A kid reviewing video games? Heck, yes!
--------An Overview of My Rating System---------
Remember when I used an unwieldy Word system for rating games? Starting with my review for Halo: Combat Evolved (see July, 2008 archives), I switched to a 5-place rating system. However, my rating system is mostly affected by personal preference. So, let's say I thought a game was very good, but fell short of a 4 out of 5 (such as this game), in which case I would give a game a 3 out of 5. That doesn't mean I didn't like the game that much. I think that the easiest way to explain my rating system is to compare each rating to ratings in a standard 10-point rating system.
5 out of 5 (10 out of 10): The cream of the crop! It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect, or revolutionary, or whatever, but it's a really great game that I definitely recommend.
4 out of 5 (8 or 9 out of 10): A really great game. A few flaws here and there, or maybe it's just not "fun enough" to earn a 5, but still recommended, especially if you like its genre.
3 out of 5 (6 or 7 out of 10): A good game that will either have some flaws that detract from the experience or just not be really fun. I would recommend this to you if you're a fan of its particular genre, don't think you'll mind the game's flaws (considering that I'll inform you about the game's flaws in the review), or find it in the 10-20 dollar range.
2 out of 5 (3, 4 or 5 out of 10): An OK game with its fair share of major flaws that can seriously detract from the experience. In the rarest of cases, I could possibly be in a bad mood and give an otherwise fun game a 2 for major flaws. That's not happened yet, however. Also, remember that my reviews are mostly based upon personal preference. 2 out of 5 can be like 3 out of 10 when it's a game that I didn't like, but didn't think was necessarily terrible. I don't recommend games given this rating for full price, but if you ever find it for 10 bucks or less, it's a fair purchase.
1 out of 5 (1 or 2 out of 10): I've never given a game a rating this low and probably never will, considering I only get games I want. However, it's in my rating system, so I'll make it short and sweet:
Don't waste your money on this crap!!
A 1 out of 5 can be likened to 2 out of 10 if it had SOME redeeming qualities, but was otherwise crap.
0 out of 5 (0 out of 10): I simply hope that I never have to give a game this rating. Games rated 0 have no redeeming qualities, and are simply worthless pieces of junk. If I ever rate a game 0, that means that they should find the landfill where they buried the E.T. cartridges, and pour a truckload of this game over it like whipped cream. I think the recommendation here rather speaks for itself. You want advice? If you see someone about to buy it at GameStop, swat it out of their hand and give a good, nice finger-wag.
Although my rating system is mostly based on how fun I thought the game was rather than how "flawed" it was, the amount of flaws in the game may effect the final evaluation. Also, I never let the fact that a sequel is similar to its predecessor count towards or against a rating (unless, of course, its predecessor was crap).
Okay, so, now that that's over, enjoy the review.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A few months ago, I got a Wii game called Elebits…and I'm finally reviewing it. Yayyyyyyyy…whatever. So, why didn't I review it a long time ago? Well, my friends, anyone who's played the game will know that the second-to-last level is extremely maddening. I lost on it several times, and…I didn't play the game for months. But a little while ago, I decided to get back into it, and I beat it! Yay for me!!!
To tell you all the truth, Elebits isn't a game that I would normally buy. Games like Elebits, Raving Rabbids, Katamari Damaci…that kind of stuff that at first glance seems like crap but turns out to be wildly popular. I may have seen the trailer (it's in the game, and may have looked a little familiar), and that didn't make me think any different. Then, I saw the game on Cheat!, thought it looked interesting, and the next thing I knew, my cheap wooden swingset came crashing down with me on it and my middle finger (go figure) ended up in a pompous splint. I wasn't in agony, but my sister gets a toy whenever something's wrong with her, so shouldn't I get a game for my troubles? I wanted Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, but unfortunately, that, for whatever reason, was still 30 bucks at Wal-Mart (ALWAYS low prices?). So, instead, Elebits, which was ten dollars cheaper, was what I ended up with.
