in 80 levels, taking place in 10 incarceration facilities. You start off in one and as you get past each level, new facilities open up and you move on. Bonus levels open up as you do even better.
Each competition offers a different aspect that keeps things interesting; from battling other convicts in a fight, to Rollerjam like competition. You can enter contests to collect a certain amount of amulets in order to move on and so on. There is plenty to keep you occupied in Ball Breakers.
Badseed's Bottomline: 5 out of 5. This game is crazy addictive and is extremely fun to play. It has an interesting premise and brings a new type of sports game that is exciting and challenging. This is one of those guilty pleasures that will keep you playing for hours.
This is the sore spot of the four games. I don't really like fishing games, but Sega Fishing beat all games out and makes anything else look amateurish. The graphics are nice here. The game play has the right idea. You earn lures that react differently in certain types of water and you also fish in many different locations that differ from one another, as well. Things look good, but once you play, you become very disappointed. It becomes too hard and not worth the effort at times.
Badseed's Bottomline: 1 out of 5. It looks nice and there is even an aquarium mode to look at the fish you caught during free play, but without a rod controller, your aquarium is empty. Without the special controller, things become too hard. It is virtually impossible to catch a fish and the requirement necessary to make it to the next round is too much to obtain. How can I catch 300 ounces of fish, when it is hard enough to catch 30? Why play this game when I can play Sega Bass Fishing. Good try, but it's time to go back to the drawing board.
I love pinball. There is rarely a pinball game that I play on the computer that I don't love. I have never played one on the Playstation before. Enter Pro Pinball and their fantastic series of pinball games that are on the Playstation.
Fantastic Voyage is just one of the games in a series of pinball games, but it is the only one I have played so far. If this is any indication of other games in the line, the others must be worth the buy.
The idea of this game is to travel across the US from New York to San Francisco, covering 16 major cities, to compete in a race back to New York. You are a talking taxi who picks up passengers on your journey. You are competing against a monster truck, min beetle, hot rod and sports car, to win major dinero in a race to end all races.
This pinball game kicks ass, as I never got tired of it. I just kept on playing. The only thing that would have been cooler was if they had different tables to compete in for each city, but beggars can't be choosers.
This is one of the most intricate pinball games I have ever played with loads of extra, visual shots, and dialogue, mimicking real pinball machine action. The graphics are very detailed and up to six balls can be played simultaneously, making for some intense action. Four flippers make the game more strategic with more shots to make. Dolby Surround sound and effects add to the game play. Even the ball moves around rather realistically, making one of the best simulations of pinball I have ever played.
Badseed's Bottomline: 3 ½ out of 5. This game is great, but there is only one table and I would have liked to have seen more to choose from. I would also like to see the balls move faster. The game play is still fantastic and very addictive. The sound is incredible and there are so many targets to hit and goals to achieve. Sometimes you don't need guns or aliens and Lara Croft to make a game worth playing. And they said pinball was dead.
This game is so cool. It reminds me of Tetris in terms of addictability. It reminds me of Bust-A-Move in terms of game play. I was generally surprised at how good it is.
You compete as one of many funny looking characters. You must attach same-colored bubbles to one another to get them to pop. At the same time, you must also knock other bubbles into same-colored bubble collectors so that they pop. When you get all the bubble collectors to pop, you move on to the next level. This requires quick reaction time as well as strategic maneuvering, or your bubbles will pile up, causing you to lose.
Of course you can compete in many different modes of play. You can play a regular version from level to level to beat your high score, or you can play against human or CPU opponents. You can even compete in a story mode and go to several areas in the Spin Jam universe, competing against other wacky opponents and beat the evil Moolamb to save the universe.
Badseed's Bottomline: 5 out of 5. I popped this game in at 1 in the morning and before I knew it, my room filled with daylight and I was still playing. This game is very addictive and has tremendous replay value. This is definitely the new era of puzzle games. I haven't played Tetris since.
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