To start out with, I'll talk about the presentation. The title screen is fairly bland; just a white background with Elebits walking across the screen and the game's title. Upon selecting your file, things get a lot flashier, with the background of a town and an Elebit-shaped cursor to select things. Upon starting up story mode, you are greeted with a flash animation scene to start up the story (the story will mostly play out in flash scenes every now in then, although a stage-by-stage story is given with a memo you can access from the screen when you pick "Story Mode"). The animation is pretty nice…but then again, the voice acting is terrible. It's some of the most emotionless, fake voice acting you've ever heard. Yet, this game's story isn't really its selling point, so…
The game's graphics are fairly decent. The artstyle is great, comparable to games like Katamari. However, the environments are somewhat bland, with dull colors, and the framerate starts to fluctuate badly in the later levels, which are bigger and have more going on. You still didn't come for the graphics, though.
You came for the gameplay, didn't you? In the game, you move around objects, pick up stuff, and turn on appliances to collect Elebits, which allow electricity (and plumbing, evidently) to be used. You use a capture gun to do this; however, it doesn't blow their tiny heads off in the process of collecting the cute things, thankfully. There is a certain amount of watts worth of Elebits you need to collect to restore electricity to a certain area. Your gun has a preset level of power from the beginning of the stage, and can only lift objects within that weight range. To upgrade your gun's power, turn on appliances (which you can use once enough watts are collected) to get Power Elebits, which upgrade your gun's level if you collect enough. The Wii Remote controls your crosshair for your gun, and you press A to shoot an Elebit or object. While holding an object, use the Wii Remote to move it around. Elebits are often hiding under or in objects; sometimes breakable objects need to be broken to find Elebits, but be careful not to break too many objects in stages that limit it! Some stages also have a limit to how much noise you make, so be weary of that, too. The gameplay is fun, although the only downside to it is that you have to do certain things, such as open drawers, closets, and doors with the capture gun's beam that you could just as easily do by yourself. It normally wouldn't be a big deal, albeit stupid, but it's a downside because they'll often try close on you while you're about to enter the room/look in the closet or drawer, making it a nuisance. It would be much better if you could do that stuff with your hands.
There are several temporary upgrades strewn about the stages, such as the Homing and Vacuum lasers, which let you pick up several Elebits at once, as well as a shield to protect you from Elebit attacks (and, in several stages, even toy cannons and tanks), an Elebit radar, an Elebit cookie to attract Elebits…a lot of stuff.
One of the most fun things about the game is the sense of extreme power that you get as you level up your gun by collecting Power Elebits. When your gun gets to a high level, you can lift just about anything; cars, trucks, bulldozers…if you get enough Power Elebits before the stage ends, you can even lift whole buildings off their foundations! Unfortunately, most stages end before you can obtain this sort of power. The good part? You can edit stages, and set your gun's power level to as high as you want, but that's another story.
Throughout the first few levels, you'll mostly be in your home. They'll be relatively small and easy, and there won't be many hazards; all you do is walk around collecting Elebits and activating appliances to upgrade your gun. But later in the game, you'll notice that there ARE Elebit bosses, and they're pretty fun. The first one is harmless; just a big Elebit. The next bosses will actually pose a bit of a threat, not to mention hazards like small cannons and toy tanks manned by malicious, evil Elebits threatening to kill you at every turn in several levels. Well…they don't KILL you…they just try to break your gun so you can't capture them. Gray Elebits (they look more purple to me), and Big Yellow Elebits will also try to attack you, so beware. Also, throughout the game, the stages get bigger and harder. The last few stages, taking place in the amusement park, are the biggest and hardest in the game.
A neat feature of the game is the Edit Mode, which allows you to edit stages. When editing stages, you can place objects from other stages, Elebits, and items and change the whole layout of the stage. The problem is that objects have a cost to them, and the cost of the objects and Elebits you can have in a stage cannot exceed 1,000. Still, you can have some neat level designs. I, myself, have only created ONE good stage, and tried many, many times. I call it "Cleanup Time" (you don't actually get to name it). It has a 30-second time limit, and one vacuum laser, which you use to pick up 30,000 watts-worth of Elebits, and they're everywhere. It's okay, but it's really short.
So far, my review has been mostly rainbows and lollipops, talking about the good things about the game. Thing is, the game can actually be really frustrating. Now, you are entering the more critical part of the review….MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
YAY!!! At the end of the game, you go to the amusement park! Or is it yay? No, my friends, it is not yay, for now, you shall be introduced to…Yellow Elebits. These things are extremely annoying. At first glance, it's just a normal, cute, tiny puffball. But if there are other Elebits nearby…you're in for it. It will start to glow and make wooshy noise, and then all the other Elebits will join with them to form the Big Yellow Elebit. They're so annoying to deal with, considering you have to knock them into floors and ceilings every which way before they separate. That's not the worst of it.
The worst of it is cannons and Gray Elebits. In the levels before the amusement park, cannons were there, but to a small degree. In those levels, though…cannons are everywhere, as well as mobile tanks. Plus, your gun has to be at least to level 2 to pick them up. This is a problem is stage 28. That stage…is so long…and so hard. Several times, Elebits or objects you NEED are thrown outside of the stage to where you can't get them. At the beginning of the stage, you are confined to a small area FILLED with cannons. Only when your gun levels up to 3 can you get out. Also, there is quite a large portion of the stage which is inaccessible, forcing you to zap/grab things while overlooking it…and there's a lot of stuff there to grab. There's also a very large "Circle Ride" there, which I never figured out how to operate (it's supposed to have some significance). When and IF you beat that stage, though, the final one isn't that bad. In fact, it's one of the best stages!
Still, there's the matter of the final boss. Even though the story isn't that important to the type of game Elebits is, I don't feel I should spoil WHY you're fighting it. I will only say that it's a fairly big Elebit. The premise of the first phase is simple: smack it silly with surrounding objects by using your capture gun, avoid its lunging attacks, and pick up the smaller Elebits it drops whenever you hit it.
Then, there's phase 2.
Now, me and my also-gaming dad both agree that something that can really kill a game is a stupid hard last boss. You can get to the end, having tons of fun…and then there's that ridiculous boss that makes you want to break the game in half.
In phase 2, the giant Elebit fuses with an amusement park robot that resembles a Transformers robot (namely, Optimus Prime). To defeat it, you must use your Capture Gun to unscrew the screws holding the body together. Doesn't sound too bad, right? WRONG!!!!
OK, to pull the robot's screws out, you have to hook onto it, and rapidly twist the Wii Remote left to unscrew it. Of course, it makes sense, considering you turn a screw left to unscrew it. Unfortunately, when you're right-handed, at least, rapidly moving a Wii Remote in a counterclockwise manner causes cramps. Quickly. These cramps will often cause you to turn the Wii Remote right by accident, thus screwing it back. Not to mention, it takes FOREVER to unscrew it, regardless of whether that happens, and there are several screws. Aaaaaand he moves around a lot, meaning you'll lose your grip quite a lot. Stage 29 was a brief reprieve from the hardship of stage 28, and the first phase was fairly simple, but then THIS…this fated boss fight… Just power through it, and once you're done, you never have to relive it again…
The Final Conclusion:
+ Decent graphics; great artstyle despite bland textures
+ Fun gamepay; certain flaws involving holding doors and drawers open with your Capture Gun, but other than that, it's fun
+ Stage editing feature is neat
+ Elebit bosses are fun
-- New types of Elebits introduced later in the game can cause trouble
-- Stage 28 is evil! EVIL!!!
-- The final boss is painful…quite literally, in fact
So, in the end, Elebits gets a 3 out of 5. Although it's not awesome, it's still a fun game, and I recommend it to you if you find it for 20 dollars or less. Stage 28 and the final boss really don't hurt the game enough to not buy it, but it never hurts to warn anybody about things like that.
Remember when I used an unwieldy Word system for rating games? Starting with my review for Halo: Combat Evolved (see July, 2008 archives), I switched to a 5-place rating system. However, my rating system is mostly affected by personal preference. So, let's say I thought a game was very good, but fell short of a 4 out of 5 (such as this game), in which case I would give a game a 3 out of 5. That doesn't mean I didn't like the game that much. I think that the easiest way to explain my rating system is to compare each rating to ratings in a standard 10-point rating system.
5 out of 5 (10 out of 10): The cream of the crop! It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect, or revolutionary, or whatever, but it's a really great game that I definitely recommend.
4 out of 5 (8 or 9 out of 10): A really great game. A few flaws here and there, or maybe it's just not "fun enough" to earn a 5, but still recommended, especially if you like its genre.
3 out of 5 (6 or 7 out of 10): A good game that will either have some flaws that detract from the experience or just not be really fun. I would recommend this to you if you're a fan of its particular genre, don't think you'll mind the game's flaws (considering that I'll inform you about the game's flaws in the review), or find it in the 10-20 dollar range.
2 out of 5 (3, 4 or 5 out of 10): An OK game with its fair share of major flaws that can seriously detract from the experience. In the rarest of cases, I could possibly be in a bad mood and give an otherwise fun game a 2 for major flaws. That's not happened yet, however. Also, remember that my reviews are mostly based upon personal preference. 2 out of 5 can be like 3 out of 10 when it's a game that I didn't like, but didn't think was necessarily terrible. I don't recommend games given this rating for full price, but if you ever find it for 10 bucks or less, it's a fair purchase.
1 out of 5 (1 or 2 out of 10): I've never given a game a rating this low and probably never will, considering I only get games I want. However, it's in my rating system, so I'll make it short and sweet:
Don't waste your money on this crap!!
A 1 out of 5 can be likened to 2 out of 10 if it had SOME redeeming qualities, but was otherwise crap.
0 out of 5 (0 out of 10): I simply hope that I never have to give a game this rating. Games rated 0 have no redeeming qualities, and are simply worthless pieces of junk. If I ever rate a game 0, that means that they should find the landfill where they buried the E.T. cartridges, and pour a truckload of this game over it like whipped cream. I think the recommendation here rather speaks for itself. You want advice? If you see someone about to buy it at GameStop, swat it out of their hand and give a good, nice finger-wag.
Although my rating system is mostly based on how fun I thought the game was rather than how "flawed" it was, the amount of flaws in the game may effect the final evaluation. Also, I never let the fact that a sequel is similar to its predecessor count towards or against a rating (unless, of course, its predecessor was crap).
Okay, so, now that that's over, enjoy the review.
--------------------------------------------------------------
A few months ago, I got a Wii game called Elebits…and I'm finally reviewing it. Yayyyyyyyy…whatever. So, why didn't I review it a long time ago? Well, my friends, anyone who's played the game will know that the second-to-last level is extremely maddening. I lost on it several times, and…I didn't play the game for months. But a little while ago, I decided to get back into it, and I beat it! Yay for me!!!
To tell you all the truth, Elebits isn't a game that I would normally buy. Games like Elebits, Raving Rabbids, Katamari Damaci…that kind of stuff that at first glance seems like crap but turns out to be wildly popular. I may have seen the trailer (it's in the game, and may have looked a little familiar), and that didn't make me think any different. Then, I saw the game on Cheat!, thought it looked interesting, and the next thing I knew, my cheap wooden swingset came crashing down with me on it and my middle finger (go figure) ended up in a pompous splint. I wasn't in agony, but my sister gets a toy whenever something's wrong with her, so shouldn't I get a game for my troubles? I wanted Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, but unfortunately, that, for whatever reason, was still 30 bucks at Wal-Mart (ALWAYS low prices?). So, instead, Elebits, which was ten dollars cheaper, was what I ended up with.
To start out with, I'll talk about the presentation. The title screen is fairly bland; just a white background with Elebits walking across the screen and the game's title. Upon selecting your file, things get a lot flashier, with the background of a town and an Elebit-shaped cursor to select things. Upon starting up story mode, you are greeted with a flash animation scene to start up the story (the story will mostly play out in flash scenes every now in then, although a stage-by-stage story is given with a memo you can access from the screen when you pick "Story Mode"). The animation is pretty nice…but then again, the voice acting is terrible. It's some of the most emotionless, fake voice acting you've ever heard. Yet, this game's story isn't really its selling point, so…
The game's graphics are fairly decent. The artstyle is great, comparable to games like Katamari. However, the environments are somewhat bland, with dull colors, and the framerate starts to fluctuate badly in the later levels, which are bigger and have more going on. You still didn't come for the graphics, though.
You came for the gameplay, didn't you? In the game, you move around objects, pick up stuff, and turn on appliances to collect Elebits, which allow electricity (and plumbing, evidently) to be used. You use a capture gun to do this; however, it doesn't blow their tiny heads off in the process of collecting the cute things, thankfully. There is a certain amount of watts worth of Elebits you need to collect to restore electricity to a certain area. Your gun has a preset level of power from the beginning of the stage, and can only lift objects within that weight range. To upgrade your gun's power, turn on appliances (which you can use once enough watts are collected) to get Power Elebits, which upgrade your gun's level if you collect enough. The Wii Remote controls your crosshair for your gun, and you press A to shoot an Elebit or object. While holding an object, use the Wii Remote to move it around. Elebits are often hiding under or in objects; sometimes breakable objects need to be broken to find Elebits, but be careful not to break too many objects in stages that limit it! Some stages also have a limit to how much noise you make, so be weary of that, too. The gameplay is fun, although the only downside to it is that you have to do certain things, such as open drawers, closets, and doors with the capture gun's beam that you could just as easily do by yourself. It normally wouldn't be a big deal, albeit stupid, but it's a downside because they'll often try close on you while you're about to enter the room/look in the closet or drawer, making it a nuisance. It would be much better if you could do that stuff with your hands.
There are several temporary upgrades strewn about the stages, such as the Homing and Vacuum lasers, which let you pick up several Elebits at once, as well as a shield to protect you from Elebit attacks (and, in several stages, even toy cannons and tanks), an Elebit radar, an Elebit cookie to attract Elebits…a lot of stuff.
One of the most fun things about the game is the sense of extreme power that you get as you level up your gun by collecting Power Elebits. When your gun gets to a high level, you can lift just about anything; cars, trucks, bulldozers…if you get enough Power Elebits before the stage ends, you can even lift whole buildings off their foundations! Unfortunately, most stages end before you can obtain this sort of power. The good part? You can edit stages, and set your gun's power level to as high as you want, but that's another story.
Throughout the first few levels, you'll mostly be in your home. They'll be relatively small and easy, and there won't be many hazards; all you do is walk around collecting Elebits and activating appliances to upgrade your gun. But later in the game, you'll notice that there ARE Elebit bosses, and they're pretty fun. The first one is harmless; just a big Elebit. The next bosses will actually pose a bit of a threat, not to mention hazards like small cannons and toy tanks manned by malicious, evil Elebits threatening to kill you at every turn in several levels. Well…they don't KILL you…they just try to break your gun so you can't capture them. Gray Elebits (they look more purple to me), and Big Yellow Elebits will also try to attack you, so beware. Also, throughout the game, the stages get bigger and harder. The last few stages, taking place in the amusement park, are the biggest and hardest in the game.
A neat feature of the game is the Edit Mode, which allows you to edit stages. When editing stages, you can place objects from other stages, Elebits, and items and change the whole layout of the stage. The problem is that objects have a cost to them, and the cost of the objects and Elebits you can have in a stage cannot exceed 1,000. Still, you can have some neat level designs. I, myself, have only created ONE good stage, and tried many, many times. I call it "Cleanup Time" (you don't actually get to name it). It has a 30-second time limit, and one vacuum laser, which you use to pick up 30,000 watts-worth of Elebits, and they're everywhere. It's okay, but it's really short.
So far, my review has been mostly rainbows and lollipops, talking about the good things about the game. Thing is, the game can actually be really frustrating. Now, you are entering the more critical part of the review….MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
YAY!!! At the end of the game, you go to the amusement park! Or is it yay? No, my friends, it is not yay, for now, you shall be introduced to…Yellow Elebits. These things are extremely annoying. At first glance, it's just a normal, cute, tiny puffball. But if there are other Elebits nearby…you're in for it. It will start to glow and make wooshy noise, and then all the other Elebits will join with them to form the Big Yellow Elebit. They're so annoying to deal with, considering you have to knock them into floors and ceilings every which way before they separate. That's not the worst of it.
The worst of it is cannons and Gray Elebits. In the levels before the amusement park, cannons were there, but to a small degree. In those levels, though…cannons are everywhere, as well as mobile tanks. Plus, your gun has to be at least to level 2 to pick them up. This is a problem is stage 28. That stage…is so long…and so hard. Several times, Elebits or objects you NEED are thrown outside of the stage to where you can't get them. At the beginning of the stage, you are confined to a small area FILLED with cannons. Only when your gun levels up to 3 can you get out. Also, there is quite a large portion of the stage which is inaccessible, forcing you to zap/grab things while overlooking it…and there's a lot of stuff there to grab. There's also a very large "Circle Ride" there, which I never figured out how to operate (it's supposed to have some significance). When and IF you beat that stage, though, the final one isn't that bad. In fact, it's one of the best stages!
Still, there's the matter of the final boss. Even though the story isn't that important to the type of game Elebits is, I don't feel I should spoil WHY you're fighting it. I will only say that it's a fairly big Elebit. The premise of the first phase is simple: smack it silly with surrounding objects by using your capture gun, avoid its lunging attacks, and pick up the smaller Elebits it drops whenever you hit it.
Then, there's phase 2.
Now, me and my also-gaming dad both agree that something that can really kill a game is a stupid hard last boss. You can get to the end, having tons of fun…and then there's that ridiculous boss that makes you want to break the game in half.
In phase 2, the giant Elebit fuses with an amusement park robot that resembles a Transformers robot (namely, Optimus Prime). To defeat it, you must use your Capture Gun to unscrew the screws holding the body together. Doesn't sound too bad, right? WRONG!!!!
OK, to pull the robot's screws out, you have to hook onto it, and rapidly twist the Wii Remote left to unscrew it. Of course, it makes sense, considering you turn a screw left to unscrew it. Unfortunately, when you're right-handed, at least, rapidly moving a Wii Remote in a counterclockwise manner causes cramps. Quickly. These cramps will often cause you to turn the Wii Remote right by accident, thus screwing it back. Not to mention, it takes FOREVER to unscrew it, regardless of whether that happens, and there are several screws. Aaaaaand he moves around a lot, meaning you'll lose your grip quite a lot. Stage 29 was a brief reprieve from the hardship of stage 28, and the first phase was fairly simple, but then THIS…this fated boss fight… Just power through it, and once you're done, you never have to relive it again…
The Final Conclusion:
+ Decent graphics; great artstyle despite bland textures
+ Fun gamepay; certain flaws involving holding doors and drawers open with your Capture Gun, but other than that, it's fun
+ Stage editing feature is neat
+ Elebit bosses are fun
-- New types of Elebits introduced later in the game can cause trouble
-- Stage 28 is evil! EVIL!!!
-- The final boss is painful…quite literally, in fact
So, in the end, Elebits gets a 3 out of 5. Although it's not awesome, it's still a fun game, and I recommend it to you if you find it for 20 dollars or less. Stage 28 and the final boss really don't hurt the game enough to not buy it, but it never hurts to warn anybody about things like that.
0 Responses to “Give An Elebit...”
Leave a Reply